perry como no place like home for holiday

Brian W. wrote:

The 1954 version of "There's No Place
Like Home for the Holidays" is the hit version, because
it's the only version that charted. It's easy to
recognize as it's all up-tempo and starts with a big
brass flourish. The 1959 version
starts out as a slow ballad.

The hit version of "The Little Drummer Boy" is the 1959
version. It's on the "Little Drummer Boy" album from
Casablanca/Polygram. I also have it on North Star/Sony
"Crooner's Christmas."

The hit original hit version of "The Christmas Song" is
the 1946 version and it hasn't been on very many CDs. It
sounds pretty good on the 1999 Capitol remaster of his
"The Christmas Song" CD (it's a bonus track there). I
think that
uses the same master as the version on "The Classic
Singles" box. The 1953 re-recording is seldom heard these
days, but it's all that was heard on jukeboxes for many,
many years, as from 1953 on it was the only version
available on
45. The 1961 stereo re-recording, done for "The Nat King
Cole Story" box set, which featured stereo re-recordings
of all his hits, has now become the classic version.

The original hit version of Gene Autry's "Frosty the
Snowman" is rare on CD. It's a different take than what
is usually reissued. I've been aware of its existence
for years, but I always thought that the common version
was the hit
and this "different" version was an alternate take. Nope!
It's the other way around.

It's available on CD on Time-Life's "Your Hit Parade -
Christmas Memories" and GSC-Sony's 4-disc "Christmas
Songs to Remember." Instantly recognizable by the lyrical
difference: the 45 version has "and his eyes made out of
coal." The
now-standard alternate take has "and TWO eyes made out of
coal." I actually think the common take is better, but I
checked a vintage 78 on Archive.org as well as a 45 dub
from the 78Prof on YouTube, and the "his eyes" take
appears to
be the original hit version. I don't think it's ever been
issued on any Gene Autry CD, only on a handful of V/A
compilations.

Thank you for the detailed background on these classics!
This helps me ensure I have the hit versions in my
library.

John Gallagher
Erie, PA
Celebrating 28 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ!

thecdguy wrote:

Thank you very much for all this
information, Brian. Do you know if the 1953 re-recording of
"The Christmas Song" has ever been on CD?

I have it on the CD "Cole, Christmas and Kids," but the
database here is showing it's available on at least 10
different CDs.