Andy Williams~ "Silent Night"

Published on Sep 30, 2012

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Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American popular music singer. He recorded seventeen Gold-^[1] and three Platinum-certified^[2] albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials. Most recently, he performed at his Moon River Theatre^[3] in Branson, Missouri, which was named after the Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini song "Moon River", with which he is closely identified.

Andy Williams
Andy Williams in 1969
Background information
Birth name	Howard Andrew Williams
Born	December 3, 1927 Wall Lake, Iowa, U.S.
Died	September 25, 2012 (aged 84) Branson, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Traditional pop, easy listening, country
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actor, record producer
Years active	1938–2012
Labels	Sony BMG/Columbia, Cadence
Website	AndyWilliams.com

Early life and career

Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa,^[4] the son of Jay Emerson and Florence (née Finley) Williams. Williams attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, but finished high school at University High School in West Los Angeles as a result of his family's move to California. He had three older brothers — Bob, Don, and Dick.

Williams' first performance was in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian church.^[4] He and his brothers formed the Williams Brothers quartet^[4] in late 1938, and they performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1943, The Williams Brothers sang with Bing Crosby on the hit record "Swinging on a Star" (1944).

They appeared in four musical films: Janie (1944), Kansas City Kitty (1944), Something in the Wind (1947) and Ladies' Man (1947).

The Williams Brothers were signed by MGM to appear in Anchors Aweigh (1945) and Ziegfeld Follies(1945) but before they went before the cameras, the oldest brother Bob was drafted into military service and the groups's contract was canceled. Kay Thompson, a former radio star who was now head of the vocal department at MGM, had a nose for talent and she hired the remaining three Williams Brothers to sing in her large choir on many soundtracks for such MGM films as The Harvey Girls (1946).

 When Bob was done with his military service, Kay hired all four of them to sing on the soundtrack to Good News (1947).

By then, Kay Thompson was tired of working behind the scenes at MGM so, with the four Williams boys as her backup singers and dancers, she formed a nightclub act called Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. They made their debut in Las Vegas in 1947 and became an overnight sensation. Within a year, they were the highest paid nightclub act in the world, breaking records wherever they appeared.

Andy Williams revealed in his memoir Moon River and Me that he and Kay became romantically involved while on tour, despite the age difference (he was 19 and she was 38). The act broke up in 1949 but reunited for another hugely successful tour from the fall of 1951 through the summer of 1953. After that the four brothers went their separate ways. A complete itinerary of both tours is listed on the Kay Thompson biography website [2].

Andy and Kay, however, remained very close, both personally and professionally. She mentored his emergence as a solo singing star. She coached him, wrote his arrangements, and composed many songs that he recorded (including his 1958 Top 20 hit "Promise Me, Love" and, later, "Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells" on his 1964 No. 1 The Andy Williams Christmas Album).

Using her contacts in the business, Kay helped Andy land his breakthrough television gig as a featured singer for two-and-a-half years on The Tonight Show starring Steve Allen (it helped that the producer of the series Bill Harbach was Kay's former aide de camp). Kay also got Andy his breakthrough recording contract with Cadence Records (the label's owner Archie Bleyer had gotten early career breaks because of Kay and he owed her a favor).

 Meanwhile, Andy sang backup on many of Kay's recordings through the 1950s, including her Top 40 hit Eloise based on her bestselling book about the mischievous little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

Kay also served as a creative consultant and vocal arranger on Andy's three summer replacement network television series in 1957, 1958, and 1959. In the summer of 1961, Kay traveled with Andy and coached him  throughout his starring role in a summer stock tour of the musical Pal Joey. Their personal and professional relationship finally ended in 1962 when Andy met and married Claudine Longet and Kay moved to Rome.

 Solo career

Williams at the Moon River Theater in Branson, 2006

Williams' solo career began in 1953.^[4] He recorded six songs for RCA Victor's label "X", but none of them were popular hits.^[5]

After finally landing a spot as a regular on Tonight Starring Steve Allen in 1954,^[6] Williams was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records, a small label in New York run by conductor Archie Bleyer. His third single, "Canadian Sunset" reached No. 7 in the Top Ten in August 1956, and was soon followed by his only Billboard No. 1 hit – in February 1957 – "Butterfly" – a cover of a Charlie Gracie record. "Butterfly" also reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1957, where it spent two weeks.

More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" (U.S. #11), "Are You Sincere" (U.S. #3 in February 1958), "The Village of St. Bernadette" (U.S. #7 in December 1959), "Lonely Street" (U.S. #5 in September 1959), and "I Like Your Kind Of Love" with Peggy Powers (U.S. #8 in May 1957) before Williams moved to Columbia Records in 1961, having moved from New York to Los Angeles and gaining another hit with "Can't Get Used to Losing You" (U.S. #2).

 In terms of success on the singles charts, the Cadence era was Williams' peak although songs he introduced on Columbia became much bigger standards. The two top-ten hits from the Cadence era, "Butterfly" and "I Like Your Kind of Love", both sung in a style similar to Elvis Presley, were apparently believed not to suit Williams' later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits of the 1960s. Some of William's recordings sounded like multitracking. He admitted that he had occasionally asked one of his brothers to sing with him to save studio time.^{[citation needed]}

In 1964, Williams ultimately became the owner of the Cadence master tapes, which he occasionally licensed to Columbia, including not only his own recordings, but also those of his fellow Cadence-era labelmates: The Everly Brothers, Lenny Welch, The Chordettes, and Johnny Tillotson.

In 1968, although he was still under contract with Columbia for his own recordings, Williams formed a separate company called Barnaby Records to handle not only reissuing of the Cadence material, especially that of the Everly Brothers (one of the first Barnaby LPs was a double LP set of the brothers long out of print Cadence hits) but also new artists. Barnaby also had several Top 40 hits in the 1970s with novelty artist Ray Stevens (who had done a summer replacement show for Williams in 1970), including number-one hits such as "Everything Is Beautiful" in 1970 and "The Streak" in 1974.

Also in 1970, Barnaby signed and released the first album by an unknown singer-songwriter named Jimmy Buffett (Jimmy Buffett Down to Earth) produced by Travis Turk. Columbia was initially the distributor for Barnaby, but later distribution was handled first by MGM Records and then General Recorded Tape. Once Barnaby ceased operating as a working record company at the end of the 1970s, Williams licensed the old Cadence material to various other labels (such as Varese & Rhino in the U.S.) after 1980.

During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and was signed to what was at that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley.

By 1973 he had earned as many as 18 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. These recordings, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening singers of that era. In the UK, Williams continued to reach high chart status until 1978. The albums Can't Help Falling In Love (1970), Andy Williams Show (1970) Home Lovin Man ( No. 1 1971), Solitaire (1973), The Way We Were (1974) and Reflections (1978) all reached the Top 10.

Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's song "Moon River" from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's at the 1962 Oscar Awards. The song won the Oscar and quickly became Williams' theme song; however, because it was never released as a single, "Moon River" was never actually a chart hit for Williams.^[7] The next year Williams sang "Days of Wine and Roses" which was written by Mancini and Mercer (this song also won). Two years later, he sang Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.

On August 5, 1966, the 14-story, 700-room Caesars Palace casino and nightclub opened in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the stage production of "Rome Swings", in which Williams starred. He performed live to a sold-out crowd in the Circus Maximus showroom. He headlined for Caesars for the next twenty years.
In 1968, Columbia released a 45-rpm record of two songs Williams sang at the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy, his close friend: "Ave Maria" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". These were never released on a long-playing record.

Williams also competed in the teenage-oriented singles market and had several charting hits including "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "Happy Heart", and "Where Do I Begin", the theme song from the 1970 blockbuster film, Love Story. In addition, Williams hit the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart with "Almost There" (1965), "Can't Help Falling In Love" (1970), "Home Lovin' Man" (1970) and "Solitaire" (1973).
Both Williams and Petula Clark recorded "Happy Heart" around the same time, just prior to his guest appearance on her second NBC-TV special. Unaware that she was releasing the song as a single, he asked to perform it on the show. The exposure ultimately led to his having the bigger hit with the song. The song "Happy Heart" is played during the final scene, and throughout the end credits, of the Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave.

Building on his experience with Allen and some short-term variety shows in the 1950s, he became the star of his own weekly television variety show in 1962. This series, The Andy Williams Show, won three Emmy Awards for outstanding variety program. Among his series regulars were the Osmond Brothers. He gave up the variety show in 1971 while it was still popular and reduced his show to three specials per year. His Christmas specials, which appeared regularly until 1974 and intermittently from 1982 into the 1990s, were among the most popular of the genre.^[8]

Williams recorded eight Christmas albums over the years and was known as "Mr. Christmas",^[8] due to his perennial Christmas specials and the success of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", which appears on all of his Christmas albums.
Williams hosted the most Grammy telecasts, from the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971 through to the 19th awards in 1977, seven consecutive shows. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976–1977.

In the early 1970s, when the Nixon Administration attempted to deport John Lennon, Williams was an outspoken defender of the former Beatle's right to stay in the United States.
A caricature of Williams is included in the montage of caricatures displayed on the cover of Ringo Starr's 1973 album, Ringo.

Williams also sang the national anthem at Super Bowl VII in 1973 with Little Angels of Holy Angels Church in Chicago, Illinois.

Williams continued to perform live into his 80s. It was this that kept him vital, he said during a 2007 tour of the UK.^[9]

Source: Wikipedia

^TTFN 

Merry Christmas

When you get to know Christ Our Lord Jesus!
Everyday is a Holy Day!

See You Soon! 
Live Life and do so more Abundantly! 

^{Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man}

Ukrainian Bell Carol~ "Carol of the Bells"

Carol of the Bells - Ukrainian Bell Carol 

 Uploaded on Jan 28, 2010

"Carol of the Bells" (also known as the "Ukrainian Bell Carol") is a choral miniature work originally composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych. Throughout the composition, Leontovych used a four note motif as an ostinato which was taken from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year's chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk" [the Generous One]

One Must Remember Not all Pagans were worshipers of the Devil or Satan per say they were supposedly Unaware of GOD as their Father.  Are as Many of us So Called "Christians of today" are today! We Know not OUR Father and have forsaken-ed HIS Only Begotten  Son. Do You Know Who God is and do you Know the difference between GOD and the God of this Our world our Earth?

 

Carol of the Bells - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Uploaded on Dec 7, 2010

Want more?? http://www.lds-videos.org/CHRISTmas.shtml

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir~ "Carol of the Bells"

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^TTFN 

Happy Holidays 

When you Know Christ Our Lord Jesus! Everyday is a Holy Day!

See You Soon! Live Life and do so more Abundantly! 

^{Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man}

Eurythmics~ Walking In a Winter Wonderland"

Uploaded on Dec 23, 2009

 volvo24000

Walking in a Winter Wonderland -Eurythmics- with Lyrics

Eurythmics were a British music duo consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, now disbanded but known to reunite from time to time. Stewart and Lennox were both previously in the bands The Catch and The Tourists.

Their musical style ranged from new wave and synthpop to pop rock and soft rock. Eurythmics originally came together in 1980 and disbanded in 1990. They reunited in 1999 and split again in 2005. The duo released their first album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little fanfare, but went on to achieve global success with their second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in 1983.

The title track was a worldwide hit, topping the chart in various countries including the US.
Eurythmics went on to release a string of hit singles and albums before they split in 1990.

By this time, Stewart had already embarked on a parallel music career and was also a sought-after record producer, while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva.

After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reformed in the late 1990s to record their ninth album, Peace which was released in late 1999.

They reunited again in 2005 to release the single "I've Got a Life", as part of a new Eurythmics compilation album, Ultimate Collection. The duo have won a number of awards throughout their history, including an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1984, the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1987, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999, and in 2005, were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. The Eurythmics have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide.^[1]

Eurythmics
Eurythmics at Rock am Ring in Nürburgring, Germany, 1987.
Background information
Origin	Sunderland (England) and Aberdeen (Scotland)
Genres	Synthpop Dance-rock New Wave Pop rock
Years active	1980–1990, 1999–2005
Labels	RCA, Arista
Associated acts	The Catch, The Tourists, SuperHeavy
Website	http://www.eurythmics.com/
Past members
Annie Lennox David A. Stewart

History

1976–1982: Formation and In the Garden

Lennox and Stewart met in 1975 in a restaurant in London, where Lennox worked at that time.^[2] They first played together in 1976 in the punk rock band The Catch. After releasing one single as The Catch in 1977, the band evolved into The Tourists. Stewart and Lennox were also romantically involved. The Tourists achieved modest commercial success, but the experience was reportedly an unhappy one.

 Personal and musical tensions existed within the group, whose main songwriter was Peet Coombes, and legal wranglings happened with the band's management, publishers and record labels. Lennox and Stewart felt the fixed band line-up was an inadequate vehicle to explore their experimental creative leanings and decided their next project should be much more flexible and free from artistic compromise.

They were interested in creating pop music, but wanted freedom to experiment with electronics and the av-ant-garde. Calling themselves Eurythmics (after the pedagogical exercise system that Lennox had encountered as a child), they decided to keep themselves as the only permanent members and songwriters, and involve others in the collaboration "on the basis of mutual compatibility and availability."

The duo signed to RCA Records. At this time, Lennox and Stewart also decided to discontinue their romantic relationship. During the period that Lennox and Stewart were in The Tourists, and later as Eurythmics, they were managed by Kenny Smith and Sandra Turnbull of Hyper Kinetics Ltd.

They recorded their first album in Cologne with Conny Plank (who had produced the later Tourists sessions). This resulted in the album In the Garden, released in October 1981. The album mixed psychedelic, krautrock and electropop influences, and featured contributions from Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit (of Can), drummer Clem Burke (of Blondie), Robert Görl (of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft), and flautist Tim Wheater.

A couple of the songs were co-written by guitarist Roger Pomphrey (now a TV director). The album received an indifferent critical reception and was not a commercial success (though the debut single "Never Gonna Cry Again" made the UK charts at No. 63).^[3] Lennox and Stewart then activated their new Eurythmics mode of operation by touring the record as a duo, accompanied by backing tracks and electronics, carted around the country themselves in a horse-box.

During 1982 the duo retreated to Chalk Farm in London, and used a bank loan to establish a small 8-track studio above a picture framing factory, giving them freedom to record without having to pay expensive studio fees.

They began to employ much more electronics in their music, collaborating with Raynard Faulkner and Adam Williams, recording many tracks in the studio and playing live using various line-up permutations. However, the three new singles they released that year ("This Is the House", "The Walk" and "Love Is a Stranger") all performed badly on initial release in the UK.

Although their mode of operation had given them the creative freedom they desired, commercial success was still eluding them, and the responsibility of running so many of their affairs personally (down to transporting their own stage equipment) took its toll on both of them. Lennox apparently suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period,^[4] while Stewart was hospitalized with a collapsed lung.^[5]

1983–1984: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Touch

Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough came with their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in January 1983.

The successful title track featured a dark and powerful sequenced synth bass line and a dramatic video that introduced the now orange crew-cut Lennox to audiences. The song reached no.2 on the UK Singles Chart,^[3] becoming one of the year's biggest sellers, and later topped the US charts.

The band's fortunes changed immensely from this moment on, and Lennox quickly became a pop icon, gracing the covers of numerous magazines including Rolling Stone. Their previous single, "Love Is a Stranger", was also re-released and became another chart success.

The video for the song saw Lennox in many different character guises, a concept she would employ in various subsequent videos. The album's working title was Invisible Hands (as was a track left off the album), inspiring the name of UK independent company Invisible Hands Music - known for releasing music by Hugh Cornwell, Mick Karn and Hazel O'Connor. The album also featured a cover of the 1968 Sam & Dave hit "Wrap It Up", performed as a duet between Lennox and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti.

The duo quickly recorded a follow-up album, Touch, which was released in November 1983. It became the duo's first no.1 album in the UK, and also spawned three major hit singles.

 "Who's That Girl?" was a top 3 hit in the UK,^[3] the video depicting Lennox as both a blonde chanteuse and as a gender-bending Elvis Presley clone. It also featured cameo appearances by Hazel O'Connor, Bananarama (including Stewart's future wife, Siobhan Fahey), Kate Garner of Haysi Fantayzee, Thereza Bazar of Dollar, Jay Aston and Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz, Kiki Dee, Jacquie O'Sullivan and the gender-bending pop singer Marilyn, who would go on to musical success of his own that same year.

The upbeat, calypso-flavoured "Right by Your Side" showed a different side of Eurythmics altogether and also made the Top 10, and "Here Comes the Rain Again" (number eight in the UK,^[3] number four in the U.S.) was an orchestral/synth ballad (with orchestrations by Michael Kamen).

In 1984 RCA released Touch Dance, a mini-album of remixes of four of the tracks from Touch, aimed at the club market. The remixes were by prominent New York producers Francois Kevorkian and John "Jellybean" Benitez.

Also released in 1984 was Eurythmics' soundtrack album 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother). Virgin Films had contracted the band to provide a soundtrack for Michael Radford's modern film adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. However, Radford later said that the music had been "foisted" on his film against his wishes, and that Virgin had replaced most of Dominic Muldowney's original orchestral score with the Eurythmics soundtrack (including the song "Julia", which was heard during the end credits).

Nevertheless, the record was presented as "music derived from the original score of Eurythmics for the Michael Radford film version of Orwell's 1984". Eurythmics charged that they had been misled by the film's producers as well,^[6] and the album was withdrawn from the market for a period while matters were litigated.

The album's first single, "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)", was a top 5 hit in the UK,^[3] Australia and across Europe, and a major dance success in the United States, but its supposedly suggestive title (actually taken from the newspeak phrase used in Orwell's book) resulted in many U.S. pop radio stations refusing to play the track.

Annie Lennox performing during Revenge Tour in 1986

.

Dave Stewart at Rock am Ring in Germany, 1987.

Stewart and Lennox performing on The Today show in 2005.

^{Source: Wikipedia} 

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^{CYA Later Taters}

^{Thanks for watching.}

^{Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man}

"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)"

Uploaded on Jan 1, 2009

 Megathefox

From the old cartoon series.

"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a song written by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville) in 1958. Although it was written and sung by Bagdasarian (in the form of a high-pitched chipmunk voice), the singing credits are given to The Chipmunks, a fictitious singing group consisting of three chipmunks by the names of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. The song won three Grammy Awards in 1958: Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording, and Best Engineered Record (non-classical).^[1]

Chart performance and sales

The song was very successful, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, becoming The Chipmunks' first (and only), as well as David Seville's second and final, No. 1 single. It has the distinction of being the only Christmas record to reach No. 1 on the same chart. The single sold 4.5 million copies in seven weeks, according to Ross Bagdasarian, Jr.^[2]

Ironically, before the song's success, "The Chipmunk Song" was featured on American Bandstand's "Rate-A-Record" segment and received the lowest possible rating of 35 across the board.^[3]

Between 1959 and 1962, the single managed to re-enter the Hot 100, peaking at No. 41 in 1959, No. 45 in 1960, and No. 39 in 1962. (Starting in 1963, Billboard would list re-current Christmas songs on a separate chart.) The song managed to chart on the Hot Digital Songs for the first time in 2005, peaking at No. 35 on that chart.

"The Chipmunk Song" is the last Christmas/holiday song to reach No. 1 on any US singles record chart totaling performance of all available records.

With the release and popularity of the film Alvin and the Chipmunks in December 2007, "The Chipmunk Song" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 70.

At the same time, a remixed version of the song that appears on the Chipmunks' 2007 album (and soundtrack to the film) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, peaked at No. 66 and was credited as "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (2007 Version)".

As of December 25, 2011, Nielsen SoundScan estimated total sales of two versions of the digital track by The Chipmunks at 867,000 downloads, placing it third on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history (behind Mariah Carey's 1994 hit single "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 1996 track "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24").^[4

"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)"
Picture sleeve of 1959 reissue by Liberty Records (F-55250)
Single by The Chipmunks and David Seville
from the album Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks
B-side	"Almost Good" (David Seville) "Alvin's Harmonica"
Released	1958 (U.S.)
Format	7-inch
Genre	Christmas, novelty, pop
Length	2:17
Label	Liberty F-55168 Liberty F-55250
Writer(s)	Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville)
Producer	Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville)
The Chipmunks and David Seville singles chronology
"Witch Doctor" (1958) "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" (1958)

Adaptation in other media

The song has been adapted in The Alvin Show as one of its musical segments. The short depicts Alvin looking through various presents to find a hula hoop, even as he reluctantly sings along with the other Chipmunks.

 At the end of the song, Seville rewards Simon and Theodore with toy planes and Alvin with his hula hoop. The subsequent argument about singing the song again ends abruptly with their Christmas tree falling over, and Seville and the Chipmunks emerge from the mess to wish the viewers a merry Christmas.

The song was featured in A Chipmunk Christmas. A depressed Alvin sings along flatly at first (much like the 1958 original), but then leaves the studio to give away his harmonica to a sick boy. As Seville starts to resume recording the song without Alvin, Alvin returns in the nick of time to sing the song with the others.

The song was featured in the 1980s and 1990s version of Alvin and the Chipmunks, in the episode "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll." In that version, Alvin is taken by Dave (as the Spirit of Christmas Past) to his old house, a cabin lodge where he saw Dave and younger versions of himself, Simon and Theodore.

There, it was revealed that Dave wrote the song (called "The Christmas Song" in this episode), because it was inspired by the gifts that the young Chipmunks gave him (which was an eraser, a pencil and a piece of paper).

The song was featured in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks. There were multiple versions of the song in that film, the original with Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s voice, a new one with Jason Lee's voice as David Seville, and a rock mix.

The original recording has been used in the feature films, Rocky IV (1985), Donnie Brasco (1997) and Almost Famous (2000).

It can also be found on the 2-disc Christmas compilation album Now That's What I Call Christmas! 4.

 Different versions

In most subsequent releases since the song's original release, the first verse on the original recording has been re-recorded, sounding more exaggerated than the original release, which contained "Almost Good" as the flip side. There is also a version with the Chipmunks and rock group Canned Heat which was first issued as a single in 1968, which is a bonus track on the 2007 re-release of the Chipmunks' first Christmas album, Christmas with The Chipmunks, this version is the official remix of the original version of the song.

On the Solid Gold Chipmunks: 30th Anniversary Edition greatest hits album (1988), this song appears, but with an altered bridge and ending. Instead of Dave yelling at Alvin for how flat he is in the first verse, Alvin instead appeals that he has asked for the hula-hoop for years but has never gotten it. Dave answers by telling him to finish the song, and they'll discuss it later.

After they finish, Dave tells Alvin that something came in for him. It s the hula-hoop that he has been asking for, and the song fades out with Alvin now rattling off a long list of what else he desires for Christmas. The Solid Gold Chipmunks album, Here's Looking at Me album, and The Chipmunk's 35th Birthday Party (1993) are currently the only known albums that contains this version.

There are two versions of the song that both feature Kenny G on the album A Very Merry Chipmunk (1995), that features a more jazz version of the song with Kenny G playing the saxophone during the song, the first is the long version with Alvin complaining about Kenny G and his success as a jazz saxophone player and him helping Alvin to learn to play the sax, the second version called "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) (Reprise)" is the first version but with the talking removed and just the song with Kenny G playing the sax and the Chipmunks singing the song.

There was also a version with the Chipmunks and CCM singer, Jaci Velasquez in which Alvin fell in love with Jaci and changed the line "Hula Hoop" into "Date With You".
On the album Disney's Merry Christmas Carols, Chip 'n' Dale sing "The Chipmunk Song" with Donald Duck in the background.

In 2008, Rosie Thomas released A Very Rosie Christmas, which featured a slower tempo contemplative rendering of "Christmas Don’t Be Late". Christian rock band Jars of Clay did a rendition of the song during the last night of the Love Came Down Tour '08 event.^{[citation needed]} Powder did an alternative rock version with electric guitars for 2001's A Very Special Christmas 5.

Source: Wikipedia

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CYA Later Taters

 Thanks for watching.

Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man

Uploaded on Dec 1, 2008

^{Marie Osmond~ " Let There Be Peace On Earth"}

Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s. 

Her best known song is a cover of the country pop ballad "Paper Roses." In 1976, she and her singer brother Donny Osmond began hosting the TV variety show Donny & Marie.

Early life

 Born Olive Marie Osmond in Ogden, Utah to Olive and George Osmond, Marie Osmond was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The only daughter of nine children, her brothers are Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, and Jimmy Osmond.

From an early age, her brothers maintained a career in show business, singing and performing on national television. Osmond debuted as part of her brothers' act The Osmond Brothers on the The Andy Williams Show when she was three, but generally did not perform with her brothers in the group's television performances through the 1960s.

Marie Osmond
Osmond with a custom guitar covered in Swarovski Crystals built by Ed Roman Guitars.
Background information
Birth name	Olive Marie Osmond
Also known as	Marie Osmond
Born	October 13, 1959 (age 53)
Origin	Ogden, Utah, United States
Genres	Country, pop
Occupations	Singer, actress
Years active	1962–present
Labels	MGM Curb Polydor
Website	Official website

 Music career

 

1970s

Aside from her two older brothers (who are deaf), Marie was soon the only family member not involved in the music business. After the initial success of The Osmonds in 1970, Marie's older brother Donny was gaining success as a solo artist on the Pop Music charts and was becoming a teen idol.

 The Osmonds' management convinced Marie to try her hand as well. She signed with the family's record label, MGM Records and began making concert appearances with The Osmonds. Her style was more directed towards country music, in contrast with her brothers' pop music.

In 1973, Osmond cut her first single as a solo artist, "Paper Roses". The recording became a No. 1 country hit, reached the Top 5 on the Billboard magazine pop chart, and achieved crossover success. The song earned a gold record as did the album of the same name.

 Osmond released another single, "In My Little Corner of the World", and a same-name album in 1974, with both entering the Billboard Top 40 in 1974. The title song on her next album Who's Sorry Now, released in 1975, went to No. 20 the month after its release.

The title song from Osmond's final solo album of the seventies, This Is The Way That I Feel, reached No. 39 within two months of its 1977 release.

In 1974, Osmond had two pop music duet hits with brother Donny: "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" and "Morning Side of the Mountain." The former song was a Top 20 country hit.

^{Source: Wikipedia}

 

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Buck Owens~ "Blue Christmas Lights"

RonjaGM

Uploaded on Dec 16, 2010

Buck Owens - Blue Christmas Lights

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos. They pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound—a reference to Bakersfield, California, the city Owens called home and from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call American music.^[1]

While Owens originally used fiddle and retained pedal steel guitar into the 1970s, his sound on records and onstage was always more stripped-down and elemental, incorporating elements of rock and roll.

His signature style was based on simple story-lines, infectious choruses, a twangy electric guitar, an insistent rhythm supplied by a drum track placed forward in the mix, and high two-part harmonies featuring Owens and his guitarist Don Rich.^[2]

Beginning in 1969, Owens co-hosted the TV series Hee Haw with Roy Clark. He left the cast in 1986. In 1974, the accidental death of Rich, his best friend, devastated him for years and abruptly halted his career until he performed with Dwight Yoakam in 1988. Owens died on March 25, 2006 shortly after performing at his Crystal Palace restaurant, club and museum in Bakersfield.

Owens is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Buck Owens
Warner Brothers Records publicity photo
Background information
Birth name	Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr.
Born	August 12, 1929 Sherman, Texas
Died	March 25, 2006 (aged 76) Bakersfield, California
Genres	Country, Bakersfield sound
Occupations	singer, bandleader, TV host
Instruments	vocals, guitar
Years active	1945–2006
Labels	Capitol Records, Sundazed Records
Associated acts	The Buckaroos, Susan Raye, Rose Maddox, Dwight Yoakam, Roy Clark
Website	Owens' Web site

Biography

Owens was born on a farm in Sherman, Texas, to Alvis Edgar Owens, Sr. and his wife, Maicie Azel Ellington.^[3] Midway Mall, at 4800 Texoma Parkway, now sits where his father's farm once was. (U.S. Highway 82 through Sherman was named Buck Owens Freeway in his honor).

"'Buck' was a donkey on the Owens farm," Rich Kienzle wrote in the biography About Buck.^[4] "When Alvis Jr. was three or four years old, he walked into the house and announced that his name also was "Buck." That was fine with the family, and the boy's name was Buck from then on."^[5]

He attended public school for grades 1–3 in Garland, Texas.^[6]

His family moved to Mesa, Arizona, in 1937 during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.

Early career

Owens co-hosted a radio show called Buck and Britt in 1945. In the late 1940s he became a truck driver and drove through the San Joaquin Valley of California. He was impressed by Bakersfield, where he and his wife settled in 1951.^[7]

Soon, Owens was frequently traveling to Hollywood for session recording jobs at Capitol Records, playing backup for Tennessee Ernie Ford, Wanda Jackson, Tommy Collins, Tommy Duncan,^[8] Sonny James, Del Reeves, Tommy Sands, Faron Young and Gene Vincent, and many others.^{[citation needed]}

Owens recorded a rockabilly record called "Hot Dog" for the Pep label, using the pseudonym Corky Jones because he did not want the fact he recorded a rock n' roll tune to hurt his country music career.^[9]

 Sometime in the 1950s, he lived with his second wife and children in Fife Washington, where he sang with the Dusty Rhodes band.

Owens' career took off in 1959, when his song "Second Fiddle" hit No. 24 on the Billboard country chart. A few months later, "Under Your Spell Again" hit No. 4, and then "Above and Beyond" hit No. 3. On April 2, 1960 he performed the song on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee.

In the early 1960s, the countrypolitan sound was popular, with smooth, string-laden, pop-influenced styles used by Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, and Patsy Cline, among others. Owens went against the trend, using honky tonk hillbilly feel, mixed idiosyncratically with the Mexican polkas he had heard on border radio stations while growing up.^{[citation needed]}

Owens was named the Most Promising Country and Western Singer of 1960 by Billboard.^[10] In 1961, his top 10-charting duets with Rose Maddox earned them awards as vocal team of the year.^{[citation needed]}

Source: Wikipedia

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Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man