A Tav Falco Christmas, Tav Falco (ORG Music)

This rootsy guy is best known for starting the band Tav Falco's Panther Burns back in the mid-late 70s, which caught the attention of Big Star cult hero Alex Chilton and led to recording sessions together. Originally a more psychedelic sounding group, over time Falco's love of original era rock 'n roll and rockabilly came to play a larger role in his sound. That's the sound that predominates on this 2017 album, eight performances of mostly familiar rock and country holiday tunes. "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" and "Blue Christmas" feature the Elvis Presley arrangements, and "Jingle Bell Rock," "Holly Jolly Christmas," "White Christmas," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" are rendered fairly closely to the most familiar pop-rock versions of these songs. Like Bob Dylan, Tav chose to do the Sammy Cahn "Christmas Blues," and things wrap up with a shambling version of James Brown's "Soulful Christmas." This is a listenable collection of tunes, although I can't help feeling like folks would be better served searching out the original sources. But if this disc points people in that direction, it'll be a public service.