Having had a quieter day yesterday I thought I’d get a bit livelier again today. Two of these are favourites of mine that I’ve shared before, the other is new here, though not a new song. Together they kind of tell a story.

The first one, which I’ve shared several times before, is from one of my favourite artists. I never tire of seeing this, even though the performance dates back more than thirty years:

You may recall that the Bob Seger version of Little Drummer Boy I posted the other day was recorded for the album A Very Special Christmas, which was released in 1987 to raise money for the Special Olympics – the first of nine such albums to date. This was also recorded for that album, but has never been a hit in its own right. This performance is typically boisterous and is made for me by the show-stealing role played by John’s three year old daughter Teddi. She will be in her mid thirties now, but I hope she still gets pleasure from seeing how adorable she was back then. The ‘proud Dad’ look on his face says it all.

Today’s second choice is the one which is new for me. As if in response to the previous one:

Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy was written by Buck Owens and first released by him in 1965. It reached #2 in Billboard’s Christmas Songs chart that year. It was also recorded by Garth Brooks in 1992: after a very slow burn his version eventually reached #56 in the US Country chart in January 1998. There have been several other covers, mostly by country bands. Brad Paisley recorded in for his 2006 album Brad Paisley Christmas, and the song peaked at #49 on the US Country chart in January 2007. The album got to #47 in the main US albums chart, and also made #8 in the Country albums, and #2 in the Holiday albums listings. This video is from a performance earlier this month in the Rockefeller Centre in New York: the crowd seemed to be having fun, even though they all appear to have left their masks at home.

If those first two songs have you feeling doubtful about the reality of Santa, my final one for today should clear up any doubt. I shared it last year too, but as this video is utterly bonkers I couldn’t resist playing it again:

Must Be Santa was written in 1960 by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks, and first released by Mitch Miller in November of that year, though I can’t find a record of any chart placing for it. His version was included on his 1961 album Holiday Sing Along With Mitch, which topped the US albums chart. A cover version by Tommy Steele made #40 in the UK singles chart in November 1961. But perhaps the most unlikely thing is that Bob Dylan made a Christmas album: it was called Christmas In The Heart and was released in 2009, a mixture of carols and traditional favourites. This track featured on the album: the tune is based on a German drinking song, with a call and response treatment, and I think Bob did justice to that with this crazy video and the accordion band. It’s good to see him having so much fun, too. His royalties from the album have all been donated to charities that provide food programmes, especially at Christmas. The album reached #40 in the UK albums chart, and got to #23 in the main US albums chart, whilst also reaching #1 on Billboard’s Holiday and Folk listings, and #9 on their Rock albums chart.

That’s it for the music. I’m leaving you today with an image that may help clear up the mystery posed in the songs. Or it may not:

See you again tomorrow 🎅