Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon

Christmas albums are often a useless endeavor, best left to the likes of Don Ho, Air Supply and Chicago. Anyone with actual talent?with the exception of the Chipmunks and the Carpenters?has only embarrassed themselves (cf. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Diamond, the Beach Boys and They Might Be Giants).

So it's a pleasant surprise that Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon has emerged from retirement with the genuinely rocking Have a Boom Boom Christmas!! (Collectables). A legend of 50s and 60s rock, he's been an unusually charismatic figure on the oldies circuit, belting out his catalog of 22 chart hits with a bravado you won't see in many 62-year-old entertainers. Cannon always fought for a quality catalog, and Boom Boom Christmas!! isn't just another item to be peddled at a merchandise table.

Instead, the new album is a genuinely fun mix of classics and new material. The songs are delivered in great voice?it wasn't just timing that made Cannon the last rock 'n' roll star. When he answers the phone at 8 a.m. on the West Coast, he doesn't sound like a geezer with an eye on the Early Bird Special. He sounds like he just finished a three-minute mile and is ready to sell you a juicer.

You're from the East Coast, but the last chance that New Yorkers got to see you live was a long time ago at Maxwell's in Hoboken.

Yeah, that was a while back, but I'll never forget that show. The band was right in there that night. It was like starting all over. I don't do clubs very often, you know. That was a rarity. I'm usually doing shows in arenas and amusement parks. I've got a big tour coming up in March, going through the Midwest and Southwest. It's something like 36 one-nighters.

Are you doing Christmas concerts for the new album?

Not really, but I'm doing a couple of local tv shows out here. To be honest, I've done a lot of albums over the years, but this is one of the best. The whole album has felt like that Maxwell's concert. The musicians on this album are guys from the sound of today. I've got Chuck Wright, who plays with Alice Cooper, and the drummer from Mr. Big. It's Freddy singing, but with the sound of what's happening now.

So you're still what's happening now?

Oh yeah, I'm writing a lot of new stuff. I've been writing Latin music lately. Years ago, when I started out with [writers and producers] Bob Crewe and Frank Slay, all their songs were placed in front of me, even though I had songs I wrote. Nobody paid attention to what I wrote, but now I feel like I can put my own stuff out there.

You've also got a Christmas film coming out, kind of, with the upcoming release of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

That's going to be something. I'm going to the premiere on Dec. 11. There's an actor playing me in 1962. He's actually lip-syncing to my version of "Palisades Park." It's a movie about Chuck Barris and, of course, a lot of people know he wrote that song. I don't know what the whole story is with the movie. I just asked the people at the Miramax music division if the guy playing me was handsome. They assured me he's a good-looking guy. So that's going to be exciting. "Palisades Park" really is a legendary song, especially for all you people in the tri-state area.

Is this the first time anyone's played you in a film?

This is the first time. They had to call me to get a likeness release. It only helps to keep me going. I don't see myself stopping until I can't do it anymore. You talked about that show at Maxwell's, and I remember how the crowd was all these younger people. They made me feel 100 feet tall. If they asked me back, I'd be there in a minute. I don't usually like playing clubs, but there was so much excitement in there. It made me work harder.

It was surprising to see you'd never done a Christmas album.

That's the thing. All the acts from the 50s and 60s and 70s had Christmas albums, and I never had one. So this being the first one for me makes it all the more exciting. I'm so proud of it. The band is really excellent. It's not wimpy or Mickey Mouse. It's a real rock 'n' roll Christmas album. I did some covers because you have to do that, but I think our take on "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" would have Gene Autry smiling.

I know you've been in Los Angeles for a while now, but you don't sound like it.

This accent, can't get rid of it. I'm a Massachusetts boy. I just hung around New York for a lot of years. It was only business that got me out here to L.A. At the end of my career with Swan Records in 1973, Warner Bros. made me an offer. They gave me a deal for seven years with an advance, so I decided to take the money and move on out here. And that worked out good for me financially. I bought a nice home. There are so many things I miss back East. I don't wanna lose the accent, too.

Have you gotten used to Christmas in California?

I tell you, there's no snow and the sun is shining and people are walking around in shorts, but I think they decorate more here than they do where I come from. They must miss it so much they go all-out. They hire people to decorate and put glowing Santa Clauses on their roofs. It's crazy, but I guess that's how you get the spirit.

Is it fun being a showbiz veteran?

That's what I am, and thank God for that. I feel very lucky in this business. There were times at the beginning when people took money from me and the labels didn't pay. It's been like that for everybody, but I weathered the storm. I work as much as I want to. I'm working more now than when I had the hits, but the money's four or five times more than it was back then.

And I'm just now finding out about how, after all these years, that a lot of bands in England have covered "Tallahassee Lassie." My mother passed away this past year?I dedicate all my shows to her?and the song started as a poem that she wrote. So it's a thrill to find out that Led Zeppelin covered the song. Them, and a lot of other bands that you probably know about and I don't.

But it must get exhausting being Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon.

Way back in the late 60s?even when I still had my record deal?there was that whole era with the heavy metal and all that psychedelic stuff. I thought back then that maybe I should give up singing. Nobody wanted to see me. I wasn't getting any jobs. It must have really just been one or two years where I thought I might have to quit. But then in '70, '71, the offers started coming in again.

Now I do what I can. My whole thing is to tour and give it all I've got. You only get one chance out on the road every night to do a good show. You better leave a good impression before you get out of there. It's sad to me when there are other acts out there going through the motions. You know what I say? Stay home if you can't give the real deal on the stage.