As we come down the Christmas home-stretch, I thought I’d give y’all a little something special tonight.
Yep, that’s your humble host crooning that one, backed by the ever-fabulous Belmont Playboys. The audio was recorded, using acoustic instruments, on a crappy little hand-held cassette recorder at the pre-refurbishment Belk Theater adjacent to what used to be the old Carolina Theater on Tryon Street, where none other than Elvis himself performed back in 1956 on his drive to becoming the once and forever King of Rock and Roll. The video was shot (and later edited) by our old friend John Autry, former CLT city councilman and current NC Congresscritter, at the Van Landingham Estate in the heart of Plaza-Midwood.
The shirt I’m wearing was actually my brother’s, who probably still has it hanging in his closet. It was a little snug on me, there having been somewhat more of me then than there is now. John didn’t care for the two shirts I had brought along for the shoot, thinking it would be better if the front-guy wore something more colorful and less drab than my own threads.
You graybeards may recognize the TV set in the intro as being from the long-defunct Nashville Network’s old morning show, whatever it was called. It’s for real, not spliced in or otherwise faked: TNN aired our “Blue Christmas” vid for like three years hand-running at Christmastime, which definitely made our days that much more merry and bright. The above was taped on VHS the first time it ran by my old girlfriend Wendy’s mom, then converted to digital several years back by some local service our drummer Mark found.
Bravo !
Another musical interlude you might like.
https://twitter.com/ULTRA_MAJESTY/status/1737256849601171664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1737256849601171664%7Ctwgr%5E669076afb04414a0ebe6fcc976855961794c8155%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehostages.wordpress.com%2F2023%2F12%2F21%2Fdecember-beat%2F
Effing BRILLIANT, Dave!
Tasty licks lead guitar break!!!
Damn son, you have a nice voice, perfect for that tune.
Merry Christmas Mike.
Phil.