VA - A Rootin’ Tootin’ Santa: A Hillbilly Christmas (2017)

Christmas music rarely appeared on phonograph records until the late 1940s, and most of what did appear was aimed squarely at the mainstream pop market. In fact, Christmas recordings by country artists were virtually non-existent in the pre-war years. This collection of 30 hillbilly Christmas records gathers together some mighty rare recorded material, to say the least.
A 1940 DECCA record by Roy Rogers of Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful, may be the first example of country Christmas vocalizing. Although microgroove LPs, introduced in 1948, allowed labels to assemble thematic Christmas albums by their popular artists, country music fans were slow to embrace the LP or even 45 rpm singles. In fact, American labels released only four country Christmas albums between 1949 and 1955.
This collection offers a generous sampling (over 75 mins.) of vintage and often quite obscure country singles. To gather these tracks on your own would require months, if not years, of yard-sale digging or investing a small fortune on comprehensive box sets devoted to individual artists. The performers here range from the famous (Ernest Tubb, George Jones, Bob Wills) to the obscure (Jimmy Heap, Billy Briggs, Eddie Cletro). To find 30 such tracks from country music’s golden era in one place is a Christmas gift worthy of the serious record collector, and the devoted country music fan.