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The Andy Williams Christmas Album
''The Andy Williams Christmas Album'' is the first Christmas holiday album released by singer Andy Williams and his twelfth studio album overall. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1963, the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams. Though it was also the album that introduced Williams's perennial holiday classic "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", Columbia instead released Williams's cover of " White Christmas" as the album's promotional single at the time.. A front-page story in ''Billboard'' magazine on November 23, 1963, made clear that the album was already destined to be a big hit: "Though the majority of retailers around the country that were contacted reported that Christmas product sales were just starting, they have already singled out the new 'Andy Williams Christmas Album' as the probably No. 1 LP for the next two months; at least of those albums thus far on the market. It is already registering heavy sales, as is his single 'White Christmas.'" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted ''The Andy Williams Show'', a television variety show, from 1962 to 1971, along with numerous TV specials. ''The Andy Williams Show'' won three Emmy Awards. He sold more than 45 million records worldwide, including more than 10 million certified units in the United States. Williams was active in the music industry for over 70 years until his death from bladder cancer in 2012, at the age of 84. Early life and education Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, to Florence (''née'' Finley) and Jay Emerson Williams, who worked in insurance and the post office. While living in Cheviot, Ohio, Williams attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He finished high school at University High School, in West Los Angeles, because of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recording Industry Association Of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States". RIAA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. RIAA was formed in 1952. Its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the stereophonic record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3, 45, and 78 rpm records. RIAA says its current mission includes: #to protect intellectual property rights and the First Amendment rights of artists #to perform research about the music industry #to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations, and policies Between 2001 and 202 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
O Holy Night
"O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a well-known sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that composer Adolphe Adam set to music in 1847. The English version (with small changes to the initial melody) is by John Sullivan Dwight. The carol reflects on the birth of Jesus as humanity's redemption. History In Roquemaure in France at the end of 1843, the church organ had recently been renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest persuaded poet Placide Cappeau, a native of the town, to write a Christmas poem. Soon afterwards, in that same year, Adolphe Adam composed the music. The song was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey. Transcendentalist, music critic, minister, and editor of ''Dwight's Journal of Music'', John Dwight, adapted the song into English in 1855. This version became popular in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The First Nowell
"The First Nowell", also known as "The First Noel (or Noël)", is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier.The First Nowell ''Hymns and Carols of Christmas''. "carol of the 16th or 17th century, but possibly dating from as early as the 13th Century." Barrie Jones (ed.), ''The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music'', Routledge, 2014, s.v. "carol", "Christmas carols were common as early as the 15th century. ..Many carols, such as '' and 'The First Nowell', date from the 16th century ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Pierpont (musician)
James Lord Pierpont (April 25, 1822 – August 5, 1893)Lewis, DaveJames Pierpont Biography, AllMusic, retrieved December 16, 2011 was an American songwriter , arranger, organist, Confederate States soldier, and composer, best known for writing and composing "Jingle Bells" in 1857, originally titled "The One Horse Open Sleigh". He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Winter Haven, Florida. His composition "Jingle Bells" has become synonymous with the Christmas holiday and is one of the most performed and most recognizable songs in the world. Early life and career James Lord Pierpont was born on April 25, 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, the Reverend John Pierpont (1785–1866), was a pastor of the Unitarian Hollis Street Church in Boston, an abolitionist and a poet. Robert Fulghum confused James with his father in the book ''It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It'' (1989); erroneously attributing the authorship of "Jingle Bells" to the Rev. John Pierpont. Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Twelve Days Of Christmas (song)
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol. A classic example of a cumulative song, the lyrics detail a series of increasingly numerous gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas (the twelve days that make up the Christmas season, starting with Christmas Day). The carol, whose words were first published in England in the late eighteenth century, has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 68. A large number of different melodies have been associated with the song, of which the best known is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin. Lyrics "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a cumulative song, meaning that each verse is built on top of the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by "my true love" on one of the twelve days of Christmas. There are many variations in the lyrics. The lyrics given here are from Frederic Austin's 1909 publication that established the current ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Wyle
George Wyle (born Bernard Weissman; March 22, 1916 – May 2, 2003) was an American orchestra leader and composer best known for having written the theme song to 1960s television sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. He is the grandfather of musician Adam Levy. Early years Wyle was born to a Jewish family. In the late 1940s and early 1950s his orchestra served as backup for a number of Columbia Records singers, including Doris Day. Some of the recordings (including "I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Pray'rs)" in 1949 and "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" in 1950) were of his own compositions. Career Wyle wrote with Sherwood Schwartz ''The Ballad of Gilligan's Island'', the theme song for ''Gilligan's Island''. He also co-wrote the Christmas song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (first recorded by Andy Williams in 1963) and more than 400 other songs. His chief musical collaborator was Eddie Pola. Wyle served as the musical director for ''The Flip Wilson Show'' dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Pola
Edward Pola (June 23, 1907 – November 3, 1995)Passenger list, S.S. ''Transylvania'', port of New York, 20 August 1931. was an actor, radio producer, radio/television producer, and songwriter. Pola was born Sidney Edward Pollacsek in New York City, the son of Ida (Friedmann) and Alexander Pollacsek, who were Hungarian Jews. In the 1920s, Pola began to write songs. He scored one of England's first sound films, ''Harmony Heaven'' (1930). Toward the end of the decade, he moved to the United States. He produced the radio comedy ''The Alan Young Show'',Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 16. as well as dramatic radio programs. He continued as a producer, moving to television in the 1950s. His most famous songs include: * "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" (co-written with George Wyle) * "I Love the Way You Say 'Good Night'" (co-written with George Wyle) * "I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Pra ... [...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] |
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] |
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on 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 w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Happy Holiday (song)
"Happy Holiday" (sometimes performed as "Happy Holidays") is a popular song composed by Irving Berlin in 1942 and published the following year. History "Happy Holiday" was introduced by Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds (dubbed by Martha Mears) in the 1942 film ''Holiday Inn'' in a scene when the Inn opens for the first time. While it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song, in the film it is performed on New Year's Eve, and expresses a wish for the listener to enjoy "happy holidays" throughout the entire year. It contains certain melodic material first used in Berlin's earlier song " Easter Parade". Jo Stafford was the first to release it on a Christmas album, on her album of the same name in 1955. The Kay Thompson song "The Holiday Season" is sometimes paired with "Happy Holiday" as a medley. This was first popularized by Andy Williams (whom Thompson herself discovered and mentored). Other artists who have covered the "Happy Holiday"/"Holiday Season" medley include The Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
