BARRY LEVINE: Celebrating Christmas in song

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,

“Just like the ones I used to know.”

— Bing Crosby, “White Christmas”

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas to one and all.

As we anxiously wait for that chubby little man in the red suit and white beard to make his annual trip, one fact is certain: Some of the finest holiday music will be heard.

Here are some of the more popular holiday songs and their histories.

Written by Irving Berlin in 1942, Bing Crosby’s version of “White Christmas” sold more than 100 million copies and was the biggest selling single of all-time until surpassed by Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” in 1997.

Crosby recorded “White Christmas” in 18 minutes on May, 20, 1942, and the song was released on July 30 of that year as part of an album. By the end of October, it was No. 1 in the country and remained in that spot for 11 weeks.

The song has been covered more than 500 times, a record.

Written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is Frank Sinatra’s most popular Christmas song.

Judy Garland introduced the song in the 1944 Broadway musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Sinatra later recorded a special version, giving the song a more positive spin.

Among the other superstars who recorded “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” are Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, James Taylor and Luther Vandross.

Austrians Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr composed “Silent Night” in 1818. The song has been recorded by multiple singers from every music genre. Bing Crosby’s version is the third best-selling single of all-time.

Written by Mel Torme and Bob Wells in 1945, Nat King Cole first recorded “The Christmas Song” in 1946. He re-recorded the song later in the year by adding strings.

He did updated versions in 1953 and 1961. The 1953 version was done with a full orchestra. His 1961 version is considered the definitive one.

The Christmas classic has been covered more than 100 times by such artists as Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, Andy Williams, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbra Streisand.

The chorus of “Little Drummer Boy” – “Pa rum pum pum pum, … rum pum pum pum” — makes it unique.

Written by Kennicott Davis in 1941, the song, originally called “Carol of the Drum,” was first recorded by the Trapp Family Singers in 1951. The Jack Halloran Singers then recorded it for their Christmas album in 1957.

Making minor adjustments to the song and renaming the tune the “Little Drummer Boy,” the Harry Simeone Chorale recorded it in 1958 as part of a Christmas album. Released as a single in November of that year, the song quickly rose to No. 13 on the charts.

It has since been covered more than 225 times by everybody from Bing Crosby to Johnny Mathis to Ray Charles to The Temptations to Neil Diamond.

“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a song written by Johnny Marks, a radio producer, based on the 1939 story “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” published by the Montgomery Ward Co.

In 1939, Marks’ brother-in-law, Robert L. May, created the character Rudolph as an assignment for Montgomery Ward, and Marks decided to adapt the story of Rudolph into a song.

The song was first sung by crooner Harry Brannon on New York radio in November 1949, weeks before Gene Autry’s recording hit No. 1 on the charts the week of Christmas.

“Do You Hear What I Hear” by Ed Ames, formerly of the Ames Brothers, is a holiday favorite.

Written in October 1962 by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker, the song was a plea for peace during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists.

The Harry Simeone Chorale first recorded “Do You Hear What I Hear” in November 1962 and it became a success, selling more than 250,000 copies.

Bing Crosby then recorded the song the following year and the song became even bigger.

Ames recorded it in 1965 and he has the best version.

Johnny Marks wrote “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” which was recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958 when she was 13. Lee’s original version had sold more than 25 million copies with the fourth-most digital downloads sold of any Christmas single.

Although Decca Records released the single in both 1958 and again in 1959, it did not sell well until Lee became a star in 1960. That Christmas holiday season, Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” peaked at No. 14 on the Hot 100 pop singles chart.

“Jingle Bells” is one of the best-known American songs. Boston’s James Lord Pierpont wrote the song and published it under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh” in the autumn of 1857.

Although originally intended for the Thanksgiving season and having no connection to Christmas, it became associated with Christmas music decades after it was first performed in Boston in 1857. Some area choirs adopted it as part of their repertoire during the 1860s and 1870s, and it was featured in a variety of parlor-songs during the 1880s. It was first recorded in 1889 by Will Lyle on a Thomas Edison cylinder.

In 1935, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra reached No. 18 on the charts with their recording of “Jingle Bells.” In 1941, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, Ernie Caceres and the Modernaires on vocals had a No. 5 hit with “Jingle Bells.” Two years later, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters recorded “Jingle Bells” which reached No. 19 on the charts and sold more than 1 million copies. In 1951, Les Paul had a Top 10 hit with a multi-tracked version on guitar.

“Jingle Bells” has been performed and recorded by a wide variety of musical artists, from Louis Armstrong to The Beatles to The Chipmunks to Elvis Presley to Nat King Cole.

Bobby Helms first released “Jingle Bell Rock” in 1957. Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe composed the song. It has received frequent airplay during every Christmas season for the next six decades.

Helms’ version rose to No. 13 on the Country chart.

Among those covering the song were Chet Atkins, Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee, The Platters, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Johnny Mathis and Neil Diamond.

Barry “The Old Rocker” Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].