On iTunes I have 469 tracks identified as Christmas music. I’ve created a playlist with them that automatically drops a track off after it’s been played. At this writing I have 369 left to hear this year. 🎅
The types of music vary widely from Classical to Country, Jazz and New Age, but include of course the usual standards of which I suppose Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is the archetype. (Of the 469 tracks, 12 are in fact versions of “White Christmas” including two copies of Bing.)
I have a lot of favorites. I grew up in Catholic schools, so am nostalgic when I hear the carols, and have several albums of guitar versions by artists like John Fahey and Eric Williams. I particularly like Christmas in Santa Fe by Ruben Romero & Robert Notkoff, Winter Dreams by R. Carlos Nakai & William Eaton and Navidad Cubana by Cuba L.A. — it gets you dancing around the old árbol de Navidad.
And no collection is complete without Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas.
But when it comes down to it, this may be my favorite. It’s an OK video but the point is to enjoy Clyde McPhatter and Bill Pinkney’s bass.