"Jingle Bells" - Part 68 - Sounds Like a Million Bucks!

While lurking about the mid-1950s, we come across this unpretentious version of the tune issued under the name of the grandiose sounding the Million Dollar Quartet!

Here's a brief background of that well-known occasion: On December 4, 1956, Carl Perkins was at the Sun Records studio to record what was to be his latest single, "Your True Love/Matchbox." Joining Carl's band on the session was newly-signed Sun artist Jerry Lee Lewis on piano. Fellow Sun artist Johnny Cash was apparently already at the studio and when former Sun artist Elvis Presley showed up, you had a Million Dollar Quartet!

The guys held an impromptu jam session, which was fortunately recorded and has been released in various forms over the years.

Befitting the holiday season, one of the songs was an instrumental of the perennial "Jingle Bells":

Of the big four, only Carl Perkins on guitar and Jerry Lee Lewis appear on the track, with Carl's band providing backing.

It's pretty cool how they can pull off such a fun impromptu performance.

You can read all about that momentous day and hear all the songs all over the place.

One thing of note is that Elvis brought his current girlfriend, Marilyn Evans, along and you can see her in some of the photos - especially if they're not cropped:

Since we're hanging around the Sun studio, let's jump ahead to 1960 for this medley of Christmas songs released under the title of "Yulesville, U.S.A" by the Rockin' Stockin' which naturally includes "Jingle Bells":

Pretty fun take by the studio group lead by Billy Lee Riley!