I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm -
It's not really about Christmas, but there's plenty of winter imagery in this frosty tune, what with the snow snowing and the wind blowing, making it a holiday classic with covers besides Sinatra: Billie Holiday, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, Judy Garland, and Rod Stewart..
Whatever Happened to Christmas -
The song was written by Jimmy Webb and first appeared on the album, The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas. Jimmy Webb related the story of having dinner with Frank Sinatra to discuss the recording of an entire album of Webb songs. But Webb's father was also there, and Sinatra and the senior Webb got caught up in comparing memories from their younger days, so the discussion about the album, and indeed the album itself, never happened.
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear -
One could claim that this was the first Christmas song to be composed in the United States, and today it is considered a standard. In the mid 1850s the Americans were only beginning to celebrate the Christmas traditions of their English forebearers. The influence of works such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens were beginning to enthuse the American nation.
I'll Be Home For Christmas -
The tune was originally composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840 for the second chorus "Gott ist Licht" ("God is Light"), of the cantata Festgesang ("Festival Song"). Festgesang was written by the German composer to commemorate Johann Gutenberg and the invention of printing. Mendelssohn died in 1847 and in 1855 Dr. William Cummings, who was an enthusiast of the German composer, put the words and music together in spite of the fact that Mendelssohn had made it clear that his music was not be used for sacred purposes. Additionally, Wesley had envisaged his words being sung to the same tune as his Easter hymn, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today." However it is Mendelssohn's tune that is generally used today.
The Christmas Waltz -
This song was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne for Frank Sinatra, who recorded it in 1954 as the B-side of a new recording of White Christmas.
Acme would like to have brought you their annual presentation of the 1957 Christmas episode of The Frank Sinatra Show - Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank but it has been taken down from the intraweb (you can find it if you have a passport membership through your local PBS station, but I digress ....) So we will leave you with a little yuletide cheer from the Rat Pack -
More from those fellows in the next few days
Demand Euphoria!
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