Brooks Williams -- Good King Wenceslas

Brooks contacted us and wanted to know if he could submit a song for Ornaments, and we were happy to have him do so. He auditioned, in a manner of speaking, by sending us tapes of three songs he'd performed around the holidays last year, so that we could pick the one we'd like him to work on. At least half of what he performs on his CDs is instrumental, showcasing his bluesy-tasty picking and strumming style. His version of Wenceslas featured dazzling guitar work. And we'd never heard anybody sing that many lyrics to the song before! Both factors made this an easy choice.

It was fate that, while talking to us about the holidays, Pete Seeger mentioned how Good King Wenceslas and a lot of other old traditional carols happened to be saved from obscurity back in the 1800's. So, as an additional bit of icing, we let Pete tell the story before the song. We figured Brooks wouldn't mind the company.

For more information about Brooks Williams, check out the Brooks Williams web site.