Most festive records are made to a deadline and sound like it. The best soul Christmas albums are the exceptions: sessions where a house band or a great singer treated a carol as raw material rather than a contract obligation. This list sticks to records you can still buy on vinyl or CD without remortgaging, ranked by how often they will leave the shelf between now and Twelfth Night.
A word on how I picked the best soul Christmas albums here. I have favoured full albums over singles, original recordings over later compilations, and records with a sound of their own over polite standards. Where it helps, I have given the original label and catalogue number so you know what you are looking at in a shop or on Discogs.
The best soul Christmas albums, ranked
1. Various Artists, Soul Christmas (Atco, 1968)
The one to buy first. Atlantic’s November 1968 compilation pulled together the Stax, Muscle Shoals and New York sides of the company, and every track earns its place. Clarence Carter’s leering “Back Door Santa”, produced by Rick Hall, opens proceedings; Otis Redding’s “White Christmas” and “Merry Christmas Baby”, both with Booker T. & the M.G.’s, follow; and King Curtis plays “The Christmas Song” with a young Duane Allman on guitar under Tom Dowd’s production. Carla Thomas’s “Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas” and William Bell’s “Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday” round it out. Rhino’s 1994 CD, retitled Original Soul Christmas, adds three bonus tracks. Beware the different 20-track Soul Christmas issued in 1991; it is a fine set, but not the same record. If the Stax names here are new to you, our Stax Records story fills in the background, and the Wikipedia track listing is a handy check before you buy.
2. James Brown, A Soulful Christmas (King KS 1040, 1968)
Brown made three Christmas albums, and this is the toughest. Cut largely at King’s Cincinnati studio in October 1968, it puts the late-sixties band at full stretch: Clyde Stubblefield and Nate Jones on drums, Jimmy Nolen on guitar, Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley in the horns. “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” opens it, and the full two-part “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” sits in the running order, which tells you this is not a record about tinsel.
3. Booker T. & the M.G.’s, In the Christmas Spirit (Stax, 1966)
Twelve instrumentals, produced by Jim Stewart at the McLemore Avenue studio, with Booker T. Jones on Hammond, piano and vibraphone, Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass and Al Jackson Jr. on drums. It is the most listenable record here as background music, which sounds like faint praise until you notice how much detail Cropper packs into “Silver Bells”. Put it on for the guests; keep the others for later in the evening.
4. The Jackson 5, Christmas Album (Motown, 1970)
Released on 15 October 1970 and produced by Hal Davis and the Corporation, with arrangements from Gene Page and James Anthony Carmichael. It spent four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Christmas albums chart that December and has sold millions since. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” was the single, but the group’s own songs hold up just as well, and the lead vocals are shared more widely than people remember.
5. A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records (1963)
Strictly speaking this is girl-group pop rather than soul, but Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” alone justifies its place. Recorded at Gold Star in Los Angeles in the late summer of 1963, with Hal Blaine, Leon Russell and the rest of the session elite and Jack Nitzsche arranging, it was released on 22 November 1963, the day President Kennedy was assassinated, and sold poorly. History has corrected that verdict.
6. The Temptations, The Temptations Christmas Card (Gordy GS 951, 1970)
Produced by Clay McMurray and Barrett Strong and released on 30 October 1970, it spreads the leads between Eddie Kendricks, Dennis Edwards, Paul Williams, Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. The harmonies are the draw; the arrangements are pure 1970 Motown, all strings and wah-wah, and none the worse for it.
7. Stevie Wonder, Someday at Christmas (Tamla, 1967)
A teenage Stevie on a typically lush Motown production. The title song has become a standard, and “What Christmas Means to Me” has a swing that most covers miss. Original Tamla pressings turn up regularly, and there was a vinyl reissue in 2015.
8. Al Green, White Christmas (1983)
Green’s gospel-era seasonal album, first issued on Myrrh, has 1980s sheen in places, but the voice is untouched. Fat Possum’s 2017 reissue on the revived Hi label, retitled Feels Like Christmas, is the edition most people will find. For the Memphis back story, see our Hi Records history.
9. Gladys Knight & the Pips, Bless This House (Buddah, 1975)
Mid-seventies soul with a disco pulse in places and the Pips taking turns at lead. It has never had a modern vinyl reissue, so original Buddah copies are the way in. Worth tracking down if the obvious titles above are already on your shelf.
10. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, It’s a Holiday Soul Party (Daptone DAP-037, 2015)
The modern entry, and no novelty. Daptone released it on 30 October 2015, mixing carols with originals such as “Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects” and “Big Bulbs”, plus a Hanukkah song, “8 Days (Of Hanukkah)”. The Dap-Kings play it like a 1968 King session, which is the highest compliment I can offer.
The single you need anyway
No list of Christmas soul is complete without Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas”, released by Atco on 9 December 1970 and written by Hathaway with Nadine McKinnor. It barely charted at the time, yet it entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in December 2020 and has been certified silver in the UK. It turns up on the 1991 Soul Christmas compilation, which is a good reason to own both versions of that title.
Buying soul Christmas records on vinyl
- Buy out of season. Demand for seasonal records peaks in December, so if you are patient, January or February is a sensible time to hunt for the best soul Christmas albums.
- Check the edition. Several titles here have been retitled or resequenced on reissue, as with Soul Christmas and Al Green’s album. Compare the track list before you pay.
- Mind the condition. Christmas records come out once a year and often get played at parties, so surface noise and ring wear are common. Ask for photographs of the vinyl, not just the sleeve.
- Consider good reissues. Specialist labels often do a better job than the majors; our guide to soul reissue labels lists the ones worth trusting.
Once the best soul Christmas albums are back in their sleeves, any of the records in our essential deep soul 45s will warm a January evening just as well, and they do not go out of date on Twelfth Night.
Christmas soul FAQ
Which of the best soul Christmas albums should I buy first?
Atco’s 1968 Soul Christmas. It gives you Otis Redding, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Carla Thomas, Clarence Carter, King Curtis and Solomon Burke on one record, and it is easy to find on CD and vinyl.
Are original pressings of the best soul Christmas albums expensive?
Mostly not. The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Temptations albums sold heavily and are common in used bins. James Brown’s King originals and early Atco copies of Soul Christmas in clean condition cost more, so grade them carefully.
Which modern soul Christmas album is worth buying?
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ It’s a Holiday Soul Party from 2015 is the strongest recent example, made in the same vintage style as the rest of the Daptone catalogue.