George Strait
Merry Christmas Strait to You
Album · Christmas · 1986
The King of Country’s first holiday album is split evenly between classic Christmas tunes and contemporary holiday songs, offering up a neo-trad spin on the season. Strait delivers some honky-tonk holiday cheer on tunes like "What a Merry Christmas This Could Be", but the Texan's long-held love of Western swing turns out to fit perfectly with beloved chestnuts like "White Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland", both of which are played with a country-jazz feel that brings something fresh to the table.