It's A Holiday Soul Party Chat Excerpts (Press play and follow along.
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"Ain't No Chimneys In The Projects"Sandy: What a title
Junior: Sharon Jones was a pretty cool lady, i've been a fan of hers for a while. her songs have been in a few commercials.
Sandy: I hadn't heard of her name until you posted the album
Junior: part of why i like her is that she sounds right out of the 60s and 70s
Sandy: (Momma sat me down and said "Baby, Santa Clause does magic things. As soon as you're asleep a chimney will appear." That's quick thinking.)
"8 Days (of Hanukkah)"Sandy: how nice of her to make a Hannukah song!
Junior: yeah, she's got a really cool vibe of inclusivity which is nice
Knocked Out Loaded: it's funky
Sandy: she would have been terrific on sesame street
Knocked Out Loaded: ha ha
Junior: for sure, she probably was on it at some point.
Sandy: i bet!
Junior: as you can tell, the horns and guitar and drums are also super great. they're the Dap-Kings and they're the best
Sandy: it's pure joy, this music
Knocked Out Loaded: enlighten me, what's hannukah
Junior: Jewish holiday about oil lasting longer than it was supposed to, i think
Sandy: its' from a historical incident (miracle - eight days of burning the menorah, with only one day supply of oil.)
KnockedOutLoaded: is she jewish?
Junior: no, but I think some of her band members are
Sandy: cool
"White Christmas"Junior: now you'll be able to see her in all of her glory, though live performances are really where it's at
Sandy: I love it! she's rockin that frock!
Junior: you gotta rock the frock!
Knocked Out Loaded: almost like tina turner
Junior: she's definitely got a Turner vibe
Sandy: what a twist on the song, I hardly recognize it
Knocked Out Loaded: strutty!
Junior: yeah, it's a lot of fun. she's rarely a downer, which is another reason why I like her, even her breakup songs are more about kissoffs than sadness
Knocked Out Loaded: the band's a bit pale though
"Just Another Christmas Song"Sandy: a medley of many songs, one line after another... I was just going to say how refreshing this album is, because it's so different than the typical songs I hear all season
and here she's addressing it. and putting a twist on them
"Silent Night"Sandy: ala the blues!
Junior: she's really does shake things up nicely on this record. there's a great tiny desk concert from NPR with her doing 3 songs from this album and she forgets some lines and she just rolls with it with a lot of verve.
Knocked Out Loaded: i'll check it out later
Junior: she was getting chemo treatments (or was recently off of them) around when this came out, so that she was able to do this at all is pretty impressive, I think
Knocked Out Loaded: cancer is a bitch
Junior: for real. I was sad to see she had died last month, but I kind of knew it was coming.
Knocked Out Loaded: this is cool. I like the restrained arrangement
"Big Bulbs"Junior: Oh this one is so much fun. guess what she's talking about!
Knocked Out Loaded: i'm in the dark
Sandy: I'm trying to guess... am I too naive to understand?
Junior: u=a, second b=l. flashing in your window tonight. big balls!
Sandy: haha. why are they flashing in the window
Junior: she's looking forward to getting down with him tonight and he's a little freaky
Sandy:
cheeky
"Please Come Home For Christmas"Junior: this is the only one where I don't think she adds all that much to the popular versions, but it's still a solid rendition
Sandy: It's still as great as I've heard this song done
Knocked Out Loaded: i'm a bit unfamiliar with how it usually sounds....
Junior: yeah, it's just not better than it usually is. it sounds a lot like this, KoL
Knocked Out Loaded: ok
Junior: well, maybe except for this end part
"Funky Little Drummer Boy"Junior: oh, I love this one. totally different sound
Sandy: this song needed a re do!
Junior: my mom hates this version (it's her fave christmas song)
Sandy: how interesting that she loves this song best
Junior: yeah, she's a weirdo!
Sandy: ha! ...usually the drumming is so dull
Knocked Out Loaded: I like this. didn't bowie do this one?
Sandy: yes! we should find it!
Junior: it was half of that bowie/bing thing that's my favorite christmas song. I can play it after.
Knocked Out Loaded: nice drum break!
Sandy: it is! Love the syncopation.
Knocked Out Loaded: tell your mother it's a nice version!
Junior: this is a much livelier version than most others and I love it. goes out on a drum solo, too, of course
Knocked Out Loaded: good wailing!
"Silver Bells"Junior: this one feels a little Stevie Wonder-y
Knocked Out Loaded: started like a gospel
Junior: yeah, that's there to throw you off!
Knocked Out Loaded: then the delivery is pretty straight forward
Junior: I'm glad she treated this like an album you'd actually play at a party, no real slow songs. I'm a big fan of the crazy instruments on this one. you almost couldn't tell it's Silver bells except for her singing the lyrics
"World Of Love"Knocked Out Loaded: this was slow!
Sandy: like a slow dance
Junior: well, it's almost the end of the party!
Sandy: winding down
Knocked Out Loaded: some will leave lucky, some sad
Sandy: it has an undercurrent of melancholy. Yes! just like that KoL
Knocked Out Loaded: c'est la vie!
Junior: I like that she's continuing that inclusiveness here
Sandy: lovin' the trumpets
Junior: she does this once an album, just lets the horns go for it on a song
Sandy: lets them loose!
Knocked Out Loaded: did she had a fixed band?
Sandy: There's a Peer Gynt slant to this song
Junior: yeah, though they also worked on other people's albums sometimes
Junior: well, that's everything!
Knocked Out Loaded: thanks! i feel a bit more festive already!
Sandy: me too! Junior, I'm grateful for your introduction of Sharon. I'm adding her to my Christmas playlist.
Junior: happy to introduce you to it. she's really great. Maybe I'll put some of her non-christmas stuff up in that thread as well. to give you a feel of what she normally does.
Bonus Christmas SongsBing Crosby & David Bowie - "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy"Knocked Out Loaded: ;( RIP, david
Junior: gosh, this is just the best thing.
Sandy: it really is. the old guard and the new, at least back then. Were you the one that introduced it to me, Junior?
Junior: I wouldn't be surprised. I've been kind of obsessed with it ever since college
Sandy: it's something really special
Knocked Out Loaded: this is a great conversation
Sandy: I just watched Going My Way a few nights ago.
Junior: this is kind of a crappy video, but the song still kicks butt
Sandy: it really gets to me. Emotions!
Junior: yeah, especially here, "for my child and your child too"
Knocked Out Loaded: what year?
Junior: 77
Knocked Out Loaded: time flies!
Junior: aired about a month after Bing died, actually
The Pogues, featurig Kirsty MacColl - "Fairytale Of New York"Knocked Out Loaded: i love this
Junior:
Knocked Out Loaded: shane is a tragic guy, but great
Junior: this is so great. I hadn't heard it until a year or two ago
Knocked Out Loaded: kirsty, RIP too. she drowned, i think. in the caribbean
Junior: yeesh
Sandy: you know all the musicians, KoL
Knocked Out Loaded: she was married to steve lillywhite, a producer. reasonably known. he worked with u2
Knocked Out Loaded: can i play one too?
Sandy: please!
Bob Dylan - "Must Be Santa"Junior: oh yes, love this album
Knocked Out Loaded: yeah!
Sandy: Of Course! we must have Dylan's Christmas!
Knocked Out Loaded: everyone was perplexed when this album was announced
Junior: it's both incongruous and totally fits. we had a christian lady doing a Hanukkah song, now a jewish guy doing Christmas. that's the spirit, i'm saying.
Knocked Out Loaded: wonderful! i'm pepped!
Sandy: everyone gets to do their take on a christmas album it seems!
The Shins - "Wonderful Christmas Time"Sandy: I haven't heard this rendition
Knocked Out Loaded: this is a mccartney song
Sandy: it's hard to beat McCartney, but it's still cute
Junior: I like this intstrumentation better
Knocked Out Loaded: better one to dance to