The Great Christmas Record Odyssey, Ep. XLIII

How's it going, music lovers?  Ready for some more jam nerdery?

(Of course you are.)

Album Title:  Boots and Stockings

Album Artist:  Boots Randolph

So.  You guys like the song, 'Yakety Sax'?  Remember that old British variety show - I think it was a variety show, at least - the Benny Hill Show?  Remember?  People running in and out of various doors, falling over stuff, crowds of people running around and a certain saxophonist losing his damn mind on the track?

Not sure what I'm talking about?  Go check it out here on Youtube.

I'll wait. . .

. . .

. . you check it out yet?  Yeah?  Pretty good, right?

That's what the entirety of Side A sounds like, except in Christmas-form. 

And it's awesome.  I really, really like this.  In fact, had both sides of this album sounded like this, this could be - and I shit you not - the quintessential Holiday party soundtrack (well, if your Holiday party's a kegger, that is.)  But, alas, Side B slows down considerably, and that 'Yakkety Sax' sound that we've all come to love over the years disappears.  Instead, we get a more introspective saxophone sound, and while it's not horrible by any means, it's kind of a letdown considering what we had on Side A.

It almost sounds like this album was recorded all in one evening at the studio, and the engineers purposely stacked all the up-tempo, 'fun' songs on this album up front because they were more demanding for Boots to play.  They wanted their star saxophone player to have enough energy to belt out his trademark hornmanship (I don't know what that's called, sorry) on those tracks before he lost all his energy and started playing like a homeless guy doped up on Nyquil.  

They couldn't give Boots a frickin' coffee break at some point in the recording session?

In closing, if you ever come across this in a record store, or a thrift shop, I would definitely recommend picking it up.  It's a lot of fun.

I'd just constantly play Side A over and over again, though. 

VERDICT:  7/10 - Pretty Rad (If this had been 'Side A' on both sides, we'd be looking at a solid '8,' maybe even a '9.')

- REMAINS IN CIRCULATION -