Choosing only 10 was very hard.
1. Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
Those strings! That voice! This is the song that makes Christmas for me. No other version of the song comes close. The intro makes me swoon.
YouTube - The Christmas Song sung by Nat King Cole
2. The King's Singers - The Gift
This song makes me cry. So beautiful. When the simple piano line comes in after the first verse ... and then that violin .... their voices ... excuse me just a moment .... *sniffle* (The whole album is amazing.)
YouTube - The Gift (Simple Gifts)
3. Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Yeah, it's cheating to list the whole album, but I don't care. The whole thing is wonderful.
YouTube - The Peanuts Christmas Music
4. Vanessa Williams - What Child Is This
This is probably my favorite Christmas traditional carol, and I just love this arrangement. Really fun to sing, too.
YouTube - U-MV160 - Vanessa Williams - What Child Is This
5. Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops - Sleigh Ride
There are 5,603,634 versions of this song, but the first one I heard, and the one I grew up loving was this one.
YouTube - Sleigh Ride 2007
6. Band-Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas
I had the 45 of the single, and I loved the b-side, with the extended mix where all the artists said hello. Then one year I stepped on my beloved 45 and broke it.
YouTube - Do they know it's christmas
7. Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Yeah, I love the U2 version just as much, but I have to go with the original when making a list. The whole Phil Spector album this is on is great (save one or two really weird songs).
YouTube - Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby please come home)
8. Judy Garland - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
I love this version not just because it's the original, but because it's the one version that's melancholy. It's not a happy song, and every other version I've heard takes away that sadness that's at the heart of the song. And it always changes the line "until then we'll have to muddle through somehow." People, that's an important line! Plus, it's Judy Garland.
YouTube - Judy Garland-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
9. Sting - Gabriel's Message
I love the carols you hardly ever hear. When I first heard this one on the Very Special Christmas CD, I fell in love with it. I love the carols that are dark and mysterious, because hel
lo, the whole of the Christmas story is the mystery and wonder of the virgin birth and all that.
YouTube - U-MV160 - Sting - Gabriel's Message
10. Ella Fitzgerald - What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
Ella's Christmas CD is one of my favorites. I did actually want to put the Harry Connick Jr version on the list, but it's not on YouTube. (It's seriously swoon-worthy.)
YouTube - What Are You Doing New Year's Eve by Ella Fitzgerald