Favorite Christmas/Holiday Song?

[WT Door]

It’s the season. My parents had Bing Crosby’s White Christmas album which we’d load up on our record player console every year. I liked listening to Mele Kalikimaka. Today would have been Dad’s birthday, his favorite was, I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Happy Birthday, Pops!

Some of my favorites are:

Jingle Bells? by Barbara Streisand

I Saw Three Ships by Nat King Cole

Silent Night by Mahalia Jackson

What are yours?

 

[A1Janitor]

Little Drummer Boy - I always listen to the various artists that do it.

 

[NJROTC-CC]

Mele Kalikimaka

 

[justdoit19]

Another vote for Little Drummer Boy. I even get choked up.

 

[SOG-SA]

Christmas Vacation - Mavis Staples

I play that, on loop, for hours (when nobody else is home)

 

[nature boy]

Silent Night by the Temptations is number 1 for me:

 

[THParent]

The best.

 

[WT Door]

The best.

It just wouldn't be Christmas without Nat.

 

[nature boy]

Getting into the spirit now!

Stevie Wonder- Someday at Christmas
Donny Hathaway- This Christmas
The Drifters- I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
Otis Redding- Merry Christmas Baby
Clarence Carter- Back Door Santa

 

[Ddm66]

Little drummer boy/ Bing Crosby & David Bowie.

Baby it’s cold outside / Elf.

Christmas Wrapping / The Waitresses.

O Holy Night / Nat King Cole

 

[StPaulDad]

I love Christmas albums.

Classics:
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Johnny Mathis - The Christmas Music of Johnny Mathis
Bing Crosby - Merry Christmas
Ray Charles - The Spirit of Christmas
Christmas With Louis Armstrong and Friends
Nat King Cole Christmas Album
Oscar Peterson - An Oscar Peterson Christmas

Newer:
Brian Setzer Orchestra - Boogie Woogie Christmas
Christmas with Harry Connick
Garth Brooks - Beyond the Season
Butch Thompson - Yulestride
George Winston - December
Reverend Horton Heat - We Three Kings

plus a host of collections from various places (Alligator Records, Disney TV, Putumayo Records from New Orleans, various Motown labels, lots of older Rat Pack, new stuff culled from Youtube videos, etc.)

 

[Don't Give Up the Ship]

 

[kinnem]

There are so many but only if sung by the artist that "owns" that tune. My fave has to be "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby. Then there are those sung by Nat King Cole, Perry Cuomo, Johnny Mathis, Dean Martin, etc. Is my age showing?

 

[Capt MJ]

Luciano Pavarotti, “O Holy Night.”

He and Placido Domingo also did a version together. That man’s voice was one for the ages.

Pentatonix, “Mary, Did You Know”

Fun Holiday Song: Grinch song!

We DVR in the cloud all those holiday musical shows - Mormon Tabernacle Choir, St. Olaf’s, Dolly Parton’s recent holiday special, Harry Connick, Jr.,, amchael Bublé, etc., and binge on them starting after Christmas Eve dinner and all the next day.

 

[StPaulDad]

Oh this is songs, my bad:
Winter Wonderland - Johnny Mathis
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bruce Springsteen (live)
Someday at Christmas - Stevie Wonder
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey (sorry not sorry, she crushes it)
Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Ray Charles
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Jackson 5
Silent Night - Willie Nelson
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) - The Carpenters
All Alone on Christmas - Darlene Love
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas - Boris Karloff
Twelve Days of Christmas - Straight No Chaser (Youtube)
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) - Tony Bennett
Happy Christmas - John Lennon
Carol of the Bells - just about anyone, love that song

 

[VelveteenR]

I love Bing and Nat, too, but I really enjoy "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." If no one's around, I'll dance to it.

 

[DTT!FSA!]

Only ones that haven't been mentioned yet...

Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run
Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Eagles - Please Come Home for Christmas
Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby
Greg Lake - I Believe in Father Christmas
The Kinks - Father Christmas
Tom Petty - Christmas All Over Again

(My pop/rock tendencies are showing...)

 

[The_Grizzly]

None

 

[Infantry_Dad]

 

[MidCakePa]

I have many favorites. “Sleigh Ride,” which was made famous by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, has a special place in my heart — not from a listener’s standpoint but from a musician’s standpoint.

I was a percussionist, so in high-school band, we used to argue over who would get to play the sleigh bells (continuous shaking), the wood block (for horses’ hooves) and the “whip” (using two large, thin pieces of plastic with a hinge). My preference was the whip. But heaven help you if your timing was off. The whip sound only came a few times, but if you were off, you were OFF. And the whole audience would know it.