Merry Christmas From Jackie Wilson, Jackie Wilson (Brunswick)

One of the greats in rock music history, Jackie's Christmas album from 1963 unfortunately is an aberration in his sterling track record of soulful hits. I don't know whether this is because some producer or record executive thought they were doing him a favor by getting him to record such a MOR album, or whether Jackie himself wasn't up to rocking the season. Nevertheless, we are faced with a dozen Christmas standards done in arrangements that would have better suited Andy Williams or Perry Como. Jackie does inject some of his personal style into the vocals, so fans can't miss him, but this doesn't rock out in any meaningful fashion. The original vinyl is probably highly collectible, and for that matter Rhino's 1991 CD reissue (shown above) probably is too, as neither are in print. But there's a reissue of this out on Brunswick with the original cover art.