ReZoom

Stop! Don’t pack away those holiday CDs yet. Putting up yourChristmas albums (or deleting them from your iPod) is a treasured Dec. 26ritual for many of us. After all, with the stores jumpstarting Christmas inSeptember, who isn’t sick of “Rudolph” by now?

But wait. We’ve been tossing a lot of great winter music outwith all the Yule, music that can help us through the cold, bleak, tunelessmonths ahead.

I’ve been an ardent collector of Christmas music since thestuff came on LP. Being Jewish, it’s not nostalgia or religious fervor thatdraws me, it’s the music. All the greats, from Sinatra to Satchmo, the Beatles to Elvis, B.B. King to Beausoleil, all have wrapped themselves in holiday fare.

By Dec. 26, of course, all that’s just stale eggnog.

But what about “Sleigh Ride,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and all those other great cold weather songs that never mention Christmas but still get tossed out with the rest come Dec. 26.

So here are the rules. “No” to songs that mention Christmas,Santa, Yuletide, shepherds or mangers, and absolutely nothing with the phrase,“Ba-rup-a-bup-bum.”

“Yes” to songsthat focus on the snow, the trees, the cold air, the warm feelings of love (andoccasionally, lust) with which we humans fend off those winter blues.

Here’s an alphabetical list of some Yule-proof wintertimefavorites that should still sound fresh long after that dried brown tree hasbeen landfilled.

“2000 Miles,” The Pretenders

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside, “Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting

“Bells of St. Mary’s” Les Paul & Mary Ford

“Bells of St. Mary’s” Don Reno & Red Smiley

“Every Day WillBe Like a Holiday” The Sweet Inspirations

“In the Bleak Midwinter,” John Fahey

“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” Billie Holiday

“Jingle Bells”The Count Basie Orchestra

“Jingle Bells,” Jimmy Smith

“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” Dean Martin

“My Favorite Things,” John Coltrane

”Sleigh Ride” Sam Bush

“Sleigh Ride” The Ventures

“Snowfall” Claude Thornhill

“Winter Wonderland,” Chet Baker

“Winter Wonderland,”Ella Fitzgerald

And finally, I got you a little something – a re-gifted rockevergreen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WfoccRna6I