…I have a confession.
I don’t like the Elvis Christmas album. Even the one that Priscilla Presley produced with Elvis’s voice and the Royal Philharmonic doesn’t click for me. I know it’s not controversial. Elvis at Christmas was not a favorite in my family at least. Even with Blue Christmas all I can hear is the Porky Pig version, and trust me, that does not make it on my favorite holiday tunes list. Not even holiday toons. I do appreciate a good, or bad, pun :)
I guess I was hoping to hear Elvis’s spiritual gospel voice or to be able imagine him goofing around in the recording studio. I could get moments of hearing his spiritual depth during The First Noel and then the last 4 gospel songs. But the “traditional” Christmas songs felt a bit hollow.
I don’t think the Hollywood sign scene or the Christms Special scenes from the movie gave me a bias, but I could be wrong. Am I missing some subtlety somewhere? And how did he never record Go Tell It On The Mountain??!! I mean Mahalia Jackson kinda nails it, but a collaboration might have been ear-tingling. Maybe that’s naive of me to propose, given the time period.
My conclusion: I’ll skip Elvis for the Christmas spirit. When I’m wanting that gospel sound, I’ll go to the source and listen to Mahalia Jackson draw me in with her voice and soul.