Rock 'n Roll Christmas, Dion (The Right Stuff)

One of those semi-misleading entries in holiday lore, Dion did not record this back in his heyday with the Belmonts, but in 1993. The approach, though, is not unlike his great hits of the doo-wop era, an interesting choice on his part when you consider his mid-career transformations from group singing star to folkie ("Abraham, Martin and John") bluesman and even Christian popster. On this, he takes the rock band approach, although the overall sound is just a degree more mellow than it should be. Dion picks up a little Spector on the way, covering "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," doing that version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and even going spoken word in the middle of his "Silent Night." Not surprising; Spector produced an album for him in the mid-70s. The doo-wop "Jingle Bell Rock" is worth the whole album, and he puts a little Cajun into "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." He also pays his respects to Charles Brown with "Please Come Home for Christmas" and an uptempo "Merry Christmas Baby," not to mention his album opener "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" having that "Wanderer" feel. There are a lot of classic rock acts doing Christmas albums nowadays, but this album actually is classic rock.