Today’s Christmas song is side one, track one from Johnny Mathis’ 1958 album, “Merry Christmas” – “Winter Wonderland.” Growing up, just looking at my mom and dad’s copy of this LP meant it was Christmastime. You can put on the record, listen all the way through, and let those strings and Mathis’ silky vibrato work their magic.
Mathis’ version of “Winter Wonderland” has both the original 1930’s lyrics about Parson Brown and the later version of the lyrics, meant for children, removing the romance and changing the snowman to a “circus clown.” He also moves the intro to the middle.
Just for fun, here’s Johnny Mathis singing the same song almost 40 (!) years later in 1997.
A bootleg Christmas song for you today, one that, as far as I can tell, has never been officially released. Paul Simon sings “Silver Bells” while Steve Martin does a mock-solemn monologue about the meaning of Christmas. Billy Joel plays piano and sings harmony. It’s funny. You should listen…
There are lots of rumors about the recording, but it’s the internet, so solid facts are tough to nail down. It’s sometimes called an SNL outtake, but the three were never on the same episode. Billy Joel quotes about the recording come from an interview in a 2001 American Airlines magazine, but the original article isn’t online any more.
“One night around Christmas 20 years ago, I was doing a recording session at A&R Studios in Hell’s Kitchen. We had just finished the session, and my producer and I decided to get some food. It was fairly late at night, and we ran into Paul Simon and Steve Martin at the restaurant. We had a little bit of wine, and then we had a little more wine. Nobody was feeling any pain.”
“We got a brainstorm that we would go back to the studio and record a Christmas record. It must’ve been about midnight at this point. So we go back to the studio, and Paul Simon and I are singing in the background that Christmas carol ‘Silver Bells.’ We’re harmonizing, and Steve Martin starts into this soliloquy ‘What Christmas Means to Me,’ with these hysterical descriptions of the secretary sitting on the copying machine, all these very risqué scenarios. And Paul and I are just trying to keep it together.”
“We did this maybe in one take and we had a Christmas single. Now, it was never given to a record company, but there’s a copy of it floating around somewhere. Stuff like that happens in New York. It’s a small town.”
One story goes that (now retired) Los Angeles radio DJs Mark and Brian were the first to play a bootleg copy of “Silver Bells” on the air. Now, you can find multiple copies on YouTube and since an official release seems unlikely, that’s the best place to find it.
Today, a little Christmas music gift for me. I’ve been a fan of Nick Lowe since I found a discount cassette of Rockpile’s “Seconds of Pleasure” on sale at the University of Missouri student union. It’s a magnificent collection of rootsy power pop. From there, I moved to Nick’s 1985 solo album, “The Rose of England” and have followed him every since.
If you don’t know Nick, you might recognize his one Top 40 hit, “Cruel to be Kind,” or Elvis Costello’s cover of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.” In 2013, Nick got around to making a Christmas album, “Quality Street.” The name comes from a tin of British chocolate and sweets that’s a popular Christmas treat – a mix of different flavors in one package.
I guess Bing Crosby was the first to hit with “A Marshmallow World,” but to me, it’ll always be Dean Martin’s song. His relaxed croon obviously borrows from Bing, but Dean’s tossed-off phrasing and casual enunciation make it his own. You can find at least a dozen “live” versions out there from various variety shows of the ‘60s and ‘70s, but here’s a goodie with Frank Sinatra. They seems to have almost rehearsed.
Today’s Christmas song is not exactly undiscovered or forgotten, but doesn’t get nearly the plays it should this time of year. “Christmas All Over Again” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers is the lead track from 1992’s “A Very Special Christmas 2.” What I like about the song is that it embraces the season, but is also kinda casual about the whole thing.
This is just audio, but we’ll get to video in a bit.
John Graham is That Guy on TV – an Emmy-winning producer/writer/host and owner of Mosquito County Productions, based in Orlando, FL.
Over the years, John has produced YouTube videos with millions of views, worked with Muppets and Princesses, won two regional Emmys for travel reporting, interviewed celebs from Ariana Grande to Hillbilly Jim, and done thousands of live news broadcasts. (You know it’s me writing this, right?)
