Music for the Christmas Season

White Christmas
Everyone knows that the song was introduced in the movie Holiday Inn, but many don't know that it was a song about being stuck in sunny and warm LA and dreaming of a White Christmas. The original first verse is:

The sun is shining
The grass is green
The orange and palm trees sway.
I've never seen such a day
In Beverly Hills LA.
But it's December the 24th
And I am longing to be up North...

This part is rarely performed with the song (The Carpenters version does) and was never recorded by Bing Crosby.

Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas
This Judy Garland song was written for and first introduced in the movie Meet me In St. Louis. The original intent for the song was to say that by next year things would be brighter. The original lines were;

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
May your heart be light
In a year our troubles will be out of sight
From now on

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
In a year our troubles will be miles away

At the request of Judy Garland it was changed to:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
Let your heart be light,
From now on our troubles
Will be out of sight.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on our troubles
Will be miles away.

Then in 1957 when Frank Sinatra was recording his Christmas Album A Jolly Christmas he requested another change to the lyrics. Later in the song there was the line;

If the Fates allow
Until then, we'll just have to muddle through somehow
And have ourselves a merry little Christmas now.

Sinatra wanted a more jolly song and asked for this to be changed. It was to:

If the Fates allow,
Hang a shining star
On the highest bough,
And have yourself
A merry little Christmas now.

This sure makes for it to be a merrier, Merry Christmas song.

I'll Be Home for Christmas
The song was written in 1943 and recorded in that same year by Bing Crosby. Placing it in that time period it's obvious that the song was about a soldier at war and his Christmas wish. If it wasn't for White Christmas this would probably be His Christmas song. (Although his version of Silent Night sold more copies) The song remained on the charts for 7 weeks and well pass Christmas.

Silver Bells
The song was written by the prolific movie composers Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the movie The Lemon Drop Kid, staring Bob Hope. It was originally going to be Tinkle Bells, until Livingston's wife told him that to millions of american women the word tinkle meant something else and not something that would generally go over good in a Christmas song. The word tinkle was replaced with silver. Now the next time you hear the song replace the word 'silver' with 'tinkle' and see if it doesn't have a slightly different song.

Frosty the Snowman
Frosty the Snowman was written with one thought in mind. Just before it was written Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer had be a huge commercial hit and the team of Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins wanted to write the next 'Christmas Classic'. By the end of the winter they had put together two holiday songs to pitch to Gene Autry. Autry was sold and recorded Frosty for the next Christmas season.

Oh, the other Holiday song they pitched. It wasn't a Christmas song, but the Easter song Here Comes Peter Cotton-tail.

A Christmas Song
In the hot heat in the summer of 1945, Mel Torme visited his friend Bob Wells. Earlier in the day Wells had written phases in a notebook in an effort to stay warm. A couple of these were; "Chestnuts roasting ... Jack Frost nipping ... Yuletide carols ... Folks dressed up like Eskimos.'

Torme also in an effort to try to cool off, thought that maybe writing a winter song would help. They took these phrases and in 40 minutes much of the music and some of the lyrics of one of the most recorded Christmas song was completed.

Beginning sometime shortly after Halloween and into the New Year, most of the music that I play would be classified as Christmas music. Here are my 6 favorites.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Many artists have recorded this lovely song since it was introduced by Judy Garland in the film Meet Me in St. Louis. The song was written for the film by lyricist Ralph Blane with the music composed Hugh Martin. Originally the song was to be dark, but Judy Garland didn't like it and asked for the lyrics to be changed into a lighter song. To me her version is still the best.

O Holy Night
While Christmas is a religious holiday and Christmas Carols are a popular choice to be recorded, they are not at the top of my list of favorite songs. I do enjoy listening to versions of Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful and others, the one Carol that I would have to consider my favorite is O Holy Night written in 1847 composed by Adolphe Adam to the french poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877. I have no favorite version, although I do prefer hearing it done by a female performer.

I Believe in Father Christmas
Upon listening to the song, without really listening to the lyrics, this song written Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) and writing partner Peter Sinfield, it sounds like a nice little Christmas song. But it's really a protest song against the commercialization of Christmas. It still makes my favorite list.

White Christmas
Even though I really consider this song to be over played, one has to admit that it does put those who have had snow on Christmas day, in a thoughtful remembrance. The Irving Berlin song was first introduced in the 1942 film Holiday Inn by Bing Crosby. He recorded the song again in 1947, the original master was damaged. It is this version that is most played.

I'll Be Home for Christmas
If not for White Christmas, this song would perhaps be considered Bing Crosby's Christmas song. He recorded the song in 1943, during the height of World War II. The song touched the hearts of soldiers at war and the families at home. The song writing credit is to Buck Ram, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent. My favoite version of the song was done in the 1950s by Perry Como.

The Christmas Song
I'm sure that when Mel Torme and Bob Wells sat down that hot summer afternoon in 1944 they had no idea that they would be writing one of the most recorded and played Christmas song. Nat 'King' Cole first recorded his version in 1946 and as they say, the rest is history, since it still stands out as my favorite.

Originally Published on 6 Things To Consider

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
The song about a Grandma who had just a little bit too much eggnog before heading home on Christmas Eve was recorded in 1979 by Elmo and Patsy. The duo was selling the record of the song on stage and it was picked up by San Francisco DJ Gene Nelson, who was the first to play it on the air. From there the song caught on and has become one of those classic songs you rather not admit you enjoy.

The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)
In 1958 Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. a.k.a. David Seville, wrote the song and had it recorded in a Chipmunk type voice. The Chipmunks were born and the song hit number one on the charts for 4 weeks at the end of 1958/early 1959.

Crabs for Christmas
This song written and recorded by David DeBoy in the summer of 1981 may be more fondly known in Maryland where the song of Bawlamer origins.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The song about Santa's most famous reindeer of all began life as a story book by Montgomery Wards. It was turned into a song by Johnny Marks and recorded in 1949 by the singing cowboy Gene Autry. From there he became part of the Santa universe.

Frosty the Snowman
Frosty the Snowman was written with one thought in mind. Just before it was written Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer had be a huge commercial hit and the team of Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins wanted to write the next 'Christmas Classic'. By the end of the winter they had put together two holiday songs to pitch to Gene Autry. Autry was sold and recorded Frosty for the next Christmas season.