I posted a link to this song a couple of years or so back, but it's so good that it's deserves another airing. The song first appeared in the BOB HOPE 1951 movie, The LEMON DROP KID, although BING CROSBY, I believe, was the first singer to release it on record. Then JIM REEVES eventually lent his golden voice to the Yuletide lyrics and did the best version available. Give it a listen and see if you agree.
7 comments:
My father said that when he was a boy in Glasgow in the 1930's Christmas Day was just an ordinary day and nobody celebrated it - they had Hogmanay instead of course. Obviously things have changed a bit since then.
...and another thing about the government... ( only kiddin'around [ now THERE's a good title for a blog! ] )
Did Ella Fitzgerald duet with Bing in that film,do you know? For me, that is the definitive version.
Maybe if some people were really poor it wasn't much of a day, CJ, but I don't think that nobody would've celebrated Christmas (even in Glasgow) - it really kicked off in Victorian times, with cards and all that.
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Not in that film, JP - Bing wasn't in it. The version I have of Bing doing the song is either with Rosemary Clooney or Patty Andrews, I think.
Come to think I remember him telling me he had to save up for his own Xmas present but I think that was because he had a weird mother and not because they were poor - I know his father was self-employed and his grandfather owned several chip shops but I think what my father meant about Xmas being an ordinary day was the strong religious influence of the Presbyterians. I was reading recently that the modern Christmas didn't become accepted in Scotland till the 1950's. And my roof is finally getting fixed today, yay !!
Glad to hear that your roof is getting sorted, CJ. You may find a visit to this link interesting: www.christmasarchives.com/scotland.html
Just been reading it,Kid - those Presbyterians were a fun bunch that's for sure. I can only assume that Christmas wasn't a big thing in my dad's house - if his mother expected her children to buy their own presents it doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs. By the way, in England and Wales New Year's Day was only made a holiday in 1974 - in fact my parents were married on January 1st 1954.
See? That's us Scots - leading the way again, CJ.
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