Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Jesus Christ, traditions such as gift-giving and merrymaking, cultural figures such as Santa Claus, or other topics. Many songs simply have a winter or seasonal theme, or have been adopted into the canon for other reasons.
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades, beginning in the early 1930s. During that time, he personified the straight-shooting hero — honest, brave, and true.
Santa Claus parades, also called Christmas parades, are parades held in some countries to celebrate the official opening of the Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus who always appears in the last float. The parades usually include themed floats, dancing or marching groups and bands playing Christmas songs. They are moving pageants that typically end near the centre of a city. Often sponsored by department stores, they may reinforce the store's brand recognition during the important Christmas shopping season.
"Frosty the Snowman" is a song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante in that year. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year. Rollins and Nelson shopped the new song to Autry, who recorded "Frosty" in search of another seasonal hit. Like "Rudolph", "Frosty" was subsequently adapted to other media including a popular television special.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a 1989 American Christmas slapstick comedy film and the third installment in National Lampoon magazine's Vacation film series. Christmas Vacation was directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik, written and co-produced by John Hughes, and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Randy Quaid with supporting roles by Miriam Flynn, William Hickey, Mae Questel, Diane Ladd, John Randolph, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, Juliette Lewis, and Johnny Galecki.
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934 it became a hit; within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold. The version for Bluebird Records by George Hall and His Orchestra was very popular in 1934 and reached the various charts of the day. The song has been recorded by over 200 artists including Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, the Crystals, Neil Diamond, Fred Astaire, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller, Boxcar Willie, Bill Evans, Chris Isaak, the Temptations, The Pointer Sisters, Kylie Minogue, the Carpenters, Michael Bublé, Luis Miguel, Michael Bolton, the Jackson 5, Dolly Parton and Lady Gaga.
The Hollywood Christmas Parade is an annual parade held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It follows a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) route along Hollywood Boulevard, then back along Sunset Boulevard, featuring various celebrities.
"Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himber, it has been covered by over 200 different artists. Its lyrics are about a couple's romance during the winter season.
"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson and most famously recorded by Elvis Presley, although it was first recorded by Doye O'Dell in 1948. It is a tale of unrequited love during the holidays and is a longstanding staple of Christmas music, especially in the country genre.
Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas is the fifteenth studio album and second christmas album by American singer Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records in October, 1971. It was Presley's first collection of new Christmas recordings since Elvis' Christmas Album (1957). Two songs from the album, "Merry Christmas Baby" and "O Come All Ye Faithful", were issued as a single in November, 1971. The album topped the Christmas LP's chart that year and would have charted high on the Billboard Top LPs chart, but from 1963 to 1973, holiday albums were not allowed to chart. Though lacking the commercial appeal of Elvis' Christmas Album from 1957, it gradually became a perennial favorite. In 1976, the album was reissued in the mid-priced RCA Pure Gold series with a new catalog number (ANL1-1936). The LP was certified Gold on November 4, 1977, Platinum on December 1, 1977, 2× Platinum on May 20, 1988, and 3× Platinum on July 15, 1999, by the RIAA.
Elvis' Christmas Album is the third studio album and first Christmas album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley on RCA Victor, LOC -1035, a deluxe limited edition, released October 15, 1957, and recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It has been reissued in numerous different formats since its first release. It spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was the first of two Christmas-themed albums Presley would record, the other being Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, released in 1971. The publication Music Vendor listed Elvis' Christmas Album on their singles charts for two weeks in December 1957 – January 1958, with a peak position of No. 49.
Merry Christmas is a Christmas-themed compilation album by Bing Crosby that was released in 1945 on Decca Records. It has remained in print through the vinyl, CD, and downloadable file eras, currently as the disc and digital album White Christmas on MCA Records, a part of the Universal Music Group, and currently on vinyl as Merry Christmas on Geffen Records. It includes Crosby's signature song "White Christmas", the best-selling single of all time with estimated sales of over 50 million copies worldwide. The album was certified 4× Platinum by RIAA for selling over 4 million copies in United States. The original 1945 release and subsequent re-releases and re-packages spent a total of 39 weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard pop albums chart.
Christmas with The Chipmunks is the name given to four different Christmas music albums by Alvin and the Chipmunks. These albums were released individually in 1962, 1963, 2007 and 2008.
Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits is a set of two Christmas-themed compilation albums released by Rhino Records in 1989, each featuring ten popular Christmas recordings from 1935 to 1983, many of which charted on the Billboard record charts. Both volumes were certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S., with the second volume being certified Platinum.
Elvis Christmas is a CD collection featuring all of the tracks from Elvis Presley's RCA Victor LPs, Elvis' Christmas Album and Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas. The RIAA awarded it a Gold Record on 15 September 2011.
"Santa Claus Is Back in Town" is a Christmas song written in 1957 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and first recorded that year by Elvis Presley as the opening track on Elvis' Christmas Album, the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of all time in the United States. The song has become a rock and roll Christmas standard.
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry's recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949.
The singles discography of Elvis Presley began in 1954 with the release of his first commercial single, "That's All Right". Following his regional success with Sun Records, Presley was signed to RCA Victor on November 20, 1955. Presley's first single with RCA, "Heartbreak Hotel", was a worldwide hit, reaching the No. 1 position in four countries and the top 10 in many other countries. Other hit singles from the 1950s include "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You", "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", "Too Much", "All Shook Up", "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear", "Jailhouse Rock", "Don't", "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck", "Hard Headed Woman", "One Night", "(Now & Then There's) A Fool Such as I", and "A Big Hunk o' Love". On March 24, 1958, Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, and was stationed in Germany. He left active duty on March 5, 1960.
Billboard magazine only charted Christmas singles and albums along with the other popular non-holiday records until the 1958 holiday season when they published their first section that surveys only Christmas music.
