Christmas in The Post-War United States - Music

Music

Elvis' Christmas Album was released in October 1957, the first of only two Christmas albums Elvis recorded. The album featured eight Christmas songs, and four gospel songs. "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" and "Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me)" were both commissioned expressly for the album. Elvis' reading of Ernest Tubb's 1949 hit, "Blue Christmas" made the tune a holiday staple, but his version of "White Christmas" brought calls from the song's composer Irving Berlin to have the song, and the entire album, banned from radio airplay. Berlin thought Elvis's rendition a "profane parody of his cherished yuletide standard". Most US radio stations ignored Berlin's request, though at least one DJ was fired for playing a tune from the album. As of 2007, Elvis' Christmas Album is the top-selling holiday release of all time with 9 million in sales, according to the RIAA.

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was composed in 1948 by Johnny Marks after a 1939 poem by Robert L. May who created Rudolph as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward. The song tells the story of a reindeer whose shiny red nose guides Santa's sleigh through the fog on Christmas Eve. Gene Autry's 1949 recording remained at #1 for a week and brought the song widespread fame. Only "White Christmas" has sold more copies.

Autry had another hit in 1950 with "Frosty the Snowman", written by Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson as a direct attempt to create a success in the vein of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer". The song tells the story of a magical snowman who has playful adventures with children. In 1963, "Frosty" hit its highest position ever at #13 in a version by The Ronettes.

Spike Jones's rendition of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" hit #1 on the pop charts in 1951. The tune was composed in December 1944 by elementary school music teacher Don Gardner when he noticed most of his students were missing their front "baby" teeth. Inspired, he dashed off the song in thirty minutes. In Spike Jones' original hit recording, a grownup pretends to be a lisping kid who cannot whistle. Nat King Cole also covered the tune.

"The Little Drummer Boy", based on an ancient Czech folksong, was written by Katherine K. Davis in 1957. The song tells the apocryphal story of a poor young boy who, unable to afford a gift for the infant Jesus, plays his drum with Mary's approval. The baby smiles at the boy in gratitude. The 1958 version by the Harry Simeone Chorale is the standard, and hit the unparalleled record of placing in the Top 40 for five straight Christmases in a row. Simeone recorded the song in a Greenwich Village cathedral to give it a hushed respect. Its highest position on the both the US and UK charts was #13.

"Silver Bells" was composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, introduced by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the film, The Lemon Drop Kid and recorded by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards in 1952. The song was inspired by Salvation Army bellringers and is one of the very few songs about Christmas in the city. The song was originally called "Tinkle Bell", but Livingston's wife reminded him that "tinkle" had another association. "It was something you did in the bathroom," Evans recalled years after the song's composition, "but that's a woman's word and I'd never thought of it." "Silver Bells" ranks #13 on ASCAP's list of most-played holiday songs.

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" was written and composed by Tommie Connor in 1952 and originally recorded by thirteen-year-old Jimmy Boyd. The song reached #1 on the Billboard charts in 1952, and on the Cash Box Magazine chart at the beginning of the following year. Boyd's record was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in Boston on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas. Boyd was widely photographed meeting with the Archdiocese to explain the song.

"Santa Baby" was written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer in 1953. The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list of a woman who wants the most extravagant gifts for the holiday. "Santa Baby" was originally sung and recorded by Eartha Kitt and became a huge hit at #4 in 1953.

Jackson 5 Christmas Album was the only holiday album released by Motown family quintet The Jackson 5. Released in October 1970, the album showcased the brothers' harmonies and vocals. Lead singer Michael Jackson is prominently featured on the album tracks. Included on the Christmas Album is the Jackson 5's hit single version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". Rendered with a pop-soul feel, the Jackson 5's versions of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" remain frequent radio requests during the holiday season. The album spent all four weeks at the number one position on Billboard magazine's special Christmas Albums chart that the magazine published in December 1970, making it the best-selling holiday album of that year. It has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. In 2003, Universal Motown re-released the album with "Little Christmas Tree" (from A Motown Christmas). In 2009, this configuration was released as Ultimate Christmas Collection with Christmas messages, remixes, and a Christmas medley, and again as Merry Christmas Jackson's. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r9998