(Heavy Progressive, Psychedelic Rock) Christmas - Live at Massey Hall (1971) - 1998, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The Canadian progressive and hard rock group called Christmas formed in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, in 1969. It came together from some of the members of a disbanded group called Reign Ghost. Guitarist and singer Bob Bryden, singer Lynda Squire, and drummer Helge "Rich" Richter had all three worked together in the earlier group. The lineup wasn't a stable one though and Squire soon left to follow other career choices. With her loss, Christmas found two new members, singer and guitarist Robert Bulger and bassist Tyler Reizanne. The group finished a couple of albums in 1970, Christmas and Heritage. There were also a number of singles released, such as "Don't Give It Away," "I'm a Song," "Farewell Sweet Love," and "Point Blank."
When the band still seemed to be floundering in first gear in the 1971, Bulger abandoned ship too, being replaced by another singer, Preston Wynn. The band took a year off and then came back with a lengthened name, the Spirit of Christmas. None of the efforts helped the group gain stardom and in 1975, the team called it quits. Most members went on to other bands, like Benzene, Age of Mirrors, Buzzsaw, the Forgotten Rebels, and Threshold. In the '90s, three of the albums Christmas had recorded -- Heritage, Lies to Live By, and Live at Massey Hall -- were re-released. - Charlotte Dillon

Christmas is not, you'll probably concede, a likely choice of names for a rock group. But Christmas is not really a likely group. The average age of the four members of Christmas is a mere 17, yet lest this should deter you we should point out very quickly that they make music many players fully ten years their senior have not yet dreamed of making. Lead singer and composer, Bob Bryden, thought up the name a year before he put Christmas together on December 25,1969. At the time, it seemed to fit. "Although our music is heavy, it is also optimistic. In part, it's peaceful, and it is something to get into the spirit of".
We felt the same way when we first heard Christmas music, in a rotting, disused air force barracks building on the outskirts of Oshawa, Ontario. It was a cloudy afternoon, and the weeds around the building were high and healthy from the months of summer sun.
We were jammed into one small room at the end of the building, and the music was louder than hell but it was very relaxing. You weren't being browbeaten or bashed around the ears. Indeed, when we walked out into that cloudless afternoon and looked across the criss-crossing air strips, there was a strange feeling of joy and electricity. We felt as though we'd heard something very very special. We explored further, and as the leaves turned red across the Southern Ontario flatlands, we spent long and fascinating nights in the studio recording this album. That initial feeling we'd had at the Oshawa air force base never left us. The flatlands are white now with the first snows, and the fires are burning in the red bricks and we're listening to the album. We still cannot believe the depth and definition of these four young musicians. We do believe though humbly, that this is the most original music to ever come out of the north country. We sit before our fires, gazing into the flames, and wonder how it is that such young musicians have so much insight and understanding. And so much balls.
We reflect on the unlikeliness of Christmas, and its four members, the 16 year old drummer, Richard Richter, the bass player, Tyler Raizenne who is also 16, the 18 year old lead guitarist, Robert Bulger and the 19 year old guitarist-writer-inspirational leader, Bob Bryden. Such a union is as Fragile as an early snowfall on still-yellow leaves, as sensitive as the look of belief in a young couples eyes, and yet as strong as the un-mortared stones in a Roman aqueduct. We know it will grow, just as the snow melts and the ground dries up. We feel these strange vibrations and we know they will not elude you. We have confidence and ears and hearts and a longing to know more.
Christmas, after all, is something to get into the spirit of.. Bob Bryden

As the title suggests, a live album from this superb heavy progressive/psych band, led by Bob Bryden (previously of the Canadian psych legends Reign Ghost) offers an enveloping mix of soaring vocal harmonies and fluid west-coast-tinged guitar work including the mammoth 18 minute epic "Beyond The Fields We Know", this is a fine recording that sounds as good today as it must have done then. - Freak Emporium

Recorded live at Massey Hall in Toronto on September 23, 1971, this album features a set by the Oshawa-based band Christmas. The album contains two songs from the Heritage album, "Point Blank" and "Blues on an Iceberg"; one 18-minute, 36-second piece entitled "Beyond the Fields We Know" that was to eventually end up on the Lies to Live By album; and a previously unreleased medley of early material called "When Night Falls" that includes the Christmas cheer, a direct takeoff of the famous Fish cheer from Woodstock by Country Joe and the Fish. Although not released until many years after the band broke up, this recording is a historical documentation of one of Canada's most exciting early-'70s bands. This reissue by Unidisc has been digitally mastered for superb sound quality - Keith Pettipas, All Music Guide

Christmas developed out of Reign Ghost and was the precursor to The Spirit of Christmas. In fact, this is the core group that formed The Spirit of Christmas (minus vocalist Preston Wynn) and these guys show some of the hallmarks of the subsequent formation, including some fine drumming. Heritage was the band's second LP. The self-titled first is due out on The Laser's Edge sometime in the future and there are, I believe, plans to issue a previously unreleased live album. At more than 48 minutes, the LP was quite long by 1971 standards and the CD reissue contains an additional eight minutes in the form of two bonus tracks. Most of the songs are in the short 2-5 minute range but "April Mountain" is nearly 11 minutes and "Zephyr Song" weighs in at just over 13. Like the other two formations, Bob Bryden is the driving force as he wrote all the music and lyrics on this album. With a strong West Coast feel, you'll hear similarities to Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, early Steve Miller Band, etc; gone is the fuzz guitar. Guitarist Rob Bulger plays clean, clear, bluesy licks and even duels on occasion with Bryden's guitar. The sound is occasionally rounded out with miscellaneous keyboards, also played by Bryden. Christmas, despite their Canadian origins, would have been right at home at The Fillmore West - New Gibraltar Encyclopedia Of Progressive Rock