'Twas the Night Before Christmas

One of the most unique Christmas holiday albums of all time, this was recorded in 1962, after Huey "Piano" Smith's small string of hits and the departure of lead singer/secret weapon Bobby Marchan from the ranks. But the band kept rockin' and the vocals are ably handled on this disc by Gerri Hall, "Scarface" John Williams and even Huey himself on the title cut. Six of the ten songs from the original album were written by Smith, and tracks like "Happy New Year," "Almost Time for Christmas" and "White Christmas Blues" closely mirror the melodies and arrangements for some of his better known hits like "We Like Birdland," "For Cryin' out Loud" and "Little Liza Jane." Even old stand-bys like "Jingle Bells" and "Silent Night" get the Crescent City groove applied to them here. Adding guitar to the Clowns' regular sax- and piano-dominated New Orleans sound is Mac Rebennack, who also chimes in vocally on "Doing the Santa Claus." To bring the CD to a respectable length, the instrumental tracks to eight of the ten tracks are tagged on to the end, and even as band track extras, these sound just fine. A disc of Christmas cheer, New Orleans style.