Anthony Hamilton was nearly two decades into his career, with five albums to his credit, when he released his first Christmas album, Home for the Holidays, in 2014. Hamilton’s Christmas project featured the usual Christmas standards such as “The Christmas Song,” “The Little Drummer Boy,” and “Please Come Home for Christmas.” There were also covers of soul classics, such as James Brown’s “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” and this week’s Slow Jam Saturday pick, “What Do the Lonely Do at Christmas?”
Originally performed by The Emotions and written by Homer Banks, Hamilton works with producers, The Avilla Brothers, to put a modern spin on the Stax Records classic. As Hamilton croons the lyrics:
“Tis the season to be jolly
But how can I be when I have nobody?
The Yuletide carol doesn’t make it better
Knowing that we won’t be together
A silent night
I know it’s gonna be
Joy to the world, but it’s gonna be sad for me
What do the lonely do at Christmas?
Oh-oh, what do the lonely do at Christmas time.”
The listener feels the pain in his voice. Hamilton, who holds no qualms about his love for his spouse in the real world, entirely sells the song, mainly when the singer goes into the falsetto range. While The Emotions version is still in my rotation, Anthony Hamilton does a beautiful job making it his own.
Final Grade: B+
“What Do the Lonely Do at Christmas?” from Home for the Holidays is available on all streaming platforms.
Growing up in the nineties, movies aimed at a melanin audience often featured soundtracks that had to be just as flavorful as the films themselves. This week, for Slow Jam Saturday, I want to take a trip back to 1993 and highlight one of the slow jams from the soundtrack of “Menace II Society”.
Last week marked two significant anniversaries for one of the greatest artists of all time, Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson. It’s only fitting that I show him some love for Second Listen Sunday. The first anniversary was on the 21st, commemorating nine years since his passing. The second anniversary was on the 22nd, celebrating the 40th anniversary of his seventh studio album, “Around the World in a Day.”
One of my most significant decisions late last year was to pledge to Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. At the time of this writing, I am in Atlantic City for my fraternity’s Regional Conference, where I will represent my chapter, Beta Alpha Omega. In that regard, I believe the perfect song for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday is “The Best Man I Can Be.”