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My Gift To You (Alexander O'Neal Album)
''My Gift to You'' is the first and only Christmas album by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal, released on November 11, 1988 by Tabu Records. On release, the album was received favorably by the majority of music critics. However, it was not very successful, peaking at No. 149 on the ''Billboard 200'' and reached No. 54 on ''Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums''. The album only launched one charting single in the UK. "The Christmas Song"/"Thank You for a Good Year" which peaked at No. 30 on the ''UK Singles Chart''., p.360 Critical reception In a retrospective review, Jason Ankeny of AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars and wrote that "''My Gift to You'' is plainly a product of its era, complete with thick synthesizers and programmed rhythms, and is best enjoyed by listeners still hoping Santa brings them acid-washed jeans and Members Only jackets regardless of the year in question." Track listing Personnel * Alexander O'Neal – arranger; vocal arrangement; voc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Studio Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual Phonograph record#78 rpm disc developments, 78 rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP record, long-playing (LP) records played at revolutions per minute, rpm. The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983 and was gradually supplanted by the cassette tape during the 1970s and early 1980s; the populari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling Single (music), singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and music streaming, streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV (Official UK Top 40), is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a Single (music), single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Bernhard Smith
Richard Bernhard Smith (September 29, 1901 – September 29, 1935) was an American composer who wrote the lyrics to the popular Christmas song "Winter Wonderland", which was composed by Felix Bernard. Smith was born on September 29, 1901, in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, the son of Eliza (Brunig) and John H. Smith, a partner with a glass manufacturing plant. His family was Episcopalian. He graduated Honesdale School in 1920 and attended Pennsylvania State College. Smith married Jean Connor, of Scranton, on March 30, 1930. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ... in 1931. He succumbed to the disease on September 29, 1935, his thirty-fourth birthday, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. He was buried in Dyberry Cemetery, Honesdale, Pennsylvania. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Bernard
Felix William Bernard (April 28, 1897 – October 20, 1944) was an American conductor, pianist and a composer of popular music. His writing credits include the popular songs "Winter Wonderland" (with lyricist Richard B. Smith) and "Dardanella". Biography Felix Bernard (Bernhardt) was born to a Jewish family in New York City on April 28, 1897, and died in Los Angeles, California, on October 20, 1944. A professional pianist from childhood, his early musical studies were with his father, and his formal musical education was from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and CR. Bernard wrote professional one-act musical comedies for vaudeville, and he toured throughout the United States with the Orpheum and Keith Vaudeville Circuit, and also abroad. Bernard worked as a pianist for dance orchestras and music publishers before forming his own band. His also had his own radio show which he produced. Best known as a composer, Bernard found success writing musical material for artists such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Wonderland
"Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, it has been covered by over 200 different artists. The song's lyrics were about a couple's romance during the winter season. A later version of "Winter Wonderland" (which was printed in 1947) included a "new children's lyric" that transformed it "from a romantic winter interlude to a seasonal song about playing in the snow." The snowman mentioned in the song's bridge was changed from a minister to a circus clown, and the promises the couple made in the final verse were replaced with lyrics about frolicking. Singers like Johnny Mathis connected both versions of the song, giving "Winter Wonderland" an additional verse and an additional chorus.Lankford, pp. 110-111 History Smith, a native of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, was reportedly inspire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of " A Song for You", "For All We Know", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called ''Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway'', which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2020. Early life Hathaway, the son of Drusella Huntley, was born in Chicago ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Christmas (Donny Hathaway Song)
"This Christmas" is a song by American soul musician Donny Hathaway released in 1970 by Atco Records. The song gained renewed popularity when it was included in 1991 on Atco Records' revised edition of their 1968 ''Soul Christmas'' compilation album and has since become a modern Christmas Standard (music), standard, with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers reporting that it was the 30th most-performed holiday song of all time. Phil Upchurch said the song was "absolutely the premiere holiday song written by an African American". It was written by Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor. History "This Christmas" was recorded at Audio Finishers Studio on Ontario Street, Chicago in the fall of 1970. Ric Powell (see credits below) said that Hathaway was "very upbeat during the session" and that he "knew what he wanted to do musically and the impact he wanted to make with this song" regarding the representation of African Americans in Christmas music. On writing the song wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Early life Melvin Howard Tormé was born in Chicago, Illinois, to William David Torme, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, and Betty Torme (née Sopkin), a New York City native. He graduated from Hyde Park High School. A child prodigy, he first performed professionally at age four with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy" at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. He played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programs ''The Romance of Helen Trent'' and ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy''. He wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, "Lament to Love", became a hit for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Wells (songwriter)
Robert Wells (born Robert Levinson, October 15, 1922 – September 23, 1998) was an American songwriter, composer, screenwriter, script writer and television producer. During his early career, he collaborated with singer and songwriter Mel Tormé, writing several hit songs, most notably "The Christmas Song" in 1945. Later, he became a prolific writer and producer for television, for such shows as ''The Dinah Shore Chevy Show'', as well as for numerous variety specials, such as ''If They Could See Me Now'', starring Shirley MacLaine. He was nominated for several Academy Awards and won six Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Peabody Award. Early life and career Robert Wells was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in 1922 in Raymond, Washington, the son of Edna Irene (Bradford) and Nathan Levinson. He attended a local business college and later the University of Southern California, where he majored in speech and drama. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Christmas Song
"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting by an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in June 1946. At Cole's behestand over the objections of his label, Capitol Recordsa second recording was made in August utilizing a small string section. This version became a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with another full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in 2004 was the most-loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49, while the original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974. In 2022, the 1961 Nat King Cole recording ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katherine Kennicott Davis
Katherine Kennicott Davis (June 25, 1892 – April 20, 1980) was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher, whose most well-known composition is the Christmas song "Carol of the Drum," later known as " The Little Drummer Boy". Life and career Davis was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on June 25, 1892. She composed her first piece of music, "Shadow March," at the age of 15. She graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1910, and studied music at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. In 1914 she won the college's Billings Prize. After graduation she continued at Wellesley as an assistant in the Music Department, teaching music theory and piano. At the same time she studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Davis also studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. She taught music at the Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts, and at the Shady Hill School for Girls in Philadelphia. She became a member of ASCAP in 1941. and was granted an honorary doctorate fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Simeone
Harry Moses Simeone (May 9, 1910 – February 22, 2005) was an American music arranger, conductor and composer who popularized the Christmas song "The Little Drummer Boy", for which he received co-writing credit. Early years Simeone was born in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He grew up listening to stars performing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, not far from his native Newark. Initiated and inspired by this childhood passion, he sought a career as a concert pianist. To this end, he enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music, which he attended for three years, but when he was offered work at CBS as an arranger for bandleader Fred Waring, he dropped out of Juilliard to accept it. Initial prominence After garnering vocal and music arrangement credits for the 1938 RKO motion picture ''Radio City Revels,'' Simeone relocated to Hollywood with his wife, Margaret McCravy Simeone, who briefly sang with Benny Goodman's orchestra, using the stage name Margaret McCrae, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
