From BGS with Love: Non-Crappy Christmas Songs

Cynical though it may sound, a lot of holiday music is pretty crappy. Just turn on your local soft rock radio station and try withstanding the onslaught of ratings-boosting renditions of “Rudolph” that, these days, seem to begin sometime around Halloween. Save for “Feliz Navidad,” a couple of Carpenters’ tunes, and anything by Bing Crosby, it all pretty much sucks.

To the rescue we come with our exclusive playlist of Non-Crappy Christmas Songs.

We like this list because it has a little of everything: heartbreak, humor, sentiment, and sadness — plus a performance by one of the great folk artists of all time … Kermit the Frog. So, kick back and let Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash, Brandi Carlile and Burl Ives serenade your holidays.

For those of you who like your carols a little more on the country side of the street, the ginormous Ultimate Country Christmas Playlist we did last year rocks pretty steady.


Photo credit: ginnerobot via Foter.com / CC BY-SA

Bluegrass Cocktails: The Wayfaring Stranger

While countless artists have taken to recording their own renditions of this classic folk tune, only one has taken it as his namesake: Burl Ives, the prominent actor, banjoist, and, above all, folk and country singer. It was often you’d see the man with a pipe in his mouth, so we created a cocktail that evokes something similarly smokey (Scotch), rich (vermouth), and just a touch sweet (honey), with added complexity from the absinthe. A mournful spiritual calls for a more serious cocktail, and the Wayfaring Stranger is just that.

INGREDIENTS
2 oz Scotch (preferably something peaty like Laphroiag)
1 bar spoon honey
2 bar spoons sweet vermouth
2 dashes absinthe

DIRECTIONS
Add ingredients to rocks glass with ice and stir to combine. Garnish with lemon twist.