"Happy Xmas", by Eric Clapton (album)

(2018, Surfdog / Polydor)

This is Eric Clapton’s first and only Christmas-themed studio album; the question then emerges, why this album, and why now? But let’s discuss that later. For now, let’s take a look at the album.

Produced by long-standing partner Simon Climie, together with Clapton himself, the album features a number of “usual players” – i.e. musicians with whom EC has worked and toured many times, and for many years now; these include Doyle Bramhall Jr. on guitar, Nathan East on bass etc. The album also features (on some of the tracks) a choir (backing vocals - by Metro Voices) and a string orchestra (I am not sure whom they contracted for that). Furthermore, it seems that Eric Clapton’s two young daughters also contributed their voices on some of the tracks (maybe on Jingle Bells?).

Since we talked about the presence of a string orchestra, and about Simon Climie, I would note that, at least at times, the album does hearken back (for me at least) to (one of my favorite albums) Pilgrim (1998). But since we are on the topic of style, let’s talk a bit about the overall style of the album at hand. From what I understand, Clapton’s main goal was to take certain songs - standards, i.e. Christmas, jazz, or blues standards - and to inject them with a bluesy inflection (if they did not possess that already, that is); in other words, a bluesy take on more-or-less standards, which is aimed overall (one would assume) at the general public. Indeed, that is - in general – what happens on this album.

As a whole, the album is a pleasant and enjoyable listen. At the same time, what stands out most for me is how it reflects both the wide and open horizons of Clapton’s musical interests and tastes, as well as his overall musical versatility.

Let’s look then at the particular styles "represented" on this album, remembering nonetheless that as a whole the album is indeed unified by that bluesy inflection we mentioned, and that it is (most probably) aimed for general consumption.

Broadly speaking (and categorizing), one groups of songs is represented by what could be called Christmas standards with that bluesy tinge. This group includes actual seasonal standards, such as Away in a Manger, White Christmas, or Silent Night, as well as a song by William Bell and Booker T. Jones, Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday. The latter is also one of the most sing-able songs on the album, with a very catchy refrain.

On the other hand, Silent Night is for me the least satisfying song on the album (maybe together with Jingle Bells, discussed below) –  mostly because in my view this song requires, by its very nature, a light-yet-solemn, dulcet and meditative, dare I say pious approach - and most often a choir, to achieve that. Instead, we have here a steadily-paced version, with a band and backing vocals, over which Clapton ad-libs “Silent night... etc.”. It is still light, and sweet in its own way, but overall it sounds too common, and much less interesting than it could have been (and, as mentioned, less true to the nature of the tune, as I see it).

The second category of songs could be called perhaps mainstream blues-pop. This group includes For Love on Christmas Day, composed by Clapton (with Climie and Dennis Morgan); the feel and lyrics of this song (“dying a little more each day / dying for love on Christmas day”) send us back to the melancholy-blue love songs of the album Pilgrim. A lovely piece, which is also the only original, Clapton-authored song on this particular album.  

I would include in this same group two tracks that are both covers of songs written, published and sung originally by Anthony Hamilton (and that appeared on Hamilton’s 2014 Christmas album) – namely, Home for the Holidays, and It’s Christmas. Interesting choice to remake songs that have been published so recently – but another indicator of how attuned and attentive Clapton is to contemporary music and musicianship, and to younger artists. And these are well-written songs which, one must say, are better produced and sound better on EC's album, than on the original. The style of these songs is closer to contemporary R&B and soul, and reminds me of Clapton’s collaborations with Babyface in the 90s (pointing out, again, at his openness toward this genre of music - soul - as well). Home for the Holidays is also one of the catchiest songs of the album - and the one that will imprint immediately, from the first listen.

The third group of songs leans more toward a pure, raw blues feel. This includes Christmas Tears (by Sonny Thompson and R.C. Wilson), which reminds me a bit of Clapton’s mid-to-late 80s discography – especially of his live albums. It is an enjoyable electric blues piece, which I would happily listen to at a bar. Merry Christmas Baby is, of course, a classic rhythm and blues song (by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore) - a standard within its genre, which gets here a very bluesy approach, with a distort guitar etc. But perhaps the most “bluesy” song on the album is Lonesome Christmas (from Lloyd Glenn and Lowell Fulson, exponents of the West Coast blues), which is also the most “acoustic”-sounding piece on the album. Another thing that stands out about this song is its piano-intensive instrumentation, (which I greatly enjoyed); this might be explained by the fact that it was arranged by, and features at the piano, well-known Tulsa blues pianist, Walt Richmond (now aged 72).

Another category of songs, which I’d call EDM (yes, electronic dance music!), contains only one entry, namely Jingle Bells. Jingle Bells is probably one of the most challenging songs for a musician - namely, in terms of how it can be made “new and interesting” again. This is why an EDM approach could be just what the doctor ordered; I mean – go wild, if anything! Unfortunately, this dance version is much too tame, and somewhat blandly repetitive. Yes, EDM songs are repetitive in themselves, as genre - being made of programmed beats and chords, and their repetition (broadly speaking); however, this is exactly why all EDM songs are also spiced up by certain rhythm accelerations and drum swells that create a sort of "musical peaks", and that provide them with that exciting "plus factor".

What this version does have as a special feature is the presence (sampled? actual contributors? producers?) of African artists Salif Keita and Mafila Kante. But don’t be fooled – it is not as exciting as it sounds; it’s just that they provide certain African inflections and hooks. Another interesting aspect of the track - although not related to its musical features - is that the song is dedicated to the EDM artist Avicii, who died in 2018.

Overall, and nonetheless, this song does witness to what I was discussing earlier – namely, Clapton’s wide-open interests and wildly diverse (in the best sense) musical endeavors. (I have to mention here the entire album (!) of EDM (or electronic) music that Clapton seemingly published, under a pseudonym (and I guess working again with Climie), sometimes in the 90s or early 2000s; album that I could never find, or find more about, but which I would very much like to have and to hear.)

Another group of songs could be called jazz standards – not in the sense that all these songs are themselves so well known, as to be called "standards;" but because of their “style” - of “standard classical jazz”. Both songs (as well as one included in the “bonus tracks” category below) remind me especially of the Folks Who Live on the Hill track from the Old Sock album. (Unsurprisingly, because that song - "Folks..." - is in fact a jazz standard from Oscar Hammerstein II.) Again an indicator of the EC’s wide range of interests, musically.

This choice of genre also confirms for me a certain image of Clapton, today; that of the country (rural) gentleman, living out his life, at a settled pace, in Surrey, UK. I find this image (which I think is accurate) very comforting and reassuring.

From this album, I would include in this "jazz standards" group the not very Christmas-oriented, but overall holiday-fitting love song, Sentimental Moments (yes, that famous song, by film composer Friedrich Holländer). The other song in this category would be Christmas In My Hometown, which is a cover of a song by classic country artist Sonny James; but which, with the steady, settled pace of the version on this album, fits this “Jack and Jill, the folks who live on a hill” category.

A category perhaps closely related to the above-discussed jazz standards, and including only one song from this album, could be called orchestral pop, represented here by an arrangement of the standard Have Yourself aMerry Little Christmas. In fact, in this arrangement I could easily see it on a movie's soundtrack, perhaps over the final credits of a romantic comedy.

Finally there are – or there aren’t – two bonus tracks. There aren’t, because the US version of the album does not contain them, but they can be found on the European version, and also online. As usually with bonus (unlisted) tracks, less resources were spent on producing them, which means that they are less studio-polished, which – however - can confer them a certain directness and “realness” that is attractive. The first one, ALittle Bit of Christmas Love, is a “Christmas adaptation,” lyrics-wise, of a very upbeat and enjoyable hit by Roscoe Gordon. The second song would be a good fit (as mentioned above) in the "jazz standards" category (if I wouldn’t have included it in this “bonus tracks” category). I am talking about You Always Hurt the One You Love, which is a most enjoyable and pleasant song, originally from Allan Roberts and Doris Fischer.

This being the musical content of the Happy Xmas album (and what a British title!), the question arises, again – why this album? and why now? Was it released because Clapton had something specific to say? or was it because he is bound by contract to release a certain number of albums within a certain number of years (as it often happens); or is it because he wants to release albums periodically, just as such? or was it just a tool to make money? Or is it perhaps a combination of all these reasons and factors? After all, Christmas albums are in general a surefire way to sell albums!

The thing is, I am not really interested in the answer to this question. Moreover, I find frowning over work that an artist produces “in order to live” terribly hypocritical – raising expectations from artists that we ourselves do not meet, in our own professional lives and choices. 

Why would the artist have to starve (I am not talking about EC here - but in general), especially given today’s starvation-prone artistic climate? I am talking here about the overall situation in which real musicians find themselves nowadays, with so few venues and outlets, and so little exposure available. (This, of course, is not applicable to the handful of mass-produced and industrially-promoted pop superstars. No, I am talking about real artists - blues, jazz, classical musicians.) 

Such a dismissive attitude also betrays a deep lack of understanding of the condition in which artists have always found themselves, in fact throughout history (and I am not referring only to musicians). Underlying an artist’s creative peaks and extraordinary achievements (if any) is and was the daily struggle to make a living – to find clients interested in paying for the (always expensive) artistic endeavor, and to obtain a daily source of income. This was true for Michelangelo (and the arduous fight and trials related to obtaining and maintaining the costly commissions, that had to support him for decades, and that allowed for the production of one or two of the masterpieces that we know today), as well as for Haydn (Count Esterhazy’s court musician!): for Mozart, as well as for all those musicians that you hear playing night after night at the Memphis or Nashville bars (some of the few fora actually available nowadays for earning that daily bread). There is a certain romantic view of artists as starving bohemians on the banks of the Seine – which might have been true of the Impressionists, but is not a status that any of us aims for personally – well, not for the duration. In short, the “journeyman” quality of the life of the artist is also part of that specific artistic condition (Journeyman is, by the way, an Clapton album from the 80s). This is why - to make a long story short – I am not tremendously interested, right now, in the question of “why” he made this album.

Although it does remain true... that we inherently expect from music and from art to be “true”; yes, I do expect that, as well. And music that has something to say, through which the artist intends to communicate something personal and genuine, will always occupy an elevated place, and will remain with the listener, long after the album was played - and for years to come. This closeness of art, as a means of human expression, to truth – our desire for that – remain. But, at the same time, to ignore – as said – the “journeyman” dimension of the life of the artist, comes across as both ignorant and arrogant. So let us leave it at that.

What interests me here, in this case, of Clapton’s Happy Xmas album, is (1) that this is an enjoyable album; that (2), if not filled with memorable pieces, it has a few that one listens to, over and over, with pleasure (e.g. Home for the Holidays etc.); and (3), how it reflects Clapton’s musical versatility and multifariousness (which is an aspect of him that I greatly enjoy).

Finally - and as an afterthought, almost - I do appreciate that this album contains both purely "secular" songs (i.e. holiday- and love-themed), and songs that do express and make reference to the “Christ” dimension of Christmas. This aspect is also reflective of a certain wisdom, earthly and spiritual, which I think Clapton has accumulated - and is now living on, in his settled, calm family life, in Surrey. And I like that, as it is not often that one finds (even earthly) wisdom in the realms of stardom (to the contrary, more often than not what one finds behind the glittering doors of fame is misery and tragedy). So it is somehow comforting to find – as I think it is the case – someone who has survived the turmoil and tragedies of the life in the limelight (and EC’s life has had its significant share of these), and was able to settle in a wiser, better life, while remaining an artist.

With such (perhaps) comforting thoughts, a Happy Xmas to all!