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Albums that put me in the holiday spirit

by Kelly Leahy -- Being Savvy New Orleans

Now that I have kids, I have been thinking a lot about the holiday traditions that I will carry on from my childhood. One of the strongest memories for me is more auditory than visual and that is the music that used to come out of our stereo every December.

While we were decorating the house my mom always played the same Christmas albums. We had a huge stereo that was more like a piece of furniture that served as a side table when not in use. My mother would stack the records on top of one another in the player and as one side ended, the next album would drop and a new singer would begin.

I am not fortunate enough to have a stereo that will play several records in succession but I am lucky enough to have her vinyl. When my mom was clearing out her old records a few years ago, I was quick to grab all of the Christmas music.

The other day as I unpacked our household decorations I started the player and the familiar tunes drifted out. My girls danced happily along though there were not nearly enough versions of Jingle Bells to keep my  three-year-old happy.

Here area a few of the songs that will be heard in my house this holiday season.

• Jingle Bells from Barbara Striesand's A Christmas Album. This song doesn't get much cheerier.
• White Christmas from Burl Ives' Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. There's not much hope of a White Christmas in New Orleans but a girl can dream.
• Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & other Christmas favorites is a great album for singing along.
  
• A Charlie Brown Christmas plays and I can almost see Schroeder banging away at the keys.
  
• Handel's Messiah, especially the Hallelujah chorus heralds the coming of Christmas.