LUMPENPROLETARIAT—Have a holly jolly Christmas…

Messina

“A Holly Jolly Christmas” (1964) by Burl Ives [1]

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[1]  This is a 1964 song with a nice 1950s country/rock & roll (or rockabilly) vibe.  Apparently, Mr. Burl Ives was a communist, who cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), named names, and betrayed his communist comrades.  This comes to us, at least according to Pete Seeger (and likely others).  But, as our beloved music Professor Gustavson used to say, you have to separate the man from the music.  (In that case, we were reflecting on the unfortunate character flaws of Miles Davis, a musical genius we spent a good deal of time studying.  If we had a character litmus test for all of our artists, we probably wouldn’t have any music or art to enjoy.)

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[Screenshot of Burl Ives in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (1958) by source, used via fair use.]

[26 DEC 2016]

[Last modified at 16:06 PST on 26 DEC 2016]