[78-L] The Christmas Songs

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bud Black" <banjobud at cfl.rr.com>
> In 1947 Dick Todd with Marek Warnow's orchestra and chorus, recorded "All
> Around The Christmas Tree," on the Sonora label  I remember thinking at 
> the
> time that this song would become a Christmas classic heard every year. 
> Boy,
> was I wrong!  The record was played extensively on the radio, but by the
> following year it had almost faded into obscurity.  All in all.....I kinda
> liked it!
>
Other than "White Christmas" (written for the movie "Holiday Inn"...the only
other commercial Christmas song to become a "standard carol" is. AFAIK,
"Jingle Bell Rock" (or will its popularity wane after all the "baby boomers"
die of old age?!). I attend a free Christmas dinner put on by a local 
(Oshawa,
Ont'o.) church...which always starts with an hour or so of caroling...!

About 25 or so years ago, I used to visit a local (Toronto, then) family I 
met
through my regular attendance at the Saturday-afternoon jazz matinees of
"Kid Bastien's Happy Pals"...every Christmas. One such Christmas we
(the Moyeses and I) decided to go out caroling around their neighbourhood
for some no-longer-recalled reason. We were all fairly good singers, so the
musical results were pretty good; however, the folks we sang to kept trying
to give us donations for "our cause" (we didn't have one...we were caroling
"for the fun of it!)!

I wonder if, in this current "digital era," there will be anyone out singing
Christmas carols...?!

Steven C. Barr