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One of the prettiest, yet little known soul Christmas singles.
I'm not sure if this Betty Lloyd is the same singer who was a member of
the east coast girl group The Percells; Thomas Records was a Chicago label (an offshoot of Curtis Mayfields' Curtom label), and this track certainly has an indelible
Chicago stamp on it.
The lyrics brilliantly capture the feeling of being alone at Christmas,
but without self pity. Oozing with quality, this song should truly be a
holiday standard.
Christmas arrived early this year, in that I found a copy of this record (that I've been chasing for many years) back last July.
Issued both in 1976 (to the fan club in limited numbers) and again in
1986 (this copy), this single hardly ever turns up for sale because both
pressings were so limited, and most people tend to hang onto them. I
have no idea where the '86 release was even SOLD, as I was both a
Monkees fan and reading Goldmine magazine as a youngster during this era
and I never remember seeing it for sale, and certainly have never seen
it in any record stores. Perhaps producer Chip Douglas repressed it for
the fan club only, I'm simply not sure. I've had both sides of this 45
on a lo-fi bootleg LP for over 20 years, but nothing beats having this
copy with the uber-cool picture sleeve showing the fellas in the studio,
reunited.
Chip Douglas and (Turtle) Howard Kaylan wrote the song back in 1968, and
it was issued as a single by a group calling themselves The Christmas
Spirit, which was made up of several Turtles and Linda Ronstadt. While
the song was revisited for The Monkees version, it was completely
re-arranged in a far superior way for their track, which is pure magic.
The group was unable to use the name Monkees due to legal restrictions,
so the record was cleverly released as We Three Monkees. Michael Nesmith
chose not to participate, but the rumor mill claims that it's none
other than Nez playing pedal steel guitar on both sides. Micky and Davy
take turns on the lead vocal, which is heartfelt and lovely, and the
song itself is a wonderful thing. What's in the grooves makes it obvious
that everyone involved was having a ball when they made the record.
Davy takes the lead for a very moving, country flavored version of
"White Christmas" on the flip side, which shows how this man could croon
with the best of them and how missed he is.
The words written on the back of the picture sleeve, "An expression of
friendship and togetherness to make the holidays a little brighter for
all of us" couldn't be more spot on.
Whatever it is that you celebrate, I wish you peace, love, and happiness today, tomorrow and everyday.
from 1976...
THE MONKEES - CHRISTMAS IS MY TIME OF YEAR b/w WHITE CHRISTMAS
What happened when (Monkees producer and Turtles member) Chip Douglas, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Gene Parsons, Howard Kaylan, Henry Diltz, Cyrus Faryar, and (probably) Micky Dolenz' Moog synthesizer got together in '67? This beautiful piece of folk-rock melancholy holiday sound was born.
Unjustly obscure, in a perfect world this is the type of record that would be heard everywhere during the holiday season.
Peace and love to all.
from 1967...
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT - WILL YOU STILL BELIEVE IN ME
