Joseph Spence

[vertigo9000]

I love this. Spence is a great talent and a lot of fun.

[aychingao]

wtf was he drunk or in the restroom

[drkraid]

this is literally the best rendition of this song possible holy shit

[tubbysidney]

This is the official Christmas song of the Boers and Bernstein show on 670 the score.

[NIN1337]

@tubbysidney yes, and it never gets old

[apolinarpepe]

HA AWSOME....SANDY CLORRR IS CAWMIN.....HAA

[mugovo]

schön gestimmt...

[busessuck1]

He plays like Pink Anderson ... sings like Lord Buckley

[dankgeetar]

man, that is so out there it hurts... but it hurts so gooooood

[eastweymouthchris]

this could not be anyone other than Joseph Spence

[thejunebugshow]

No. This seems like Spence. He is OUT THERE!

[alexandriabradley]

Someone needs to cover this. Now.

[TylerIIIDurden]

This is proof that the Spirit of Christmas is alive...it IS the best Xmas song ever!

[Saltiag0]

Sound like someone having a stomach ache

[xBARHOOMx]

lol me likey

[457hz]

awesome sandy clor is comin'. . . .

[eltonno3]

Nice version!!

I have a summer version of this song on my channel!! ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

[Shann588Milio]

LOL... my good ole bahamians aye? my oh my...

[soyner]

I'm 76% convinced this is Adam Sandler pretending to be Joseph.:p

[iain42]

Except Adam Sandler has never been so funny or talented ; )

[frdmill]

@soyner This is Leon Redbone not Spence !!!

[ELGROOVER]

Just this alone makes Christmas a joy! ☼ ;-j

[Callens76]

Love it! Dumpster Zombie Christmas Music!!

[projectM1KE]

how much did he drink?

[dolphin7777777777777]

literally wtf amazing

[YallaBY3]

omg i cried laughing at this and my ribs still hurt

[ManicDesign]

Thank you so much for posting this. I just love it so much.

[galaxyrock]

Zandy Glorr is coming to town!

[YofterMofter]

@galaxyrock Oh finally. We missed you Zandy!

[philipwight]

Joseph Spence is THE main man

[tdgamrat]

I totally understand cos I had like 24 beers.

[MsLUV]

SANG BOY! hahaha he has a swag of his own and is "getting it in" with that guitar!

[willamato]

Best. Version. Ever.

[flamelessdragon]

"Sandy Gall" is coming to town - Excellent !!

[frodslettimleahcim]

"Sanity Clause is coming"

[zurapDOR]

Bravo! I love him, what a refreshing acquainance!

Made my xmass!

:-)

[1akiake]

Wow! That's fuckin' X-Mas! :D

[Vepsebol66]

This is just so... I'm speechless.

[joelwrussell]

I lol'd all through this.

[earthglson]

if beavis was from the bahamas...

[Mikeunderscore]

...Or if Satin had an acoustic guitar

[Hulloder]

God, I love this.

[foodstamp7007]

A beautiful spirit and a lovely touch on the guitar. He is somehow related to Harpo... I'll bet they have found each other in the Great Beyond.

[r810s]

Are you aware of how much Ry Cooder has learned from this guy? Not the singing though. But the playing. If you come across the tune "Coming In On A Wing And A Prayer with this guy, you'll be amazed of his playing, and realize that Ry Cooder owes a lot to this guy.

[lotootto]

cooooool

[omgitsaaron]

Thank you SO much for uploading this, it's my favorite christmas song. I crack up every time he hits a sour note. All these years I imagined him as a drunk hobo, though

[PointyTail]

OMG you have no idea how I have being trying to remember who sang this! Woot! Hello iPod! LOL

[6DarkWinds]

He has such a cool voice.

[fingling8]

I think I now know where Leon Redbone got some of his odd grumbly-voiced interesting singing inspiration. Odd, fantastic!

[Elkins2424]

lol this is nuts lol

[viggy123]

sounds like the swedish cheif  at the muppet show

[arin721]

LOL, i was just thinking... wow, is that what happens when the muppets "animal" gets REALLY drunk and thinks he can play a guitar?

[bucknuggets]

Well the "singing" is pretty funny but complements the instrumental nicely. And that guitar action is absolutely top-notch. No speed, shredding or anything showy. Just a fingerstyle that is completely different from what everyone else does - with melodic lines on the bass strings. Oh yeah, and monk-like changes to timing & melody structure.

I've just picked up two cds - the Complete Folkways Recordings & Happy All the Time. Funny, happy and creative stuff.

[hrothgleas]

@arin721 Exactly right - sounds like a drunk Muppet!

[lindirig]

People who don't like him just don't get it. He's totaly one of a kind and plays for himself and doesn't much care what you think. He's great.

Lindy

[vtcgooroo]

I have found you finally, Mr. Spence! Heard this back in '06 on XPN in Philly. Last week, a Christian station in So Cal gave it a play, which was my first clue it was not Tom Waits. Joe Spence, Dr. John wishes for chops like yours!

[zsylvana]

He was Good!J.Spence was also a stonemason!You can hear it in his intonation i think.

[oldocpops]

Diversity, my people! Musicians don't get this old and not be good at what they do. He's DIFFERENT-and he's good! Joe is someone who reminds me of Taj Mahal or Tom Waits, but Joe is his own man! Unique! Dig it! Thumz up X 110! I'm 60 years young and sum of you guys sound like my father; "That's NOT music (The Rolling Stones) Tommy Dorsey is music!"

Whaddaya want, Limp Biskit? NIN? NWA?

Puh-leeze!

You go Joe, you go on wid yur bad self!

Meanwhile,

Happy Holidays, Everybody!

Ol Doc Pops PhD

[Strummer71]

I just don't get how people find this good. The guitar is kind of ok but the "singing" is really, really awful. He sounds absolutely drunk out of his mind.

[priscianusjr]

If you don't know what' he's doing, then don't mess with it.

[hrothgleas]

I learned about Spence thru Ry Cooder's 'Jazz' album. It's amazingly original, and a lot of fun.

Does kinda souond like a muppet...

[litespesh]

Sounds like Beavis!

[neandert]

This captures the spirit of the season.

[manabozho]

As bassist Ray Brown used to say, "Wrong and strong!"

Spence's guitar tuning was non-standard, and wasn't "in tune" at all, by normal standards. Someone asked him why he tuned that way, and he said it was "more goodish."

[ELGROOVER]

Pure magic!

[gabee594]

sounds like "sandie ,the whore, is cumming to mum."

[baputhasawana]

Sandieor is gumming to hmnhnm !!

This may well be the greatest christmas song of all time,I think??

[Coyoteboy12]

"Sander Craw is humming who hun".

YES !!!!!

[johnteshreturns]

wonderful!

[swisstoniesq]

this is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest Christmas song ever recorded. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Makes me think of Jim Henson, but brilliant nonetheless

[pixiething]

It's funny that you should say that, I thought it sounded like something out of the muppet show

[eeyore19]

My wife hates it, but I can't help but smile when I hear this. :)

[redhairedlad]

The most amazing rendition of this song ever.

[gigagroove]

Another Bahamian genius!

[DontStopTheBeat1090]

no sarcasm, i actually love his grumbling throughout almost the entire song.

[gremz01d]

Tom Waits eat ya freakin' heart out :P

[greenblobo9]

lmao yah =] just tom waits is better though this guy good

[LifeLibertyLove]

Thanks I was looking for this version, It's AMAZING!

[Emophiliac2]

Interesting. I assumed he was some kind of comedian, since the copy of this song I was listening to was from Dr. Demento. Who would have guessed it was being done seriously?

[zanklwang09]

excellent. I love the bounciness of this recording. It really conjures up strong images of the amalgamation of cultures that make up bahamian culture

[acidcasual07]

u nasty bastard

[cryspiness]

he sounds like he has downs syndrome

[brybbe]

The first time I heard Joseph Spence on the radio I din't catch his name, but I fell in love instantly! Took me a couple of weeks to track down his name and then I ran to the record store! Had to order though. They didn't have it in. What a guitarplayer!

[foffilollipopp]

i love this, we got to hear this every Xmas in music class.

[Spelonker]

.....what the hell.....

[cryspiness]

i agree

[noackrite]

i just heard the song on the radio.its great

[jkoegel]

I love this version, thanks for posting!

[islandblackberryvine]

Hes so Great!! Thanks for posting this!

[CharlieWeewax]

I have loved this song since I first heard it about 10 years ago!

Love it!

Thanks for posting this

[pekoe67]

i keep hearing 'you better get drunk'...

[doggeds]

never heard this guy before, but with the guitar tuned like that and the voice it sounded to me more like a delta blues than the cristmas song, awesome LOL

[elliesmellybelly]

Not really a video. A simple photo montage with music.

[iain42]

You are correct it is not really a video but the emphasis is on Joseph Spence and his music. I would be absolutely thrilled if there were video footage of Spence playing but alas there aren't any that I can find.

[petgerco]

Now I understand how to achieve the spence voice, keep pipe in mouth at all times.