Bing Crosby

Do you love listening to Christmas music? If so, you are unquestionably not alone. Now that we are leading up to the actual holiday season, more retailers, radio stations, stores and even restaurants are playing top Christmas songs. Among the songs that are played and enjoyed this time of year are the following three general songs “White Christmas”, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, and “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)”. Well known for their original recordings by Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, we proceed to take delight in these songs through the holiday season.

Information with regards to each of these songs including the authors, the singers that are most identified with each song, and current and other well known recording artists will be shared in this article. When you read through to the end of this article, you will discover how to get selective information on other top Christmas songs including classic, Christian, and Christmas songs for kids.

White Christmas

The most frequent of Christmas songs was written by Irving Berlin. The song “White Christmas” is known as the most recorded Christmas song with well over 500 versions in dozens of languages. It is considered by some to be the best-selling single of all time.

Bing Crosby Version With approximated sales of over 50 million copies worldwide, Bing Crosby is the most well known singer of this song. Crosby introductory performed the song on Christmas Day, 1941. In 1942 Crosby’s recording was featured in the movie Holiday Inn and rose in popularity and on the music charts to the number one position.

Other and Recent Recordings In 1957 Elvis Presley recorded the song for his “Elvis’ Christmas Album”, more recent artists who have recorded the song include Linda Ronstadt (2000), Andrea Bocelli (2009), and Boy George (2009).

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

The source of the songs lyrics are more or less debatable with an original copyright date of 1943 by James Kim Gannon and Walter Kent. The firstborn author notwithstanding was thought to be Buck Ram who stated he wrote the words while away at school as a college student. Early recordings of the song often times credit all three as writer for the song, while other recordings are known to credit only Kim Gannon, and Walter Kent.

In 1943 “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” joined “White Christmas” as one of America’s most general holiday songs. It is known to have been a favored requested song by military personnel for the duration of World War II.

Bing Crosby VersionRecorded and extrapolated by Bing Crosby in 1943, and has received particular acknowledgement to his recording achieving much for military morale.

Other and Recent RecordingsThe songs other intimate known recordings are by Perry Como (1946) and Frank Sinatra (1957). Recent recordings include usual favorites Michael Buble, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Connick Jr., Whitney Houston, and Amy Grant. Other known artists with recordings of “I’ll be Home For Christmas” include Johnny Cash, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood, and Josh Groban.

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire)

“The Christmas Song” was written in 1944 by vocalist Mel Torme with co-writer Bob Wells. Written for the duration of a hot summer day, the lyrics were meant to reap the gains of the mind being cooled off with snow, Eskimos and other cold weather ideas. Although in the first place recorded by The Nat King Cole Trio, Mel Torme recorded his own versions in 1954, 1965, and 1992.

Nat King Cole Version The usual Nat King Cole version was recorded in 1946 and in 1974 was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. There were subsequent recording of the song by Nat Cole including the song’s initial magnetic tape recording in 1953, and it primary being recorded in stereo in 1961.

Most helpful client reviews

54 of 54 humans found the following review helpful.
An Essential Christmas Album From The Voice Of Christmas!
By Greg Van Beek
Capitol Records has given us an early Christmas present by reissuing and expanding it’s 1999 Bing Crosby’s Christmas Classics CD compilation. This new version, now titled Bing Crosby Christmas Classics, was freed Tuesday September 26th.

Gone is the dark cover photo of a piece of sheet music on a piano with a little b/w photo of Bing circa 1963 (which was firstborn applied when Capitol hastily reissued an abridged version of Bing’s 1962 Warner Bros. Christmas album I Wish You A Merry Christmas in 1977 following Bing’s passing). In it’s place on this new CD is the introductory painting that was used on that 1962 Warner Bros. LP! Many humans have asked me over the years if that album has ever been reissued on CD with the basi artwork. Apart from a late 1980′s Australian Axis label CD release of the album that’s now nearly out of the question to find, 2006′s Capitol compilation marks that well-remembered cover painting’s initial widespread use in over 40 years!

Inside the booklet are full page photos of Bing, including a 1965 Hollywood Palace promotion photo in color, and a b/w photo of Bing & David Bowie. On the backside of the case is a nice photo in silhouette of Bing in tux and tails standing behind a mike onstage at the Academy Awards in 1955.

The CD holds all of the tracks issued on the 1999 release, with a new opening track…White Christmas from the 1957 Frank Sinatra Christmas TV show. It credits this cut as being a “Nelson Riddle Arrangement”, when in reality, this is the arrangement Paul Weston wrote for Bing’s A Christmas Sing With Bing annual radio show in 1955. Now Reprise freed the full length version of this song, finish with Frank taking the last chorus as a duet with Bing, as percentage of it’s 2004 Frank Sinatra: The Christmas Collection CD compilation, but here Capitol re-edited the track to omit Frank’s vocal! It makes for an strangely short track with a chopped ending, clocking at 1:34.

The other new track is a stunningly crisp 24-bit remastered version of Bing’s 1950 Decca recording of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, an evident choice to follow the ’62 album cut of Frosty The Snowman with on the disc.

Do You Hear What I Hear and Christmas Dinner, Country Style are likewise here rounding out the disc with the full length dialog version of Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth with David Bowie (recorded 9/11/77). Once again, however, as on it’s 1999 release Capitol didn’t develop a distinguished cue point to the beginning of the music percentage of the duet with Bowie. This would’ve been beneficial, giving the listener the option of cueing past the dialog share if they wished.

However, it’s nice to see Capitol keeping this album in print and taking the time and venture to improve upon it.

18 of 19 persons found the following review helpful.
Bing’s Christmas from the 60s and 70s like we do not forget him
By Dr. Johnny Fever
A very nice collection, with closely all the songs in stereo, less the two TV soundtrack selections and Rudolph. To me, the most aweinspiring track is the heartwarming (some call it syrupy) track “The Littlest Angel” – in this song Bing is in fine voice and the recording is crystal clear without a lot of audio processing like you get nowadays. Do You Hear What I Hear? is one of the biggest songs of the 20th century, and Bing had the firstborn and by far the best version of this song, here in all it’s glory. Some of the two song carols are poorly arranged and feature too much choir and not sufficient Bing, but his solo tracks are rather good, in stereo and sound wondrous for a guy in his sixties and seventies. I’m still amazed that no other performer, David Bowie included, has ever recorded the duet “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” other than Bing & Bowie. It breaks my heart that Bing passed-away shortly after recording this great song, before he and David Bowie could go into a recording studio with an orchestra and make a high-quality stereo recording; but, for a 1977 TV soundtrack, the audio is rather good and captures the moment forever. Bing’s baritone – a great percentage of Christmas. I get enjoyment from this “album” and a release by Polydor/Polygram of Bing’s 70′s Christmas songs, as my two Crosby Christmas favorites. The only song missing here is a song Bing recorded for United Artists records, “When A Child Is Born”. I highly suggest Bing’s Christmas Classics if you were a fan of Bing’s TV Christmas specials – I think that you’ll receive pleasure from it. Merry Christmas everyone.

8 of 9 persons found the following review helpful.
Bing’s second-best Christmas album
By Jimmy L.
Nobody may rather get you into the holiday spirit like Bing Crosby. His classic renditions of holiday standards never go out of style. This collection features a great deal of great Bing Crosby Christmas songs, and is an idealisti associate to Bing’s veritably classic White Christmas album.

“White Christmas” (originally freed as “Merry Christmas” in 1945) is one of the all-time best-selling Christmas albums, featuring classic after classic. That album mixes upbeat holiday tunes (with numerous support from the Andrews Sisters) with traditionalisti Christmas carols. It is the necessary Bing Crosby holiday album, and is offered at in general lowcost prices.

If “White Christmas” rates 5 stars, this album, “Bing Crosby – Christmas Classics”, is more like a 3.5 or 4. It’s still full of very nice Bing Crosby holiday music, but it is a step beneath his earlier album.

As cited elsewhere, this collection is mainly Bing’s 1962 “I Wish You A Merry Christmas” album, with a few added tracks. This version of the song “White Christmas” was taken from a 1957 Frank Sinatra special. The standard duet with David Bowie, “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy”, from a 1977 TV special is included. (It starts with a lengthy division of dialog from the show.)

By 1962 Bing Crosby was getting older. This collection is for the most part a late-career Christmas album. Some of the songs are of the more deeply religious assortment (Nativity-themed), but there’s still “Frosty The Snowman” and “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”, as well as more secular tunes like “Winter Wonderland”, “Let It Snow!”, and the square dance jig “Christmas Dinner, Country Style”.

You may prefer this album if you want galore solemn Noel music or are sick of mercantile X-Mas jingles. Overall the album feels more solemn than “White Christmas”, with Bing singing with choirs rather of the Andrews Sisters.

The songs are all gorgeous good. “Rudolph” features a solo by the titular reindeer that I wasn’t actually ready for, but it’s okay. The highlights for me are the splendid “Do You Hear What I Hear?”, the Bing & Bowie duet, and “Pat-A-Pan/While Shepherds Watched Their Flock”. But, as I said, you can’t in truth go defective with Bing Crosby Christmas music.

“Bing Crosby – Christmas Classics” is a nice album that could supplement “White Christmas” in a holiday music collection, but I’d advise getting the latter album first. This one could make a nice follow-up, though. Every holiday collection must have galore Bing Crosby in it (and numerous Frank Sinatra, possibly a little Nat King Cole). Compared with everything else, this is a fine holiday playlist. It’s a great Christmas album, just not the most necessary from Bing.

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