By Taylor Crumpton, Time | For the past 30 years, Mariah Carey has dominated the Christmas season with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Her reign, which appears to be never-ending, does not allow for a new song to take over the coveted top spot. With the exception of Michael Bublé, the majority of Christmas songs on the Holiday 100 are from artists of the 20th century, like Wham!, Brenda Lee, Bobby Helms, Nat ‘King’ Cole, and more. Which begs the question, is there even room for a new Christmas song, or are we doomed to listen to Mariah Carey year after year?
The answer to that question is tricky.
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Check out the author’s reasoning here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/why-holiday-music-charts-are-stuck-in-the-past/
Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album Made Him the King of Christmas
By Carissa Mosness, Woman’s World
Most people know Elvis Presley as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and while that’s still true, come December some undoubtedly give him a different title. Yes, we are talking about when Presley became “the King of Christmas,” a title he earned after releasing a Christmas album back in 1957. To learn more about the album, keep scrolling!
A look at Elvis Presley’s 1957 Christmas album (I own this!)
Presley’s first Christmas album was released in 1957, entitled Elvis’ Christmas Album, and had 12 songs in total (you can listen here) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej65MctNhoA :
“Santa Claus Is Back in Town”
“White Christmas”
“Here Comes Santa Claus”
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
“Blue Christmas”
“Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)”
“O Little Town of Bethlehem”
“Silent Night”
“(There’ll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me)”
“I Believe”
“Take My Hand, Precious Lord”
“It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)”
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Elvis’ Christmas Album and reissues have shipped at least 17 million copies in the United States. It was the singer’s first album to reach Diamond certification and is the best-selling Christmas album of all time in the United States.
“Elvis was having so much fun. He and Red West [Presley’s longtime bodyguard] had a karate demonstration, and they ended up breaking a classical guitar, and Red had put a Christmas tree in the studio. This is summertime, and he put a Christmas tree just to get [Elvis] into the Christmas mood, to get him to record,” Greg McDonald, author of Elvis and the Colonel: An Insider’s Look at the Most Legendary Partnership in Show Business, said on the iHeart Radio Podcast Our American Stories, titled Behind the Blue Christmas: How Elvis Was Coaxed Into Recording a Christmas Album earlier this month. “Elvis recorded his version of ‘White Christmas’ and they sent the dub up to New York and they played that dub for Irving Berlin who wrote that song.”
“But at that time, it was the biggest Christmas song ever and was sung by Bing Crosby, and it was huge,” he continued. ” Irving Berlin [the songwriter] hated it. He tells them, ‘Don’t put it out. It’s my song. You can’t put it out.’ Well, of course, they could, and they did so. Irving Berlin hires a room full of people to call radio stations and tell them not to play the record. It’s sacrilegious. [Then] at the end of Irving Berlin’s career, someone asks him, ‘What was the biggest royalty check and on what song was it during your life?’ And he said Elvis Presley’s version of ‘White Christmas.'”
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Read more about Elvis’ Christmas albums here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/elvis-presley-s-christmas-album-made-him-the-king-of-christmas/