Today, as millions of families throughout the US reunite to celebrate Thanksgiving, all the familiar holiday songs come to life in every household, shopping mall and store. It wouldn’t be the holidays without the jingling of the sleigh bells, the “pa rum pum pum pum” of the little Drummer Boy, and the “wisshhhh” in “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” playing in our ears. One less traditional but more modern favorite of the Christmas songs is the beloved “Santa Baby,” first released by Eartha Kitt in 1953. Since then, it’s been covered by the likes of Madonna, Arianna Grande, Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson among dozens more, securing the song as a modern-day staple of holiday repertoire.

Americana/jazz artist Sweet Megg is set to release her rendition of “Santa Baby” on Friday but PopWrapped are delighted to premiere it today. Asked about why she chose this song in particular to be her next single, Megg shares: “We wanted to create something fun and vintage for the holiday. When it comes to holiday music, I’ve always preferred the earlier music from the 40s, 50s, & 60s.  I thought it would be fun for [my record label] Turtle Bay to create something authentically vintage but not be constrained only to the 20s/30s.”

In order to recreate the classic sound of the analog era, Megg’s label had producer Jon Atkinson from BigTone Records, who specializes in antique recording equipment, assist in the recording. “Everything you hear is live and recorded on authentic equipment from the 1940s, 50s, & 60s,” Megg explains. “The warmth of recording in the pre-digital manner is evident in the result. I’m excited to share it!” The personnel on the track include:  Ricky Alexander (saxophone), Mike Davis (trumpet), Justin Poindexter (guitar), Tal Ronen (bass), Jesse Gelber (piano), Chris Gelb (drums) and Sam Chess (trombone).

Give “Santa Baby” a listen below and for more information on Sweet Megg, visit her website, give her page a like on Facebook or follow her on Instagram. Header photo credit: Rose Callahan.