Christmas Music

Christmas music is one of the most cherished elements of the season. Name any other day or season on the calendar that celebrates with music. Nothing matches Christmas in its celebration through song. Those traditions date back hundreds of years long before the advent of modern recording technology. Like all things associated with the season Christmas music dovetails with history and tradition that makes celebrating Christmas a rich and satisfying part of our lives. We approach holiday music in two ways here at My Merry Christmas: in the features of this section and in the Merry Podcast — where Christmas music isn’t just explained it is shared. And because it continually evolves and expands we also explore new releases coming out every holiday season.

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When Elvis Butchered White Christmas

White Christmas remains, more nearly 75 years since it was written, the most popular Christmas single of all time. Bing Crosby immortalized it with two recordings and a film. And an entire generation embraced it as not only a Christmas song…
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Danny Gokey Previews Christmas Album for Free

Danny Gokey's new Christmas album becomes available later this week on October 16th. But you can hear it now for free in it's entirety at this link. It is a good listen and will no doubt see some success this holiday season. Recently nominated…

Gardiner Sisters Sing What Child is This

Nothing beats harmonies among siblings. These sisters don't push this simple arrangement of What Child is This -- and in it's purity it is nice to listen to. Well done.
White Christmas
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The Legendary Bing Crosby

He was born the middle of seven children in the great American northwest. His father was an English-American bookkeeper and his mother a second-generation Irish American, making young Harry about as American as apple pie. The rest of his story…
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Mint Condition Releasing Christmas CD

Iconic R&B band Mint Condition to release first ever Christmas album, "Healing Season" this month. The holiday project is a creative blend of classics and original songs. Heralded as one of the last great R&B bands, the 5-member group (Stokley…
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The History of Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Eddie Cantor, a comedian from the 1930s was given a new Christmas song to sing for his radio audience in 1934. Targeted at kids, the songwriters were frustrated at their inability to get it recorded and sold. Record labels thought the appeal…
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LeAnn Rimes Previews Christmas Album

LeAnn Rimes released a preview today from her upcoming Christmas album titled Today is Christmas. The track is a cover of Kenny Loggins' Celebrate Me Home, a duet Rimes performs with Gavin DeGraw. Take a listen: The album drops on October…
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A Masterful Telling of Luke 2

There is not a Christmas lover anywhere who does not know well the text of the Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2, from the New Testament. But never have you heard it with such precise storytelling ability as we see in this video of John Rhys-Davies…
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The Power of Voice

Ok, so this is yet another Christmas version of Hallelujah -- trust me, it'll be worth it. This is all without instruments and all men -- so be prepared for a powerful performance that will send chills down your spine. They are called Vocal…
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Band of Merry Makers to Release Another Christmas Album

Sony Music Masterworks imprint Portrait Records signs the holiday supergroup – Band of Merrymakers. Band of Merrymakers, a rotating group of travelling troubadours, will release their debut album "Welcome To Our Christmas Party" on October…
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Legacy Brings Christmas Hits of the 1980s

Legacy Recordings has announced their lineup of re-releases of classic Christmas recordings including a compilation of classic hits of the 1980s titled Classic Christmas '80s Album, an all-star anthology of seasonal songs from the worlds of…
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Mary Did You Know by Pentatonix

Pentatonix is hard to miss these days. They are everywhere. But we've been featuring them here on MMC for some time. By popular request we post up again one of their big hits -- Mary Did You Know? -- from their Christmas album of 2014 titled…
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Longfellow’s Christmas

This stirring combination of Christmas story telling, outstanding music and a true story is an unbeatable way to get in the Christmas Spirit. The late Edward Herrmann tells the tragic true tale of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the inspiration…
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Peter Hollens Sings The Christmas Song

When Bob Wells and Mel Torme wrote The Christmas Song during the golden years of Christmas songs (1944) they had no idea they were penning a tune that would recorded by literally hundreds of artists. It is a song that, like White Christmas,…
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The History of White Christmas

He knew the song was good. Using just 54 words and 67 notes Irving Berlin composed White Christmas over the holiday season of 1940. He liked it so much he told a secretary "I've just written a new song. Not only is the best song I've ever written,…