Month: December 2024

Goodbye, so long, baby I’m gone

Posted on by brucehhackett

As 2024 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the careers of those high-profile and less prominent musicians who passed away during the past 12 months.

There were eight major pop/rock luminaries who I felt deserved detailed obituaries in Hack’s Back Pages at the time of their deaths — stars like Kris Kristofferson, Dickey Betts, Eric Carmen and Quincy Jones. In addition, though, I’ve singled out 16 other musicians who died whose careers are probably familiar to most readers. Now is the appropriate time to pay our respects to the contributions they made to popular music throughout their lives. I’ve listed them in the chronological order of their deaths.

At the end you’ll find a Spotify playlist with one representative track from each artist’s career.

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Melanie Safka, who was catapulted to fame by her impromptu performance in the rain on the first night of the Woodstock festival in 1969, died January 24th at age 76. She had been playing clubs in Greenwich Village in the ’60s and found an adoring audience in Europe, which won her a slot at Woodstock. That gig inspired her hit “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, which reached #6 in 1970. Her career peak was the #1 hit “Brand New Key” in 1972. She continued recording and performing (mostly in Europe) well into the 2010s.

Toby Keith, one of country music’s most successful stars of the past 30 years, died February 5th of stomach cancer at age 62. Keith racked up an astonishing 20 #1 hits on country charts between 1993’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and the 2011 pro-USA hit “Made in America.” He also had nine Top 30 singles on the US pop charts, mostly in 2001-2003, topped by the #15 hit “Red Solo Cup” in 2011. Keith developed a reputation as a conservative Democrat, speaking out politically on issues of the day, particularly in support of troops: “If there is something socially incorrect about being patriotic and supporting your troops, then they can kiss my ass on that,” he said in 2003.

Karl Wallinger, the multi-instrumentalist /songwriter behind the ’90s act known as World Party, died March 10th at age 66. He had been in the Scottish band The Waterboys in the mid-1980s before striking out on his own with Beatlesque pop songs under the World Party banner. He produced, sang, wrote and played every instrument on four albums between 1986 and 1997, notably the excellent “Goodbye Jumbo” in 1990. Four singles found their way onto US alt-rock charts — “Ship of Fools” (1987), “Put the Message in the Box” and “Way Down Now” (1990) and “Is It Like Today?” (1993) Tempestuous relationships with record labels and former colleagues soured Wallinger on the music business, causing him to largely withdraw from public appearances after 2000.

Eric Carmen, lead singer and songwriter of the Cleveland-based power pop band The Raspberries, died on March 10th at age 74. Carmen wrote “Go All the Way,” “I Wanna Be With You” and “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record), all of which reached the Top 20 on US pop charts for The Raspberries in the early ’70s. Carmen embarked on a solo career in 1975 with the massive hit “All By Myself” and had five more Top 20 hits on his own well into the 1980s. For more about Carmen, please see my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/03/15/makin-love-was-just-for-fun-those-days-are-gone/

Dickey Betts, who partnered with Duane Allman to create the unforgettable two-lead-guitar sound of The Allman Brothers Band, died April 18th at age 80. Following Allman’s premature death in 1971, Betts became the group’s de facto leader, contributing country-tinged vocals and classic songs like “Ramblin’ Man,” “Blue Sky” and “Revival.” For more about Betts, please see my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/04/26/when-its-time-for-leaving-i-hope-youll-understand/

Mike Pinder, keyboardist and founding member of The Moody Blues, died April 24th at age 82. More than anyone else in the band, it was Pinder’s mastery of the Mellotron, the unwieldy electro-mechanical instrument still in its infancy, that created The Moody Blues’ symphonic sound on their seven core albums between 1967 and 1972. Pinder wrote and sang one or two tracks on each of those LPs, the best known being “Melancholy Man” from “A Question of Balance.” He also narrated the poems that drummer Graeme Edge contributed to the group’s albums.

Duane Eddy, one of the unsung pioneers of the electric guitar sound in rock and roll’s early years, died April 30th at age 86. Eddy had dreams of being one of rock’s first singing guitarists, but he concluded that his voice wasn’t good enough, so he devised a technique of playing lead guitar melody lines on the bass strings to produce a low twangy sound instead. It caught on, resulting in seven Top 20 instrumental hits on US pop charts between 1958 and 1962, notably “Rebel Rouser” and “Because They’re Young.” His style was mimicked by countless artists in the ’60s and ’70s.

Johnny Barbata, who served as drummer on classic records by The Turtles, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Jefferson Starship, died on May 8th at age 79. He replaced The Turtles’ original drummer in time to be on board for their late ’60s string of big hits, notably “Happy Together.” He was then tapped to be part of CSN&Y’s touring band in 1970, performances of which were captured on their 1971 live album “Four-Way Street.” Barbata became the drummer for Jefferson Airplane’s more commercial incarnation, Jefferson Starship, recording and touring with them from 1974 through 1978.

David Sanborn, saxophonist extraordinaire, died on May 12th at age 78. Although he was raised on jazz music, and his solo albums were firmly planted in the light jazz and jazz fusion genres, he is perhaps best known for the outstanding sax solos and riffs he provided for dozens of pop/rock artists from the ’70s onward, including David Bowie (“Young Americans”), James Taylor (“How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You”) and Pure Prairie League (“Let Me Love You Tonight”). For more about Sanborn, please see my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/05/17/learn-to-work-the-saxophone-i-play-just-what-i-feel/

Doug Ingle, singer and organist for the psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, died May 24th at age 78. It was Ingle who wrote, sang and played keyboards on the iconic 18-minute “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida,” the FM radio staple from 1968. A three-minute version made the Top 30 on US pop charts, but the album of the same named reached #4 on US album charts and sold 30 million copies. The song’s title is a wordplay on “In the Garden of Eden” with lyrics that tell a simple love song of Adam and Eve. Iron Butterfly recorded five LPs in the ’60s and ’70s and toured with various lineups well into the 2000s. Ingle left the group in 1971 but rejoined numerous times on various reunion tours.

Dave Loggins, second cousin of Kenny Loggins who had a modest singing/songwriting career of his own, died July 10th at age 76. He is best known for his wistful hit “Please Come to Boston,” which peaked at #5 on US pop charts in 1974. Ten years later, he and Canadian counter singer Anne Murray collaborated on “Nobody Loves Me Like You Do,” which reached #1 on country charts in the US and Canada in 1984. Loggins also wrote “Pieces of April,” the Top 20 single made popular by Three Dog Night in 1970.

John Mayall, regarded as a pivotal inspiration and mentor to some of the best British blues guitarists in rock music history, died July 22nd at age 90. Obsessed with the Delta blues records his father collected in the ’50s, Mayall kicked off a blues revival with his band The Bluesbreakers, whose lineup included Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor. For more about Mayall’s career, please check out my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/07/26/baby-its-time-to-close-that-door/

Four Tops (Fakir, second from right)

Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of The Four Tops, died July 22nd at age 88. Fakir met lead singer Levi Stubbs in a Detroit neighborhood football game and, with Lawrence Payton and Renaldo “Obie” Benson, founding The Four Tops, who went on to become one of Motown’s leading and longest lasting vocal groups. The group reached the Top 20 on US pop charts 16 times between 1964 and 1973 with such classics as “I Can’t Help Myself,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got).”

The Zodiacs (Williams, second from left)

Maurice Williams, founder and lead singer of the doo-wop/R&B vocal group Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs, died August 6th at age 86. When he was just 15, Williams tried to convince his girlfriend not to go home for her 10:00 curfew, and although she didn’t relent, it inspired him to write “Stay,” which became an international hit seven years later. At only 1:34, it was the shortest song to ever reach #1, and it turned out to be a one-hit wonder for Williams (though cover versions by The Four Seasons and Jackson Browne both made the US Top 20, and Williams’ original had second life when featured in the 1987 “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack).

Greg Kihn, a rock/power pop practitioner who enjoyed a decent run of chart success in the 1978-1986 period, died August 13th at age 75. As leader of The Greg Kihn Band, he released three play-on-words albums (“RocKihnRoll,” “Kihntinued,” “Kihnspiracy”) that reached the Top 40 on US album charts. Two big singles — 1981’s “The Breakup Song” and 1983’s “Jeopardy” — were in heavy rotation on MTV as well as Top 40 radio. Kihn also emerged as an author of horror novels in the ’90s, winning a Bran Stoker Award for his debut, “Horror Show,” in 1996.

Sergio Mendes, the Brazilian-born pianist, composer and arranger who brought bossa nova music to a global audience in the 1960s through his ensemble, Brasil ’66, died September 5th at age 83. Mendes released more than 30 albums, won three Grammys and a Best Song Oscar nomination in 2012 for “Real in Rio.” Between 1966 and 1972, four of his albums went gold or platinum, and the title track of the group’s biggest seller — their version of the Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill,” released in 1968 — sold four million copies. His music was completely different from anything else appearing on the US Top Album charts at that time.

Tito Jackson, second oldest of the five brothers who made up The Jackson 5, died September 15 at age 70. Tito played guitar and did some songwriting in addition to contributing vocals, and was often the spokesperson for the group in interviews and press conferences. The brothers were one of Motown’s most successful acts between 1969-1976, and Tito enjoyed a moderately successful solo career as a blues guitarist and producer in the 2000s. He was a staunch defender of his brother Michael regarding child molestation charges. Tito died of a heart attack while on a business trip in New Mexico.

John David Souther, the talented songwriter and singer with close ties to The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, died September 17th at age 78. Souther wrote or co-wrote such hits as “Heartache Tonight” and “New Kid in Town” for The Eagles and “Her Town Too” with James Taylor, and also had a Top Ten hit of his own, “You’re Only Lonely,” in 1979. For more about Souther, please see my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/11/08/ive-got-my-finger-on-the-pulse/

Kris Kristofferson, one of the more celebrated songwriters of his generation, died September 28 at age 88. His songs “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” were iconic, and his involvement in The Highwaymen (with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings) cemented his status in the country music community. For more about Kristofferson, please see my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/10/04/id-trade-all-my-tomorrows-for-a-single-yesterday/

Johnny Neel, keyboardist and songwriter with The Allman Brothers Band in their 1990s lineup, died October 6th at age 70. Neel built a reputation playing with bands in Nashville clubs when he caught the attention of Dickey Betts, who recruited him for his touring band and studio recordings in the late ’80s. He joined the Allman Brothers for their successful reunion LP “Seven Turns” in 1990, co-writing its single, “Good Clean Fun,” as well as “Low Down Dirty Mean” and “Gambler’s Roll.” He also recorded ten albums as a solo artist and contributed songs and keyboard talents to LPs by other artists like John Mayall, The Oak Ridge Boys, Michael McDonald and Gov’t Mule.

Cissy Houston, who sang with many dozens of artists during her 40-year career, died October 7th at age 91. Houston is the mother of ’90s superstar Whitney Houston and aunt of ’60s/’70s star Dionne Warwick, and was a role model to them both. She sang in the gospel/soul vocal group The Sweet Inspirations in the late ’60s and later as a solo session singer for everyone from Paul Simon (“Mother and Child Reunion”) to Beyoncé, from Jimi Hendrix to David Bowie (“Young Americans”), from Wilson Pickett (“In the Midnight Hour”) to Van Morrison, from Bette Midler (“From a Distance”) to Aretha Franklin, and even her daughter (“I Know Him So Well”).

Liam Payne, a founding member of the English-Irish boy band One Direction, died October 16th at age 31 after a tragic fall from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony. Although it was bandmate Harry Styles who went on to superstar success in the years since One Direction’s disbanding in 2016, Payne compiled numerous song writing credits during the group’s six-year run (2010-2016). His solo work fared much better in the UK and Europe than in the US, but he had a solo #10 hit on US pop charts, “Strip That Down,” in 2017. Payne had contended with kidney infections since infancy, and also struggled with mental health issues and substance abuse.

Phil Lesh, co-founder and innovative bass player for The Grateful Dead for its entire 30-year run, died October 25th at age 84. Unique among rock bass players was Lesh’s background as a classical violinist and trumpeter, an orchestral composer and student of avant-garde musical genres in the years preceding his joining Jerry Garcia to form The Grateful Dead. For more about Lesh’s impressive career, please see my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/11/01/let-me-live-in-your-blue-heaven-when-i-die/

Quincy Jones, one of most accomplished producers/arrangers/conductors in the past half-century, died November 3rd at age 91. He worked with industry titans from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson and showed uncommon talent in multiple genres, from jazz to soul to pop. He somehow pulled together more than 35 major stars to work together on the landmark “We Are the World” session. For more about Jones, please check out my earlier tribute: https://hackbackpages.com/2024/11/08/ive-got-my-finger-on-the-pulse/

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And I’ll be happy, it’s Christmas once again

Posted on by brucehhackett

I recognize that the holiday season is not full of joy and glad tidings for everyone. Some folks have lost loved ones and must cope with the empty chair at Christmas dinner. Others are reeling from illnesses or other health concerns, and it can be tough to feel much Christmas spirit when we’re ailing.

Still, the Yuletide has the uncanny ability to bring feelings of serenity, love and gratitude, be it in small or large helpings. One way it’s done so for me through the years is with seasonal music. Granted, it can get excessive if you hear the same songs over and over when you’re out in stores and other public places. But I have several dozen Christmas-oriented CD mixes I’ve received as gifts from other music lovers, and they’ve been in rotation at my house and in my car for several weeks now. Hymns, rock songs, folk melodies, even whimsical comedy tunes (some new, some old) segue from one to the next, keeping things interesting instead of predictable.

This year, I’m sharing a dozen or so of my favorite secular Christmas tunes, with some background information you might not have known. I hope this playlist hits the spot, cheering you up and offering warmth and comfort as you gather with family and friends this coming week.

A very Merry Christmas to my readers!

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“I Believe in Father Christmas,” Emerson, Lake and Palmer, 1977

Emerson, Lake and Palmer were one of the most bombastic of the British progressive rock bands of the ’70s, with Keith Emerson’s virtuoso keyboards dominating their albums.  Each LP featured at least one commercial ballad by bassist/vocalist Greg Lake (“Lucky Man,” “From the Beginning,” “Still, You Turn Me On”).  In 1974, as a solo track, Lake collaborated with lyricist Peter Sinfield to write this piece, intended as a protest against the commercialization of Christmas.  Musically, it has a grandly traditional, hymn-like flair to it, thanks to Emerson’s suggestion to use a riff from Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant Kijé’s Suite” (1934). Lyrically, though, it’s a bit dark. As Sinfield has said, “It’s about the loss of innocence and childhood belief. It’s a picture postcard Christmas song, but with morbid edges.” Lake’s solo recording reached #2 in the UK, but didn’t chart here. In 1977, ELP re-recorded it for their “Works Part II” album, and that’s the version you’re hearing here.

“Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, 1975

J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie teamed up back in 1933 to write this holiday favorite, which became an instant hit when performed on Eddie Cantor’s radio show the following December. Hundreds of recorded versions followed, from Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters to The Temptations and Neil Diamond. A version by The Four Seasons reached #23 on the charts in 1962, and Phil Spector included a rousing version by The Crystals on his Christmas collection in 1963. When Springsteen and his band recorded a performance of their rendition in 1975 at a small Long Island college, they used a modified arrangement of The Crystals’ version. It was released as part of the “In Harmony 2” package on Sesame Street Records in 1982, and again as the B-side of the “My Home Town” single in 1985. It had long been familiar to Boss fans through distribution to rock radio stations in the late ’70s, and the band has been featuring it for decades in its playlist any time they’re touring in late November and December.

“Run Rudolph Run,” Chuck Berry, 1958

In a November 1958 recording session, Berry and his backing band recorded two tracks: his new tune “Little Queenie” (which would be released as a B-side several months later with “Almost Grown”), and “Run Rudolph Run,” which was basically the same song with different lyrics, made up quickly in the studio by Marvin Brodie and Berry. The label rush-released “Run Rudolph Run” for the Christmas market, and it reached #28 on the charts that year. Both songs are melodically similar to Berry’s earlier signature song “Johnny B. Goode.” Since then, the song has been recorded by such big names as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sheryl Crow, Cheap Trick, Grateful Dead, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Buffett, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Hanson and Foghat.

“Please Come Home for Christmas,” The Eagles, 1978

Blues pianist/singer Charles Brown co-wrote this track in 1960 with Gene Redd, and Brown’s recording made the charts that year. It remained a seasonal favorite each year throughout the 1960s, reaching #1 on a Christmas Singles chart in 1972. Six years later, as The Eagles were struggling to come up with the follow-up to their mega-platinum 1977 LP “Hotel California,” their label insisted they select something to release for the lucrative Christmas season. Glenn Frey, a blues rock aficionado, had always liked Brown’s song, so he brought it to the group’s attention, and they polished off a solid cover version, which reached #18 in 1978, the first Christmas single to make the Top 20 on the pop charts since Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Paper” in 1963. Bon Jovi had a popular version of “Please Be Home for Christmas” included on “A Very Special Christmas 2” collection in 1992.

“Father Christmas,” The Kinks, 1977

The hardest rocking tune on this list, and the least Christmassy, is this angry diatribe by Ray Davies and The Kinks.  They wrote this and recorded it in 1977, during punk rock’s heyday in England, as a screed about the unfair class system prevalent there, where rich kids got many Christmas presents while poor kids got none.  Davies sings of a gang of poor kids beating up on a department store Santa Claus, telling him they want his money, not toys. “Father Christmas, give us some money, /Don’t mess around with those silly toys, /We’ll beat you up if you don’t hand it over, /We want your bread so don’t make us annoyed, /Give all the toys to the little rich boys!…” Many punk and hard rock bands have covered it in recent years, from Green Day and Bad Religion to Warrant and Smash Mouth.

“Little Saint Nick,” The Beach Boys, 1963

It’s no secret to Beach Boys fans that there’s plenty of bad blood between Brian Wilson and cousin Mike Love that has kept the band in different camps on and off for decades. Sometimes the differences were artistic; for example, Love didn’t care for Wilson’s new direction with the songs on the universally praised 1966 LP “Pet Sounds.” Love also took exception to being excluded from songwriting credit for some of the classics in the band’s lucrative early catalog. The Christmas single “Little Saint Nick,” recorded in 1963 and borrowing heavily from their earlier Wilson/Love tune “Little Deuce Coupe,” was one such bone of contention. The original single indicates Wilson as its sole writer, but Love won back royalties and co-writer credit in a 1993 lawsuit. The song appeared on “The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album” in 1964 along with a dozen covers of traditional carols.

“Happy Xmas (War is Over),” John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 1971

Like so many Lennon tracks of his early solo period (“Cold Turkey,” “Instant Karma,” “Power to the People”), this unique “holiday protest song” was written and recorded quickly, this time to capitalize on the 1971 Yuletide season, but they were late getting it out. “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” never got past #42 in the US that year, but it was a Top Ten hit in Europe and #4 in the UK when released there for the 1972 holiday season. The song, which utilized the basic structure of the English folk song “Stewball,” was designed as an anti-war anthem mixed with untraditional Christmas tidings (“And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?…”), bringing in the “War is over if you want it” theme from past protests. John and Yoko used session musicians Nicky Hopkins on piano and Jim Keltner on drums, and brought in the Harlem Community Children’s Choir to add vocals to the chorus, all produced by Phil Spector. Following Lennon’s death in 1980, the track soared to iconic status and has been covered by dozens of other artists.

“A-Soalin’,” Peter Paul & Mary, 1964

PP&M did a nice little trick in 1963 when they took a traditional English folk song, added a new verse by Paul Stookey with Christmas references and part of the “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” melody, and voila! A Christmas song for their repertoire. It’s a simply stunning performance which appears on their “Peter Paul and Mary In Concert” double live album in 1964 when the trio seamlessly blended two acoustic guitars and their three voices. Lyrically, it sounds like it’s from some sort of soundtrack for a Charles Dickens tale. “A-Soalin'” is a variation on “A-Wassailing,” which is the practice of going door to door, singing a song and getting a small gift in return. These gifts were often fruit, candy or “soul-cakes” in memory of recently departed souls of family members. PP&M’s live recording in Paris in 1965 is on YouTube and should definitely be on your must-see holiday viewing list. https://youtu.be/nABowLcQlHc?si=62KmOGGuuz4K-rB7

“Song for a Winter’s Night,” Gordon Lightfoot, 1967

Not so much a Christmas song as a nod to wintertime, its subtle use of sleigh bells evokes fond memories of Christmases from the ’60s and ’70s, when I first heard it.  Ironically, Lightfoot wrote and recorded “Song For a Winter’s Night” on a hot summer night in Cleveland while .he was there on a US tour in 1967. He was missing his wife, and his thoughts turned to winter in Toronto where they had met years earlier. It appeared on his second album, “The Way I Feel,” and was then one of several songs Lightfoot re-recorded in 1975 when he assembled the tracks for his “Gord’s Gold” greatest hits collection, which is the one you’re hearing on my playlist.

“Christmas Song” and “Another Christmas Song,” Jethro Tull, 1969 and 1989

Of all the British rock artists of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, none has written and recorded as much Christmas-related material as Jethro Tull. Leader Ian Anderson is a self-confessed Yuletide romantic, and early in the group’s career, he wrote “Christmas Song,” which uses traditional imagery of “Royal David city” and cattle sheds, but also reprimands us about “stuffing yourselves at the Christmas parties” and reminds us that “the Christmas spirit is not what you drink.”  In the late ’80s, he wrote what amounts to a sequel, “Another Christmas Song,” which centers on a dying patrician who yearns for his estranged family to gather ’round one last time to celebrate the holidays. Both of these melodic, poignant tracks were re-recorded and included on “The Jethro Tull Christmas Album,” released in 2003.

“River,” Joni Mitchell, 1971

Deftly weaving in multiple musical phrases from “Jingle Bells” in both the introduction and the ending, Joni Mitchell created a marvelous piece that is regarded by many as a Christmas-related song, even though it’s actually more about the sorrowful breakup of a relationship she’d been having with Graham Nash.  Her Canadian roots are evident in the recurring line about how “I wish I had a river I could skate away on.”  Several of my close friends and family members share my fondness for this one, which appeared on her universally praised 1971 album “Blue.” I can’t fail to mention that my daughter Emily recorded a gorgeous cover of “River” several years ago with two musical colleagues, and it’s available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure: https://youtu.be/nk_kYn7x0yI?si=F0bsPg5EvWQ61n3v

“Merry Christmas Baby,” Elvis Presley, 1971

Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore came up with this beauty back in 1947, and dozens of versions have been recorded since then, from Bruce Springsteen to Otis Redding, from Melissa Etheridge to B.B. King.  I’m torn between Elvis’s smokin’ hot rendition from his 1971 Christmas album “Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas” and the sensual blues cover by Natalie Cole from her “Holly & Ivy” 1994 holiday collection. Pretty much any version of this song is worthy of inclusion on your holiday mix, but in the end, you gotta go with Elvis. It was recorded as an extended 8-minute jam but edited down to a still-robust 5:44 for the album.

“Pretty Paper,” Roy Orbison, 1963

In the late ’50s and early ’60s, Willie Nelson struggled mightily to find a major label to sign him as a recording artist. In the meantime, he wrote songs which sometimes were made into hits by other artists. Most famously, he wrote “Crazy” for Patsy Cline, “Funny How Time Slips Away” for Billy Walker and “Pretty Paper” for Roy Orbison. Nelson was inspired by a disabled man he knew in Texas who sold paper and pencils on the street corner to eke out a living, and Nelson turned it into a Christmas-themed song by singing about wrapping paper. Orbison turned it into a #15 hit in 1963, and then Nelson recorded it himself after he was signed to RCA the following year.

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Band Aid, 1984

This sobering holiday track was an amazing collaborative effort by the best of Britain’s pop scene at the time, including Sting, Phil Collins, Bono, the members of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, and Bob Geldof, who produced it and co-wrote it with Midge Ure.  Geldof and his wife had seen heartbreaking footage of the starvation in Ethiopia at that time and rallied their colleagues to put together this charity single, which not only raised needed funds but sparked “We Are the World” by USA for Africa and the Live Aid event in the summer of 1985. These and other efforts helped stem the tide of misery in that part of the world.  That’s what Christmas should be all about.

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