"If Every Day Was Like Christmas" is a song written in 1965 by

Red West Robert Gene "Red" West (March 8, 1936 – July 18, 2017) was an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter. He was known for being a close confidant and bodyguard for rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. Upon his firing, West wrote the contro ...

and popularized by his friend and employer

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in 1966 when he recorded and released it as a single. Presley released it again in 1970 on his Camden '' Elvis' Christmas Album''.

Background

Around August 1965, Presley's friend and bodyguard Red West wrote the song "in about an hour, and 'sic''hour and a half". He recorded it and released it the same year under his own label for the 1965 Christmas season, with little success. The following year, he gave the song to Presley to record, as Presley had been wanting to record a Christmas song. The backing track was recorded on 1966 June 10 at RCA Studio B in Nashville, with background vocals provided by Millie Kirkham, The Jordanaires, and The Imperials Quartet.If Every Day Was Like Christmas. Discogs.
/ref>If Every Day Was Like Christmas. 45cat.
/ref> Two days later, on June 12, Presley's vocals were added. According to West, the vocals were sung and recorded in a hotel room after an enthusiastic Presley heard a copy of the just-recorded backing track on a two-track tape recorder. The song was released on November 15, 1966 as an RCA Victor 45 single, 47-8950, backed with "How Would You Like To Be" from the movie ''

It Happened at the World's Fair ''It Happened at the World's Fair'' is a 1963 American musical film starring Elvis Presley as a crop-dusting pilot. It was filmed in Seattle, Washington, site of the Century 21 Exposition. The governor of Washington at the time, Albert Rosellini, ...

''. The song was included on the 1970 RCA Camden reissue of '' Elvis' Christmas Album'' collection, which was re-released by Pickwick Records in 1975 and by RCA in 1985. The album was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2011 with sales of over 10 million copies.

Personnel

*Guitar:

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

, Scotty Moore,

Chip Young Chip Young (born Jerry Marvin Stembridge, May 19, 1938 – December 20, 2014) was an American session guitarist, and later record producer who worked primarily out of Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Chip Young was born Jerry Marvin Stembridge in ...

. *Bass:

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

. *Drums:

D. J. Fontana Dominic Joseph Fontana (March 15, 1931 – June 13, 2018) was an American musician best known as the drummer for Elvis Presley for 14 years. In 1955, he was hired to play drums for Presley, which marked the beginning of a 15-year relationshi ...

. *Drums &

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

: Buddy Harman. *Piano: David Briggs. *Organ: Henry Slaughter. *

Steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

Pete Drake Roddis Franklin "Pete" Drake (October 8, 1932 – July 29, 1988), was a Nashville-based American record producer and pedal steel guitar player. One of the most sought-after backup musicians of the 1960s, Drake played on such hits as Lynn Anderson' ...

. *Saxophone: Rufus Long. *Backing vocals: Millie Kirkham, June Page, Dolores Edgin, The Jordanaires, The Imperials

Charts

The single reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' "Best Bets For Christmas" survey in 1966, and returned to the chart in 1967, spending a total of eight weeks in the chart. In the United Kingdom, the song reached No. 9 in the

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-s ...

in December 1966.

References

{{authority control Elvis Presley songs 1966 songs Songs written by Red West American Christmas songs