A Soulful Christmas

For the Brian Culbertson album, see A Soulful Christmas (Brian Culbertson album).

"Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" redirects here. For the Snoop Dogg song, see Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto.

A Soulful Christmas
Studio album by James Brown
Released	November 1968 (1968-11) [1]
Recorded	August 7, 1968 (1968-08-07)("Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud") [2] October 7–10, 1968 (1968-10-07 – 1968-10-10)(remainder of titles) [1]
Studio	Vox Studios (Los Angeles, California) ("Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud") [2] King Studios (Cincinnati, Ohio) (remainder of titles) [1]
Genre	Funk, Christmas
Length	34:29
Label	King
Producer	James Brown
James Brown chronology
Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968) A Soulful Christmas (1968) Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969)
Singles from Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud
"Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" Released: August 1968 (1968-08) [2] "Tit for Tat (Ain't No Taking Back)" Released: November 1968 (1968-11) [2] "Let’s Unite the Whole World at Christmas" Released: November 1968 (1968-11) [2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

A Soulful Christmas is the 22nd studio album and second Christmas album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in November of 1968, by King Records. ^{[1] [3] [5]} It was the fifth album that Brown had released that year.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto"	Alfred Ellis, Charles Bobbit, Hank Ballard	3:02
2.	"Santa Claus, Santa Claus"	Charles Bobbit, Nat Jones	4:04
3.	"Believers Shall Enjoy (Non Believers Shall Suffer)"	Bud Hobgood, Nat Jones	2:16
4.	"Soulful Christmas"	Alfred Ellis, Charles Bobbit, Hank Ballard	3:08
5.	"Tit for Tat (Ain't No Taking Back)"	Charles Bobbit, Nat Jones	3:06
6.	"Christmas is Coming"	Bud Hobgood, Nat Jones	2:39
7.	"Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud, Pts. 1 & 2"	James Brown	4:48
8.	"In the Middle, Pt. 1"	Bud Hobgood, Nat Jones	2:44
9.	"Let's Unite the Whole World at Christmas"	Charles Bobbit, Nat Jones	2:45
10.	"You Know It"	Alfred Ellis, Bud Hobgood	2:22
11.	"Santa Claus Gave Me a Brand New Start"	Bud Hobgood, Nat Jones	3:49

Personnel

• James Brown – lead vocals
• Waymon Reed – trumpet
• Richard "Kush" Griffith – trumpet
• Fred Wesley – trombone
• Levi Rasbury – valve trombone
• Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis – alto saxophone, organ
• Maceo Parker – tenor saxophone, piano
• St. Clair Pinckney – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone
• Richard Jones – violin
• Marilyn Jones – violin
• Sylvia Medford – violin
• Jimmy Nolen – guitar
• Alfonzo Kellum – guitar, bass
• "Sweet" Charles Sherrell – bass
• Gene Redd – vibes
• Clyde Stubblefield – drums
• Nate Jones – drums

References

1. Leeds, Alan (2024). The Complete James Brown Christmas (Vinyl ed.). p. 3.
2. Leeds, Alan (October 2007). The Singles, Volume 5: 1967–1969 (published February 29, 2008). pp. 11–14.
3. "A Soulful Christmas - James Brown". AllMusic. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
4. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "James Brown". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  109. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
5. "iTunes - Music - A Soulful Christmas by James Brown". iTunes. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.