Asleep at the Wheel's first Christmas album received positive reviews from a wide range of critics, who praised the band's "fun" renditions of traditional holiday songs, as well as its original compositions. The album registered at number 75 on the US BillboardTop Country Albums chart in Christmas week 1997. The band issued a second Christmas album, Santa Loves to Boogie, in 2007, followed by a third, Lone Star Christmas Night, in 2016, featuring some of the same songs.
Background
Asleep at the Wheel recorded its first Christmas album at Bismeaux Studios in the summer of 1997.[2]Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all features recordings of traditional Christmas songs such as "Feliz Navidad", "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "Here Comes Santa Claus", in addition to several original songs written primarily by the band's frontman Ray Benson.[1]Willie Nelson features as a guest vocalist on his own composition "Pretty Paper" and the recording of "Silent Night", the latter of which also features Don Walser.[3] The other featured vocalist is Tish Hinojosa, who performed on opening track "Feliz Navidad".[2]
Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all was issued on September 30, 1997, as Asleep at the Wheel's only release on High Street Records, a subsidiary of Windham Hill.[1] No singles were released from the album, although a music video was produced for "Xmas in Jail".[4] In 2006 the band released a second Christmas album, Santa Loves to Boogie, which featured new recordings of two songs from Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all: "Pretty Paper" and "Silent Night".[5] A third Christmas album followed in 2016, Lone Star Christmas Night, for which the group re-recorded three tracks: "Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all", "Xmas in Jail" and "Feliz Navidad".[6]
Media response to Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all was largely positive. AllMusic's Ross Boissoneau wrote that "Ray Benson and company have outdone themselves, with nods to traditional country ... as well as the band's stock in trade, Western swing. All in all, it's a fun and amusing way to get your fill of the sounds of the season."[1] Similarly, Eric Fidler of The Daily News Journal noted that "The band manages to straddle categories, with a lovely straight-ahead version of "Silent Night" ... a delightfully swinging "Feliz Navidad" ... and novelty tunes such as "Xmas in Jail." The end result is one of the most satisfying Christmas albums in recent memory."[7]
Some commentators were less positive about Merry Texas Christmas, Y'all. A review published in The Cincinnati Enquirer claimed that "The western swing revival band has a great concept here, but unlike AATW's multistar Bob Wills tribute, there's too much emphasis on Ray Benson's monotone vocals. He simply can't carry the CD. Appearances by Willie Nelson and Tish Hinojosa help, but not enough."[15]The Des Moines Register claimed that the genre did not work for Christmas music,[16] while a writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette simply wrote that the album "Doesn't work for me, y'all."[17]
^"Billboard Top Country Albums"(PDF). Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 52. New York City, New York: BPI Communications. December 27, 1993. p. 44. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
