It may seem weird to call a seasonal album ˝essential,˝ but along with Phil Spector’s Christmas Gift for You, this is arguably the finest rock & roll Christmas album of all time.
Recorded in 1957 at the height of his artistry--when he truly could be called the King of Rock & Roll--this album demonstrates Presley having a lot of vocal fun with a variety of styles, whether it’s a carol (˝Silent Night˝) or pop standard (Gene Autry’s ˝Here Comes Santa Claus˝).
He does one of the greatest versions of ˝White Christmas˝ ever recorded, basically using the Drifters’ version as a blueprint--and then singing all the parts himself.
His ˝I’ll Be Home for Christmas˝ is definitive--but the best moments are the ˝new˝ tracks written specifically for this release, including the classic ˝Blue Christmas,˝ Lieber & Stoller’s ˝Santa Claus Is Back in Town˝ (one of the most sexually suggestive holiday tunes ever), and the wonderful, pop-based ˝Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me.˝ All these tracks are available on the King of Rock ’n’ Roll box set--but if you don’t own that, this belongs under any Christmas tree--though Elvis fans have been known to listen to tracks from this in the middle of July!