Merry Christmas Darling
This Christmas
Feliz Navidad
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
River
Step Into Christmas
If We Make It Through December
I Believe In Father Christmas
When a Child is Born
Please Come Home For Christmas (Eagles version)
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Wonderful Christmastime
"Merry Christmas Darling" by The Carpenters was written by Richard Carpenter & Frank Pooler and originally recorded in 1970. At the time, it was first available on a 7" single from A&M Records (1236) and later in 1974 reissued as A&M 1648 and in 1977 as A&M 1991. The single went to number one on Billboard's Christmas singles chart in 1970, and did again in 1971 and 1973.
In 1978, The Carpenters issued their Christmas Portrait album, which contained a new remix of "Merry Christmas Darling". The original 1970 mix continued to be used for all single releases, however. The major difference between it and the 1978 version is a newly recorded vocal by Karen Carpenter on the latter. Richard Carpenter himself calls the original recording one of his sister's very best. The original single version of the song can be found on the compilation albums From the Top and The Essential Collection: 1965–1997.
http://youtu.be/nR34VJ7HWqU
"This Christmas" is a well-known Christmas song originally recorded by R&B singer/songwriter Donny Hathaway and released as an Atco single in 1970. Hathaway co-wrote the song (it is credited to Nadine McKinnor and "Donny Pitts," the stage name Hathaway used). AllMusic shows a Billboard magazine peak of No. 11 on The Hot 100 chart, Joel Whitburn's, Christmas in the Charts (1920-2004), indicates a No. 11 on the Christmas Singles chart. In 2012, "This Christmas" hit the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Singles at No. 92, and again in 2013, at No. 71.
http://youtu.be/pj1mVUEHeUE
"Feliz Navidad" is a Christmas song written in 1970 by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano. With its simple Spanish chorus (the traditional Christmas/New Year greeting, "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad" meaning "Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness") and equally simple English verse "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart", it has become a classic Christmas pop song in the United States, throughout the Spanish-speaking world and internationally.
Feliciano's version of "Feliz Navidad" (in which he plays both an acoustic guitar and a Puerto Rican cuatro) is one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the United States and Canada. The addition of the horns as a final touch was the idea of producer Rick Jarrard. It was also recognized by ASCAP as one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.
http://youtu.be/xMtuVP8Mj4o
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single release by Lennon outside of his work with The Beatles. The song reached No. 4 in the UK, where its release was delayed until 1972, and has periodically reemerged on the UK Singles Chart, most notably after Lennon's death in 1980, at which point it peaked at No. 2. Originally a protest song about the Vietnam War, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" has since become a Christmas standard, frequently covered by other artists and appearing on compilation albums of seasonal music, and named in polls as a holiday favourite.
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was the culmination of more than two years of peace activism undertaken by John Lennon and Yoko Ono that began with the bed-ins they convened in March and May 1969, the first of which took place during their honeymoon. The song's direct antecedent was an international multimedia campaign launched by the couple in December 1969 - at the height of the counterculture movement and its protests against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War - that primarily consisted of renting billboard space in 12 major cities around the world for the display of black-and-white posters that declared "WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas from John & Yoko". Although this particular slogan had previously appeared in the 1968 anti-war songs "The War Is Over" by Phil Ochs and "The Unknown Soldier" by The Doors (which features the refrain, "The war is over."), its subsequent use by Lennon and Ono may just be coincidental; there is no evidence to confirm whether or not they were acquainted with these prior works
Recognising the accessibility and popular appeal that made his 1971 single "Imagine" a commercial success compared to the other songs he had released up to that point, Lennon concluded, "Now I understand what you have to do: Put your political message across with a little honey." He conceived "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" as a means of elaborating upon the themes of social unity and peaceful change enacted through personal accountability and empowerment that served as the basis of the earlier billboard campaign, trying to convey optimism while avoiding the sentimentality that he felt often characterised music of the holiday season.
Lennon was first among the former Beatles to release an original Christmas song after the group disbanded in 1970. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" would be followed by George Harrison's "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" (1974), Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" (1979), and Ringo Starr's album I Wanna Be Santa Claus (1999). From 1963 to 1969, The Beatles issued special recordings at Christmas directly to members of their fan club.
In early October 1971, with not much more than bare-bones melody and half-formed lyrics, Lennon recorded an acoustic guitar demo of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" in his rooms at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City where he and Ono were living at the time. Ono would receive co-writing credit, but the actual extent of her contribution at this initial stage is unclear since she did not participate in the demo, which was atypical of their collaborations. Another demo of the song was made in late October, after the couple had taken an apartment in Greenwich Village. As with his previous two albums, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine (released in the U.S. just several weeks prior), Lennon brought on Phil Spector to help produce. The first recording session was held the evening of Thursday, 28 October, at the Record Plant studio. After the session musicians - some of whom had performed at one time or another as members of the Plastic Ono Band - laid down the basic instrumental backing and overdub tracks, Lennon and Ono added the main vocals. One of the four guitarists needed to fill in for Klaus Voormann on the bass when his flight was delayed out of Germany. Ono and the session musicians recorded the single's B-side, "Listen, the Snow Is Falling", the following day. The Harlem Community Choir - featuring thirty children, most of them four to twelve years of age - came to the studio on the afternoon of Sunday, 31 October, to record backing vocals for the counter-melody and sing-along chorus. Photographs for the original sleeve cover were also taken during that session by Iain Macmillan.
http://youtu.be/z8Vfp48laS8
"River" is a song by Joni Mitchell, from her 1971 album Blue. Although never released as a single, it has become one of Mitchell's most famous songs.
In the song, Mitchell ruminates on the recent breakup of a romantic relationship. Christmas is nearing, and Mitchell longs to escape her emotional bonds, openly wishing "I wish I had a river / I could skate away on", a river so long she "would teach my feet to fly." Furthermore, Mitchell's Canadian past is reflected upon, as her current warm (presumably Californian) climate does not offer her that ice or that chance. It is used in the 2000 film Almost Famous, the 2003 film Love Actually and in episodes of Alias, thirtysomething, The Wonder Years, Ally McBeal, New Girl and ER. There are also numerous discussions of Joni's songs by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the movie "You've Got Mail."
Keeping with the Christmas theme of the lyrics, the arrangement of the song on Blue (and on many other covers of the song) starts with a theme reminiscent of "Jingle Bells", and this theme figures several times throughout the accompaniment.
Although merely set near Christmas time rather than being about Christmas as such, the song has become something of a modern Christmas standard. "River" is the third-most widely covered of songs in Mitchell's oeuvre (227 recordings, behind only "Both Sides, Now" and "Big Yellow Taxi"), frequently appearing on albums of Christmas music by pop, folk and jazz artists.
http://youtu.be/KxuIL1W4wGE
"Step Into Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and performed by Elton John. It was released as a stand-alone single in November 1973 with the song "Ho, Ho, Ho (Who'd Be a Turkey at Christmas)" as the B-side. It peaked at No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the single reached No. 56 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.
According to liner notes about the song by Elton John and Bernie Taupin (in Rare Masters and Elton John's Christmas Party), the track and its B-side, both produced by Gus Dudgeon, were recorded during a quickie session at Morgan Studios in London, owned by drummer Barry Morgan, who had played on several of Elton's early albums. "Step into Christmas" was mixed to sound like one of producer Phil Spector's 1960s recordings, using plenty of compression and imitating his trademark "wall of sound" technique. This was intentional according to both John and Taupin, and an homage of sorts to Christmas songs by Spector-produced groups such as The Ronettes.
http://youtu.be/tSJMSnj6UUM
"If We Make It Through December" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard. It was released in October 1973 as the lead single from the album Merle Haggard's Christmas Present, and was the title track on a non-Christmas album four months later. In the years since its release, "If We Make It Through December", which, in addition to its Christmas motif, also uses themes of unemployment and loneliness, has become one of the trademark songs of Haggard's career.
While Christmas is a prominent theme of this song, writer Tom Roland said the song is not considered a "pure" Christmas record, as the subject of economics was also explored.
The song spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in December 1973 and January 1974, and cracked the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100. "If We Make It Through December" was the No. 2 song of the year on Billboard's Hot Country Singles 1974 year-end chart.
http://youtu.be/Z-IJxTd8dCo
"I Believe In Father Christmas" is a song by Greg Lake (most famously a member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer), with lyrics by Peter Sinfield. Although it is often categorised as a Christmas song this was not Lake's intention. Lake claims to have written the song in protest at the commercialisation of Christmas. Sinfield however, claims that the words are about a loss of innocence and childhood belief.
The song was recorded by Lake in 1974 and released separately from ELP in 1975, becoming the number two in the UK charts. It is currently his only hit solo release in the UK.
The video for this song, the bulk of which was shot in the Sinai desert and Qumran in the West Bank, also contains shots of the Vietnam War, which has led to complaints from some that it should not be shown with light-hearted Christmas songs. These images of rocket barrages, air strikes, and mobile artillery are a violent backdrop to a peaceful-sounding song and create a hard-hitting message.
http://youtu.be/RXCEdrnaFlY
"When a Child is Born" is a popular Christmas song. The original melody was "Soleado", a tune from 1972 by Ciro Dammicco (alias Zacar), composer for Italy's Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble, and Dario Baldan Bembo. The English language lyrics were written a few years later by Fred Jay. They do not make specific mention of Christmas but the importance they attach to looking forward to the birth of one particular child somewhere, anywhere, suggests a reference to the birth of Jesus Christ, and the citing of "a tiny star" that "lights up way up high" may allude to the Star of Bethlehem. Fred Jay's lyrics have been sung by many artists, most successfully by Johnny Mathis in 1976.
The most successful version of the song is probably the Jack Gold produced version for Johnny Mathis. Entitled "When A Child Is Born (Soleado)" with B-side as "Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High)", it became Johnny Mathis' sole number one single in the UK, spending three weeks at the top of the chart in December 1976 and selling 885,000 copies. In the US, it appeared in the Record World survey in both the Christmas seasons of 1976 and 1977, reaching a maximum position of #123, and racking up 10 chart weeks. In addition, Mathis re-recorded the song as a duet with Gladys Knight and the Pips. This version reached Record World #137 during the Christmas season of 1980, and the UK charts at 79.
http://youtu.be/gjYWYJudTPE
"Please Come Home For Christmas", originally released in 1960 by Charles Brown, became a Christmas classic for The Eagles in 1978. Their version peaked at #18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the first Christmas song to reach the Top 20 on that chart since Roy Orbison's "Pretty Paper" in 1963. This was the first Eagles song to feature Timothy B. Schmit on bass (having replaced founding member Randy Meisner the previous year). The lineup features Don Henley (drums/vocals), Glenn Frey (piano, backing vocals), Joe Walsh (guitar, backing vocals), Schmit (bass/backing vocals), and Don Felder (lead guitar). Originally released as a vinyl 7" single, it was re-released as a CD single in 1995, reaching #15 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
http://youtu.be/sgpgjdkQ6bQ
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song. Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by the husband and wife duo of Elmo and Patsy Trigg Shropshire in 1979. In the lyrics, the grandmother of the family gets drunk from drinking too much eggnog, and, due to having forgotten to take her medication and despite warnings from the family, staggers outside into a snowstorm. In the course of her walk, she is run over by Santa Claus and his reindeer and killed. The second and third verses describe the Christmas party the next day: "all the family's dressed in black" while the widower acts as if nothing's happened, drinks beer, watches football and plays cards with "cousin Mel." The song closes with a warning that Santa, "a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves" is unfit to carry a driver's license, and that the listener should beware.
The song was originally self-released in the San Francisco area by the Shropshires in 1979 on their own record label ("Elmo 'n' Patsy"), with the B-side called "Christmas". By the early 1980s, the song was becoming a seasonal hit, first on country stations and then on Top 40 stations. In 1982, the "Elmo 'n' Patsy" record label changed its name to "Oink" when the song was re-recorded. Oink Records, still based in Windsor, California, continued distribution of the 45 rpm record in the western U.S., with "Nationwide Sound Distributors" of Nashville, Tennessee pressing and distributing the song on its Soundwaves Records in the eastern U.S., peaking at #92 on the country singles charts. In 1984, with the song now a big hit nationally, CBS Records was interested and signed Elmo and Patsy to Epic Records.
http://youtu.be/MgIwLeASnkw
The Irish Rovers made the song a hit in 1982 with the album "It Was A Night Like This" (Attic Records). Jack Richardson produced the album and the single which rose to #20 on the RPM charts within a week of its release and today remains a 'seasonal holiday anthem'.
"Wonderful Christmastime" is a 1979 Christmas song by Paul McCartney. It enjoys significant Christmas time popularity around the world. The notable synthesiser riff was played on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. The song was later added as a bonus track on the 1993 CD reissue of Wings' Back to the Egg album.
McCartney recorded the song entirely on his own during the sessions for his solo project McCartney II. Although the members of Wings are not on the recording, they do appear in the promotional music video, which was filmed at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex.
Following its release as a stand-alone single in the United Kingdom, "Wonderful Christmastime" peaked at No. 6 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart on the week ending 5 January 1980. Although the song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States, it did chart for two weeks on Billboard's specially designated Christmas Singles chart in December 1984, peaking at No. 10.
The song continues to receive substantial airplay every year, although some music critics consider it to be one of McCartney's poorest compositions. Beatles author Robert Rodriguez has written of "Wonderful Christmastime": "Love it or hate it, few songs within the McCartney oeuvre have provoked such strong reactions."
Including royalties from cover versions, it is estimated that Paul McCartney makes $400,000 a year from this song, which puts its cumulative earnings for this seasonal tune at near $15 million.
http://youtu.be/Rspan_NizW0
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