Vintage 1950s Holiday Music

Vintage 1950s  Holiday Music

by

Janet Elizabeth Lynn

I thought it would be nice to listen to some of the music that we still hear during the Christmas Holidays. I’ve included the links for your “waltz down memory lane”.  Here are the top ten Christmas hits in the1950s.

(In chronological order of release)

(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays

Perry Como

Home for the Holidays was written by Al Stillman and Robert Allen. It was a hit in 1955, but has also been recorded by numerous other artists. Listen on YouTube

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Bing Crosby

In 1956, Bing Crosby’s version was released as a single.  Longfellow’s poem resulted when his personal peace was shaken. His second wife of 18 years was tragically burned in a fire, leaving him a widower of six children. Soon after, Longfellow’s oldest son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, joined the Union Army, he was severely wounded in the battle. He wrote the poem December,1863. The lyrics were by Johnny Marks and John Baptiste Calkin. Listen on YouTube

Nuttin’ for Christmas 

Barry Gordon

Also known as “Nothing for Christmas,” Nuttin’ for Christmas was a novelty Christmas song written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. It became a hit during the 1955 Christmas season when it appeared in Billboard’s pop charts by five different artists. The highest-charting of the five recordings was released by Art Mooney and His Orchestra, with six-year-old Barry Gordon as lead vocalist. Listen on YouTube

Mary’s Boy Child 

Harry Belafonte

Mary’s Boy Child a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. It is widely performed as a Christmas carol.  Harry Belafonte heard the song being performed by a choir and sought permission to record it. It was recorded for his album An Evening with Belafonte. Listen on YouTube

Jingle Bell Rock

Bobby Helms

The song was written and performed by Bobby Helms in 1957 and has received frequent airplay during every Christmas season since. The song has hit the Billboard charts a record six times since its original release. Listen on YouTube

Blue Christmas

Elvis Presley

A Blue Christmas was written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson and most famously performed by Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley cemented the status of Blue Christmas as a rock-and-roll holiday classic by recording it for his 1957 LP Elvis’ Christmas Album. Listen on YouTube

Run Rudolph Run

Chuck Berry

Run Rudolph Run was written by Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie. The song was first recorded by Berry in 1958 released as a single. Listen on YouTube

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Brenda Lee

Written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree was a rockabilly/rock-and-roll flavored Christmas tune. While it was ignored in its first two seasons, the song hit #16 on the Billboard pop chart during the Christmas season of 1960. Eight million copies were sold the first thirty years. Listen on YouTube

The Chipmunk Song

David Seville

The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) is a Christmas song written by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) in 1958. Bagdasarian sang and recorded the song, varying the tape speeds to produce high-pitched “chipmunk” voices for  the chipmunks:  Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. Listen on YouTube

The Little Drummer Boy

The Harry Simeone Chorale

This song was originally called Carol of the Drums, a Czech folksong which Katherine Davis translated to English in 1941.  When the Twentieth-Century Fox Records label contracted Simeone to make a Christmas album in 1958, he assembled a group he called The Harry Simeone Chorale and searched for recording material. Simeone changed the title to The Little Drummer Boy. Listen on YouTube