Sunday, December 22, 2024 at 5:38 AM
Ad

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

CELEBRATING THE ARTS

Judy Garland’s Christmas reminder may provide a needed respite — Garland and Sinatra’s “Meet Me in St. Louis” movie premiere in 1944, adapted for Broadway production, 1989.

Seems like a good time to share suggestions for your holiday listening pleasure. So, I conferred with my husband who some would say has an (unhealthy) obsession with musical recordings. Off the top of his head, these were his contemporary favorites.

Having gladly spent all of my formative years in New Orleans, Christmas was not Christmas until one of the very early AM Rock radio stations, WTIX, “the mighty 690,” began playing Charles Brown’s, “Bells Will Be Ringing.” Charles should be loved and treasured by Texans because that old boy was born and raised in Texas City.

Hardly mainstream in 1970, Jose Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad, a composition largely ignored until 1988, has now actually become a Christmas standard. Imagine, if you will, a kid born in Puerto Rico with congenital glaucoma, living in abject poverty, teaching himself several musical instruments.

He began his career singing at open microphones in Greenwich Village. To have one of the most recognized pop Christmas songs is a Christmas miracle, in and of itself.

Mariah Carey wrote “All I Want for Christmas is You” over 25 years ago, as a tribute to ‘40s and ‘50s pop sound. And, like Feliciano’s holiday tune, it took several years for it to catch on as a mainstream Christmas standard, despite receiving critical acclaim. In fact, it seems the 2003 film, Love Actually, a heart-warming holiday movie, was what the song needed to launch it into a Christmas music legend.

Our post-modern, steroid-fueled, politically correct generation worked overtime to unfairly find fault with Frank and Lynn Loesser’s 1944 gem, Baby, It’s Cold Outside. The tune was created in the spur of the moment as Frank and Lynn were wishing their guests safe travel at the end of their house-warming party.

The tune was well-received and propelled the couple permanently into the Big Apple elite party scene. The two did not release the song until 1949 and it has since made its mark as a lovely winter holiday tune.

Our new favorite rendition is performed by Amy Grant and husband, Vince Gill, reminiscent of Frank and Lynn’s.

And what holiday list would be complete without a full-blown, nothing but Texas, Christmas song? Written by Texas’ own Abilene born and raised Carol Hall’s “Hard Candy Christmas, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” 1978, Broadway’s original cast featuring Pamela Blair.

Music possesses the unique ability to touch one’s heart and soul. Traditional tunes, whether orchestral arrangements or jazzy popular tunes, often trigger warm and soothing feelings and happy memories reaching back to past holiday celebrations.

Music has powerful benefits. Dedicate some time to simply sit and flood your senses with music ... and have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and visit our website often: www.hccarts.org; send inquiries to president@hccarts. org. HCCArts develops and enriches an environment that supports and promotes awareness, appreciation, education and access to all the arts.


Share
Rate

Comment

Comments

Boerne Star

Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad