8 Must-Have Classic Country Christmas Albums

Lori Acken November 7, 9:00 am

LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 6: A Johnny Cash Christmas television special, originally broadcast on CBS on December 6, 1979. Featuring from left, Johnny Cash and Andy Kaufman, as Santa Claus. — CBS via Getty Images

There’s a reason stores, ads and radio stations start feeding us a steady diet of holiday music before we’ve even passed out the last of the Halloween candy. No other music genre can instantly make us want to deck the halls, trim the tree, bake until we’re daffy and shop until we drop. But the best Christmas music is the stuff we know from the very first note, the songs that filled our church services, our grandparents’ houses and spun on our parents’ stereo systems till we knew them by heart. Some of the most soulful versions of those holiday classics came from country crooners who knew how to tug a heartstring (or craft a Christmas kiss-off) like nobody’s business. With that, here are eight of our favorite country Christmas albums.

Elvis Presley — Elvis’ Christmas Album

When I was a kid, Christmas officially began when my mom brought out what is now the bestselling Christmas album of all time and dropped the needle on such classics as Elvis’ doo-woppy take on “Blue Christmas,” and solemn versions of “Silent Night” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Though Side 1 is solid Christmas, Side 2 features the deeply religious Presley’s sumptuous renditions of beloved gospel hymns, including “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” and “It Is No Secret (What God Can Do),” plus a soulful “Peace in the Valley” that is as much spiritual as it is gospel. As for Elvis’ swingy version of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” Berlin — who reportedly penned the nostalgic ballad in response to the death of his infant son — loathed it so much he sought to have it banned.

Johnny Cash — The Christmas Spirit

The “Man in Black” was more than willing to go silver and gold come holiday time, filming multiple Christmas specials and releasing four holiday albums. The Christmas Spirit, Cash’s first Christmas record, released in November 1963, is arguably his best and most authentic, even if it isn’t chock-full of classics. Cash does offer warm renditions of “Silent Night” and “The Little Drummer Boy,” and lends a cowpoke tempo to “Blue Christmas.” But some of the most heart-touching songs on the platter were penned by Cash himself, either alone or with his future wife, June Carter, and are, as the liner notes reveal, centered around the theme of “giving — in the worshipful spirit that the Wise Men and shepherds felt long ago when they offered gifts to a Being they somehow knew was greater than themselves.” The album’s final track, Cash’s sonorous voice reading Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver,” is sure to make you grateful for loved ones and holiday cheer.

George Strait — Merry Christmas Strait to You!

For his first Christmas album, which was released in 1986, the beloved, no-frills country icon mixes Christmas classics such as “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Away in a Manger” with originals such as the awkwardly named “For Christ’s Sake, It’s Christmas” that’s a whole lot sweeter and more reverent than its drunk-uncle name might suggest. But the true star of this release is “There’s a New Kid in Town,” a plain-spoken, heart-tugging version of the manger story that was an immediate standout and has since been covered by Strait’s equally iconic country contemporaries Blake Shelton, Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson. If you’ve got an urge to do a little Yuletide two-steppin’, make this disc a part of your Christmas collection.

Alan Jackson — Let It Be Christmas

Though this record was released in 2002 — and Jackson’s previous Honky Tonk Christmas is excellent, too — the phrase “instant classic” was made for stunners like this one, so we’re adding it to the list. The record features a full slate of Christmas standards, from “Jingle Bells” to “Silver Bells” to “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful,” all delivered in Jackson’s buttery baritone twang. But its best cut, the title track, was penned by Jackson himself. Featuring a simple guitar melody, and lyrics that roll-call the sweetest things about the holiday season — the first fallen snow, the smiles of children asleep in their beds, the elderly’s memories that never grow old — plus a choir of children helping Jackson bring the carol home, “Let It Be Christmas” (both song and album) is the very essence of how the holidays should be if you focus on all the right stuff.

Emmylou Harris — Light of the Stable

For folks who like their country music tinged (or flat-out full of) bluegrass, Harris’ beloved 1979 release features the angelic-voiced warbler, her guitar or mandolin and a who’s who of cross-genre superstars — including Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell, Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt and Neil Young — backing her up. Kicking things off with a rollicking “Christmas Time’s A-Comin’” Harris segues into lovely renditions of such standards as “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Away in a Manger,” “The First Noel” and “Silent Night.” But once again, the standout tracks are originals written for the project. The tender “Angel Eyes,” written by Crowell and featuring Skaggs on mandolin, with Skaggs and Nelson singing backup, begs the angels, “The ways of the world are feeble … don’t give up on simple people.” And the lilting, joyous title track celebrates the arrival of “the newborn king,” with soaring backup and harmony vocals from Parton, Ronstadt and Young. It’s a mood-booster any time of the year.

Loretta Lynn — Country Christmas

On the other hand, if you like your Christmas music a little on the spicy side, the Coal Miner’s Daughter is happy to oblige. Fresh off the success of her self-penned single “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man), Lynn released her first Christmas album and it’s pure Loretta — part carol-crooning mama (“Away in a Manger,” “Silver Bells,” “Frosty the Snowman”), part fed-up, heart-smartin’, independent dame (“I Won’t Decorate Your Christmas Tree,” “To Heck With Ole Santa Claus”). And even if you never did have a down-home holiday with popcorn string garland, family singalongs and a cousins sleepover under the Christmas tree, the title track invites you to dig into Grandma’s cakes and pies and enjoy one with Miss Loretta.

Buck Owens — Christmas With Buck Owens and His Buckaroos

Do not head to Bakersfield if you’re looking for a holly jolly holiday, because Christmas with Buck Owens ain’t going to be one. Still, being blue at Christmas was solid gold for Buck and the Buckaroos, as the album charted for 10 weeks in 1965. Rolling Stone described Buck’s first ever holiday album as being comprised of “12 mostly bummed-out holiday tracks” concerning such things as finding out Santa is really Papa (“Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy”), worrying about how to get him to California without any snow (“Santa’s Gonna Come in a Stagecoach”), learning that your gal don’t love you anymore (3/4 of the album) or trying to use a snowman as a therapist (“Christmas Ain’t Christmas, Dear, Without You”). On the other hand, if you’re a diehard fan of the Bakersfield sound or, you know, your girl don’t love you anymore, this is the Christmas disc for you.

Willie Nelson — Pretty Paper

Nelson crafted this 1979 holiday album around his 1963 hit for Roy Orbison, which serves both as the title track and a nice little reminder to remember the less fortunate at Christmas. Nelson — who looks like Van Gogh’s portrait of fellow artist Paul Gauguin in his red beret in the teeny cover portrait — wrote the waltz-tempo tune after noticing a downtrodden street vendor he often saw selling holiday paper and pencils to department store shoppers in Fort Worth. The rest of the album, produced by quadruple-threat soul man Booker T. Jones, is filled with cozy renditions of tried-and-true holiday favorites like “Silent Night” and “Jingle Bells,” sung in Nelson’s signature feel-good style. If you want to add a little comfort and joy to your otherwise hectic holidays, this is the album for you.