Compiled and edited by Matthew Barton, liner notes by Matthew Barton and Ellen Harold.
Songs of Christmas was recorded by Alan Lomax and several of his colleagues in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Southern U.S. and the Caribbean between 1950 to 1964. At the time, commercial forces were overwhelming local traditions, and many folk cultures stood on the brink of great upheavals that would forever alter their ways of life. Lomax always made a point of seeking out the music that epitomized the old Christmas spirit that was closest to his own heart. English Mummers, Italian bagpipes, lullabies, carols, and stories express the unquenchable fun, faith, and good times of Christmas and the immemorial good-luck rituals of the New Year. With Bob & Ron Copper, Ewan MacColl, Seamus Ennis, Vera Ward Hall, the Alabama Sacred Harp singers, the Georgia Sea Island Singers, the Putipu Band of Capri, Norman Edmonds, the Symondsbury Mummers and many, many more. Containing 31 tracks in all, the album comes with extensive liner notes and photographs and complete song and dialect translations from the Spanish, Italian, Latin and Irish.
- Entrance of Father Christmas — Symondsbury Mummer's play
- The Twelve Days of Christmas — Bob And Ron Copper
- Christmas Rhyme — Ewan MacColl
- The Motion Tune — Red Ants
- Mari Lywd Ceremony — David Thomas & party
- Midwinter Horn Solo — Unknown Dutch player
- Aguinaldo — Valencia, Spain buskers, Antonio Riurtos, Jose Arrandia, Jose Caldez, Juan Martoell
- Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle — Caggiano pipers
- A Warm Drink for the Baby — Seamus Ennis
- Taladh An Leinibh Losa (Christ Child Lullaby) — Scottish Crofter group
- No Room At the Inn / Last Month of the Year — Vera Ward Hall
- Venite Adoremus — Unidentified priest, Abruzzi, Italy
- Tan Tan — Manuela Morena
- Shepherds Arise — Bob And Ron Copper
- La Fils Du Roi De Gloire — Trinidadian Cantique singers
- Sherburne — Sacred Harp Singers
- Caramiles — Local Group, Ibiza, Spain
- Exit Tune From Midnight Mass — Local Group, Ibiza, Spain
- Las Doce Por La Virgen — Julio Ramos Polo
- Rumanian Midwinter Carol — Local Group, Hunedoara, Rumania
- Singing the Travels — Tom Eveleigh
- The Gower Wassail Song — Charlie Bate
- Mari Lywd Description & Farewell Verse — Margaretta Thomas
- Walk Billy Abbot — The Georgia Sea Island Singers
- O Day — The Georgia Sea Island Singers
- Conch Shell Horn On New Year's Eve in Positano, Italy — Anonymous
- New Year's Day Tarantella — Putipu Band of Capri
- Capo D' Anno — Ponte Langarino group
- Bon Nouvelle — Trinidadian Cantique singers
- Breaking Up Christmas — Norma Edmonds
- Conclusion of Symondsbury Mummer's Play — Symondsbury Mummer's play