Christmas Music: Part 4For our final Christmas post (and last post of 2011!), I'm featuring the classic tunes that we all know and love from this wonderful time of year. As a kid, it officially became Christmastime for my family when we heard this next song. Written on a hot, blistery summer day in 1944 by Mel Torme' and Bob Wells, "The Christmas Song" (a.k.a. "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire") was first made famous by The Nat King Cole Trio in 1946 (excellent, early live footage here). The most-performed Christmas song of all time, it is Nat King Cole's re-recorded version with string orchestra in 1961 that is regarded as definitive. By playing this classic Christmas LP (recently purchased from eBay!) on our record player, it's an honor keeping this beautiful baritone voice alive.
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And you know the party is really getting started when this next tune starts playing! Written by Johnny Marks and recorded by the rockabilly/pop/country singer Brenda Lee in 1958, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" didn't become a big hit until Lee became a star in 1960 and it reached #14 on the pop chart. The following year, it continued to sell well, even hit #5 on the charts, and has continued to be a popular holiday standard for over 50 years. Despite her mature-sounding voice, Lee was only 13 years old when she recorded this song! Although the song's title implies "rock and roll," the song's instrumentation also fit the country genre of the time, featuring Hank Garland's ringing guitar and Boots Randolph's swinging saxophone.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written in October of 1962 by married couple Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a pensive yet lovely Christmas song, intended as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The following year, this song was made a worldwide smash hit by Bing Crosby, whose bass-baritone voice has made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th Century (with over half a billion records in circulation!!). Bing's version aired on TV on December 13th 1963 on the 'Bob Hope Christmas Special,' posted below. 
A longstanding Christmas staple from my childhood is Elvis' Christmas Album from 1957, the best-selling Christmas album of all time in the U.S. No singles from this album were issued until 1964 when "Blue Christmas" was released that November and reached #1 on the Billboard Christmas chart, even re-entering the chart several times over the next few years. Originally a country song recorded in the late 1940s, Elvis' cover version is musically notable for the replacement of many major and minor thirds with neutral and septimal minor thirds, a.k.a. "blue notes," in the backing vocal parts. This live footage of this rock-and-roll holiday classic comes from Elvis' 1968 "Comeback" Special which aired that December.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And for the last song of our Christmas music series, here's another seasonal favorite, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by American singer Andy Williams. Written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle, this popular Christmas song was released that same year on The Andy Williams Christmas Album, and was performed on Williams' own TV variety show (which he hosted from '62 to '71). Since, this original version has become a radio airplay standard during the holiday season, even gaining more popularity each passing year. Thanks for a Christmas classic, Andy!I hope you've enjoyed listening to fun music from Christmas past! Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!
