Uncle Mick’s Christmas Album
All I Want for Christmas is You
(Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff) 4:25- Frosty the Snowman
(Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson) 2:43 - The Best Christmas Ever
(Mick Kolassa) 5:34 - Merry Christmas Baby
(Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore) 5:19 - Jingle Bells
(Traditional) 4:28 - Winter Wonderland
(Felix Bernard and Richard Bernhard Smith) 3:08 - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
(Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane) 3:38 - Christmas Morning Blues
(Mick Kolassa) 3:25 - Beale Street Christmas Jam
(Jeff Jensen and Mick Kolassa) 3:28
This Christmas album was recorded in the 95-degree heat of a Memphis summer, we thought it would be cool. The album is 100% Memphis, every musician, engineer, technician, and guest call Memphis home. Once again Mick Kolassa teamed up with Jeff Jensen to produce a fun-filled and unique album. Combining some originals with Christmas classics the band put a Memphis spin on everything. Trust us, this ain’t your daddy’s jingle bells!
The album opens with Mick’s take on Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”. It is delivered in a very Memphis bluesified fashion. Then the band took “Frosty the Snowman” right down Beale Street in a Second Line kind of way. Mick’s original “The Best Christmas Ever” is a fun and funky love song about a very special Christmas present.
The blues classic “Merry Christmas Baby” is followed by a VERY different take on the previously unbluesy “Jingle Bells” – the band brought this song to Memphis in a big way! “Winter Wonderland”, which provides some lightness to the mix, is followed by “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, delivered with an R&B feeling and featuring Rick Steff on multiple key instruments – including a Mellotron.
Mick’s blues rocker “Christmas Morning Blues” is a story of a Christmas that fell victim to a classic blues problem. The album closes with the band’s “Beale Street Christmas Jam”, in which the musicians each take a shot at fitting a classic Christmas song into a 12-bar 1-4-5 shuffle. All in all, we hope this album is as much fun to listen to as it was to produce!
The Musicians
Mick Kolassa – Vocals and Guitar
Jeff Jensen – Guitar
Bill Ruffino – Bass
Rick Steff – Keys
James Cunningham – Drums
Eric Hughes – Harmonica
Marc Franklin – Trumpet
Reba Russell – Backing Vocals
Susan Marshall – Backing Vocals
