Merry Cherry Christmas: "Cherry, Cherry Christmas" by Neil Diamond

Photo: Franz Eugen Kohler

So, how exactly does one have a “cherry, cherry” Christmas?

 I’m of two minds with this song. One the one hand, it just seems like a jingle advertising Diamond’s other songs. But, maybe, it’s just his way of poking a little fun at himself.

OK. It’s Christmas. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. And I found myself downloading the song from Freegal, I guess partly out of affection for those songs.

I found references to 7 of his songs. I imagine alert readers our there can probably find more: 1. Cherry, Cherry, 2. Holly Holy, 3. Song Sung Blue, 4. If You Know What I Mean, 5. Red, Red Wine, 6. Sweet Caroline, 7. Beautiful Noise.

December Music: “The Holly and the Ivy” by George Winston

Many of the cuts from Winston’s album, December make wonderful Christmas music. They are available from Freegal.

Winston made his fame as a pianist, but his other real passion is another instrument: Hawaiian slack key guitar. He’s reportedly an expert player, and has devoted his music label to preserving the form.

And if you’re like me, and wondering what exactly Hawaiian slack key guitar is, here’s a sample:

Merry Christmas in English and Spanish: “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano

Photo: hendrike

Spanish just has the best-sounding names. Jose Feliciano. Antonio Banderas. They just roll off the tongue.

And “Feliz Navidad” is just a really cool way to say “Merry Christmas.”

Feliciano had become a Latin music star with songs sung mostly in Spanish. He recently told NPR that he included English in this song, partly because he wanted it to be played widely on the radio, but partly to show Hispanics “… not to feel like they will lose their identity if they learn to speak English. And that's why I did "Feliz Navidad" in both languages.”

“Feliz Navidad” is available for free download from Freegal.

“Oh, the weather outside is frightful”: “Let It Snow” by Glee

Photo: Pollo

This nod to sitting smugly by the fire while the tempest rages outside was penned back in 1945. It was a modern song, mentioning newfangled things like popping corn. (Funny, I thought the Native Americans did it way back.)

Today, in Denver, the snow is falling (finally! –the first we’ve had this year), and it is nice to be sitting inside cozy and warm, though we are making scones instead of popping corn.
Glee has a jazzy version on Freegal.

When it comes to other versions, the question is who doesn’t have a version out. There are over a dozen pages of artists; here is just a sampling:  Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Harry Connick, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Wynton Marsalis, Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Jessica Simpson, Kenny G., and Dean Martin. If you are in a country mood, you can listen to Martina McBride, Tanya Tucker, or Austin band Asleep at the Wheel.

If you are in a really different sort of mood, you can listen to the Christmas Jug Band (they whistle the tune—reminds me of the Andy Griffith theme), or you can hear it sung in Polish by Moje Vanoce.

I came across a music box version by Mic Musicbox that I like. It sounds different from all the others.

A Plea for Peace During the Cuban Missile Crisis: "Do You Hear What I Hear?" sung by Carrie Underwood

Photo

I've always liked the chain of events in this song.

The night wind whispers to the little lamb. The lamb passes on the message to the shepherd boy. And so on. Sort of a Christmas version of telephone.

But I was surprised to find out that it was written during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a plea for peace.

According the The New York Times it was written by a Ms. Gloria Shayne Baker. Her husband wrote the music.

Carrie Underwood's version (along with dozens of others) is available on Freegal.

That Little Show Choir: The Glee! Christmas Album

Fans of the show Glee! can find all kinds of cast recordings on Freegal.

The Christmas album includes 10 tracks, with favorites such as “Jingle Bell Rock,” White Christmas,””Feliz Navidad,” “Silent Night,” and “Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah.”

“I’ll be so blue thinkin’ about you”: “Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley

Photo: Alexofdodd

"Blue Christmas" is ever cemented in our minds as Elvis Presley's hit song, but country music pioneer Ernest Tubb was actually the first person hit the charts. In January of 1950 Tubbs’ version spent a week on Billboards "Most-Played Juke Box (Country& Western) Records chart.

Who knew they had such a list? Presley's version is available on Freegal.

Sadly, Tubbs' is not.

"So this is Christmas": "Happy Christmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon

Photo: Alina Zienowicz

This song is sort of a combination protest/Christmas celebration song.

I've always been drawn to the folksy tune of this song, and thanks to a little research on Wikipedia today, I know why.

It's based on the tune for the folk ballad "Stewball."

Try singing these lyrics to the tune of "Happy Christmas," and you'll see what I mean:

Oh, Stewball was a race horse

And I wish he were mine.

He never drank water

He always drank wine.

Lennon has elevated the song considerably.

Sadly, there are no Beatles on Freegal..  But Murdo Mcrae does a version similar to Lennon's. If you're not an absolute purist, it's a nice cover. (If you are an absolute purist, I understand.)

Wata Igarishi and Roch Voisine also do interesting versions.

The Mistake That Sold a Million Records: “Music Box Dancer” by Frank Mills

I hadn’t thought of “Music Box Dancer” as a Christmas song until it started showing up in Christmas light displays. (Those displays tread a fine line between spectacular and garish, but this one in my neighborhood makes me smile.)

You can download it free from Freegal.

Back in 1978, Frank Mills’ song was originally sent to “easy listening” stations in Canada, but it was sent to one pop station by mistake. The DJ there decided he liked the B side and started playing it.

It struck a chord, and soon Top 40 stations around the US were playing it, as well. It went gold in ’79.

(PS  If you live in the south metro area of Denver, check out this article for a driving tour, including this house.)

"You'd Better Watch Out": "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" by Bruce Springsteen

Santa skis into town? Why not? Photo credit

I'm pretty sure this is the only Christmas song that starts with a threat. (OK, maybe it’s a warning.)

Listen to The Boss kids, he knows what's comin' down.

I had always thought this was a B-list song. But Springsteen's version gives it heart and attitude.

And you can download it free, from Freegal.

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas”: “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby

Photo: Pollo

According to the Guinness Book of Records, this is the best-selling single of all time, selling 50 million copies. You can download it from Freegal and make it 50 million and one.

After my teenage daughter and I heard it on the radio, this is how our conversation went:

ME: That’s Bing Crosby singing.

HER: What? I thought his name was Bill or something.

ME (after some thought): No, you’re thinking of Bill Cosby. The comedian. Very different from Bing Crosby the singer. He was known for being smooth and debonair.

HER (after some thought): Mom, how smooth and debonair can he be? He calls himself BING. It’s like he’s a second-rate search engine.

ME: Sigh.

“It’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together…”: “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson

Photo: Declan Jewell

"Sleigh Ride" has just seemed like one of those songs that is always around during the Christmas season, and no wonder since year after year it is the most-played song on the radio, according to ASCAP.

It was written by Leroy Anderson, he of the songs that feature creative sound effects. My parents had an album of The Boston Pops performing a Leroy Anderson fun fest, and there were songs with typewriters and chickens, and such.

You can find about any style you'd like in Freegal. In addition to traditional orchestra versions, you can find renditions by Johnny Mathis, Ray Conniff, Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Neil Diamond, Mitch Miller, Andy Williams, George Shearing, Clay Aiken, Duke Ellington, Henry Mancini, Columba Minstrals (Celtic), Nashville Superpickers, and Kenny G.
I prefer the orchestral versions by Arthur Fiedler or Christmas Strings.
 

"Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time"

Photo: Lourdes Cardenal

If you're a purist and have to have Paul McCartney's rendition of "Wonderful Christmas Time," well, it isn't on Freegal.

None of the Beatles are.

But if you just love the song, like me, Murdo Mcrae and company do a nice version. You can find theirs, and lots of other covers on Freegal.

12 Cellos: "Carol of the Bells" by The Piano Guys

There is really only one piano guy in The Piano Guys. The others do strings. This version of "Carol of the Bells" has 12 cellos and is available from Freegal. It's just amazing.

They are named after a music store called--what else?--The Piano Guys.

Bring in the Glass Harp: “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” by Tchaikovsky

I love this rendition that my cousin found and sent to me.

Tchaikovsky brought in an entirely new instrument called the celesta that lent the song its unique celestial bell sound.

The glass harp is equally entrancing.

Sadly, I couldn’t find any glass harp rendition on Freegal. But I found dozens of others:

·         Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Fiedler for traditionalists.

·         Yule-a-Go Go for a rough-hewn jazz version,

·         Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra for a classic jazz version

·         Angels of Venice for a somewhat syncopated version

·         Spongetones for a bizarre version

·         Woody Phillips in an even more bizarre “toolbox” version. Seems to include ratchets and power saws

A Girl in Appalachia: “I Wonder As I Wander” sung by Theresa Donohoo

Photo: Joshua Strang

The plaintive song sounds like a folk carol passed down through the generations, but it was actually written by musician John Jacob Niles.

As Niles tells it, the song was inspired by a young girl in Murphy, North Carolina in 1933. Her father was a traveling preacher, and needed to do one more revival to have the money to move on.

But the police considered him a public nuisance and were ready to eject them.

A girl called Annie Morgan came out and sang the first three lines of this song. Niles paid her 25 cents each time she performed it, and after eight tries, Niles said, “…I had only three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material—and a magnificent idea.”

You can get Theresa Donohoo’s rendition of “I Wonder As I Wander” free from Freegal.