My Favorite Things (I'm sticking with the spelling of the song as published, forsaking my inclination to stick a U in there) is of course from The Sound of Music; somewhere along the line, the Rodgers and Hammerstein tune became part of the Christmas canon. (Admittedly, the lyrics do reference things like snowflakes and mittens.) I think a big factor in that transformation was Tony Bennett, who recorded a jazzy, brassy version of the song in his 1968 Christmas album Snowfall. (The album was re-issued in 1994, with the above cover art and an extra tune.)
I have an enormous amount of time for Tony Bennett, and am always impressed with his phrasing, his respect for his musicians, his ability to reinvent a song, and especially how he carries himself. He has a wonderful sense of humour and modesty; those elements came through in his appearance on Elvis Costello's Spectacle.
Here's one of Bennett's performances of My Favorite Things:
This is the eighth part of a musical advent calendar I'm putting together this season, of Christmas songs and albums that are really worth listening to. Working backwards, the previous selections were the Crash Test Dummies' The FIrst Noel; Joy to the World, with a special nod to Aretha Franklin; Leon Redbone's album Christmas Island; Louis Prima's raucous Shake Hands With Santa Claus; indie genius Sufjan Stevens's multi-disc Songs For Christmas; the Vince Guaraldio Trio's evergreen soundtrack for a A Charlie Brown Christmas; and, starting the list, Ella Fitzgerald's timeless 1960 album Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas.
Love, love, LOVE this song!
Posted by: Margaret | Tuesday, December 08, 2009 at 15:46