A Little Christmas Music - Jingle Bells (Nat King Cole)

One of the warmest and swingingest versions of the old bell/sleigh tune I've ever heard is the one done by Nat King Cole. Take it away, Mr. Cole.

A Little Christmas Music - The Santa Claus Express (Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra)

Twelve days 'till Christmas and the Santa Claus Express is pulling away from the station! Love this goofy little 1933 tune!

A Little Christmas Music - I've Got My Love to Keep me Warm

Les Brown and the Starlighters turning the heat up to keep our tootsies toasty!

A Little Christmas Music -Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians

Back in 1954 General Electric sponsored a show featuring Christmas Music by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians. I wonder what ever became of the announcer...

A Little Christmas Music - Send Me Your Love for Christmas (Raymond Scott Orchestra)

Well, here we are. Christmas Eve is dawning and the jolly old elf is making a last check of the tack and harness while the elves tune up the jingle bells. It's been fun punctuating the season with a bit of holiday music from off the beaten path. All that's left is tearing the wrapping paper off those lovely presents under the tree and getting to work on January's resolutions.

What's one of the best gifts a fellow could get on Christmas day? Well, I'd say a little love from the one he loves best! And in keeping with that sentiment I'll make my last yuletide ditty Send Me Your Love for Christmas by Raymond Scott and his Orchestra. Here's hoping you and yours have the jolliest of holidays, may the seasons blessings find their way into your stockings and your heart brim with cheer!

A Little Christmas Music - Christmas Island (The Dinning Sisters and Bob Atcher)

Yes, long before Jimmy Buffet and his parrot heads got hold of it, the song Christmas Island was a hit.

The Dinning family consisted of nine children, all musically inclined. After winning several amateur musical contests, three of the family, twins Jean and Ginger and sister Lou started performing with their brother Ace's orchestra. Eventually the trio moved from Oklahoma to Chicago where they were hired by NBC radio eventually becoming the highest paid act in the city.

An interesting link between past and present, the Dinnings nephew Dean was bassist for Toad the Wet Sprocket.

The song Christmas Island was written by actor Lyle Moraine in 1946 and originally popularized by the Andrew Sisters backed by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians in a Decca recording that same year. Moraine appeared in 42 motion pictures, often without credit. If you want to see Moraine in action you can rent Son of Paleface starring Bob Hope and Roy Rogers. Moraine appears as a bank clerk in the film and co-wrote the cowboy songs sung by Rogers in the film with Jack Brooks and Jack Hope.

A Little Christmas Music - It's Winter Again (Hal Kemp)

There's a little nip in the air, so it's a good time for a tune from Hal Kemp. Let's try It's Winter Again.

A Little Christmas Music - White Christmas (Louis Armstrong)

Ah Louie, Mr. Armstrong I'd dearly have loved to have seen you in person. If the time machine is ever invented, I'll use one of my trips to spend an evening dancing to the music of Louis Armstrong. For the time being, here's his unique version of Irving Berlin's White Christmas.

A Little Christmas Music - Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (Dick Robertson and his Orchestra)

Here's another tune from Dick Robertson and his Orchestra, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe.




I thought I'd written about the tradition of mistletoe somewhere in my blog, but when I looked I couldn't find anything on the subject. At the risk of repeating myself (I beg forgiveness if I do, the dog is getting older you know), to remedy that situation let's touch on the origin of smooching under the old yuletide weed.

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that attaches itself to a tree or bush, drawing water and nutrients from its host in order to live. Now, that doesn't seem to be much of a starting point for a plant that's associated with love and kisses and the holiday season, but let's press on and try to ignore any unflattering comparisons to certain romantic entanglements.

The etymology of the word mistletoe isn't certain. Some say it's related to the German mist (for dung) and tang (for branch) as a reference to the fact that the plant can be spread via bird droppings. I find this origin dubious, though, since it's unlikely Germanic peoples naming the plant would have understood how it was spread well enough to make the link.

As this little spell from Queen Loeta and the Mistletoe, a 1857 tome by George Halse suggests, mistletoe has always been attributed with certain magical properties.

The magical essence of mistletoe goes back into antiquity and the most likely source of the Christmas custom associated with it might be the early church's habit of adopting pagan traditions into its ceremony to ease acceptance of the new faith. It's know that pre-Christian peoples in Europe saw mistletoe as a representation of the divine male essence, romance, fertility, and vitality and that these people sometimes kissed under sprigs of the plant seeking some sort of mystical boon.

Mistletoe as a Christmas decoration isn't mentioned before the 18th century. According to tradition, when a man and woman meet beneath the mistletoe they are obliged to kiss.  Washington Irving described this tradition in his 1820 The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases.

And I like Mr. Irving's take on the tradition. Nothing increases fondness more than short supply.

A Little Christmas Music - The Merry Christmas Polka (Dinah Shore)

Dinah Shore, darling of Chevrolet in the 50's achieved fame as a big band singer, an actress on the big screen, and as hostess of variety shows on the small screen. I have an unusual fascination with the polka, so much so that I forced my poor wife to learn the dance and play victim to my poor rendition of it every Oktoberfest. But the biergarten is closed and we're into the yuletide season and it's time to trot out a different, more Fezziwig kind of polka. So, here's Dinah and The Merry Christmas Polka.

A Little Christmas Music - I told Santa Claus to Bring Me You (Bernie Cummins Orchestra)

Ohio seems to a hot spot for big bands. Bernie Cummins was born in Akron in 1900 and his first ensemble debuted in Indiana. Eventually Cummins put a dance band together and his lineup changed over the years to reflect the changing tastes of his audience. Since Cummins' orchestra primarily played the Midwest, it felt right to feature one of his Christmas ditties. I Told Santa Claus to Bring Me You is one in a series of popular songs where the singer pleads with the man in red for the perfect girl or boy wrapped up under the tree. Sounds a little bit like kidnapping to me, but the holiday season is filled with imponderables.

A Little Christmas Music - Santa Clause is on his Way(Sammy Kaye and his Orchestra)

Sammy Kaye was born Sammy Zarnocay, Jr. in Lakewood Ohio on March 13, 1910. Aside from the Christmas tune, Santa Clause is on His Way featured as my daily yuletide offering, Mr. Kaye has another December connection. Shortly after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Sammy wrote the music for the tune Remember Pearl Harbor. Surely it’s just one of many patriotic, support the military, and the boys over there songs that came out of the war era, but one worth mentioning.

A Little Christmas Music - I'm Doing my Christmas Dreaming (Frank Sinatra)

How about a little Blue Eyes to stave off a blue Christmas? With all the Sinatra schlock out there, I hadn't heard I'm Doing my Christmas Dreaming before I stumbled upon the recording while streaming the oldies. It's surprising what you'll find when you're not looking!

A Little Christmas Music - Santa Clause is Coming to Town (Joe Moss and His Society Dance Orchestra)

Yet another version of the classic, Santa Clause is Coming to Town.

A Little Christmas Music - Jingle Bells (Phil Harris and the Sportsmen)

Phil Harris is probably best known for The Thing and That's What I Like About the South, but this little Christmas offering comes from 1952 and teams him up with The Sportsmen.

A Little Christmas Music - I Want You for Christmas (Dick Robertson and his Orchestra)

Dick Robertson has a different sort of pet in mind as a Christmas gift! Robertson was a prolific writer, penning tunes under a variety of pen names during his twenty-some year career.  This particular holiday tune caught my ear tonight. Here's I Want You for Christmas for your stocking. Better by far than a lump of coal!