12/4/2009
By GARY DEMUTH Salina Journal
Whether the subject is roasting chestnuts on an open fire or walking through a winter wonderland, everyone has a favorite Christmas song.

Likewise, most people can name an essential Christmas album, the collection of tunes that best puts them in the holiday spirit.

In the spirit of the season, the Journal asked several Salinans to name their favorite Christmas songs and albums. Song responses ranged from the classics ("Silent Night") to the bizarre ("Snoopy vs. the Red Baron"?). Essential Christmas albums ranged from Elvis's blue Christmas to Bette Midler's cool yule tunes.

Here's a sampling:

The Rev. John Blackwell
Dean of the chapel at Kansas Wesleyan University

Song: "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

Album: "It's a Spike Jones Christmas."

Blackwell has visited the little town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. It's now a hotbed of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian army, he said. That's why the tender Christmas ballad "O Little Town of Bethlehem" remains close to his heart. "It's the way the blessing of the Christ child is conferred upon us," he said. "It's a communion between the people and God that's very direct. The song is a contrast between the way we sing it and what's going on in Bethlehem today."

In contrast, "It's a Spike Jones Christmas," a collection by the popular 1940s-era Big Band leader, who made his reputation by recording satirical songs and song parodies, is just meant to be a fun listen, Blackwell said. "It's got songs like 'All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,' " he said. "It's Christmas with humor."

Sharon Benson

Arts education coordinator, Salina Arts and Humanities Commission

Song: "The Christmas Song."

Album: "Home for Christmas" by Amy Grant.

Benson's favorite Christmas song is called, appropriately, "The Christmas Song" (the one where chestnuts are roasting on an open fire). The song has been recorded by everyone from Nat King Cole to Tony Bennett. "It's beautiful and so evocative of the season," she said.

Christian and country artist Amy Grant's "Home for Christmas" contains standards like "I'll be Home for Christmas," but also original tunes in the holiday spirit like "Breath of Heaven." The latter song, Benson said, "is about Mary and what it was like to carry Jesus. It's a wonderful song. The (album) has such unusual orchestrations."

Andy Martin

Executive director, Salina Area United Way

Song: "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

Album: "Christmas with Julie Andrews," featuring Andre Previn.

The Christmas standard "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" has been recorded by singers ranging from Amy Grant to Andy Williams. To Martin, "It's a very visual song, and the lilt of the song brings an excitement and joy to your heart."

The 1960s-era Julie Andrews Christmas album, he said, is an essential holiday listen. "It's a nice balance of classical and contemporary Christmas music that includes 'Joy to the World' and 'Deck the Halls,' " Martin said. "Julie's voice was at her prime then."

Wendy Stein

Music instructor at St. John's Military School

Song: "I'll Be Home for Christmas."

Album: "Cool Yule," by Bette Midler.

Recorded by artists like Diana Krall, Tony Bennett and Michael Buble, Stein's favorite Christmas song "makes me feel like I'm going home, even if I'm not," she said. "I moved away from my home (in San Jose, Calif.), and that song gives me a connection to home."

Bette Midler's "Cool Yule" is "a great mixture of sentimental songs and hilarious songs," Stein said.

Dennis Lauver

Chief executive officer, Salina Area Chamber of Commerce

Song: "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron."

Album: "Christmas with the Imperials," by The Imperials.

Lauver insists "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" has a Christmas setting, but a scan at the lyrics only makes an oblique reference to The Great Pumpkin. Nonetheless, as a child, Lauver dressed as Snoopy for Halloween, so that childhood love carried over to Christmas. "I was a fan of Snoopy growing up and I still am," he said.

Lauver's more traditional album choice is "Christmas with the Imperials," recorded by a prominent gospel group in 1980. "It's a lot of nice, classic Christmas hits," Lauver said.

Tom Arpke

Salina City Commissioner

Song: "A Christmas Festival."

Album: "That Christmas Feeling" by Bing Crosby.

Arpke plays trumpet in the Salina Symphony and in a brass quintet during the Christmas season, so his favorite tune to play, "A Christmas Festival," actually is several Christmas songs in one. Tunes include "Jingle Bells," "O Holy Night" and Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." "It's nine Christmas songs done in eight minutes," Arpke said.

Putting on the Bing Crosby classic, which includes renditions of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "You're All I Want at Christmas" has become an Arpke family tradition during the holidays. "It's great to listen to when you're decorating the tree," he said.

Michelle Dolan

Vocal music teacher, Sacred Heart Junior-Senior High School

Song: "Silent Night."

Album: "Elvis' Christmas Album," by Elvis Presley.

For Dolan, a music teacher and accomplished soprano singer, the tender "Silent Night" is a perfect blend of melody and text. "It conveys the whole reason for the season," she said. A close second is the powerful "O Holy Night," which she said "is my favorite as a singer."

In a lighter vein, "Elvis' Christmas Album," recorded by The King in 1957, is a personal favorite of her husband's, who is a huge Elvis fan. "There's lots of dancing around the house when we're putting up the Christmas tree," she said.

Les Lankhorst

Professional swing singer

Song: "White Christmas."

Album: "Elvis' Christmas Album" by Elvis Presley.

Lankhorst also chooses Elvis over his musical hero Frank Sinatra, but he said it's simply because The King recorded better Christmas albums than The Chairman of the Board. "(Elvis) turned all those Christmas classics on their ear and did them in a way I've never heard before," Lankhorst said. "He could sell a song like no one else."

Of course, "White Christmas," made famous by Bing Crosby, is one of Lankhorst's favorites to sing during the holidays. "It reminds me of home," he said.

John Highkin

Salina musician and private consultant

Song: "Winter Wonderland."

Album: "It's Christmas, Man!" by Brave Combo.

Highkin prefers jazz-tinted Christmas songs, and for him, "Winter Wonderland" is the perfect jazzy holiday song. "It has an interesting structure, and it's a wonderful song to play," he said.

Brave Combo, a Denton, Texas-based band, performed at the 2004 Smoky Hill River Festival, while Highkin was director of the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission. Their Christmas album became one of Highkin's annual favorites. "They're very original -- they do 'O Christmas Tree' as a samba, 'The Christmas Song' as a ska song and 'Must Be Santa' as a polka," he said. "It's a Christmas album I listen to out of season."

Jane Gates

Executive director, Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts

Song: "Carol of the Bells."

Album: "December" by George Winston.

The instrumental standard, "Carol of the Bells," makes Gates nostalgic for "all the family Christmas traditions I grew up with and the love of music instilled in me by my father," Gates said. "He'd always have music playing when we came home for Christmas."

Solo pianist George Winston has performed twice at the Stiefel Theatre, and Gates said Winston's album "December" has become one of her favorite holiday music selections. "It creates a happy spirit for me, a good feeling about what the holidays should be," she said.

Eddie Creer

Vocal music teacher, Salina South High School

Song: "Lo How a Rose E're Blooming."

Album: Handel's "Messiah."

Creer decided to pick more serious works as his Christmas favorites. "Lo How a Rose E're Blooming," a German Christmas carol from the 15th century, is a choral piece "that's kind of somber, but it's very poetic in its language," Creer said. "A 'rose e're blooming' is the Christ child being born."

Handel's "Messiah" usually is associated with the Easter season, but that's because of the more famous second movement of the piece, which concludes with the immortal "Hallelujah Chorus." "The first part is an account of the birth of Jesus," Creer said. "That's my favorite."

Reporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.

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