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1. “White Christmas” - While there are more than five Christmas carols written by Jewish songwriters, I thought I’d just cover my favorites, starting with not only the most famous Christmas song written in modern times, but according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the best-selling single of all-time.
Written by: Irving Berlin in 1940
Actually written by: Israel Isidore Baline (Irving’s real name)
Written while: seated poolside at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona (talk about your White Christmas!)
Made famous by: Bing Crosby in the movie Holiday Inn
Cool Irving Berlin fact: Refusing to make money off his deep-seated patriotism, Berlin donated all the royalties from “God Bless America” (just another little ditty he penned!) to the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls
2. “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Written by: Johnny Marks in 1949
Based on: a poem/story penned by Marks’ brother-in-law, who invented Rudolph
Made famous by: Gene Autry, whose recording sold over 2 million copies in the first year alone
Famous Rudolph mondegreen: “Olive, the other reindeer” (see my post on mondegreens if you don’t know what they are)
Cool Johnny Marks fact: He is the great-uncle of economist Steven Levitt, co-author of one of my favorite books of all time, Freakonomics
3. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
Written by: composer Jule Styne in 1945 with lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Actually written by: Julius Kerwin Stein and Samuel Cohen (real names)
Made Famous by: Vaughn Monroe, hitting #1 on Billboard in ’46
Curious “Let it Snow” fact: the lyric never once mentions Christmas
Cool Jule Styne fact: he also wrote the music for the musicals Gypsy and Funny Girl
4. “Silver Bells”
Written by: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans in 1951
Actually written by: Jacob Harold Levison and Raymond Bernard Evans (real names)
Introduced by: Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the movie The Lemon Drop Kid
Made Famous by: Bing Crosby and Carol Richards
Cool “Silver Bells” fact: the song was inspired by the silver bells of the Salvation Army bell ringers, thus making it one of the few Christmas carols about the city, as opposed to the usual rural countryside setting
5. “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”
Written by: Albert Hague in 1966 (with words/lyrics by Dr. Seuss, of course)
Actually written by: Albert Marcuse, who was born in Berlin, but his family raised him Lutheran with the last name Hague in order to avoid the raging anti-Semitism in the 1920/30s (He got out of Europe just in time, landing in America in 1939)
Made Famous by: Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft, who made a name for himself singing and doing voice-overs for Disney
Curious Albert Hague fact: He was also an actor! You can see him in both the movie and TV series, Fame, playing the role of Shorofsky
Jeez, you forgot ‘The Christmas Song’ by Mel Torme!
posted by Terry Smith on 12-17-2007 at 4:37 am
and of course, anything ever written by Jesus… :-)
posted by Avec Frites on 12-17-2007 at 7:26 am
Irving Berlin also wrote one of the best known EASTER songs…Easter Parade.
posted by Beth on 12-17-2007 at 1:27 pm
If Let it Snow doesn’t ever mention Christmas, how is it a Christmas song?
posted by Steven on 12-17-2007 at 1:51 pm
Any Southpark fan should recognize “Swiss Colony Beeflog” sung by Eric Cartman, written by the 2 Jewish creators of the show.
posted by immature@28 on 12-17-2007 at 2:30 pm
Steve: Also, Why is “My Favorite Things” considered a Christmas song too?
posted by Mike on 12-17-2007 at 4:42 pm
Actually, immature@28, I believe only Matt Stone is Jewish.
posted by RedOctober on 12-17-2007 at 4:47 pm
Adolphe Adam, the man who wrote the music to “O Holy Night,” was Jewish.
posted by Janel on 12-17-2007 at 8:37 pm
Another Rudolf mondegreen, my daughter’s…….”Then one froggy Christmas Eve…..”
posted by AbbyJoy on 12-17-2007 at 10:50 pm
And hello! O Holy Night!
posted by Randolph on 12-18-2007 at 1:50 am
immature@28, trey parker is mormon, not jewish….
posted by Sam on 12-18-2007 at 4:41 am
They guy who sang the Grinch song also did Tony the Tiger. They’re grrrrrrreat!
posted by Brian on 12-19-2007 at 6:27 pm
“But do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all?”
No I forgot the MOST FAMOUS reindeer and remembered the other 8 shmoes, Johnny Marks is an idiot.
posted by Frank on 12-21-2007 at 11:58 am
Didnt that fat bastard Meatloaf, write “here comes Santa Clause”?
posted by nana on 12-21-2007 at 1:44 pm
My niece used to sing ‘So bring me some figgy pudding’ as ‘So bring me some freaking pudding’
posted by Dino on 12-24-2007 at 11:51 am
YO FRANK, trey parker was raised catholic but is agnostic. he satirized mormonism as a ridiculous religion. matt stone is an non-observant jew. get your facts straight.
posted by to SAM on 12-28-2007 at 3:54 pm
What a bunch of meshugenahs!
posted by jfthebear on 1-1-2008 at 4:09 am
I had a teacher who could sing the Grinch Song almost exactly like that. He didn’t sing it a lot though and got sick of us asking him to.
posted by Katie on 1-3-2008 at 9:19 pm
Oy!
Ya gafundeles, these songs are about snow and bells, noses. Havana Gila (monster) was written by Fr. Frank Crespo and he was a goyem. So there
posted by Rabbi Schvenkel on 4-18-2008 at 5:55 am
Dude,
Cute as the premise is, these incredibly talented children of Moses are singing about snow, noses, bells. Oh and Mel is singing about nuts.
posted by Pete Dooley on 4-18-2008 at 7:26 am