Christmas songs cover

Christmas Songs

( Rounder Records 2006 )
Part of the Christmas Songs Series

Compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, liner notes by Matthew Barton and Ellen Harold.

Songs of Christmas was recorded by Alan Lomax and several of his colleagues in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Southern U.S. and the Caribbean between 1950 to 1964. At the time, commercial forces were overwhelming local traditions, and many folk cultures stood on the brink of great upheavals that would forever alter their ways of life. Lomax always made a point of seeking out the music that epitomized the old Christmas spirit that was closest to his own heart. English Mummers, Italian bagpipes, lullabies, carols, and stories express the unquenchable fun, faith, and good times of Christmas and the immemorial good-luck rituals of the New Year. With Bob & Ron Copper, Ewan MacColl, Seamus Ennis, Vera Ward Hall, the Alabama Sacred Harp singers, the Georgia Sea Island Singers, the Putipu Band of Capri, Norman Edmonds, the Symondsbury Mummers and many, many more. Containing 31 tracks in all, the album comes with extensive liner notes and photographs and complete song and dialect translations from the Spanish, Italian, Latin and Irish.

  1. Entrance of Father Christmas — Symondsbury Mummer's play
  2. The Twelve Days of Christmas — Bob And Ron Copper
  3. Christmas Rhyme — Ewan MacColl
  4. The Motion Tune — Red Ants
  5. Mari Lywd Ceremony — David Thomas & party
  6. Midwinter Horn Solo — Unknown Dutch player
  7. Aguinaldo — Valencia, Spain buskers, Antonio Riurtos, Jose Arrandia, Jose Caldez, Juan Martoell
  8. Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle — Caggiano pipers
  9. A Warm Drink for the Baby — Seamus Ennis
  10. Taladh An Leinibh Losa (Christ Child Lullaby) — Scottish Crofter group
  11. No Room At the Inn / Last Month of the Year — Vera Ward Hall
  12. Venite Adoremus — Unidentified priest, Abruzzi, Italy
  13. Tan Tan — Manuela Morena
  14. Shepherds Arise — Bob And Ron Copper
  15. La Fils Du Roi De Gloire — Trinidadian Cantique singers
  16. Sherburne — Sacred Harp Singers
  17. Caramiles — Local Group, Ibiza, Spain
  18. Exit Tune From Midnight Mass — Local Group, Ibiza, Spain
  19. Las Doce Por La Virgen — Julio Ramos Polo
  20. Rumanian Midwinter Carol — Local Group, Hunedoara, Rumania
  21. Singing the Travels — Tom Eveleigh
  22. The Gower Wassail Song — Charlie Bate
  23. Mari Lywd Description & Farewell Verse — Margaretta Thomas
  24. Walk Billy Abbot — The Georgia Sea Island Singers
  25. O Day — The Georgia Sea Island Singers
  26. Conch Shell Horn On New Year's Eve in Positano, Italy — Anonymous
  27. New Year's Day Tarantella — Putipu Band of Capri
  28. Capo D' Anno — Ponte Langarino group
  29. Bon Nouvelle — Trinidadian Cantique singers
  30. Breaking Up Christmas — Norma Edmonds
  31. Conclusion of Symondsbury Mummer's Play — Symondsbury Mummer's play