Top 20 Christmas Albums (Individual Artists) not my list, but good enough for me

1. Elvis Presley, If Everyday Was Like Christmas (RCA, 1994)
I'm not sure I'd call Elvis' original Christmas albums perfect, but this reissue - compiling every track from both records - sure is. From 1957's strangely conflicted Elvis' Christmas Album (mixing tawdry burlesques with reverential gospel) to 1971's more measured and mature Wonderful World Of Christmas, it's all on If Every Day Was Like Christmas - brilliantly remastered and copiously annotated...
2. The Ventures, Christmas Album (Dolton, 1965)
The Ventures were the most popular instrumental group of the early 60's, and their guitar-driven rock was ideally suited for the holiday season. Christmas Album rocks along in a jolly mood - not too hard, not too soft, just right for making spirits bright. What elevates the record to immortality, though, is the gimmick: each track integrates a hit song into the arrangement of a time-honored standard...
3. The Beach Boys, Ultimate Christmas (Capitol, 1998)
While not the hardest rocking stuff, the Beach Boys' Christmas music is some of the warmest and most heartfelt you'll ever find under your tree. Ultimate Christmas compiles every holiday track the group ever recorded, including all of 1964's classic Beach Boys Christmas Album and a variety of tracks recorded over the next decade for a never-released followup...
4. James Brown, Funky Christmas (Polygram, 1995)
No disrespect to the Godfather, but James Brown's Funky Christmas is a side-splitter. In the name of peace, harmony, and relevance, he bends over backwards musically and lyrically, twisting his songs and logic till they resemble a funky pretzel. Despite his contortions, Brown succeeds in making Christmas "mean something this year" - no small accomplishment during the turbulent sixties...
5. Emmylou Harris, Light Of The Stable (Warner Brothers, 1979)
Even Nashville's best and brightest often sleepwalk through a few hoary old holiday chestnuts and pick up their check. Light Of The Stable, on the other hand, earns its keep - a mixture of traditional mountain music and hippie country hoedown, exuding a warm Christmas glow. Many great Christmas records evoke a curious combination of melancholy and joy, and Harris' album captures this feeling perfectly...
6. Jackson Five, Christmas Album (Motown, 1970)
When the Jackson 5 burst upon the scene in the early 70's, they appeared to be the salvation of Motown. Turned out, they were the label's last hurrah. Nevertheless, the J5's Christmas Album is a fine example of why people looked to them with such hope. The album brims with energy and inventiveness, and the group's reinterpretations of hoary old Christmas classics are still being imitated...
7. Charles Brown, Sings Christmas Songs (King, 1961)
The unofficial king of Christmas music, mellow singer/pianist Charles Brown earned his crown on the basis of just two songs: "Merry Christmas Baby" and "Please Come Home For Christmas." Brown simply had an affinity for Christmas music, and his 1961 long-player, Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs, is filled with the same seductive, charming groove that makes those two big holiday hits so great...
8. Booker T. & The MG's, In The Christmas Spirit (Stax, 1966)
Booker T. & The MG's walk the perfect line between easy listening and soul. The MG's southern stew is in abundance on In The Christmas Spirit, but their treatment of these traditional Christmas carols never traverses the boundaries of good taste. The MG's were too just cool for school, and listening to their fresh take on these old standards is like a refreshing breeze on a hot, sticky Memphis day...
9. The Temptations, Christmas Card (Motown, 1970)
All of Motown's Christmas music is pretty great, but the mighty Temptations cut the merriest, mellowest LP of them all. On Christmas Card, the Temptations soulful command of their material is staggering. The group's impossibly smooth "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" really has to be heard to be believed, and their take on Jimmy Webb's "My Christmas Tree" delivers an emotional knockout punch...
10. John Fahey, The New Possibility (Takoma, 1968)
The prickly heart of folkie John Fahey seemed to grow three sizes when faced with the true meaning of Christmas. His Christmas Guitar Soli versions of holiday favorites are achingly honest and emotionally naked while retaining only a hint of his usual misanthropy. Fahey lends subtle new interpretations to tired old yuletide tunes, and they blow away any superficially similar "new age" albums...
11. Vince Guaraldi, A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy, 1965)
I enshrine A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) here not because it's a jazz classic - it's a fine example of post-bop piano trio, particularly on the Vince Guaraldi originals. I mention it, rather, because it conjures the Christmas joy of my childhood better than any album I own. If you, like me, watched the annual "Peanuts" Christmas TV special with rapt awe, you'll understand...
12. Gene Autry, Complete Columbia Recordings (Varese, 2004)
Finally, every precious Christmas song this famous singing cowboy cut for Columbia comes home to roost in one spot! Previous compilations were excellent, but they overlooked songs as essential as "Merry Texas Christmas, You All" and "Thirty-Two Feet - Eight Little Tails." Beautifully mastered, annotated, and packaged, Complete Columbia Recordings is perfect!
13. Brenda Lee, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (MCA, 1998)
If Charles Brown is the unofficial king of Christmas, Brenda Lee is the unofficial queen. She recorded just one preeminent hit (the title track), but it's a song that defines the golden age of Christmas rock. All of Lee's early Christmas recordings are compiled on Decca Christmas Recordings, from the quaint "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus" to the effervescent "Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day"...
14. The Miracles, Our Very Best Christmas (Motown, 1999)
Only a handful on Christmas albums came out of Motown during their "Golden Decade" from 1962 to 1971. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, however, chalked up two full holiday platters, including the label's first-ever seasonal release. Both of those records were quite good, and Motown's compilation, Our Very Best Christmas, does an expert job of excerpting just the right tracks...
15. The Beatles, Ultimate Christmas Album (Vigotone, 1998)
Among the thousands of records I own, there resides but one bootleg - The Ultimate Beatles Christmas Collection. Released on the storied Vigotone imprint, it is a package that would put Rhino Records to shame, containing each the band's annual fan club flexi-discs; top-quality copies of several solo Christmas singles; and about two dozen rare tracks - radio greetings, live snippets, rough mixes, etc....
16. Louis Armstrong, What A Wonderful Christmas (Hip-O, 1997)
Part shrill exploitation, part joyful noise, What A Wonderful Christmas is a case study in modern seasonal marketing. On one hand, it's a various artist package masquerading as a Louis Armstrong album. Plus, it doesn't even have the song it is named after - one of Satchmo's signature tunes. On the other, the music is incredible - the brightest lights in jazz celebrating the season...
17. Ray Charles, Spirit Of Christmas (Columbia, 1985)
I wasn't prepared to like The Spirit Of Christmas, nearly as much as I did. It was cut well after Ray's 50's and 60's prime, and I figured it would have a middle-of-the-road feel. Not so. While it isn't as funky as it would have been if recorded in, say, 1959, it percolates with the big band energy and stately grace that have come to characterize Ray's best later work...
18. Dwight Yoakam, Come On Christmas (Reprise, 1997)
Imbued with the qualities that made Dwight Yoakam so important to modern country music - his musicianship, his inventiveness, his humor, and his insatiable thirst for the next cool sound - Come on Christmas has all the swagger and adventurousness of Yoakam's very best work, from the ambient title track to a cajun romp through "Silver Bells" to some slammin' twang-core on "Run Rudolph Run"...
19. Huey Smith, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas (Ace, 1962)
Like a personification of New Orleans itself, Huey "Piano" Smith and his Clowns sound as if they could withstand a hurricane with their irrepressible good humor intact. When they grafted their trademark sound onto the wonderful world of Christmas, the results were merry indeed. The ten songs on 'Twas The Night Before Christmas seem to flow from one to the next with nary a break in the fun...
20. Chet Atkins, Christmas With Chet Atkins (Hip-O, 1997)
If you appreciate the artistry or the craft of Chet Atkins, you'll understand why this is one of my Christmas favorites. Compared to many of my choices, however, this is a pretty tame record. That does little to dampen my enthusiasm for this gentle album. Easy listening? Sure. Memorable? You betcha. Heart warming? Absolutely, and I'd recommend this for any Christmas party - hip or otherwise...

http://www.hipchristmas.com/lists/albums.php

I would add in more modern - the album Michael Bublé and yes, Mariah Carey, although I do not really like her, she made some great Christmas songs.

What Christmas songs and albums you love?

I will add 2 of my favorite Christmas cds:

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[Edited 12/8/12 12:19pm]

daPrettyman said:

I will add 2 of my favorite Christmas cds:

Nat King Cole Christmas Album (there's none better)

A Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack

The Jackson 5 Christmas Album

I like a lot of these picks; but if I had to choose one album, it would be A Charlie Brown Christmas. I know Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song is considered the greatest, for great reasons, but the VGT's stellar set not only creates new standards but redefines renditions of the old ones.

Since it started coming back into print the last generation or so, it's been the most influential and none of the other great albums come close.

This compilation was and remains my lifetime favorite, though I consider VGT's set to be my fave full-length album.

[img:$uid]http://bigpondmusic.com/images/AlbumCoverArt/165/XXL/A-Motown-Christmas.jpg[/img:$uid]

This is the record I grew up with.

Others:

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[img:$uid]http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/6b05b3c477e7e50a86cdcd8fd0ce1442/325261.jpg[/img:$uid]

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As for songs, there are way too many. Will save for another post.

[Edited 12/14/12 7:11am]

[Edited 12/14/12 7:12am]