B.B. KING
A Christmas Celebration Of Hope (MCA)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

---

For artists with an established name, making a Christmas album is like printing money. They sell year after year and provide ready material for anthologizers and radio programmers, producing royalties for years, even decades. How much do you suppose Bing Crosby's heirs will make on "White Christmas" this year?

As a result, it came as something of a surprise to me to learn that this is B.B. King's first foray into the genre. Surely everyone has at least one Blue Christmas collection in that stack of annual favorites by now, but B.B. didn't, until now, have a Christmas disc of his very own. When he finally decided to do it, I'm happy to report that he did it right. This is a holiday collection you could play any day, because B.B.'s mighty show band is on hand to serve up solid blues jams no matter what the man is singing, and when Lucille cuts through, King could just as well be playing "The Thrill Is Gone" as "Merry Christmas Baby." In other words, this isn't just Christmas music - this is terrific music.

There are R&B Christmas classics, some stuff I've never heard and a couple of New Years Eve specials in the mix. This is one to add to your annual playlist, and don't be surprised if you find yourself forgetting to put it away with the rest of your seasonal music until next year. You might want to hear it again in May....

Track List:

Please Come Home For Christmas * Lonesome Christmas * Back Door Santa * Christmas In Heaven * I'll Be Home For Christmas * To Someone That I Love * Christmas Celebration * Merry Christmas Baby * Christmas Love * Blue Decorations * Christmas Comes But Once A Year * Bringing In A Brand New Year * Auld Lang Syne

© 2001 - Shaun Dale