BB King Christmas Album

If there is not a single sacred song, is a Christmas album really worth anything at all? Yes, if it is BB King. Although as a general rule I try to focus on the true heart of Christmas - which is Christ - there are some Christmas albums that have nothing to do with Jesus that I just can't help but enjoy (and then the flip side is also true, there are many albums with a lot of Jesus that I just can't stand!)
This morning I was walking to my bible study and so I took my Ipod along for the trip and thought I would have a listen to one of my wife's Christmas album purchases from a few years back - BB King's Christmas Celebration of Hope. This album is great, and here are a few reasons why:

The band - recorded a few years back when he ducked into the studio with his touring band, this group is great and the rhythm section, in particular, is tight.

The voice - the voice is the blues, and when you hear him sing there is a depth and experience that just makes everything sound like wisdom personified. So despite the trivial lyrics of most of the album, it still sounds like it should be meaningful, and that I could get a lot out it, and that I should be listening to what he has to say.

The guitar - when you listen to BB King you know that you may hear some guitar licks, and hear them often...but can there be too much of a good thing? And you know that there wont be any blistering moments of virtuosity but with that tone, and those tasty licks you want to savor every moment.

The strings - OK, so generally I hate string sections. Give me a fiddle any day, but a schlocky string section drives me crazy. But on this album everything else was so good I almost forgot that the Nashville String Machine was there.

The Lyrics - I have already said that most of the lyrics are nothing to write home about. There is some of the standard secular Christmas fare, which compared to the rich theology of the season always comes up short and trivial to me. But then there is the perverse side of my musical taste that had me laughing right out loud to the lyrics of Back Door Santa. They are terrible, but terribly funny, and having fun with the notion of Santa always makes me laugh.

So those are just some reasons tho check it out. I would love to hear what you think, or hear some suggestions as to great Christmas albums.