The 25th Day of December is a Christmas album by American singer Bobby Darin, released in 1960. The heralded “Christmas Auld Lang Syne“, written by Manny Kurtz (d. 1984; wrote over 250 songs) and co-written by Francis Philip Military, made its debut on this album, and with backing of Darin’s vocals is the Bobby Scott Chorale. The track also was released on the Atco label as a single (6183) and released for the Christmas Holidays, debuting on Billboard, October 31, 1960.
(Source: WiKipedia; AllMusic)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“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 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in June 1946. At Cole’s behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made in August 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 another full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole’s 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive. Fourth recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City, March 30, 1961. This rendition, the first recorded in stereo, is widely played on radio stations during the Christmas season, and has become the most popular/familiar version of this song. Label credit: Nat King Cole (Nat King Cole, vocals; Ralph Carmichael, orchestra conductor).The instrumental arrangement is nearly identical to the 1953 version, but Cole’s vocals are deeper-sounding and more focused. Originally done for The Nat King Cole Story (a 1961 LP devoted to stereo re-recordings of Cole’s earlier hits), this recording was later included in a reissue of Cole’s 1960 holiday album The Magic of Christmas replacing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. Retitled The Christmas Song, the album was issued in 1963 as Capitol W-1967 (mono) / SW-1967 (stereo) and today is in print on compact disc.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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“Children’s Christmas Song” was written by Isabelle Freeman, co-written by Harvey Fuqua and was released on Motown Records in November 1965. Two originals, taken from the ‘Supremes Merry Christmas” album,”Children’s Christmas Song” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me”, were issued as the sides of a late 1965 Supremes holiday single. The former was thought to feature background vocals by Berry Gordy’s children — Joy, Berry and Terry — the inspiration for Motown’s publishing division JoBeTe — as well as Diana’s youngest brother, Chico. Background by the Andantes.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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“Merry Christmas Darling” is a Christmas song by the Carpenters (music by Richard Carpenter, lyrics by Frank Pooler), and originally recorded in 1970. It was first available on a 7-inch single that year (A&M Records 1236), and was later re-issued in 1974 (A&M 1648) and again in 1977 (A&M 1991). The single went to number one on Billboard’s Christmas singles chart in 1970 (and did so again in 1971 and 1973) and peaked at number 41 in Cashbox. In 1978, the Carpenters issued their Christmas Portrait album, which contained a new version of “Merry Christmas Darling”. The original 1970 mix continued to be used for all single releases, however. The major difference between the 1970 and 1978 versions is a newly recorded vocal by Karen Carpenter on the latter, which was done at her request. Richard Carpenter himself calls the original recording one of his sister’s very best.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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“A Marshmallow World” (sometimes called “It’s a Marshmallow World“) is a popular song that was written in 1949 by Carl Sigman (lyrics) and Peter DeRose (music). The song is about winter and is commonly regarded as a Christmas song, although the lyrics make no mention of the holiday. The song compares a snowfall to marshmallows covering the ground. It also describes the snowfall as whipped cream and the sun as a big red pumpkin head. The singer “waits for it the whole year ’round.” The song was a Christmas Holiday hit for many artists such as Bing Cosby, Vic Damone, Brenda Lee and Dean Martin (which is included in his 1966 album, ‘The Dean Martin Christmas Album‘).
(Source: WiKipedia)
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“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958; it has since been recorded by numerous other music artists. By the song’s 50th anniversary in 2008, Lee’s original version had sold over 25 million copies with the 4th most digital downloads sold of any Christmas single. Because of her mature-sounding voice, Lee recorded this song when she was only thirteen years old. The recording features Hank Garland and Harold Bradley on guitar, Floyd Cramer on piano, Boots Randolph on sax, Bob Moore on bass, and veteran session player Buddy Harman on drums.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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“My Favorite Things” is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass released a version in 1969 as a single from their 1968 album, Christmas Album. It reached No. 45 on the Billboard 100.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS * 06 * DECEMBER 20
“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a popular Christmas song written in triple time in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album. However, the song was not released as a promotional single by Williams’ record label (Columbia Records) that year, as they instead opted to promote his cover of “White Christmas” as the official promo single from the album.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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“Little Saint Nick” is a Christmas-themed hot rod song about Santa Claus and his sleigh, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the American rock band the Beach Boys. The song was first released as a single on December 9, 1963, and peaked at number 3 on Billboard magazine’s special seasonal weekly Christmas Singles chart. Its B-side was an acappella version of “The Lord’s Prayer”. “Little Saint Nick” was recorded on October 20, 1963 at Western Studio in Hollywood. “Little Saint Nick” reappeared on The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album in 1964, with the stereo pressings of the album containing a new mix that removes the overdubbed sleigh bells and tuned percussion.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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“Run Rudolph Run“is a Christmas song popularized by Chuck Berry, written by Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie and published by St. Nicholas Music (ASCAP). The song was first recorded by Berry in 1958 and released as a single on Chess Records. Berry’s 1958 45-rpm single, however, gives writing credits to “C. Berry Music – M. Brodie”.
(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
