It's Gonna Be a James Brown Christmas...

It's not even Thanksgiving and CVS is already a winter-wonderland complete with singin' santas and faux "icicle" holiday lights. A little early i'd say, but it's coming...faster than any of us think.

It's no secret that people either look at the holidays with a sense of joy or an impending feeling of dread. I think that these sentiments are mostly born out of family traditions- how we spend/suffered through the holidays of our youth. Everyone has their stories...here's mine:

James Brown single handedly saved every Christmas of my youth; turning would-be disasters into comical affairs that I still cherish to this day. If it wasn't for James Brown's "Funky Christmas" album, I don't know how I ever would have made it through.

My parents record collection is the anti-funk; consisting mostly of Carpenters and Buddy Holly records resting on a dusty shelf. Nobody knows how "Funky Christmas" made it's way into their collection, but it's existence is legendary among my siblings.

During the holidays, my dad's temper was always mere nano-seconds from erupting, especially as we tried to get the Christmas tree to stand upright in our living room. [I think they based the father character from the movie "A Christmas Story" on my dad- his obsenities are still hanging in a cloud somewhere above South Jersey]...this was compounded by my mom's uncanny ability to choose the most mangled Christmas tree on the lot. Normally, this would be a recipe for holiday disaster...here's where James Brown comes in...

As my dad is precarioulsy swinging from a ladder, trying to tie the Christmas tree to a nearby curtain rod and just about ready to smack the crap out of any of us youngsters within arms reach...my mom throws "Funky Christmas" on the record player.

This scene played out year after year, mostly because you just can't be mad when James Brown launches into his version of "Santa Clause is Comin' to Town." And thus, order was restored. We'd all end up laughing at that crazy album and realizing that nobody really cared if the tree stood at a 45 degree angle anyways. Oh, and my dad's special eggnog (with at least 90% alcohol) helped too.

So when I think about the holiday season approaching, I like to sit back with a bottle and laugh about how wrapped up everyone gets with the little stuff and just smile, remembering our leaning Christmas trees and James Brown breakin' it down.