Beautiful Star of Bethlehem

Merry Christmas, everybody!

I love this beautiful song.

The family of A.L.Phipps (A. L., his wife Kathleen and two of their twelve children) recorded gospel and Kentucky mountain music in the 1950s and 1960s.  They have always been likened to their more famous counterparts, the Carter family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ6Mi4_kJlE

A. L. wrote this wonderful Christmas song in the Southern Gospel tradition.  It is titled "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem".  A.L. Phipps was murdered while at home in 1995.  His murderer sits on death row today.

Mary's Boy Child

Harry Belafonte

This beautiful song was written by Jester Hairston in 1956.  It was first recorded by Harry Belafonte for his album, "An Evening With Belafonte".  The song reached number 1 on the UK charts in 1957.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ4FK1uXm_U

The song is one of my favorites.  Belafonte's voice is perfectly suited for the melody.

Away In A Manger

This carol was first published in an 1885 Lutheran Sunday School book by James R. Murray (1841---1905), but the author of the first two stanzas is unknown.  There are at least two major melodies of this song.

1.  "Cradle Song", more commonly encountered in the United Kingdom by William J. Kirkpatrick and first published in 1895

2.  "Mueller" is the tune usually common in the United States, authored by James R. Murray and first published in 1887.  It is certain that the third stanza was added in 1904 by Dr. John McFarland of New York City

"Away In A Manger" has been recorded by thousands of artists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOJb6uOF05Q

The First Noel

We continue our countdown to Christmas with our next famous carol, "The First Noel".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANUV9vD1zg8

This song is of unknown origin.  It is generally thought to be English, dating back to the 16th century.  There is a misconception that this song is of French origin because of the French spelling of "Noel", as opposed to the olde English spelling of "Nowell".  This song was first published in 1833 when it appeared in "Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern", gathered by William B. Sandys.

White Christmas

We continue our countdown to Christmas with Irving Berlin's monster holiday classic, "White Christmas".

The morning after Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas", he went to his office and excitedly told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song.  I just wrote the best song I've ever written---Hell, I just wrote the best song anybody's ever written!"

Irving Berlin Was Born Israel Baline in Russia.  He is Considered One Of the Greatest Songwriters in History, Having Penned 1,500 Songs.

He wrote the words in 1940 while sitting at poolside at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.

Arizona Biltmore Resort, Phoenix, Arizona

The song was introduced to Bing Crosby in the 1942 musical, "Holiday Inn".  In the film, he sings a duet with Marjorie Reynolds.  The song received the Academy Award for best original song.

Crosby first publicly performed the song on Christmas day in 1941.  The song topped the charts at the end of 1941 and continued atop them well into 1942.


Bing Crosby and His One-Of-A-Kind Voice

It has been noted that the song's mix of melancholy---"just like the ones I used to know"---with comforting images of home---"where the treetops glisten"---resonated especially strongly with listeners during WWII, and the Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for it.  It was number 1 on the US charts for 11 weeks in 1942 and also hit number 1 during the holiday seasons of 1945 and 1946.  Crosby eventually sold over 50 million copies.  The Guiness Book of World Records currently lists the song as a 100-million seller, including all versions.

The recording was broadcast on the radio as a pre-arranged signal during the US evacuation of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

             White Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df9n21lPAmc

Joy to the World

Christmas song #4 in our countdown to Christmas is "Joy to the World". 

Joy to the World was written by the famous English hymn writer and theologian, Isaac Watts.  Based on Psalm 98, and first published in 1719, the song was written as a hymn glorifying Christ's triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than as a celebration of His birth in a manger.

Isaac Watts  1674---1748

Isaac Watts went on to write some 750 hymns, many of which are still sung today.  Two very well known popular Watts hymns are "O God, Our Help In Ages Past" and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross".


Isaac Watts Statue at Southampton Solent University

Note that the phrase, "The Lord IS come" is grammatically incorrect.  It was correct, however, when it was written in 1719.

           Joy TO The World

Joy to the world!  The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n and heav'n and nature sing.

Joy to the world!  The Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the neations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, and wonders of His love.

We Three Kings

The Three Kings

The third Christmas song I present in our countdown to Christmas is "We Three Kings".

Rev John Henry Hopkins, Jr

Written by Rev John Henry Hopkins, Jr, who wrote both the lyrics and music as part of a Christmas pageant for the General Theological Seminary in New York City.  It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but not published until 1863.  Hopkins composed the piece in Williamsport, PA where he was a pastor at Christ Episcopal Church, which still stands today at the corner of Fourth and Mulberry.

Hopkins was a clergyman, author, book illustrator, stained glass window designer and editor of the "Church Journal" out of New York.  He became rector of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Plattsburgh, New York in 1872.

The three kings are probably Zoroastrian magi from the area of Persia.

Their gifts represent the following significance:

Gold

---Gold represents Jesus' kingship, not earthly, but heavenly

Frankincense

---Frankincense represents Jesus' role as priest---the perfect intermediary between mankind and God

Myrrh

---Myrrh, associated with death, represents Jesus' role as Savior, in connection with his ultimate purpose of sacrificing Himself to redeem mankind

Jingle Bells

Here is song # 2 in our countdown to Christmas....

Also known as "One Horse Open Sleigh", Jingle Bells is one of the best known secular songs in the world.  It was written by Lord Pierpont (1822---1893) and copyrighted under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in 1857.

The song depicts youthful exuberance.  Many parodies of the song have been sung. Examples:

Jingle bells
Batman smells
PS---so does May
I'd push May right off the sleigh
And quickly drive away.

OR

Jingle Bells
Shotgun shells
Rabbits all the way
Oh what fun to shoot my gun
With dinner as my pay.

OR

Shingle nails
Shingle nails
Hammers tacks and screws
Oh what fun it is to ride
In Hitler's stinking shoes.

But, somehow, the original is so much better than the parodies!

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob-tails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way!
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.