Skip to main content

A Cool Yule with Black Musicians.

Rock historian Ed Ward plays a retrospective of Santa Claus songs by black popular musicians from Charles Brown singing "Merry Christmas, Baby" in the 1940's to James Brown's "Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto" in the 1960's. Also features songs from: the Pilgrim Travelers, Roy Milton, Oscar McLollie and His Honey Jumpers, the Voices, the Marquees (not the Stax group), andClyde Lasley.

06:56

Contributor

Related Topics

Other segments from the episode on December 19, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, December 19, 1989: Interview with Charles Grodin; Commentary on R 'n' B Christmas songs; Interview with Denis Hayes; Review of Rosalind Baker Wilson's book "Near the…

Transcript

Transcript currently not available.

Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

You May Also like

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Advertisement

Recently on Fresh Air Available to Play on NPR

36:27

'The Great Refusal' author Casey Gerald says ruining his reputation saved his life

CASEY GERALD, author of the new book The Great Refusal: A New Vision of Resistance. It picks up where his previous book, There Will Be No Miracles Here, left off, which is a memoir that chronicled his life growing up in Oak Cliff, Dallas; attending Yale and Harvard; working at Lehman Brothers; creating a successful nonprofit; and, at the height of his success, walking away. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

16:03

Netflix's 'SCTV' is a treasure trove of underdog humor

Tv critic DAVID BIANCULLI reviews SCTV, which is now available to stream on Netflix . “SCTV,” also known as “Second City TV,” was a low-budget sketch comedy show that originated in Canada in the mid-1970s and continued in syndication and on network and cable TV until 1984. Its cast members over the years have included John Candy, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, and Andrea Martin.

WEDNESDAY, 9 SEPT 2026

52:30

Rosanne Cash shares the list of music her dad, Johnny, insisted she know [REBROADCAST]

Singer and songwriter, ROSANNE CASH. When she was 18, her father Johnny Cash gave her a list of 100 essential country songs. Years later she released an album titled The List featuring 12 of those songs. (REBROADCAST FROM 2009.10.05) (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW)

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue