(**½) October 13, 2009. 34th Studio Album.
At first blush the concept of Dylan doing traditional Christmas carols seems absurd, but it really works and this is one of my favorite Christmas albums (and I have a ton of them). Recorded shortly after Together Through Life and featuring many of the same musicians, Dylan follows in the tradition of Sinatra, Presley and Dean Martin and breathes new life into these classics with his raspy vocals counterbalanced with more traditional choral singers. Rather than starting where others do with “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” he restores the opening verse to “The Christmas Song,” and performs the lesser-known “Christmas Blues” with such conviction it seems like a song that was written just for him. But the absolute standout cut on this collection is “Must be Santa,” done in an outrageous polka style with an accompanying video that is so bizarre it has to be seen to be believed. And all royalties went to hunger organizations in the United States and Europe.