...Merry Christmas: Let your heart be LIGHT...

"HE5: White Christmas"

...Christmas photo...

...MerryChristmas!!!HappyNewYear...

God is Present!!!

...A Mix Of BlackForrestry: Merry Christmas Party 2011...

Hey guys, sorry that it's been so long since my last post...time has been pretty scarce for me when it pertains to the blog. In fact, I was hoping to get this up a little sooner, so you could listen to it for a little longer, but I guess better late than never is true in this case. I hope that you get several chances to play this before the big day and that it helps to cheer your season. Merry Christmas!!!! (put this mix on and throw a party!!!!)(push play under the picture to stream the mix or find the mediafire link in the comments to download the whole thing broken up)

"A Mix of BlackForrestry:Merry Christmas Party 2011:single track"

01 Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas 0:32

02 The Stridells- I Remember Christmas 2:38

03 The Meditation Singers- What The World Wants For Christmas 3:02

04 Count Sidney And His Dukes- Soul Christmas 2:12

05 The Galaxies- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer 2:29

06 Santo And Johnny- Twistin' Bells 2:10

07 Blues Magoos- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 1:19

08 Chuck Berry- Merry Christmas Baby 3:09

09 Booker T & The MGs- We Wish You A Merry Christmas 2:15

10 The Gems- Love For Christmas 2:31

11 The Playboys- Night Before Christmas 2:34

12 The Flirtations- Christmas Time Is Here Again 3:29

13 Ronnie Cole Trio- Winter Wonderland 2:14

14 The Baskerville Hounds- Christmas Is Here 3:44

15 Tommy Wills- What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? 1:04

16 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles- I'll Be Home For Christmas 2:17

17 The Gaylads- We Three Kings 3:05

18 The Emotion- Black Christmas Instrumental 2:31

19 Paul Revere & The Raiders- Christmas Spirit 1:57

20 The Galaxies- Christmas Eve 4:01

21 The Salem Travelers- Merry Christmas To You 2:55

22 Mother Waddles- Interlude 1:05

23 Duke Ellington- Sugar Rum Cherry 2:45

24 Soulful Strings- Jingle Bells 2:52

25 The Staple Singers- Silent Night 2:08

26 Freddie King- Christmas Tears 2:36

27 The Galaxies- Please Come Home For Christmas 2:59

28 Ray Charles- Christmas Time 4:16

29 Booker T & The MGs- Blue Christmas 3:13

A Post-Christmas Poem

Not mine but a good one.



Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on the slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: Were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their god.
I should be glad of another death.

Christmas Snippets

a tip of the hat to a few of my Christmas favorites:

When Christmas Comes Around

a late entry.

real happy about the way

this one came together.

hope you feel the same.

enjoy.

When Christmas Comes Around - Be Thine Mountain

{)Country Christmas(}{)A Mixtape(}

been savin' the best fur last folks. this here's ma last Christmas mix of the season. it's a blend of classic bluegrass, country & western. i've derived much joy during the collecting & patching together of this collection. there's something here for everybody, ranging from songs that celebrate the Savior to songs about the broken-hearted Christmas blues. there are songs of Christmas on the range, Christmas in the country, Christmas in the mountains, and there's even one about being in a Christmas tree delivery truck. some of these songs go way back with recordings that span several generations up to the present date. for me personally, they produce a genuinely warm feeling as i think of the intimacy of this ongoing celebration that mainly happens within the context of family. there's something about the country inflection, the tone of the songs, the vulnerability and playfulness of the lyrics that has a way of casting my memories back to childhood. I pray it'll do the same for you & yours. A special thanks to Josh for providing his talents to the album artwork displayed above as well as all the blogs out there who are kickin' out the crackly goodness. Merry Christmas everybody ~ Doug

Blue Christmas - Leon Huff
Christmas Angel - Stompin' Tom Connors
Christmas Is Near - The Stanley Brothers
Old Timey Christmas - Merle Lindsay & The Oklahoma Night Riders
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks - The Louvin Brothers
Footprints In The Snow - Jack Guthrie
When It's Christmas On The Range - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Santa & The Kids - Charley Pride
You're The Angel On My Christmas Tree - Faron Young
Lonely Christmas - Ferlin Husky
Christmas With You - Johnny Cash & June Carter
Winter Wonderland - Willie Nelson
Here At Christmas - Be Thine Mountain
Hanukkah Dance - Woody Guthrie
Baby, It's Cold Outside - Homer & Jethro with June Carter
Christmas Is Just Another Day For Me - Ernest Tubb
Blue Christmas Lights - Buck Owens
Old-Fashion Christmas - Jimmy Martin
If Santa Claus Could Bring You Back To Me - Jimmy Wakely
Silent Night - Wilf Carter
A Cowboy's Christmas Song - Leon McAuliffe And His Western Swing Band
White Christmas - Kitty Wells
(Merry Christmas) We Must Be Having One - Tammy Wynette
Be My Valentine On Christmas - Glenna Bell
Country Christmas - Loretta Lynn

Christmas Time's A-Comin' - Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys

Gonna Wrap My Heart In Christmas - Hank Thompson & The Brazos Valley Boys
Truckin' Trees For Christmas - Red Simpson
Jingle Bells - Bill Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers
Merry Christmas To All - Al Dexter & His Troopers

^^^^^MERRY^^MOUNTAIN^^^^^

via !!crescere!!, Be Thine Mountain would like to wish you a Merry Christmas. Ben & I wrote and recorded the following song last night and would like to gift it to you. it's a little rough around the edges, but it's wrapped in love. look for a second appearance of this number on an upcoming country mix of the classic sort. peace & joy ~ B.T.M.


Here At Christmas - Be Thine Mountain

...Holiday artwork- Advent #3...

Here are two more cards that I created in years past. We're almost down to the final week. During this season, I hope that you're feeling excitement rather than stress; joy instead of anxiety. BlesSINGs to you and yours!!!

<(*)>lights on a house<(*)>

last year this time, my good friend ben nester (one half of be thine mountain) gifted friends & family with a homemade christmas ep. he's given me permission to put it up here for all ears to hear. it consists of two traditionals & two originals. you can tell which one i favor by the title of this post. keep your eyes peeled for volume two.

oh come, oh come - b. nester
more christmastime - b. nester
silent night - b. nester
lights on a house - b. nester

...A Mix of BlackForrestry: Christmas Time Is Coming To Town...

Here's my contribution to the stream of Christmas mixes that are flooding the blog. I wasn't going to post a mix, but I received an offer from Ryan "The Coolest Cat Around" Portnoy to participate in a "good-old-fashioned mixtape swap". So, I figured that I would post the results here for you guys to enjoy as well. If you are unfamiliar with the ever-coolness of the Portnoys, check out some of their projects at http://kellanstudios.com/.
This past year and a half, I have fallen in love with soul, gospel, and garage music, so it is appropriate that the music of this mix reflects that. These tunes are the ones that have been bringing a special amount of merriment to my holiday preparations. Hopefully, it will do the same for you.

"A Mix of BlackForrestry: Christmas Time Is Coming To Town"

01 The Beatles- Christmas message 1969 (excerpt)

02 The Sonics- Santa Claus

03 The Vel-Mars- Jingle Bells

04 Elvis Presley- Santa Claus Is Back In Town

05 Otis Redding- White Christmas

06 The Ronettes- Frosty The Snowman

07 The Supremes- Silver Bells

08 Darlene Love- Marshmallow World

09 Honey & The Bees- Jing Jing A Ling

10 Carla Thomas- Gee Whiz It's Christmas

11 Booker T & The MGs- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

12 The Temptations- Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

13 Harvey Averne Band- Let's Get It Together This Christmas

14 Wild Honey- Angel's Christmas

15 The Funk Brothers- Winter Wonderland

16 The Poets- Merry Christmas, Baby

17 Smokey Robinson- Deck The Halls

18 Betty Lloyd- Snowflakes

19 Desmond Dekker & The Aces- Christmas Day

20 The Shurfine Singers- Silent Night & The 11 O'Clock News

21 Rotary Connection- Christmas Child

22 Zebra- Christmas Morning (Sean Bonniwell Re-edit)

23 Gene Toone- Baby Boy

24 Manhattans- It's That Time Of Year

25 Bill Withers- Gift Of Giving

26 Don Mason- Here's Wishing You A Merry Christmas

27 The Galaxies- The Christmas Song

--------------------------------------------

You can download the mix broken up as tracks with this link

http://www.mediafire.com/?8jj9425f6e51w7g

Please let me know if the tracks download out of order or there are any other issues when downloading.

WE FREE KINGS

some Christmas jAZZ for your listening pleasure. this was a tough mix to make. to my personal dismay, there appears to be very little material to work with in the avant garde department, though i'll never give up the search. however, this is excellent jazz throughout with a heavy dose of the Christmas Spirit, including a few tracks that really push the envelope. if you listen to nothing else, please hear roland kirk's (cool lookin' cat on the cover) interpretation of we three kings. a yuletide gem to rival coltrane's greensleeves (also included).
Merry Christmas

silent night, holy night - i heart lung
winter wonderland - sonny rollins
we free kings - roland kirk
variations on a Christmas theme - the modern jazz quartet
God rest ye merry gentlemen - oscar peterson
have yourself a merry little Christmas - dexter gordon quartet
what child is this? - vince guaraldi
chipmunk Christmas - john scofield
santa claus is coming to town - jimmy smith
sleighride (aka midnight sleighride) - sauter-finegan & their orchestra
little drummer boy - jazzcode
do you hear what i hear? - jack brokensha quartet
we three kings of orient are - wynton marsalis septet
greensleeves - john coltrane
white Christmas - charlie parker
hymn for st. john of shanghai - create (!)

{)Christmas Eve(}{)A Mixtape(}

this is christmas eve, one half of a two disc christmas mix i made for some close friends in 2008, though i've made a few revisions for the sake of improvement. this was the mellow half. the other half, entitled christmas morn', was more on the peppy side. perhaps i'll put it up next year. this will be the first of three christmas mixes that i intend to put up between now and somewhere's around the 20th. there are some really wonderful renditions of the classics here, as well as some fine originals. merry christmas. doug

carol of bells - i heart lungs
joy to the world - clem snide
holy night - a perfect friend
o come, o come emmanuel - belle & sebastian
only at christmas time - sufjan stevens
the little drummer boy -vandaveer
lo, how a rose e're blooming - feist
christmas (baby, please come home) - arab strap
in the bleak midwinter - dan zimmerman
silent night - richard hawley
blue christmas - the perishers
the first noel - benji cossa
wrap me up - the sad cobras & the magic twig family
christmas time is here again (bring out the joy!) - my morning jacket
we're going to the country - sufjan stevens
christmas eve, driving home - frontier ruckus
don't be scared, there is a savior - joel pickell
shenandoah - le loup
the choir at your door - the choir at your door
last christmas - erland oye
if you were born today - low
o little town of bethlehem - the innocence mission
white christmas - snow den
it came upon a midnight clear - laura gibson
jingle bells - julian koster