Album of the Day

Booker T. & the M.G.'s defined Southern soul as the Stax Records house band (playing on classics by such artists as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Wilson Pickett, among others) and as hitmakers in their own right. IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT, the instrumental quartet's fourth studio set, is an enjoyable romp through a dozen seasonal standards including “Jingle Bells,” “Winter Wonderland” and R&B favorite “Merry Christmas Baby.” Keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Al Jackson, Jr. are in peak form throughout the 1966 Stax/Atlantic collection – holiday music never got funkier than on IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT.