Christmas is usually a pretty raucous time in our band room, with old friends coming back around and new friends ... well, new folks just starting to figure us out. Yes, indeed, we do tend to take those tidings of comfort and joy at their word.

And our holiday celebration is especially memorable if we can get that jolly ol’ Jim Rumbaugh back into the room, as we did at a recent festive gathering at the Bowen House. To make the season bright, we always try to get Jim doing his bluesy Christmas contribution, a song he calls, “Got My Yule Log Burnin’.”

Jim’s path to writing the tune began while he was working at his wife Donna’s greenhouse, which sold Christmas trees every year. As part of the business, Donna made wreaths, which required pieces of greenery. Jim was tasked with taking the reject trees and cutting off their branches so she could use them for the wreaths. This process left him with substantial pieces of pine log, typically five to seven feet long, which he then had to cut into foot-long pieces to be bundled and sold as Yule Logs.

While cutting these logs, Jim began pondering the purpose of the items he was creating, wondering if anyone actually burns a Yule Log.

“I thought, ‘I wonder if there’s a Yule log-burning song?’ and I started singing, ‘Got my Yule Log burning,’ which sounded a whole lot ‘Got my mojo working!’”

Well, after that, all that was needed was a bit of Christmas cheer and space for a couple of well-tempered harmonica breaks. Demonstrating the results, Jim got everyone in the room singing along, as you’ll hear here!

To Keep the Holidays Bright…

So, Merry Christmas from your friends in The Flood.

And for a little more fa-la-la-la-Flood in your festivities in this week’s countdown to Christmas, remember the Radio Floodango free music streaming service has this yuletide playlist.

Click here to give La Flood Navidad a spin!

More from the Righteous Mister Rumbaugh

Meanwhile, if today’s podcast has you wanting more helpings of Jim Rumbaugh’s bluesy offerings, you’re in luck! Jim is the star of a popular episode in the “Pajama Jams” video series that The Flood released back in 2021. Click below to check it out!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 1937flood.substack.com