It's hard to imagine a ukelele-based Christmas album being anything but fun. Ballard C. Boyd seems to be hell-bent on proving that theory, as he has been releasing a ukelele-based Christmas album every year since 2005. I only discovered his music within the last week or so, after his latest album, Yule Kulele, was released; fortunately, the other 4 albums are also still available, so if this sounds like something you'd be even remotely interested in, you can head over to his website and download all 5 albums right now.
There are many obscure Christmas songs covered on these albums that I had never heard before, as well as more familiar songs like "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow", "The Christmas Song", and "Holly Jolly Christmas" (always a favourite of mine because of its inclusion in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, my favourite Christmas movie). There are also a few original songs on most of the albums (all except the first), and Boyd even puts his own spin on some old favourites such as "The 12 Days of Christmas", which is updated as "The 25 Days of Christmas". There are even a few "hidden tracks", including a cover of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" and a mashup of Steve Miller's "The Joker" with Weezer's "Undone - The Sweater Song". One of my favourite songs turned out to be a cover of Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas from the Family", which I had never heard before - the line "Little sister brought her new boyfriend, he was a Mexican. We didn't know what to think of him until he sang 'Feliz Navidad'" had me cracking up laughing as I listened to it.
Ballard C. Boyd's ukelele Christmas albums are definitely not the most traditional Christmas albums you will ever hear, but they will almost certainly be among the most fun. You can download the MP3 files separately or grab a zip file for each album right here. Happy listening!
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