Belle & Sebastian - BBC Sessions, Volume 6: John Peel Show, Maida Vale Studios, London, Britain, 12-18-2002

I'm lucky with this post, almost. I've been steadily moving through the BBC sessions of Belle and Sebastian in chronological order, and this is the sixth album. It also happens to be a Christmas-themed one. So I'm lucky this is getting posted so close to Christmas, 2022. But I'm only "almost" lucky, because I'm posting this two days after Christmas. I should have been more on the ball and posted it earlier. But hopefully you'll still be in the Christmas spirit for a little longer.

This is an unusual album, because it's a single BBC studio session, but long enough for a whole album. Plus, it has a Christmas theme. BBC DJ John Peel was a very big fan of Belle and Sebastian (he died in 2004), and this was done for John Peel's BBC show. I gather it went down much like a party, with lots of talking and joking between songs, but all I have here is the music.

It's a pretty fun album as Christmas albums/shows go. There are three kinds of songs here. One are some of Belle and Sebastian's best known songs, which seem to have no Christmas connection, such as "Step into My Office, Baby" or "The Boy with the Arab Strap." Another batch are traditional, well known Christmas songs, such as "Christmas Time Is Here," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." The third kind of songs are Christmas-themed, but very little known. For instance, "Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto" is a funky song originally done by James Brown. "Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me" was done by Elvis Presley, and sounds like his style. As another example, "Santa Claus" was done by the Sonics and sounds like 1960s garage rock. "I Took Some Time for Christmas" is especially interesting, because it's a Belle and Sebastian original that apparently was only performed for this show. (Note that I also put this on the stray tracks album I made called "Ransomed by Tuesday," as well as "Santa Claus" and "Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto.")

There are three songs performed for this show that I didn't include: "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Silent Night" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas." These are well known Christmas songs that the band did in a typical way. There was nothing particularly special or interesting about their versions. Sometimes, less is more, and I felt this was a better album without them. In particular, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a song that gets old fast, so it doesn't stand up to many repeat listenings.

This album is 42 minutes long.

01 Christmas Time Is Here (Belle & Sebastian)
02 Santa Claus (Belle & Sebastian)
03 Step into My Office, Baby (Belle & Sebastian)
04 Jonathan David (Belle & Sebastian)
05 Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto (Belle & Sebastian)
06 Photo Jenny (Belle & Sebastian)
07 O Little Town of Bethlehem (Belle & Sebastian)
08 Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me (Belle & Sebastian)
09 If You Find Yourself Caught in Love (Belle & Sebastian)
10 The Boy with the Arab Strap (Belle & Sebastian)
11 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Belle & Sebastian)
12 Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying (Belle & Sebastian)
13 I Took Some Time for Christmas (Belle & Sebastian)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15602301/BellenS_2002_BBSessionsVolume6JhnPeelShow__12-18-2002_atse.zip.html

I don't know what the deal is with the cover photo I've included here. I found it on the Internet by searching for Belle and Sebastian and Christmas. It was a black and white photo with color Santa hats and a color Christmas tree added. I don't know if it was made by a fan, or if it was something the band did for some reason. Either way, I think it fits better than anything else I could come up with. I tinted the whole thing green, since I usually don't like black and white covers.