‘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.
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(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.
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“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.
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“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‘).
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“The Little Drummer Boy” (originally known as “Carol of the Drum“) is a popular Christmas song written by the American classical music composer and teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family Singers, the song was further popularized by a 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale; the Simeone version was re-released successfully for several years and the song has been recorded many times since.
When the Twentieth-Century Fox Records label contracted Simeone to make a Christmas album in 1958, he assembled a group he called “The Harry Simeone Chorale” and searched for recording material. After being introduced to an obscure song by producer and credited song co-author Henry Onorati, titled “Carol of the Drum” (originally composed by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941 and arranged to present form by Jack Halloran), Simeone changed the title to “The Little Drummer Boy” and recorded it under that title for his album Sing We Now of Christmas. He received joint authorship-and-composition credit for the album, although he did not actually write or compose the song. The single “The Little Drummer Boy” quickly became extremely popular and scored on the U.S. music charts from 1958 to 1962. The Simeone Chorale had another Christmas success during 1962, with their rendition of the then-new song Do You Hear What I Hear? for Mercury Records.
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“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.
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” was written by Blane Ralph and Martin Hugh for a sad scene in the film ‘Meet Me In St. Louis’ (1944) and first had lines such as “it may be your last [Christmas]” and “[friends] will be near to us no more”. Hugh Martin recalled to Entertainment Weekly in 2007, “They said, ‘It’s so dreadfully sad.’ I said, ‘I thought the girls were supposed to be sad in that scene.’ They said, ‘Well, not *that* sad.'” Frank Sinatra’s version, by 1957, has altered lyrics more suitable for the jolly season as indicated by his album’s title “A Jolly Christmas” this song was included on. Judy Garland performed this song with Frank Sinatra’s modified lyrics on “The Judy Garland Show Christmas Special” in 1963.
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(Source: azlyrics.com)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“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.
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(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“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.
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(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
“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.
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(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
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