Willie Phelps wrote the “Merry Christmas Polka” sometime around 1962 and it was recorded by Jim Reeves on his Twelve Songs of Christmas album in 1963. He is backed by The Anita Kerr Singers (Anita Kerr, Dorothy Ann Dillard, Louis Nunley, William Wright, Winifred Breast). There is a sub genre of Christmas songs that are Polkas and this is probably the most famous.
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25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 21: “No Room At The Inn”
As we approach the big day, I would feel remiss if I didn’t include some of the religious songs associated with Christmas. “No Room At The Inn” is a hymn written in 1891 with lyrics by A L Skilton and R Kelso Carter and music by E Grace Updegraff. In 1955 Mahalia Jackson recorded an amazing Gospel version of the song for her Mahalia Sings Songs of Christmas album. She was backed by the Falls-Jones Ensemble: Mildred Falls, piano; Ralph Jones, organ; Lionel Hampton and Robert Prince, vibraphones; and Milton Hinton, Bass. Mahalia was the “The Queen of Gospel” and was in full force on this bluesy, upbeat take on an otherwise somber song.
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 20: “Blue Christmas”
First recorded in 1948 by Doye O’Dell, it was a minor hit the next year for Ernest Tubb in (Number 1 for the first week of January 1950 on Billboard magazine’s Most-Played Juke Box (Country & Western)), Hugo Winterhalter ( No. 9 on Billboard’s Records Most Played by Disk Jockeys chart) and Russ Morgan (No. 11 on Billboard’s Best-Selling Pop Singles chart). The next year Hugo Winterhalter released an alternate version with shortened lyrics sung by Billy Eckstine that is most akin to the one that has become a holiday standard sung by Elvis on his 1957 LP Elvis’ Christmas Album. In 1974, the song was featured in the children’s Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus.
Presley’s version is notable because of the use of the “blue notes” (septimal minor thirds replacing the just minor thirds for you musical people), creating an added layer of depth to the songs content. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without the King singing this Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson’s tale of unrequited love.
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 19: “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”
Originally from ACT 2 Scene 14 of the ballet The Nutcracker, the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” has become one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky most famous compositions. Tchaikovsky took eight selections from the ballet and made them into a piece to be performed in concert, sans dancing, called The Nutcracker Suite. The ending to the ballet version of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” was altered and gained popularity in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1940 Disney’s Fantasia brought it into popular culture, and its original context, in a Christmas themed ballet, helped solidify it as a concert staple of many orchestras Holiday programs.
In 2005 The Red Baron remixed the Berlin Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Wohler’s 1989 recording, adding a trip-hop beat and accentuating the celesta in the mix. It breathed new life into the 100+ year old song, making it fresh for the new millennium. In 2008 BMW used this version of the song in a television commercial.
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 18: “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy”
“The Little Drummer Boy” (originally known as “Carol of the Drum”) was written by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. The 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale made the song into a holiday classic. In 1968 it was made into a TV special by the Rankin / Bass team.
In 1977 David Bowie was invited to sing a duet with Bing Crosby for his upcoming television special Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas. At Bowie’s urging a new song, “Peace on Earth,” was composed by Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and Alan Kohan, to be added as counterpoint to “The Little Drummer Boy.”
This was Bing Crosby’s last recording, he died October 14 of that year, just five weeks after this recording was made. As beautiful as the duet is, the pair’s witty banter before the song is great fun with Bing quipping “right or wrong, I sing either way” to Bowie’s question “You’re the singer, right?”
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 17: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Johnny Marks contribution to the Christmas genre includes “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, “A Holly Jolly Christmas”, “Silver and Gold”, and “Run Rudolph Run”, but his most famous composition was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. Based on a coloring book commissioned by the Montgomery Ward company that was written by his brother-in-law Robert L. May, it has become an iconic Christmas character, loved by children since it was first released by Gene Autry in November 1949. In 1964, Rankin-Bass adapted the song into a Burle Ives (as Sam the Snowman) hosted tale of redemption and acceptance.
The song has been recorded by many of the biggest names in music over the years including Bing Crosby (1950), Spike Jones and his City Slickers (1950), Paul Anka (1960), Burle Ives (1964), Ringo Starr (1999), Lynyrd Skynyrd (2000) and Destiny’s Child (2004) to name a few. It has also been recorded in a mambo version by Billy May in 1953, doo-wop versions by The Cadillacs in (1957) and The Melodeers in 1960, in country versions by Ernest Tubbs (1964), Merle Haggard (1982), Dolly Parton (1990) and Allen Jackson (1996), and by several Motown artists including The Supremems (1965), The Tempatations (1968) and the Jackson 5 (1970).
Because of the many varied versions I decided to stick with the best-selling and first recorded version by Gene Autry & The Pinafores.
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 16: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Judy Garland first sang this Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane composition in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Then in 1957 Frank Sinatra released the definitive version on A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra. This version has the most common set of lyrics, having been modified by Hugh Martin at Sinatra’s urging. “Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow.” was changed to “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.” Even Ms. Garland sang the modified lyrics in subsequent performances.
In 1987, The Pretenders released my favorite version of the song on the LP A Very Special Christmas to benefit Special Olympics. Chrissie Hynde captures the original melancholy and the beautiful hope of the song, bring the best of Sinatra and Garland’s take on the song. The music is simple and straight forward, eschewing the heavy orchestralization found on many versions of the song.
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 15: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
The 4th most played holiday song as compiled by ASCAP, Edward Pola and George Wyle 1963 “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is perhaps Andy Williams’ most enduring recording. It first appeared on The Andy Williams Christmas
Album and is immortalized from the performance on his TV show. The lyrics are slightly different then your normal Christmas songs, cataloging some activities not normally associated with Christmas like “telling scary ghost stories” (perhaps a Christmas Carole) and “roasting marshmallows.”
I chose here to place another remix in the list, this time by the duo Shrift, though it seems this is more producer Dennis Wheatley’s vision because singer/songwriter Nina Miranda seems to be absent in the mix. Williams voice is used to great effect here and the track is not over-produced, retaining the original robust warmth while updating it for the new millennium.
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 14: “Christmas Wrapping”
The Waitresses were one of the more interesting bands to emerge in the early 80’s. The hailed from Akron, OH and had hits with “I Know What Boys Like” and the theme to the short-lived TV show “Square Pegs,” along with their most iconic song “Christmas Wrapping.” Written by Chris Butler at their label ZE Records, request for Christmas songs from all its artists. It was released on the 1981 compilation album LP A Christmas Record, the next year it was reissued on the Waitresses’ EP I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts.
The title is a play on the vocal delivery style of Patty Donahue, imitating the burgeoning new style of music coming from New York’s 5 boroughs. The lyrics are a charming tale of a single woman’s struggles with the hustle, bustle of Christmas and her many attempts to go on a date with someone she had met early in the year. Through the course of the song her attitude goes from resolving to “miss this one this year””to a very happy ending” after running into the guy she wants to date on Christmas Eve at an all night convenience store.
Quirky, poppy and brought to life by a killer riff and bass line, this may be the most infectious Christmas song that lies outside the mainstream themes found in most Christmas songs.
25 Days, 25 Songs — Day 13: “Dominick the Donkey”
Lou Monte came out of left field with this quirky Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg and Wandra Merrell composition in 1960. It is another in a long line of ‘transportation’ related Christmas songs. Legend has it that the recording time and record production was financed by the Gambino crime family, I don’t know how much stock I take in the story. It is also another example of a song becoming a Rankin – Bass TV special, this one being the impetuous for 1977’s Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. For sheer silliness this is a great song and one that my kids love to make donkey sounds along to.
Inertia Satori 