Ya know, I've had my eye on this album for a couple of years now, but it always fell just outside my reach due to being "out of stock", or otherwise the holidays would pass and I would just miss the opportunity to pick it up. Also (quite honestly), as much as I love Bootsy, I always had my doubts that Bootsy could pull off a Christmas album.

Well this year I finally got my hands on "Christmas Is 4 Ever", and I must say... I'm very, very impressed. In fact, I haven't stopped listening to it in the two weeks since I've had it! Bootsy has taken a handful of holiday standards, and legitimately funked them up! And not so that they sound silly (...well, just a little Bootsy silliness of course, lol), but he re-created them into something brand new. At times you even forget you're listening to Christmas music, then Bootsy weaves the groove back around into those recognizable hooks, and blows you away in the process. HALLELUJAH!

Two songs in particular I could almost see myself listening to year 'round (although they are all excellent). And those two are: "Winterfunkyland" and "Sleigh Ride". And Bootsy twists up a remake of his classic "I'd Rather Be With You" into a new cut featuring Roger Troutman called "Be-With-You" that knocked my Christmas stockings off, lol. There's also Belita Woods, Michael (Kid Funkadelic) Hampton, Fred Wesley, Snoop Dogg, even Charlie Daniels!!! Along with a string section that shows you just how funky violins can get! Also, the seque's between songs give you a real personal insight into Bootsy's sensitive side. This is a very personal Christmas album, and extremely well-produced.

This CD will absolutely become a part of my regular rotation of holiday tunes. If you were even thinking "maybe" about picking up this CD... don't sleep on it this holiday as I had for several years now. This CD is already a classic in my book, and I'm a Funkateer from way back.

Happy Holidaze Babba!

Excellent album.

Great album and very good pick for a thread. I dig this immensely! Hell, I play some of the tracks in my ride all year round!

I'm digging this. Never heard of it until this thread.

Graycap23 said:

Yeah, apparently it came out in 2006 with not a lot of fanfare, but I only came across it by accident a little more than a year ago. I was like... "Uh, how is Bootsy gonna try to slip this one past ME?!?" LOL. And like BlackGuitarists was saying, some of these tracks are worthy of year-round play. This album was very well thought out, and I'm almost ashamed to say how surprised I was by how good it was. I almost missed out on it completely!

Just bought it on Ebay... I like it !

I remember when this came out I wanted to buy it! Lots of fun!

....I'm LOVING this cd.
Thanks again.