{"id":68214,"date":"2017-12-14T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whisnews21.com\/?p=68214"},"modified":"2021-01-01T14:28:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T14:28:04","slug":"songs-thatll-put-a-little-country-in-your-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whisnews21.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/14\/songs-thatll-put-a-little-country-in-your-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Songs That’ll Put a Little Country in Your Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Christmas Playlist: 10 Songs That Will Put a Little Country in Your Christmas<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/header>\n
\n

What would the Christmas season be without music? It\u2019s the soundtrack for trimming the tree, wrapping presents and cooking Christmas dinner. While those aforementioned activities are fun for a lot of folks and Martina McBride\u2019s\u00a0White Christmas<\/em>\u00a0is must-have musical accompaniment, I created this playlist to listen to during my favorite holiday activity: sipping spiked eggnog around an outdoor bonfire.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, here we go.<\/p>\n

10. \u201cSanta Claus and Popcorn\u201d<\/strong>
\nMerle Haggard
\n1973
\nMost people will tell you that Merle Haggard\u2019s finest holiday tune is \u201cIf We Make It Through December,\u201d and it\u2019s hard to argue against that. But for my Merle money, it doesn\u2019t get any better than when the Okie sings \u201cSanta Claus and Popcorn,\u201d a warm, upbeat track that\u2019s full of sleigh bells, mistletoe and reindeer horns.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XiK9OEosaPw?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

9. \u201cChristmas in Prison\u201d
\n<\/strong>John Prine
\n1973
\nYou probably won\u2019t hear \u201cChristmas in Prison\u201d on a conventional holiday playlist, but then again, John Prine is anything but conventional. What you will hear if you take the time to listen to this song are lyrics as rich as figgy pudding and an accordion that\u2019s sweeter than wassail.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=00Ig33jctXs?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

8. \u201cChristmas Time\u2019s A-Comin\u2019\u201d
\n<\/strong>Jerry Reed
\n1983
\nBill Monroe first recorded the tune in 1951 and a slew of other artists have covered it\u2014including Johnny Cash and Sammy Kershaw\u2014but Jerry Reed lays the hammer down on this bluegrass ditty like only the Snowman can. That\u2019s a big 10-4, good buddy.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JgsXkvywf7Q?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

7. \u201cChristmas Cookies\u201d
\n<\/strong>George Strait
\n1999
\nNot only is George Strait\u2019s Texas two-step the greatest song about Christmas confections, it\u2019s also quite simply the best cookie song of all-time, topping the\u00a0Cookie Monter\u2019s stellar \u201cC Is for Cookie.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0With George\u2019s signature vocal swagger and some dynamite chicken-pickin\u2019, \u201cChristmas Cookies\u201d is a sweet ditty from the first chomp to the last bite.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YDCmeKs8Zpk?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

6. \u201cSanta Looked a Lot Like Daddy\u201d
\n<\/strong>Buck Owens
\n1965
\nWith the backing of his Buckaroos, Buck Owens adds a little West Coast warmth to the holiday season with his Bakersfield-infused tune. Everyone\u2019s Christmas needs equal doses of honky and tonky, and Buck happily supplies it with \u201cSanta Looked a Lot Like Daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=y_LSPB6HyHo?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

5. \u201cRudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer\u201d
\n<\/strong>Gene Autry
\n1949
\nMany country singers have tried to top Gene Autry\u2019s version of \u201cRudolph\u201d\u2014including Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton\u2014but the Singing Cowboy\u2019s classic interpretation of \u201cRudolph\u201d is the like a spiked glass of eggnog: the perfect holiday concoction.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7ara3-hDH6I?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

4. \u201cCome On Christmas\u201d
\n<\/strong>Dwight Yoakam
\n1997
\nThe holidays aren\u2019t always as warm and fuzzy as a pair of Frosty the Snowman footie pajamas\u2014for many people, it\u2019s a sad, lonely time of year. Dwight captures those forlorn sentiments with his haunting, melodic voice in \u201cCome on Christmas,\u201d a tune that beckons the season to conclude so his loneliness will end.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jEzH6YHrtGo?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

3. \u201cBlue Christmas\u201d
\n<\/strong>Elvis Presley
\n1957
\nErnest Tubb took \u201cBlue Christmas\u201d to No. 1 on\u00a0Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Country & Western chart in 1950, but Elvis Presley cemented the tune as a perennial holiday must-hear when he put his aching croon on it in 1957, and later featured it on his 1968 television special. Bing Crosby can keep dreaming of a \u201cWhite Christmas\u201d\u2014I\u2019ll take a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas every year.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Uwfz5mMLSDM?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

2. \u201cPretty Paper\u201d
\n<\/strong>Willie Nelson
\n1964
\nWith both a whisper and a roar, Willie delivers a melancholy ballad about a disabled street vendor trying to sell pretty paper, ribbons and pencils to busy holiday passersby. Much like a medieval minstrel going from town to town to sing his story-songs, Willie\u2019s tender rendition of \u201cPretty Paper\u201d is the perfect parable to prompt us to slow down during the holidays, help those in need and be thankful for what we have.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DhNeWaPdXwc?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

1. \u201cMerry Christmas From the Family\u201d
\n<\/strong>Robert Earl Keen
\n1994
\nRobert Earl puts the \u201cfun\u201d in dysfunctional with his twisted Texas anthem of Christmas cheer. In keeping with the spirit of the season, REK reminds us that the holidays are about spending time with family\u2014in this case, a motley crew that likes to drink champagne punch, smoke Marlboro Lights and eat bean dip while singing \u201cSilent Night\u201d and making runs to the local Stop \u2019N Go for \u201csome celery and a can of fake snow.\u201d That\u2019s my kind of crowd.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P37xPiRz1sg?feature=oembed&wmode=transparent]<\/div>\n

Listen to Our Playlist<\/h2>\n