Bruce’s Classic Country Christmas Favorites [Video]

Tonight as you settle in for the Classic Country Saturday Night Show and make your request, I invite you travel back in time to some of the most cherished Christmas tunes in all Country Music. These are some of my childhood favorites. If I didn't mention yours I wasn't trying to be on the naughty list so I hope you will share your favorite song  with me.

Here is the first Christmas tune I learned to sing as a kid and I still love Gene Autry's version more than any of the other great covers of this song.

This song is a favorite because it was featured in the TV show Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. I always had to cover my eyes when the "Bumble" or abominable snow man made his first appearance. Here is Burl Ives from that holiday classic and Holly Jolly Christmas.

Back to my main man Gene Autry again. Gene and his family lived the spirit of Merry Christmas, they adopted 12 kids of different races and raised them all as one family. He didn't get the publicity that some of our Hollywood Stars get today, that's because Gene was doing it for the right reason. By the way if you watch this video closely you can see Tonto, Jay Silverheels, from the original Lone Ranger standing on the steps with the kids. Life was a lot simpler back then wasn't it?

Merle Haggard, If We Make It Through December. There is really not much more to say, let's let Merle takes us back to when times were tough and people were kind.

I don't think any of us expected to find a holiday classic in a movie about a whorehouse but we should have known better since Dolly Parton was involved. Dolly has a way of taking situations that are no so good and shining the light of love and kindness on them. Hard Candy Christmas is one of 97.3 The Dawg's most requested holiday songs. It wasn't supposed to be a Christmas tune but it has become a favorite for a lot of us. Here's Dolly and The Girls from the Best  Little Whorehouse in Texas.

For anyone who who knows what it's like to wear short pants and break a sweat on Christmas morning, this Alabama tune has got to rank high on your list of favorites. Christmas in Dixie is still a song that gives me goosebumps.

When they hit the line " in Jackson Mississippi" where I was living when the song came out, I am transported back to a different time in my life. I had very little money, a broken down car and an apartment that was barely big enough to hold a bed. In spite of it all I was making a living being on the radio and that is the only place I ever wanted to be, especially at Christmas time.