CD Preview: Los Straitjackets’ Complete Christmas Songbook

Nashville’s Los Straitjackets are everybody’s favorite Mexican wrestler mask-clad instrumental surf-rock band, hands down! The band has been on tour recently with British rock legend Nick Lowe as part of his “Quality Rock & Roll Revue,” but they’ve somehow found the time to compile a new album for the upcoming holidays.

On October 19th, 2018 Yep Roc Records will release Los Straitjackets’ Complete Christmas Songbook on CD and digitally; a vinyl version will follow on December 7th, which isn’t too late to add to your favorite fan’s Christmas list. Through the years, Los Straitjackets have released various Christmas albums and singles to near universal acclaim.

Los Straitjackets’ Complete Christmas Songbook includes the entirety of two previous LPs (2002’s ‘Tis the Season for Los Straitjackets and 2009’s limited-edition Yuletide Beat) as well as limited-edition singles, a song from Yep Roc’s Oh Santa! compilation disc, and a live performance of “Linus & Lucy” from the Straitjackets’ 2015 tour with Lowe. The album is now available for pre-order from Yep Roc and includes a six-ornament bundle that features each of the five band members’ masks on an ornament, and a sixth tree-hanger in the shape of a guitar. Check out the complete tracklisting below and either order the set directly from Yep Roc Records or head over to Amazon.com.

Los Straitjackets’ Complete Christmas Songbook tracklist:

1. Here Comes Santa Claus
2. It’s a Marshmallow World
3. Feliz Navidad
4. Jingle Bell Rock
5. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
7. Frosty the Snowman
8. Christmas in Las Vegas
9. Let It Snow
10. Sleigh Ride
11. Christmas Weekend
12. Little Drummer Boy
13. The Christmas Song
14. Deck the Halls
15. We Three Kings
16. Que Verdes Son
17. O Come All Ye Faithful
18. Groovy Old Saint Nick
19. Silent Night Rock
20. Joy to the World
21. Close to Christmas (The First Noel)
22. Jingle Bells
23. Soul’d Lang Syne
24. Holiday Twist
25. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
26. Silver Bells
27. Linus & Lucy

Kenny Neal Celebrates a ‘Blue’ Christmas

Cleopatra Records moved further into the blues field with the November 6th, 2015 release of the talented blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kenny Neal’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas album. Neal, a New Orleans native, is a Blues Music Award winner, multiple Grammy® Award nominee, and Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee.

The son of Louisiana music legend Raful Neal, Kenny has forged a career entirely on his own talents over the past 30 years, the multi-instrumentalist creating a legacy of his own with acclaimed albums like 2008’s Let Life Flow and 2010’s Hooked On Your Love. Neal’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas is the bluesman’s first foray into holiday music, the album mixing soulful takes on traditional and modern Christmas songs, all delivered with no little soul and plenty of Louisiana flavor. If you’re looking for something to mix a little ‘blues’ into your holiday reds and greens, check out Kenny Neal’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas!

I’ll Be Home For Christmas track list:
1. Christmas Comes Once A Year
2. Silver Bells
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Merry Little Christmas
5. Please Come Home For Christmas
6. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
7. Merry Christmas Baby #2
8. Lonesome Christmas
9. Merry Christmas Baby #1
10. O Come All Ye Faithful
11. Silent Night

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Kenny Neal's I'll Be Home For Christmas