Forget the Toy Show! Eric Clapton has announced he will release his first ever full-length Christmas record called Happy Xmas due out on October 12th. It’s a slight bluesy reworking of yuletide tunes.
The album which features a cover illustration of Santa Claus by Clapton (below) is his 24th studio album and his first offering since 2016’s I Still Do. It’s coming out on Bushbranch Records/Surfdog Records.
The album’s 14 tracks are a mix of well-known tracks including “White Christmas,” “Silent Night,” and “Away in a Manger” and slightly more obscure holiday tunes as well as an original new track, “For Love On Christmas Day.” Clapton’s version of “Jingle Bells” is a tribute to “the memory of Avicii,” owing to Slowhand’s admiration for the late DJ.
Clapton co-produced Happy Xmas with longtime music producer Simon Climie and said of the record, “I had in my head that these holiday songs could be done with a slight blues tinge, and I started to figure out how to play the blues lines in between the vocals,”. “I got it down and one of the most identifiable songs on the album, the one that became the foundational style, is ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.’”
Clapton was heavily featured on A Very Special Christmas Live from Washington, D.C. back in 1999. The benefit record for the Special Olympics featured Clapton on five songs played at a holiday-themed December 1998 concert. That show was held by President Bill Clinton to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Special Olympics.
Happy Xmas is available for preorder as of now.
Happy Xmas Track List
- White Christmas
2. Away In A Manger (Once In Royal David’s City)
3. For Love On Christmas Day
4. Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday
5. Christmas Tears
6. Home For The Holidays
7. Jingle Bells (In Memory Of Avicii)
8. Christmas In My Hometown
9. It’s Christmas
10. Sentimental Moments
11. Lonesome Christmas
12. Silent Night
13. Merry Christmas Baby
14. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Album Artwork: Eric Clapton, Happy Christmas, Bushbranch Records/Surfdog Records.
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