With all due respect to the late Bobby Helms, “Jingle Bell Rock” had ample evolution ahead when he introduced it.
Maybe it was a mark of the era, but hardly anything about Helms’ original 1957 recording matches the title. His suggestion “to rock the night away” comes closer to evoking visuals of sleeping in a curved-band chair.
Some more recent artists have curiously missed the mark as well. Amy Grant and Dion — who both improved “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” — come to mind.
But for every one of those, there is someone who has lent the 60-year-old holiday staple a credible rock tempo. Some nail the instrumental pace on that front better than they do the vocals. Others stand out with their speedy, energized delivery of the lyrics
But the best stay faithful to the composition’s general pattern while blending bona fide rock music with festive jingles. Ranging from the early ’80s to the present, the following performers have met some or all of that criteria.
10. Thousand Foot Krutch
It is hard to imagine many purists enjoying this 2012 cover. The group goes its own way with the lyrical sequence in ways no one else has.
That is, naturally, Thousand Foot Krutch’s prerogative. For the purposes of this list, it loses points for disregarding the unofficial integrity of the composition. But the band preserves the integrity of its own style in the process.
Moreover, the key criterion here is overall rocking. And this version of “Jingle Bell Rock” is one you can warm up for your workout to. Conventional holiday celebrants can sure use that in advance of their overindulgence on seasonal sweets.
9. Rascal Flatts
You can’t blame a country group for giving this tune a valiant stab. The effort and the energy are indubitably there. And while none of it quite translates to “rock,” it does give you a good swinging visual.
The instrumental intro and outro, particularly the guitar on the latter, are this track’s strongest assets. A few bonus points come via the variety of background bells throughout. At least Rascal Flatts put some perk into the first two words of the title.
8. Gina Jeffreys
If the instruments complementing Jeffreys do not quite hit the rock mark, they hit what the Flatts miss. With that said, the beat and the vocal delivery stray from the title genre’s most evolved form. The tempo is too tepid for top-five consideration.
7. Aaron Tippin
This cover has a more energized all-round pace than Jeffreys, but Tippin’s tone lacks the oomph to match.
As with Jeffreys and Rascal Flatts, you can make some allowances for Tippin as a country artist. Even so, while his versatility gets him on this list, it only carries him to a low-to-middle rung.
6. Newsboys
The Australian Christian rock group also falls short of top-notch with its vocal vigor. But after a few seconds of sleigh bells, an opening guitar riff opens the window for a genuinely rocking beat.
One should expect nothing less from a 2010 cover of “Jingle Bell Rock,” which is what this is. Nonetheless, a few contemporarily and previously prominent have nailed the criteria with better force.
5. Hall & Oates
Of all the prominent recordings of “Jingle Bell Rock,” this 1983 cover is the earliest version with energy. It takes the 26-year-old rhythm of the original and mutates it into a danceable species. For good measure, it adds its own touch with a continuous background thump after the opening riff.
The tandem actually released two versions, with each man getting a turn as the lead vocalist. Daryl Hall is the winner on that front, though John Oates is not far behind. His comparatively soft-spoken delivery takes nothing away from the heart that goes into the guitar.
4. The Brian Setzer Orchestra
While Setzer does not match the speed of some other covers, he outclasses them on the instruments. Where Rascal Flatts gets credit for effort on the intro and outro, Setzer is a genuine champion.
Moreover, he sings with more instrumental syllables in the background. Where Hall & Oates had a cut-and-dry thump, Setzer has an echoing click constantly encouraging listeners to move their feet.
With more energy in his vocal tone, Setzer could have been the king of “Jingle Bell Rock.” But here we are.
3. Jeremy Camp
While faithfully following the same basic pattern of lyrics of Helms and Hall & Oates, the Midwestern Christian rocker brings the tempo Setzer lacks. Depending on what clips you consult, that makes his version roughly 25 seconds shorter.
For the first 15 seconds, he holds his tongue and sets a thorough tone to fulfill the title. Faint jingling nabs just enough audibility amid a conventionally rocking intro before giving way to festive-sounding church bells. The same mixture plays Camp out while he tosses in a few spoken interjections.
2. Neil Diamond
Instead of updating the instrumental intro, Diamond redoes the rhythm and delves right into a faster delivery. In addition, he does not bother with as much syllabic elongation.
As such, this version is over before the two-minute mark. If he wanted, Diamond could have squeezed in a repeat of the first two verses (“Jingle bell” through “frosty air”). He could have made his “Jingle Bell Rock” the original “Mr. Brightside” before The Killers even formed.
Come what may, if you can react quickly enough, this version will get you moving. That should be the objective of any composition that dares to call itself “rock.”
1. Julianne Hough
Like Rascal Flatts, Jeffreys and Tippin, Hough specializes in country. Unlike the others, she leaves no hint of that fact in her rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock.”
Like Camp, Hough has an outro that matches the energy of her intro. The only difference is that her band exceeds the energy of Camp’s.
Every aspect of this version also outpaces Diamond’s. Yet Hough uses her wiggle room to cap the instrumental interlude by repeating the second verse. Her cover also edges some top competitors by sprinkling some jingle-bell effects into the outro.
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