So far we've only had one song for each year from 1941 through 1943 and as we hit 1944, we again have only one song, but it's also a standard: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!"
The song was introduced by Judy Garland in the MGM movie "Meet Me in St. Louis" as part of the topnotch score by songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane.
Judy was under contract to Decca Records at that time and recorded her version for the label:
That's really nice!
Actual film soundtracks weren't much of a thing at the time, but this sounds a lot like the movie version, no doubt because Georgie Stoll provided the backing and he worked on a lot of movies for MGM, including several with Judy.
For a long time the only version of the song I would see reissued on CDs and such was apparently an alternate take in which Judy mixed up "near to us" and "dear to us" and you still need to listen carefully to see which one you're getting!
To put the song in its original context and account for the melancholy tone, here's a clip from "Meet Me in St. Louis" with Judy singing the song to her "sister" Margaret O'Brien:
This was my mother's favorite movie and she loved Margaret O'Brien, who was about her age!
A lot has been said about Judy Garland and her various issues, but my take is that she was a wonderful singer and actress and I can enjoy her movies by not thinking about any extra baggage, you know? For any form of pop culture, I try to place myself in the era.
In any event, although "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has evolved into a standard, there were no other recordings of the song in 1944 (RCA Victor and Columbia were still locked out for most of the year). "The Trolley Song" was the one that got all the attention, with it's totally opposite joyful tone.
I think the next recording of "Have Yourself..." was a few years later in 1947by Frank Sinatra for his 78 rpm album "Christmas Songs by Sinatra":
Nice version and we'll get back to Mr. Sinatra in a minute.
There was one other recording of the song in the 1940s, this one from 1949 by Margaret Whiting on Capitol Records:
Totally solid and I think Margaret Whiting was a great singer, but it doesn't add enough to make it essential listening.
Those three records appear to be the only mainstream versions of the song from the 1940s. There was never a big band version.
It's interesting that the first big Christmas standards of the 1940s, "White Christmas," "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," all have a wistful, melancholy tone in their original versions, which I guess you can chalk up to WWII.
Flash-forward to 1957 when Frank Sinatra was preparing his "A Jolly Christmas" album and wanted to include "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" but didn't think the song was jolly at all (can't argue that!)
So the story goes that Frank got in touch with Hugh Martin who revised the lyrics to make it the happy song about enjoying the present that we all know now!
Here's Frank's 1957 version:
I submit that although the new lyrics are much more positive, this recording is still not particularly jolly! The whole album isn't really that jolly!
When I first heard the story a number of years ago that Hugh Martin himself was responsible for the lyric change, the purist in me stopped being annoyed!
You can also check out Dinah Shore's excellent 1957 version with the brand-new lyrics here.
Let's throw in this in-between version of the song. It was cut by Joni James as the title track of her Christmas EP for MGM records in 1955, before the lyric change:
I think that's a great version and it sounds more hopeful and less wistful than any other pre-1957 recording!
The songs from the EP were incorporated into a full-length LP the next year and that sports a much more attractive cover:
Nowadays there are so many versions and some mix the old and new lyrics (just sloppy work sometimes), but it's a great standard whatever the case!
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