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Christmas records run the gamut. The worst ones place an artist in a setting where they believe they must perform in a spiritual falsetto in order to appeal or appease. The best ones feature the artists doing what they do best, and in their own inimitable style capture the Christmas spirit in some way. Gary Hoey's meetings with the Christmas Spirit are some of the best. Hoey plays rock and roll guitar, and he rips through Ho! Ho! Hoey II as though he were in a battle of the bands with Old Saint Nick and the Rockin' Reindeer. He storms down the chimney with Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, but has no trouble gearing down for an almost jazzy rendition of Mel Torme's The Christmas Song.

When I heard him play Winter Wonderland, I thought for a moment I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn. (And paying homage to Stevie Ray is always a great way to get on my good side.) Then, the record really hit its stride with Feliz Navidad, where a hint of Carlos Santana took this song to new heights.

But even the greatest Christmas performer is nobody until he adds a new song to the holiday mix. Hoey's offering, the title track, comes late in the record, when I thought it was too late to be surprised. I don't know if Ho! Ho! Hoey will be remembered as a Christmas classic, but it is a fine song. And Hoey has produced a wonderful record here.

But wait, there's more: don't forget to give a listen to the original, Ho! Ho! Hoey and Hoey's 1999 release, Ho! Ho! Hoey 3, all on the Surfdog label.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 1999)

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From the liner notes:

During the 1990s Gary Hoey established himself as one of the premier rock guitarists of his generation. Able to adopt the styles of all of the great rockers, he has established himself particularly in the "surf guitar" genre, so much so that he was chosen to score Bruce Brown's Endless Summer II in 1994. He also has made something of a cottage industry of rock Christmas recordings, having recorded Ho! Ho! Hoey (1995), Ho! Ho! Hoey II (1997), Ho! Ho! Hoey 3 (1999), and The Best of Ho! Ho! Hoey (2001).

Gary Hoey

Ho! Ho! Hoey II

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Track List