Winter Wonderland - Ray Charles

December Theme: Christmastime Again

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVtHmgPoxp4]

Ray can put his own spin on just about anything and make it a little better than it was. This Christmas classic is no different. He makes some slight changes in the melody and gives the song that easy, Ray Charles feel where he sings just behind the beat. You can really hear this in the beginning when it's just his vocals and the sleigh bells that can be heard. He and Willie Nelson share that off-time vocal technique, except Ray does it on purpose. You can check out a very different version of this song from my posts last year.

There is a section of the song that mentions Parson Brown, and I didn't really know to what or whom the reference was being made. I got motivated and looked it up recently. The lyric is referring to traveling ministers who would visit rural areas that didn't have a religious figure to perform ceremonies. He would often perform weddings while in town, hence, "He'll say are you married, we'll say no, man, but you can do the job while you're in town", suggesting that while he was there, he could marry the couple.

Later, when it was thought this was an inappropriate lyric for children (for whatever reason), the lyric became "circus clown", changing the bridge altogether. Though it wasn't changed for this reason, it also makes sense to change it sense the parsons are not a regular part of current American culture. Charles actually blends the two versions singing the first half of the section about the parson and the second half about playing the "Eskimo way".