Carol of the Bells
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Winter Wonderland
I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
Happy Holiday
White Christmas
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
The Christmas Song
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Merry Christmas, Baby
Here Comes Santa Claus
All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
You're All I Want for Christmas
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Blue Christmas
Baby, It's Cold Outside
The Twelve Days of Christmas
During the '30s and '40s, there was an explosion of "popular" Christmas songs in America. This blog, which attempts to examine the evolution of the secular, holiday season musical scene, continues with "Part Two: The 1930s & 1940s" and eighteen songs which have become pop Christmas and "wintry" standards.
"Carol of the Bells"
is a popular Christmas carol, composed by Mykola Leontovych with lyrics
by Peter J. Wilhousky. The song is based on a folk chant known in
Ukrainian as "Shchedryk". Wilhousky's lyrics and the English name are
copyrighted, although the original musical composition is not. It was
introduced to Western audiences by the Ukrainian National Chorus during
its concert tour of Europe and the Americas, where it premiered in the
United States on October 5, 1921 at Carnegie Hall. A copyrighted English
text was created by Peter Wilhousky in the 1930s, and since then it has
been performed and sung during the Christmas
season. Its initial popularity stemmed largely from Wilhousky's ability
to perform it to a wide audience in his role as arranger for the NBC
Symphony Orchestra, trained especially for Arturo Toscanini. The song
would later be assisted to further popularity by featuring in television
advertisements for champagne. An alternate English version ("Ring,
Christmas Bells") featuring more Nativity-based lyrics, written by Minna
Louise Hohman in 1947, is also common.
"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's
radio show in November 1934. It became an instant hit with orders for
100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and more than 400,000 copies
sold by Christmas.
The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry
Reser and his band on October 24, 1934 (Decca 264A) featuring Tom Stacks
on vocal, the version shown in the Variety charts of December 1934. The
song was a sheet music hit, reaching #1. The tune was also recorded on
September 26, 1935, by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra.
Here
is the original Harry Reser version. Notice the different spelling of
the title on the record label:- "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town"!
"Winter Wonderland"
is a winter song, popularly treated as a Christmastime pop standard,
written in 1934 by Felix Bernard (music) and Richard B. Smith
(lyricist). Through the decades it has been recorded by over 150
different artists!
The
original recording was by Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton
Orchestra on RCA Bluebird
in 1934. At the end of a recording session with time to spare, it was
suggested that this new tune be tried with an arrangement provided by
the publisher. This excellent "studio" orchestra included many great New
York studio musicians including the legendary Artie Shaw. The biggest
chart hit at the time of introduction was Guy Lombardo's orchestra, a
top ten hit.Singer-songwriter Johnny Mercer took the song to #4 in Billboard's
airplay chart in 1946. The same season, Perry Como hit the retail top
ten. Como would record a new version for his 1959 Christmas album.
"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" is a popular song written in 1937 by Irving Berlin. It was introduced in On the Avenue
(1937) by Dick Powell and Alice Faye. Les Brown's instrumental version,
arranged by Skip Martin and recorded in 1946 as Columbia #38324, became
a million-seller and Billboard top ten song in 1949. While it can be
argued that it doesn't qualify as a "Christmas" tune, the song has been
assimilated into the modern holiday music tradition.
"Happy Holiday" (sometimes performed as "Happy Holidays") is a popular song composed by Irving Berlin during 1941 and published the following year.
The song was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn. While it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song, in the film it is performed on New Year's Eve, and expresses a wish for the listener to enjoy "happy holidays" throughout the entire year. The titular phrase is now most commonly associated with inclusive holiday greetings used during the Christmas and holiday season.
http://youtu.be/2jzhd0SU8k4
In 1963, one of the more popular versions of the song was recorded by Andy Williams and included on his first Christmas album. The original song was incorporated into a medley entitled Happy Holidays/The Holiday Season with additional music and lyrics by Kay Thompson.
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records,
the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time,
with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide!
The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941. He
subsequently recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra
and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records in just 18 minutes on May
29, 1942, and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six
78-rpm songs from the film Holiday Inn.
In 1942 alone, Crosby's recording spent eleven weeks on top of the Billboard charts. The original version also hit number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for three weeks, Crosby's first-ever appearance on the black-oriented chart.
The version most often heard today is not the original 1942 Crosby recording, as the master
had become damaged due to frequent use. Crosby re-recorded the track on
March 18, 1947, accompanied again by the Trotter Orchestra and the
Darby Singers, with every effort made to reproduce the original
recording session.
http://youtu.be/SvfhoWIPoVw
"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
is a Christmas song recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby who scored a top
ten hit with the song. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" has since gone on to
become a Christmas standard.
The
song was written by the American lyricist Kim Gannon, and the
Jewish-American composer Walter Kent. Buck Ram, who previously wrote a
poem and song with the same title, was credited as a co-writer of the
song following a lawsuit. The original 1943 release of the song by Bing
Crosby on Decca Records
listed only Walter Kent and Kim Gannon as the songwriters on the record
label. Later pressings added the name of Buck Ram to the songwriting
credit.
On October 4, 1943, Crosby recorded the song under the title "I'll Be
Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)" with the John Scott Trotter
Orchestra for Decca Records.
It was released as a 78 single - Decca 18570A, Matrix #L3203,
reissued in 1946 as Decca 23779. Within a month of release, the song
charted for eleven weeks, with a peak at number three. The next year,
the song reached number nineteen on the charts.
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis.
Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has
become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh
Martin and Ralph Blane.
In 1957, Frank Sinatra asked Martin to revise the line "Until then we'll
have to muddle through somehow". He told Martin, "The name of my album
is A Jolly Christmas. Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?"
Martin's new line was "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough".
Martin made several other alterations, changing the song's focus to a
celebration of present happiness, rather than anticipation of a better
future.
"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You")
is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and
vocalist Mel Tormé (aka The Velvet Fog), and Bob Wells.
According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot
summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool", the most-performed
(according to BMI) Christmas song was born.
The
Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole's
behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a
second recording was made the same year utilizing a small string
section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B
charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same
arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson
Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with orchestra
conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Nat King Cole's 1961 version is generally
regarded as definitive.
Mel
Tormé recorded the song himself in 1954, and again in 1961, 1966 and
1992. And, in 1963 on the Judy Garland television show on CBS, Mel
teamed up with Judy on a new version of the iconic "Christmas Song"!
"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as "Let It Snow",
is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in
July 1945. It was written in Hollywood, California during one of the
hottest days on record. First recorded in 1945 by Vaughn Monroe, it became a popular hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard
music chart the following year. One of the best-selling songs of all
time, "Let It Snow!" has been covered countless times. Due to its
seasonal lyrics, it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song.
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers was one of the hottest blues attractions on the West Coast when their recording of "Merry Christmas Baby" reached position #3 on Billboard's R & B Juke Box chart during the Christmas of 1947. Guitarist Johnny Moore commandeered an impressive lineup of players for the recording session, including bassist Eddie Williams, guitarist Oscar Moore (then of the King Cole Trio), and singer/pianist Charles Brown. A version of this song, recorded by Bonnie Raitt and Charles Brown, is included on the Christmas album A Very Special Christmas 2, released in 1992.
http://youtu.be/pquaVRipw4M
On a December 2002 Conan O'Brien television show, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed a live version of the song including Conan on guitar!
http://youtu.be/wi9kvO2zL2E
"Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" is a popular Christmas song written by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman. Autry got the idea for the song after riding his horse in the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade (now the Hollywood Christmas Parade) in Los Angeles during which crowds of spectators chanted, "Here comes Santa Claus". This inspired him to write a song that Haldeman set to music.
Autry first recorded the song in 1947. Released as a single by Columbia Records, it became a #5 country and #9 pop hit.
http://youtu.be/m5uiuW9TAuM
The song was originally recorded by Spike Jones & His City Slickers on December 6, 1947, with lead vocal by George Rock. That version reached the top of the pop charts in 1948, and again in 1949.
http://youtu.be/3sgpSDTuLys
"You're All I Want for Christmas" was a Christmas hit for Frankie Laine in 1948. Written by Seger Ellis and Glen Moore, it peaked at No. 11 on Billboard's Best-Selling Pop Singles chart in December 1948 and No. 15 on Billboard's Race Records chart in January 1949.
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" first
appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by
Montgomery Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away coloring
books
for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own
book would save money. May considered naming the reindeer "Rollo" and
"Reginald" before deciding upon using the name "Rudolph".
May's
brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, adapted the story of Rudolph into a song.
Gene Autry's recording of "Rudolph" hit No. 1 on the Billboard
pop singles chart the week of Christmas 1949. The Christmas song sold
2.5 million copies the first year, eventually selling a total of 25
million, and it remained the second best-selling record of all time
until the 1980s!
"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas
song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. It is a tale of
unrequited love during the holidays and is a longstanding staple of Christmas music, especially in the country genre.
The song was first recorded by Doye O'Dell in 1948,
and was popularized the following year in three separate recordings:
one by country artist Ernest Tubb; one by bandleader Hugo Winterhalter
and his orchestra; and one by bandleader Russ Morgan and his orchestra.
Elvis Presley cemented the status of "Blue Christmas" as a rock-and-roll holiday classic by recording it for his 1957 LP Elvis' Christmas Album. Then,
in 2008, through the marvel of "green screen technology", experts
married footage of Elvis singing the song in his 1968 NBC Comeback
television special with a modern video recording of Martina McBride to
produce the following:-
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a "winter" pop standard with words and music by Frank Loesser.
Originally, it was intended to be a Christmas song. In its early years
it was played only during Christmas time. In recent years, however, it
has been recorded by numerous adult contemporary artists and played year
round.
Loesser wrote the duet
in 1944 and premiered the song with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their
Navarro Hotel housewarming party; and performed it toward the end of the
evening, signifying to guests that it was nearly time to end the party.
In
1948, after years of informally performing the song at various parties,
Loesser sold its rights to MGM, which inserted the song into its 1949
motion picture, Neptune's Daughter. The film featured two
performances of the song: one by Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams
and the other by Red Skelton and Betty Garrett, the second of which has
the roles of wolf and mouse reversed. These performances earned Loesser
an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The song "debuted," with slightly different lyrics, at the Oscar ceremony via a performance by Mae West and Rock Hudson!
"Baby,
It's Cold Outside" has been recorded by numerous other artists
over the years. At least five different versions of the song have made
at least one singles chart in the United States. One of the earliest,
the recording by Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer, was recorded on
March 18 and released by Capitol Records as catalog number 567. It first
reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on May 6, 1949, and lasted 19 weeks on the chart, peaking at number four.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol that enumerates a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas in the manner of a cumulative song. The song, first published in England in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme, is thought to be French in origin. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
number of 68. The tunes of collected version vary. The standard tune
now associated with it is derived from a 1909 arrangement of the
traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin, who first introduced the now familiar prolongation of the verse "five gold rings".
One of the most recorded songs each year, the first known recorded version was by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters in 1949.
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