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The road trip is not just a summer thing. We Californians hit the highway for adventures 12 months a year — including the holidays and ski season.
But what’s a road trip without a proper soundtrack? We’ve come up with a play list filled with winter-friendly tunes and holiday songs. You don’t need us to sing the praises of Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis and other classic Christmas crooners — you already know all about them. So we’re focusing on some more unusual suspects and recordings that deserve wider recognition.
Ready to ride? Here’s our soundtrack for the season:
1. “The Christmas Song”
We’re kicking off our journey with a gorgeous, slowly sung version of this Christmas classic, delivered with care by the great Diana Krall and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
2. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
There are plenty of worthwhile versions that could make the list – indeed, that’s the case with all the standards – but let’s highlight this gorgeous recent rendition by Lauren Daigle, who possesses a voice everyone should hear.
3. “What Child Is This?”
Chris Tomlin, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who topped the Billboard 200 with 2013’s “Burning Lights,” delivers a poignant take on this Christmas classic.
4. “Song for a Winter’s Night”
Leaving the traditional holiday songbook for the moment, we turn to one of the greatest songwriters of all time – Gordon Lightfoot – for a tune that lives up to its title in every way.
5. “River”
Oh, you might have guessed this would make the cut. But we don’t mind being predictable when it means getting to hear Joni Mitchell soar through this emotionally raw, folk favorite off 1971’s “Blue.”
6. “A Hazy Shade of Winter”
Simon & Garfunkel originally released this song in 1966, but we’d much rather crank up the Bangles’ rocking version from 1987.
7. “Coldest Winter”
It’s Kanye West at his heartbreaking best on the 2008 “808s & Heartbreak” album, looking back at memories made in “the coldest winter” and wondering “will I ever love again”?
8. “Holiday Road”
OK, it’s time to change the mood. And this campy blast of ’80s nostalgia, courtesy of Fleetwood Mac legend Lindsey Buckingham and the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” film, should do the trick.
9. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”
Some might call out for Bruce Springsteen’s popular version of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” but we prefer this fun rocker originally released on the landmark “Born to Run” album in 1975.
10. “I’ll Take the Rain”
We don’t get much snow in the Bay Area, but a little precipitation would be nice this season. So with that in mind, sing along at top volume to this stunningly beautiful R.E.M. number, from 2001’s vastly underrated “Reveal.”
11. “8 Days (of Hanukkah)”
Time to roll down Hanukkah highway for a pair of tunes, kicking off with this soulful, horn-fueled number by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.
12. “Hanukkah (Favorite Time of the Year)”
Turn up the Too $hort and let the Bay Area rapper detail why he loves this time of year: “I got eight gifts coming, one for each night / It’s my favorite holiday, you better treat a player right.”
13. “Little Saint Nick”
By law, we are required to include at least one Beach Boys tune in every play list we make about California. It’s a good law. We’re glad we made it.
14. “Fairytale of New York”
Simply put, we wouldn’t be allowed to show our faces in certain places if we didn’t include this cherished Christmas tune by Irish pub-punk greats, the Pogues.
15. “My Only Wish (This Year)”
Besides cherishing the idea of following up the Pogues with Britney Spears, we just have a soft spot for the pop star’s sweetly innocent plea for Santa to bring her “someone to love” for Christmas.
16. “8 Days of Christmas”
The amazing vocal harmonies of Destiny’s Child have rarely been more fully on display than on this memorable ode to commercialism and consumerism.
17. “Doughnut for a Snowman”
Instead of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer,” we’re giving you another seasonal song with one of the best titles of all time. It’s a nice garage-pop nugget from Guided by Voices, who deliver praise for a Krispy Kreme that is as “sweet as life can get.”
18. “If We Make It Through December”
Merle Haggard recorded a lot of great Christmas music over the years, but the most touching of his seasonal offerings is this poetic original about a man going into the holiday season having just lost his job. Grab a hanky.
19. “Christmas in Prison”
We’ll stay in America’s Greatest Songwriters section a bit longer, enjoying this touching folk tune, which mixes heartbreak and humor in typical John Prine stye.
20. “Little Drummer Boy”
Bob Seger delivers what just might be the best classic-rock rendition of a Christmas standard. (Yes, even better than Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”)
21. “Joy to the World”
REO Speedwagon, the band that had the top-selling album of the year in 1981 with “High Infidelity,” has gotten a late-career boost from the fine holiday album “Not So Silent Night … Christmas with REO Speedwagon.”
22. “Adore Him”
Kari Jobe shines on this sweetly moving number, rooted in the traditional “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
23. “Sweet Little Jesus Boy”
Let’s motor down the highway with some gospel music, turning first to Mahalia Jackson, who shows why she’s known as the Queen of Gospel on this striking number.
24. “O Holy Night”
We wouldn’t think about ending this musical road trip without a stop in the 5-1-0, calling upon one of the many worthwhile selections from Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir’s “Rejoice” Christmas album.
25. “Silent Night”
The journey has almost come to its conclusion. But we have time for one more, so we’ll end with Phil Wickham and his excellent take on one of the greatest holiday songs of all time.
