We move into 1949 proper with our Christmas music playlist, where we have more songs by far than any other year of the 1940s!
I think that by the time 1949 rolled around, there were so many fairly recent holiday/seasonal songs, led by "White Christmas," that had proven successful, the song publishers and record companies were eager for more product.
From a seasonal-but-not-holiday standpoint, few songs are as popular as Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride."
1949 saw its initial recording, which was by the Boston Pops, conducted by Arthur Fiedler on the fancy RCA Victor Red Seal label:
That's just awesome and still sounds great! You usually hear the 1959 stereo version by the Pops, but you can't beat the original!
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| Composer Anderson (left) with maestro Fiedler. |
Fiedler and the Boston Pops introduced several of Leroy Anderson's pieces before Anderson started his own successful recording career. He recorded his own version of "Sleigh Ride" for Decca Records in 1950:
Sounds good!
The year 1950 also saw lyrics added to "Sleigh Ride" courtesy of Mitchell Parish and versions with vocals started appearing.
I think the first was this cut by the Andrews Sisters, also on Decca:
That doesn't seem like a typical Andrews Sisters record to me, as there's a backing chorus and the girls are relatively subdued. Nice, though!
I really like the version that Freddy Martin (again with young Merv Griffin) recorded for RCA Victor in 1950:
The Martin band was always good at adaptations of classical music, so a light concert piece like "Sleigh Ride" is in their wheelhouse!
We'll stick in the 1950s for a couple of other versions, including this one from alto saxist Herb Geller on Mercury's Emarcy label in 1954:
Pretty cool!
Then there's this vocal version by Johnny Mathis from his 1958 "Merry Christmas" album on Columbia:
Other than the Boston Pops' version, Johnny's may be the one I've heard the most over the years.
You sometimes hear the birthday party mentioned in the song turned into a Christmas party in an attempt to give it more of a holiday feel. I think the first recording to do so was by Walter Schumann on his 1955 "The Voices of Christmas" LP on RCA Victor:
That's a bit square for my taste, but OK.
Then there's Jo Stafford's version on her 1956 Columbia album "Ski Trails." That changes the whole Currier and Ives thing, which is the only such version to do so of which I'm aware:
That's more my style!
Lots of additional recordings of the song have followed, with it being adapted into different styles, which I don't think always fit!
That being said, the Ventures had a great version in 1965, which you can hear here!
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