We continue our Christmas special with eight more Christmas favorites.
"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas"
by Bing Crosby
There are many versions of this standard, but Bing's 1951 version is one of the most-played of the bunch.
"Jingle Bells"
by the Singing Dogs
Don Charles of Copenhagen, Denmark recorded this version in 1955. If you have a dog, you know they are an important part of Christmas and you will smile listening to this song.
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
by James Taylor
This is from Taylor's second Christmas album in 2006. It has been gaining in popularity ever since to the point where some believe it is the best version of the song ever recorded.
"(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays"
by the Carpenters
Al Stillman wrote the words and Robert Allen contributed the music to this song, first made popular by Perry Como. The Carpenters' version is right up there as well.
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
Crystals
The Crystals recorded this holiday favorite in 1963.
"Baby, It's Cold Outside"
by Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer
Frank Loesser wrote the words and music to this back-and-forth duet (the vocals on the printed score are titled Mouse and Wolf) about a man trying to talk a woman into staying at his home and the woman insisting she needs to go.
This version hit #4 in 1949.
"Sleigh Ride"
Boston Pops Orchestra
Here is the famous version of this song first written by Leroy Anderson. It was first recorded by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops in 1949 and has since become something of a signature song for the orchestra. The clippity-clop of horses hooves and the light crack of the whip add atmosphere.
"Ave Maria"
by Barbra Streisand
The words were taken by the Walter Scott poem "The Lady and the Lake". Barbra Streisand's amazing voice and range gave this song the lift it needed to make The Top 200 Christmas Songs of the Rock Era*.
Other sources will give lists ofThe Best Christmas Songs of All-Time; this site actually lets you hear them so you can see which ones you like the most. We have 200 of them and eight more are featured below!
"Oh Holy Night"/We Three Kings"/"Deck The Halls"
by the Ray Conniff Singers
The Singers do as fine a job as anyone on "We Three Kings". The song was written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr. in 1857.
The song is featured as part of a medley with "Oh Holy Night" and "Deck The Halls". The reality is that few artists can sound as good on Christmas songs as Conniff's Singers do and that's certainly the case on "We Three Kings".
"Mistletoe and Holly"
by Frank Sinatra
This song was written in 1957 by Hank Sanicola, Sinatra and Doc Stanford and appeared on Frank's first full-length Christmas album A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's version is by far the most popular.
"Winter Wonderland"
by Ella Fitzgerald
Jazz great Ella Fitzgerald recorded her arrangement of this holiday favorite for her album Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas.
"Let It Snow"
by Diana Krall
This gifted Canadian singer-songwriter has taken the world by storm, becoming the top-selling jazz artist of all-time. Her signature nightclub-type voice and keyboard skills have won acclaim the world over. She gives this favorite a nice touch.
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
by Nat King Cole
This popular hymn first appeared in the 1739 collection Hymns and Sacred Poems by Charles Wesley but it is not the one we hear today. Wesley's tune is much more somber. George Whitefield, Wesley's co-worker, changed the opening lyrics from "Hark! how all the welkin rings" to the one we hear today. Then in 1840, Felix Mendelssohn composed a cantata and it is this cantata, adapted by William H. Cummings to fit the lyrics of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", that we are familiar with.
Nat King Cole gives us the signature version of this song.
"All I Want for Christmas"
by Spike Jones
We have hymns, Christmas carols, new songs and also a few novelty ones thrown in as well. Donald Yetter Gardner, a music teacher in Smithtown, New York, wrote this song after asking his second grade class what they wanted for Christmas and noticing almost all had at least one front tooth missing as they answered in a lisp. Gardner then wrote the song in 30 minutes.
The song was published in 1948 after an employee of Witmark music company heard Gardner sing it at a music teachers conference. Later that year, Spike Jones recorded the song with lead vocal by George Rock.
"Jingle Bell Rock"
by Bobby Helms
The first Rock Christmas song is this one right here. It was written by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe and released by Bobby Helms in 1957. It thus became the first Rock Christmas song to become a standard, hitting #1 in 1957 despite being released just two days before Christmas. It has since reappeared on the charts six more times and is second to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" in sales among Christmas songs.
"Silent Night"
by the Temptations
Featuring the great bass voice of Melvin Franklin and David Ruffin's super-high tenor voice, the Temptations give a great treatment to this holiday favorite.
Another day, another eight fantastic Christmas songs!
We have eight more great Christmas favorites for you right now:
"The Christmas Song"
by the Carpenters
This classic which BMI shows as the most-performed Christmas song of all-time was written by Mel Torme and Bob Wells in 1966. The Carpenters' magical touch enabled them to record a version that would put them alongside Nat King Cole.
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
by Bing Crosby
We have pointed out that the Carpenters, Perry Como, Bing Crosby and the Conniff Singers--all which start with the letter "C", are among the most successful artists at Christmas, which of course also starts with a "C". Those four mentioned above own 30 of The Top 200*!
"The Chipmunk Song"
by the Chipmunks
Here we have the song written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., who is actually David Seville, the mastermind behind the song. The song was created recording three different parts sung slowly, then sped up to sound as if it were coming from chipmunks. "The Chipmunk Song" was the last Christmas song to reach #1 in 1958 and it won three Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording and Best Engineered Recording (non-classical).
"Carol Of The Bells"
David Foster
Ukranian Mykola Leontovych wrote the music to this in 1914, with lyrics by Peter Wilhousky. Producer David Foster's version was included on his 1993 release, The Christmas Album.
"Mary's Boy Child" by Boney M
This song was written by Jester Hairston and first performed by Harry Belafonte. But Boney M's version has become the most popular.
"I Saw Three Ships"
by Sting
This is a popular Christmas carol from England. The earliest printed version is from the 17th century, published by William B. Sandys in 1833.
"One More Sleep"
by Leona Lewis
This song, recorded for Lewis' fourth studio album, the 2013 release Christmas, with Love, is regarded as the most popular of recent Christmas songs by the Official Charts Company.
"Joy to the World"
by Whitney Houston
Isaac Watts wrote the words that are based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. Watts published the song in 1719 in the collection The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament. Only the second half of Watts' lyrics are used today. The music was adapted and arranged by Lowell Mason in 1839 from a melody that is believed to have come from Handel's Messiah.
Whitney's spirited version in the movie The Preacher's Wife is next in our feature.
Some radio stations and satellite channels play thousands of Christmas songs each year, forcing you to hear all the bad and mediocre songs with the best. No need to sit for all that--we play the best 200 and only the best!
