When I first heard that Bob Dylan was producing an album of Christmas songs, I wasn’t terribly surprised, though it did bring to mind the career path of Jimmy Thudpucker. The commercial decisions Dylan has made in the last decade seem baffling at first but taken against the notion that he has always been nothing more than an entertainer — his apparent view — it can begin to make some sense. I’ve always appreciated that he makes decisions introspective of what anyone else demands or expects, whether it’s the direction his music takes or the commercial deals signed. This would certainly seem no exception.