Joseph Washington Jr.'s Merry Christmas To You is your shelter in a blizzard of bland holiday music. This barely-known 1983 private issue puts a soulful, funky, suave ribbon on nine frosty Christmas cuts-originals, not covers; real joy, real wonder-the greatest Christmas soul record ever recorded. Under this tree, discover new classics for our cynical age: the buoyant ""Jesus' Birthday,"" the hot and bothered soul of ""Merry Christmas,"" the ridiculously catchy wallet-opener ""Shopping."" Down another nog and file with Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You, John Fahey's The New Possibility, and Vince Guaraldi's indelible Charlie Brown Christmas.
