This is a series of posts that will talk about my favorite original Christmas songs. See if you agree with any of these!
In part one I chose “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Winter Wonderland”, “The Christmas Song”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, A Holly Jolly Christmas”, and “Frosty the Snowman”. I’ll choose 6 more here.
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” one of the most beloved holiday songs, was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Judy Garland introduced the song in the film, delivering a poignant performance that captured its bittersweet essence. Over the decades, it has become a holiday standard, with numerous notable covers. Frank Sinatra recorded a more upbeat version in 1957 for his album A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra, after asking Martin to revise the lyrics.
Voices singing, let’s be jolly, Deck the halls with boughs of holly
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” was penned by Johnny Marks, a prolific songwriter renowned for his contributions to the Christmas music genre.
Uh Alvin, you were a little flat
Watch it, Alvin—Alvin? Alvin?!
Okay!
Christmas with The Chipmunks was released in 1962 on Liberty Records[1]. Mother bought this record for me, I was 4 years old, and I loved it. It is now referred to as Volume 1 since there have been 3 more releases with the same name, in 1963, 2007, and 2008. The tracks from this and its follow-up album, Christmas with The Chipmunks Vol. 2 have been in continuous circulation since their original releases.
Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane
He’s got a bag that’s filled with toys for boys and girls again
Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle, oh what a beautiful sight
So jump in bed and cover your head, ’cause Santa Claus comes tonight
One of Mother’s albums that I loved was “The Original Gene Autry Sings: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. I believe the album was released in 1957 but the single for “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was released in September of 1949. The album contains twelve Christmas songs by “the Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry.
Now there’s Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blixzen, Rudolph, Flossie, Glossie, Racer, Pacer, Fearless, Peerless, Ready, Steady, Feckless, Speckless, Steven, Fluffy, Horace, Chantel, Skippy, Rainbow, Patches, Montel, and ???
I mentioned a few alternate reindeer in my previous post “Santa’s Reindeer“, like the South Park rescue team and the reindeer in L. Frank Baum’s book. Here I’ll go into more detail about those other less known reindeer. We all know Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blixzen, and Rudolph, but who were the others? Like, Robbie the Reindeer is the son of Rudolph and appeared in two BBC specials.
