Video premiere: The Brian Setzer Orchestra's "Yabba-Dabba Yuletide"
The Brian Setzer Orchestra is getting a jump-start on the holidays with the release of "Rockin' Rudolph," its first new studio Christmas album in a decade.
Unveiled last month, the collection features familiar seasonal favorites including "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Most Wonderful Time of the Year."
"These songs are great songs. It doesn't matter if they're holiday songs or when they were written, they're just great songs. So the trick is to make them sound hip. Some of them are eternally hip, you know, so you don't have to do too much," Setzer said.
The album also features the upbeat, catchy (and might we add, fun!) song "Yabba-Dabba Yuletide," which shows off the classic Brian Setzer Orchestra big-band horn sound that makes you want to grab a partner and dance.
Setzer told CBS News that the song came to him when he was "jet-lagged laying in bed in Paris" at about 3 o'clock in the morning.
"I couldn't sleep. I was just laying there. It was hot. In the middle of nowhere, I started singing, 'Merry, Merry Christmas and a happy holiday to you' in a 'Flintstones'-themed melody. Everyone knows the 'Flintstones' theme, which by the way is a great jazz piece on its own. I just wrote some Christmas lyrics for that."
"That's how it came about, in the middle of the summer, while being jet-lagged in Paris," he added, laughing. "It makes no sense, but that is how it happens sometimes."
The lyric video for "Yabba-Dabba Yuletide" makes its exclusive premiere today, at CBSNews.com.
The new album release coincides with Brian Setzer Orchestra's 12th annual holiday tour. Check out dates below, and gohere for more info:
"Christmas Rocks! Tour"
Tue 11/24 Stamford, CT - Palace Theatre
Wed 11/25 Wilkes Barre, PA Kirby - Center for the Performing Arts
Fri 11/27 Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Resort Casino - Grand Theater
Sat 11/28 Englewood, NJ - Bergen Performing Arts Center
Sun 11/29 Westbury, NY - Theatre at Westbury
Wed 12/2 Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre
Fri 12/4 Charlotte, NC - Ovens Auditorium
Sat 12/5 Atlanta, GA - Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
Sun 12/6 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
Tue 12/8 New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre
Thu 12/10 Austin, TX - ACL Live at the Moody Theatre
Fri 12/11 Allen, TX - Allen Event Center
Sat 12/12 San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theatre
Mon 12/14 Tucson, AZ - Fox Tucson Theatre
Tue 12/15 Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre
Fri 12/18 Los Angeles, CA - Microsoft Theater
Sat 12/19 Indio, CA Fantasy - Springs Resort Hotel & Casino - Event Center
Sun 12/20 Temecula, CA - Pechanga Resort & Casino
Tue 12/22 Bakersfield, CA - Fox Theater
Wed 12/23 Santa Rosa, CA - Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
Thu 12/24 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theater
Sat 12/26 Spokane, WA - Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox
Sun 12/27 Seattle, WA - Benaroya Concert Hall
Tue 12/29 Calgary, AB - Grey Eagle Resorts and Casino
