For years, I've made the argument that Elvis Presley was at his purest when singing the gospel. That was the closest we ever got to seeing inside Elvis' heart, past the ambition, the adolescent need for identity, recognition, and validation that watermarked even his best music. When singing to the Lord, Elvis would open a door to the unbridled longing that drove him simply to sing - not show off. If this passion was hopelessly mired in the Freudian nightmare of his relationship with his mother or his futile, latter-day quest for redemption, it wasn't any less real because of it. Since Christmas music is first cousins with gospel, the feeling Elvis conveyed when he sang about the holiday was nearly synonymous with the uncluttered fervor that he brought to the church. That said, Elvis cut his best Christmas music when his two worlds collided - when his trademark rock 'n' roll bump-and-grind ran full speed into the holiest of seasons.

The most convincing evidence of my theory is Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," a salacious blues that finds Elvis lewdly declaiming to his (presumably female) listener, "Santa Claus is coming down your chimney tonight!" The song is among Elvis' best performances - seasonal or otherwise - and it is the centerpiece of the King's first Christmas record, Elvis' Christmas Album (RCA, 1957), a case study in the dichotomy between the sacred Elvis and the profane Elvis.

Rockers like "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" sit side-by-side with reverential meditations like "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" - not to mention actual gospel numbers originally released on Elvis' Peace In The Valley EP earlier that year. Packaged as a glossy gift for the fans (intimate 12x12 portraits included), Elvis' Christmas Album was a masterpiece of marketing and a triumph of bad taste, but it still stands as one of the best rock 'n' roll Christmas albums ever made.

However, even casual listeners know that "Blue Christmas," another track from Christmas Album, is the holiday song for which Elvis is remembered. The tune was originally recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1949, and he took it to #1 on the Country charts (#26 Pop). Tubb's rendition is straight and mournful, but in Elvis' hands, "Blue Christmas" is pure burlesque. Just the way Presley hiccups his way into the song is enough to send it over the edge, but then drummer D.J. Fontana begins bashing away like he's moonlighting at a striptease joint and background singer Millie Kirkham starts trilling wordlessly like she's singing a different song altogether. It's awful, or it's perfect, but for better or worse, "Blue Christmas" became Elvis' signature Christmas track.

Uncharacteristically, RCA demonstrated some restraint and only released "Blue Christmas" as a promotional single for disc jockeys. When the label finally released the single to the public in 1964 (b/w "Wooden Heart"), it zipped to #1 on Billboard's Christmas chart. The next year, RCA reissued "Blue Christmas" (b/w "Santa Claus Is Back In Town") and it charted again - then repeated the feat nearly every year through 1973.

In his entire career Elvis only charted one other Christmas single, when he recorded "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" (written by his childhood friend Red West) in 1966. Musically and philosophically, the song is a little heavy handed, taking a sanctified gospel approach to what is essentially a secular utopian plea. But, Elvis delivers it with his usual heavy-handed aplomb, and the single scaled #2 on the Christmas charts, then reached #12 in 1967.

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