I’ll Be Home For Christmas was recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby. The lyrics were written by Kim Gannon during World War II to honor the soldiers overseas who longed to be home at Christmastime. Gannon said in one interview that he was thinking of anyone that could not be home for Christmas, but not Read More
Category: Thanksgiving and Christmas songs
Christmas songs: O Christmas Tree
O Christmas Tree is a Christmas song based on the German O Tannenbaum. The lyrics were written in 1824, by Leipzig organist, teacher, and composer Ernst Anschutz. “Anschutz based his text on a 16th-century Silesian folk song by Melchior Franck, “Ach Tannenbaum”. Joachim August Zarnack (de) (1777–1827) in 1819 wrote a tragic love song inspired Read More
Christmas songs: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year is another popular Christmas song. The song was written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. The song was recorded on Andy Williams first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album. However, the song was not released as the single that year, because Williams version of Read More
Christmas songs: Silver Bells
Silver Bells is a popular Christmas song written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. Silver Bells was first performed by Bob Hop and Marilyn Maxwell for the movie The Lemon Drop Kid in the summer of 1950. The film was released in March 1951. Bing Crosby and Carol Richards recorded the song which was released Read More
Thanksgiving Song
Happy Thanksgiving! I could find no information behind the song but hope you enjoy it this Thanksgiving day. What are you Thankful for?
Blue Christmas
Blue Christmas was written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. The song was first recorded by Doyle O’Dell in 1948. The following year the song was popularized by Ernest Tubb. His version appeared at #1 on the Billboard magazine’s Country & Western Chart in the first week of January 1950. His country version included Read More
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is a Christmas song written by British songwriter, Tommie Connor. The fun song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue to promote the store’s Christmas Card that year. The original sketch on the Christmas card was drawn by Perry Barlow, an artist for The New Yorker. Thirteen-year-old, Jimmy Boyd, originally Read More
Let it Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Let it Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in July 1945. Big Band Leader, Vaughn Monroe, first recorded the song on December 22, 1945. The song was actually written during a heat wave in Hollywood, CA. In the book Songwriters on Songwriting by Paul Zollo, Sammy Cahn said: Read More
Have a Holly Jolly Christmas
We all love to hear Have a Holly Jolly Christmas during the holidays. What a wonderful greeting or farewell. Have a Holly Jolly Christmas was written by Johnny Marks in 1962. Marks also wrote the song, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The Quinto Sisters titled their first album Holly Jolly Christmas in 1964. In 1964, Have a Read More
What a Wonderful World
With Thanksgiving approaching, I thought What a Wonderful World would be a great song to discuss this week. Louis Armstrong recorded this song by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss in 1967. He was only paid $250 for the original recording. He accepted the spec payment to ensure the orchestra would also be paid. Read More