1950 Singles: The Tennessee Waltz / Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Patti Page

 The Tennessee Waltz / Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Patti Page

Why included: Best Sellers In Stores Billboard #1 hit in Dec 1950-Mar 1951 for 9 weeks

A-side: Tennessee Waltz

I have to say that I was pretty blindsided by the unanimous praise for this particular cover of the song. What makes her interpretation stand out not just among the other renditions but also among traditional pop hits around this time? I can see how this sort of thing would appeal to record buyers back in 1950, but what is the appeal today? Does this bland, stiff vocal performance actually convey personal tragedy and heartbreak all that well? I certainly wouldn't say so, and in my opinion, even the less successful original, with a much richer, earthly sound, is far superior to this one. No double-tracked vocals and nice production can make this that much better than most contemporary commercial pop hits.

Yet, maybe I should reconsider my verdict here since Sam Cooke and Otis Redding both found the song impressive enough to cover and, unsurprisingly, made far superior renditions. Sam recorded his cover in his most daring period around 1963-1964 when he was trying to radically change his image by exploring new artistic directions. One major facet he was expanding was incorporating his more hard-rocking, gritty live personality into the studio, which meant he started to create and cover much more tough-edged R&B in general ("Shake", "Meet Me at Mary's Place", etc.). So, he decided to make the song into an energetic romp, throwing in punchier vocal phrasings and a muscular horn-based groove, and it really works, fully worthy of making it onto the classic Portrait of a Legend compilation of his.

This success must have inspired Sam's greatest disciple to take a stab at his song, but Otis takes it in an entirely different direction than his teacher. He borrowed the tempo of the original or Patti's and transformed it into a stately soul ballad. The full potential of the song was truly unlocked during this performance, where Otis and his band channeled authentic feelings of heartbreak to make the song feel like a truly painful, guttural confession to the audience. Otis was simply unparalleled in transmitting a tormented, bleeding spirit into each and every word so organically, and during this performance, he gave one of his most profound and deeply moving performances of 1966 (which was quite a great year for him). After hearing the sheer emotional torment expressed here, it is hard to not feel Patti's version is useless trash in comparison (which are hopefully most people's reactions), but let's be thankful that she did introduce both of these geniuses to this song and allowed them to imbue soul into the song for it to live on.

B-side: Boogie Woogie Santa Claus

In general, I think the idea of recording Christmas songs within rebellious, dangerous, rocking genres is a pretty stupid idea. Christmas is not really a holiday about railing at the king's servants, twisting the strangle grip, or even having a wang dang doodle, so why record songs in genres that concern themselves with such things? Patti Page is anyways an artist meant for only smooth, sterile musical settings, so giving her a jump-blues/boogie-woogie song to record was a dumb idea regardless, but a Christmas song in that style is just such a confusing decision. Please people, leave jump-blues vocals to Wynonie and Big Joe and leave the funny Christmas subjects to people with a great sense of humor (like Chuck Berry or Sparks). If Patti Page is going to record a Christmas song, it should be a slow, boring standard, not this.

Verdict: Not Recommended

While it is disappointing that the most commercially successful version of such a well-respected standard is so dull and plodding, it is an example that one should never be too quick to dismiss the potential of the songs at their core. A sign of a great artist is their ability to spot fruitful artistic angles in mediocre performances like needles in a haystack, and with "Tennessee Waltz", we got not just one but two brilliant versions of the song for us to cherish. So, let's make sure that future musicians are exposed to as much music as possible to truly make the possibilities of artistic exploration endless.