With production as crystalline as a snowflake, harmonies as
sweet as candy canes, and an image as squeaky clean as Tiny Tim’s, Motown was
the secular label most suited toward churning out Christmas discs. And that is
just what they did during their hey day: The Supremes’ Merry Christmas in 1965, Stevie Wonder’s Someday at Christmas in 1967, and a trio of them by The
Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and the Jackson 5’s stocking
stuffers in 1970. Each record brought something a bit different to the
Christmas table. The Temps brought their usual professionalism and consistency.
Stevie brought original composition, and in the case of his title track, a sharp
point of view. The Supremes brought traditionalism in terms of their orchestral
arrangements. The Miracles brought a surprising sense of experimentation. Of
course, considering their age, The Jackson 5 were best suited to singing about
every kid’s fave holiday, and their take on the holiday was the most correct ... and the funkiest.
In 1973, the cream of these discs was ladled onto the
double-LP comp A Motown Christmas.
Not everything here works. The Miracles’ medley of “Deck the Halls” and an
oddball spiritual called “Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella” is pretty
insufferable, and their lurching arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
is too. Stevie Wonder interprets “Ave Maria”—one of the most exquisite pieces
of music every conceived—gorgeously until the absurdly kitsch decision to
wheeze a verse on his harmonica. And Motown’s quality control department
clearly guzzled too much spiked eggnog when they hired the choir of tone-deaf
kids who caterwaul the awful “Children’s Christmas Song” with The Supremes
awfully.
So you may find yourself lifting the needle a bit when
spinning UMe’s new vinyl reissue of A
Motown Christmas this December 25th lest your guests head for
the door before forking over the gifts. Yet, you’ll still want to spin it for
the consistently excellent selections from The Jackson 5 and The Temptations
(their version of “Silent Night” is the only version of “Silent Night” that
doesn’t make me barf), Stevie Wonder’s superb original compositions “Someday at
Christmas” and “What Christmas Means to Me”, and (“Children’s Christmas Song” notwithstanding) a selection of the best
cuts from The Supremes’ mostly dodgy Merry
Christmas.
