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.
There are some albums you revisit because of nostalgia, and then there are albums you return to because they remind you just how high the standard used to be. Anita Baker’s Rapture falls into that second category. Released in 1986, the album did more than make Baker a star. It helped define what sophisticated, grown R&B could sound like without losing any soul, sensuality, or personality.
Gwen Stefani had already established herself as a significant force with No Doubt when she released her debut solo album, *Love. Angel. Music. Baby* in 2004. This week, while my iPod was on shuffle, one of my favorite songs from that project, “The Real Thing,” came on. Although the original version has an upbeat new-wave feel, the Slow Jam Mix takes it to another level and is the perfect choice for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday.
Unless you’re a music purist, mentioning Randy Jackson from the famous family is likely to elicit a joke. However, any serious Jackson fan knows that Randy had musical achievements long before the punchlines. Before he was old enough to buy a drink, he had already co-written “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” and “Lovely One” with Michael Jackson.