Vera Day

If John Ford is the greatest Western director, The Searchers is arguably his greatest film, at once a grand outdoor spectacle like such Ford classics as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) and a film about one man's troubling moral codes, a big-screen adventure of the 1950s that anticipated the complex themes and characters that would dominate the 1970s. John Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a former Confederate soldier who returns to his brother Aaron's frontier cabin three years after the end of the Civil War. Ethan still has his rebel uniform and weapons, a large stash of Yankee gold, and no explanations as to where he's been since Lee's surrender. A loner not comfortable in the bosom of his family, Ethan also harbors a bitter hatred of Indians (though he knows their lore and language well) and trusts no one but himself. Ethan and Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), Aaron's adopted son, join a makeshift band of Texas Rangers fending off an assault by renegade Comanches.

This plentiful selection from Alan Lomax's field recordings will change the way you think of Christmas. Spoken narratives, mummers' plays, fife-and-drum recordings, Scottish lullabyes, liturgical chants, French a cappella hymns, Alabama sacred-harp gatherings, wassail songs, and Virginia fiddle tunes drawn from diverse geographical regions, languages, and performing styles are all represented. And yet the collection somehow weaves together a coherent story of primary, emotional responses to the symbols and stories of this holiday. The mood is frequently exuberant, capturing the sound of festivals, gatherings, and worship in small towns. Other times the mood is spiritual. Vera Ward Hall, whom Lomax considered one of the greatest singers he recorded, performs a soulful blues inspired by the Bethlehem pilgrimage. And you've likely never heard anything akin to the voices recorded on the Spanish Balearic islands–their message of glad tidings comes in a quavering, throaty cry, accompanied by rapping swords, no less. The emotions behind such voices will leave you in wonder. Songs of Christmas may even restore your faith in the mystery of the season itself.

Convivial Holiday Music Collection Features Beloved Artists Including Paul McCartney, The Roots, Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, The Decemberists, and Lake Street Dive, Alongside Newcomers Including Albin Lee Meldau, Calum Scott, and Kandace Springs.