...and Christmas with John Fahey, Vol. II.
John Fahey made his name taking the guitar technique of pre-WWII country and blues musicians and adapting those to other musical idioms, performing long, classical-music-inspired song suites on a steel-stringed acoustic guitar.
The first album was released in 1968, and the second in 1975, then both were reissued on a single CD in 1993, and that's the version I have. According to Mr Fahey's comments in the CD liner notes, he was inspired to record this upon realizing how well it could sell, and because an album of guitar solo Christmas music had never been done before. But Fahey's mistaken: the jazz / bossa nova guitarist Charlie Byrd had released his Christmas Carols for Solo Guitar just the year before. (I have it on vinyl.) But, Fahey's album is definitely better than Byrd's.
What I like about these is that John mostly sticks to the hymns—his only concessions to seasonal pop are "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bells"—and mixes things up with a few of his own compositions. Richard Ruskin accompanies him on guitar "Oh Holy Night", "Christmas Medley", "Russian Christmas Overture", and "Carol of the Bells".
Speaking of "Carol of the Bells", here's what John had to say:
That's one of my favorites, maybe second only to "Oh Holy Night". I rearranged it but maybe I didn't really rearrange it, because nobody notices that I did rearrange it.If you only listen to one track, listen to: "Russian Christmas Overture". Or "Carol of the Bells".
And now, a final word from John Fahey:
You know, I've always been a little pissed that my best-selling records are Christmas records rather than music I had written, but that's ameliorated by the money!