The Ventures - Christmas Album
The Ventures Christmas album from 1965 is one of my favorites. Each track features a classic rock riff that morphs into a holiday tune. For example, The Ventures take the Ray Charles tune, What d I say, substituting guitar for that opening keyboard riff. Then they quickly push the throttle into Jingle Bells.
The band also takes the Beatles I feel fine and blends it seamlessly into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. These tracks are very 60s, almost cliches, but have just the right amount of distortion to make them irresistible. I should note the copy we have at WNIJ belongs to Susan Stephens, and last I checked this CD is out of print. Perhaps we should insure it!