This popped up while I was searching for something else entirely. There are two bands called The Refreshments; this one is from Sweden and is probably less known in the USA, though they have a connection to the much-loved Rockpile in that Billy Bremner produced two albums for them and actually played in the band for a while. They also backed Rockpiler Dave Edmunds on a live album. There is no relationship to the other band by the same name from Arizona that recorded the theme to "King of the Hill." For those of you who think Sweden = Abba, this is a hard-working pub-rock band with a taste for honky-tonk, and they put out this full Christmas album in 2003. It's mostly standard rock and country tunes like "Run Rudolph Run," "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," "Blue Christmas," "Jingle Bell Rock," "Pretty Paper," "White Christmas," adding Mickey Jupp"s "It's Not Christmas In My House" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "I Can't Have a Merry Christmas" to the roster of covers. No surprises in style given the previous description, and indeed the Jerry Lee tune is done just the way he would have. But band member Joakim Arnell wrote some originals for this outing, including the shuffling title song, the Chuck Berry-inspired "I'm the Real Santa," the mildly Bo Diddley-like "The Billy Goat" that throws in a bit of fiddle on the chorus, and the fully countrified midtempo ballad "The Time I Needed You the Most." Good stuff, rather like the Tractors' work. Just noticed before I hit the publish button on this piece that the album has been reissued for 2010 with a different array of songs, including "Christmas Wishes" (title song for the new collection), "X-mas Race," "What A Merry Christmas This Could Be,""Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy," "Merry X-Mas Everybody," "Christmas Must Be Tonight," "She's In Love WIth Santa," and "Santa's Gonna Rock." Missing from the new collection are "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Pretty Paper," and "It's Not Christmas (In My House)." Also lurking about is a single from 2007 with "Silent Night" and "On Christmas Day."
Rock 'n Roll Xmas, The Refreshments (Darrow)
This popped up while I was searching for something else entirely. There are two bands called The Refreshments; this one is from Sweden and is probably less known in the USA, though they have a connection to the much-loved Rockpile in that Billy Bremner produced two albums for them and actually played in the band for a while. They also backed Rockpiler Dave Edmunds on a live album. There is no relationship to the other band by the same name from Arizona that recorded the theme to "King of the Hill." For those of you who think Sweden = Abba, this is a hard-working pub-rock band with a taste for honky-tonk, and they put out this full Christmas album in 2003. It's mostly standard rock and country tunes like "Run Rudolph Run," "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," "Blue Christmas," "Jingle Bell Rock," "Pretty Paper," "White Christmas," adding Mickey Jupp"s "It's Not Christmas In My House" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "I Can't Have a Merry Christmas" to the roster of covers. No surprises in style given the previous description, and indeed the Jerry Lee tune is done just the way he would have. But band member Joakim Arnell wrote some originals for this outing, including the shuffling title song, the Chuck Berry-inspired "I'm the Real Santa," the mildly Bo Diddley-like "The Billy Goat" that throws in a bit of fiddle on the chorus, and the fully countrified midtempo ballad "The Time I Needed You the Most." Good stuff, rather like the Tractors' work. Just noticed before I hit the publish button on this piece that the album has been reissued for 2010 with a different array of songs, including "Christmas Wishes" (title song for the new collection), "X-mas Race," "What A Merry Christmas This Could Be,""Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy," "Merry X-Mas Everybody," "Christmas Must Be Tonight," "She's In Love WIth Santa," and "Santa's Gonna Rock." Missing from the new collection are "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Pretty Paper," and "It's Not Christmas (In My House)." Also lurking about is a single from 2007 with "Silent Night" and "On Christmas Day."
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