Album of the week - Stevie Wonder “Someday At Christmas”

While Marvin Gaye’s masterful What’s Going On is typically regarded as the moment that Motown risked alienating pop audiences with an anti-war, socially conscious message, Stevie Wonder began his 1967 Christmas album singing this verse:

“Someday at Christmas men won't be boys
Playing with bombs like kids play with toys
One warm December our hearts will see
A world where men are free”

In one verse, Stevie didn’t hesitate delivering (songwriter) Ron Miller’s anti-war, anti-racist statement. While the mere existence and massive success of Motown was a huge statement of power from people of color, Berry Gordy remained cautious up to and including the 1971 release of What’s Going On to allow the Motown family of artists to make such direct statements. It’s a minor miracle that this track was even recorded; Stevie was 17 at the time he recorded this album.

The rest of the originals (written by Rob Miller and collaborators) were more pop oriented, lighter fare (although ‘Bedtime For Toys’ empathizes with underprivileged kids who lacked in material things but not love). The familiar standards are joyous. Stevie sings beautifully, sounding like a friend we’d all love to spend the holidays with. He also plays some stunning harmonica on several tracks, most notably a stunning version of ‘Ave Maria’.

“Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life's really worth
There'll be peace on earth

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime

Someday at Christmas we'll see a land
With no hungry children, no empty hand
One happy morning people will share
A world where people care”

The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without mentioning these as well.

My friend

Dan Epstein

asked me to contribute a favorite Christmas song for this wonderful collaborative article, which I was happy to oblige.

I make no claims of guilty pleasures when it comes to holiday music (or movies, special episodes of TV shows, etc). I unabashedly love a whole bunch of it. When it gets down to the nitty gritty, though, I have two favorites - Elvis’ Christmas Album from 1957, and the haunting, unbelievable Twenty-Fifth Of December by The Staple Singers (1962).

It’s not easy picking a favorite, as this is not only tied for my favorite Christmas album, but stands tall as one of my all time favorite albums. With sparse yet swinging drumming, glorious Hammond B-3 that’s as psychedelic as it is trippy, Pops Staples incredibly beautiful tremolo-laden electric guitar, and their glorious family harmonies, this album makes an agnostic like me fully believe in The Lord for 35 minutes or so. It’s also recorded so well that it could be used as an example that audio quality never surpassed the sound heard here.

The one I’m picking is the transcendent ‘There Was A Star’; co-written by Pops, it features a lead vocal from Mavis that shows her range and power so vividly.

2024 saw the release of a modern classic, Dean Wareham/ Britta Phillips/ Sonic Boom - A Peace Of Us.

Full disclosure- I’ve worked with Dean and Britta and they’re friends; I can assure you I’m setting aside any personal connections and simply celebrating this wonderful record they’ve made with Spectrum/ Spacemen 3 audio wizard Sonic Boom! It’s gonna be part of my yearly ritual of Christmas spins ‘til the end.

With an excellent selection of songs that lean heavily on the obscure (but also includes John and Yoko’s ‘Happy Xmas War Is Over’), there’s plenty of Sonic’s signature beautiful drones, Britta’s crystalline voice, and Dean’s transcendent guitar (those adjectives can also be mixed and matched among the three names at your discretion).

Standout songs are the hypnotic reworking of ‘Pretty Paper’ which takes the classic Willie Nelson heartwarmer and adds multitudes of rhythm and melodic layers. I think my favorite, though, is the picturesque version of Randy Newman’s ‘Snow’.

Wishing lots of peace and love to all - we desperately need it.