“Merry, Merry Christmas Baby” Is His First Christmas Song in Over Three Decades
Country Music Hall of Famer Teams with Celebrity Weekly To Get in the Holiday Spirit
Nashville, Tenn – Ronnie Milsap has always had a soft spot in his heart for the holidays, so it’s amazing it’s taken almost three and a half decades for new Christmas music. To celebrate, PEOPLE.com is exclusively debuting the brand new “Merry, Merry Christmas Baby” today.
“PEOPLE has always been so supportive of me, all the way back to the days when I was making records and doing tv shows with Ray Charles, Willie Nelson or Kenny Rogers,” says the iconic Country Music Hall of Famer, whose orchestral A Ronnie Milsap Christmas is a platinum-seller. “And I know when you want to spread the word – or the cheer – PEOPLE.com is the way to go.”
Milsap’s notion of cheer is highly ironic. “Merry, Merry Christmas Baby,” originally a holiday hit for teen queen Dodie Stevens in 1960, is a bluesy bit of missing the one who got away. For the man who won two successive GRAMMY Awards for Best Country Vocal Performance Male, both for “Lost In The ‘50s Tonight,” Milsap knows his way around that yearning, bluesy doo-wop sensibility.
Deemed a “soul-country legend” by PEOPLE, you can listen all day today here: https://people.com/country/
The Country Music Hall of Fame member, six-time GRAMMY Award winner and CMA Entertainer of the Year has always believed that music blurs lines, heals hearts, and brings people together. Knowing that sometimes the sad comes with the good, he tells People.com of recording, “We were having Christmas this summer right under my own roof. Talk about a great time! We decorated a little bit, pulled this vintage holiday song that takes me back to when I was a kid… to when both Dodie Stevens and the Tuneweavers had it out.”
Opening with a few descending notes as Milsap’s smoky voice rises, “Merry, Merry Christmas Baby” comes wrapped in ribbons of Musicians Hall of Famer Jim Horn’s sax, and lush background vocals. A strong mix of Rat Pack elegance, Patsy Cline’s sultry anguish and Ray Charles’ vintage country/soul blend, the song lands in the sweet spot that made Milsap a crossover powerhouse in the ‘80s.
“A lot of today’s country singers make records with an R&B influence, but they have nothing on Ronnie Milsap,” offered USA Today, Nashville Scene praised “the soul of a country-pop master,” American Songwriter raved about “His gift for interpretation,” and The Tennessean offers, “Milsap has long thrived by ignoring genre distinctions.”
Click HERE to pre-save some old school holiday soul, digitally available Friday (10/16) on Black River Entertainment.