Charles Brown & Bill Doggett - Please Come Home For Christmas (1978/1988)

Charles Brown's Please Come Home for Christmas is by far the lesser known of his two holiday recordings (the better known is Cool Christmas Blues). Please Come Home predates Cool Christmas and offers a sweet, blues-drenched step back in time to when R&B had not yet crossed over to the mainstream. Brown and his capable band turn on the holiday lights with a bevy of songs showcasing his smoky, lonely-avenue vocals, smart jazzlike phrasing, and minimal-but-tasty blues keyboard work. The effects are intoxicating, if only slightly interrupted by Bill Doggett's big organ interpretations of various classics. Still, it's hard to resist an album that features the original title track, plus such gems as "Christmas in Heaven, "Christmas Blues," and "Merry Christmas Baby." A rich set no music fan should be without. Highly recommended. --Martin Keller