For tonight's Holiday Music Fest, we have songs that are both the unknown and known -- though an uncommon version. Both are from Marlene Dietrich. This first is her recording of "Der Trommelmann" -- which might seem like it's the unknown song, but in fact it's the very well-known "Little Drummer Boy." But her recording in German is one of the most haunting (and to me best) versions. And as a bonus -- when I was searching for a recording of "Der Trommelmann" last year, by chance I came across another Christmas song recording by her, again in German, that I had never heard of before and found wonderful, despite not understanding a word. It's "Still War die Nacht" (Still Was the Night). Okay, Ii understood most of the title, but that's it.
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This doesn't qualify as a unknown Christmas song, though it's a cousin. It's well-known that Johnny Marks wrote the song "Rudolph the Red-Rednosed Reindeer," which was used as the basis for the holiday classic TV special. And for that show, he also wrote what become another Christmas hit song, "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas." Now, having written two Christmas songs that are traditional favorites is highly impressive. But -- did you know that before the TV special he had actually written what is a third, popular Christmas song, as well? This third song was not included in the Rudolph TV special, I suspect, because he only wrote the music for it. The lyrics though weren't by a fellow-collaborator, but rather adapted from an old poem -- albeit by another fellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It had previously been set to music in the late 18th century (by English organist John Baptiste Calkin -- don't worry, it won't be on the test), but when Marks wrote his own music for the poem in the 1950s, that has now become the standard version most-heard today. The song is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." (Having said that most people don't know that the music is by Johnny Marks, I suspect that almost as many people don't know that the words are by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...) For that matter, having said that the song is not in the TV special, I should clarify by noting that it sort of is -- the music, at least. Near the very beginning of the show, as Sam the Snowman is introducing us to the tale, if you listen carefully you can hear Johnny Marks's music to "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" playing as underscoring. But here's the full song. There are a lot of recordings, but since we're talking about "Rudolph," we might as well use the recording by Sam himself, Burl Ives. Three popular Christmas songs by Johnny Marks. Not shabby. (Minor Side Note: I've periodically written on these pages about the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in the middle of the Topanga forest area. Generally they put on plays outdoors, but every once in a while they'll have concerts. And several decades back, I took a first date there and got to see Burl Ives on stage. I suspect there aren't many people who can say -- or perhaps would want to -- that they took a first date to see Burl Ives. Hey, what can I say, it's who I am. It's possible that I may have explained, "He's the guy who was 'Sam the Snowman' that narrated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer to convince her it might be fun. But she agreed to go, which spoke well of her. Anyway, it was a treat to see him in concert.) And just to prove that I am not lying to you about the music being in the Rudolph TV special, here's that opening sequence. After some lead-in video machinations and then advertising, the show itself begins at 1:50. The music comes along at about the 2:45 mark, in case you want to jump all the way forward, and runs for around 25 seconds. It comes a bit after the well-known line that viewers will recognize, "What's the matter? Haven't you seen a talking snowman before?" (And it plays in the background while Sam the Snowman introduces you to the "Christmas seals.") I suspect that a lot of people who have watched this special for decades will hear the wistful music and go, "Oooooooooohhh, yes! I remember hearing that!!" The other day, I wrote about a very good 1996 TV musical MRS. SANTA CLAUS with Angela Lansbury and a score by Jerry Herman. I said I'd been unable to find it on TV since and couldn't understand why not. Well -- it turns out that the Movies! channel aired it the other, so it's made it back onto TV. Finally.
But further good news: it will repeat on Christmas Day at 3 PM (L.A. time). You can go to the Movies! website here and find out where the channel airs in your area. Set the DVR. How empty and desperate is the extreme right of today’s Republican Party? It seems that the best they can do to express their tender-hearted faux-outrage at Ukraine President Zelenskyy – whose country, you may have heard, is at war with Russia – for his visit to the White House and addressing Congress is…is…is…that he wasn’t wearing a suit. Not what he was saying about fighting for independence when his country is under attack by one of America’s main enemies, no. But that he wasn’t wearing a suit. And looked rumpled. Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist of Europac wrote – “I know there's a war, but #Zelensky isn't under fire. He flew to the U.S. aboard a U.S. government private jet, arrived at the White House in a Chauffeur Driven SUV, yet showed up wearing a sweatshirt. It's better than a t-shirt, but I still maintain the proper attire is a suit.” And I maintain that if this is Europac’s idea of a “global strategist,” they might want to rethink the job description. Mr. Schiff may “know” there’s a war on, but it doesn’t appear to care. And he also seems unaware that Volodomir Zelenskyy is not only the president of Ukraine, but the world symbol of his country. And what he wears in sympathy of those struggling for their lives against the brutality of one of the world’s great powers has deep, profound meaning. Something most serious global strategists get. Or there’s Newsmax’s Benny Johnson, who put his two cents in – “This ungrateful piece of sh*t does not have the decency to wear a suit to the White House -- no respect the country that is funding his survival. “Track suit wearing eastern european con-man mafia. Our leaders fell for it.” In fairness to Mr. Johnson, it’s possible that he has a promotional deal with Men’s Wearhouse, so he’s just really hawking fine fashion. Though that doesn’t explain his swearing vitriol at what a foreign leader wears when at war – or how the “mafia” fits in there. What explains all of that is that Johnson works at Newsmax, and that’s basically their standard. And Breitbart’s Wendell Husebo, whose tender hear was all a-flutter when he wrote – “Zelensky arrives at the White House to demand more support than $45B aid in the omnibus bill. "For $45B, show some respect and rent a suit." Putting aside that I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of a place that rents suits, I suspect that if they had any such stores in Ukraine there’s a good chance they’ve either been bombed out and destroyed, or closed down during the war since there isn’t likely a big market for renting suits at the present time. Never mind, too, that he isn’t “demanding” anything. By why quibble over linguistics when our national sartorial honor is at stake. Actually, Breitbart seems most put-out by anyone as their politics editor Emma-Jo Morris wrote – “Zelensky flies all the way to the U.S., but still can’t put on a suit. “Circus.” First of all, to correct Ms. Morris, I will bet cash money that President Zelenkyy can put on a suit. He just thought it would be inappropriate with his country under attack and chose not to because his country at war was watching him and probably understood and admired him staying true to their national spirit. I also have a feeling that she hasn’t been to many circuses, because he was incredibly well-dressed for one. But then, she’s the political editor and not in charge of the fashion page, so she might be unaware of current circus attire. I think the most unintentionally whimsical and clueless comment came from podcaster V.F. Castro, who wrote –"Zelensky can pose in fashion magazines during war, but he dresses in ‘war casual’ to the White House?” All I could think when I read this was – Wait, your name is “Castro,” and you are outraged by a foreign leader wearing “casual” clothes when doing their job??? Then there was…nah, that’s enough, it goes on and on and on. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least include was Donald Trump Jr. felt compelled to chime. In fairness, he didn’t bring up clothes, but in his own cringing way was worse than them all. That’s because he wrote – “Zelensky is basically an ungrateful international welfare queen.” This from someone whose sister was given 41 trademarks for free from China. And whose brother-in-law got $2 billion from Saudi Arabia. And whose family company just got convicted of 17 felonies. And whose family “charity” foundation was such down for its fraudulent activities. About someone whose speech to Congress was drenched throughout by gratitude. What a little piece of empty, venal, thoughtless, criminal, infantile, whiney and entitled bilge. So, that’s what just some notable voice of the extreme right thought about a foreign leader – just named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year – fighting on behalf of democracy to save his country against the Russian war machine. And the best they could do, after he met with President Biden at the White House and addressed the joint houses of Congress, is to complain about…what he wore. No doubt they will give a stiff lecture to Jim Jordan when he takes the gavel as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee without wearing a sportcoat. I can only imagine how infuriated today’s GOP would have been during World War II when Winston Churchill showed up at official events and conferences with President Roosevelt. In the end, the best I could figure is that all this reaction about what President Zelenskyy was wearing was just leftover “outrage” material that the extreme right has from when President Obama wore a tan suit to a press conference. Though it seems like they can’t make up their mind. After all, at least President Obama was wearing a suit. (Actually, what would have been hilarious and sent them in a tizzy over what to do is him President Zelenskyy did show up in a suit -- but a tan one.) There’s oh-so much more than could be said about this inanity from the extreme right of today’s Republican Party. But somehow, just saying “They’re complaining about a foreign leader at war fighting for democracy not wearing a suit” pretty much says more than enough. Especially from people who love to slam people for what they consider over-sensitivity as “snowflakes.” Man, was it ever an avalanche. To continue the fest, this is a Christmas recording that blends two worlds -- totally unknown, yet hugely-well-known and wonderful. How can that be, you ask??! I'll explain. The song from the musical, Here's Love, by Meredith Willson, who of course wrote The Music Man. It's based on the classic film, Miracle on 34th Street. The show wasn't terribly successful, though didn't flop and had a respectable run of 334 performances -- just under a year -- in 1964. The score is inconsistent, but half of it is quite wonderful. (I've actually tried, half-heartedly, I must admit, to get a TV production of it made for several years. I think it would be a terrific Christmas special. Hey, who knows, maybe one year NBC will do it live... The song is called "Pine Cones and Holly Berries," sung by Laurence Naismith who plays Kris Kringle. It's very charming and a lovely Christmas holiday song, though is pretty much unknown. Now, as you may recall, Meredith Willson likes counterpoint. He used it a great deal, to much good effect in The Music Man, most notably with "Lida Rose" sung counter to "Will I Ever Tell You?", but also famously with "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a Little," sung in counterpoint with an already-existing song, "Goodnight, Ladies." Well, he used the technique again in Here's Love. He created "Pine Cones and Holly Berries" to be sung counter to an already-existing, very famous Christmas song -- one which (I am sure most people will be shocked to learn) he himself wrote. When I say it's very famous and completely well-known -- trust me on this. It's very famous. And yes, it's actually written by, of all people, Meredith Willson. I won't tell you want it is, but let you have the fun of discovering it when it comes in halfway through. (Though if you've read this pages during past Holiday Music Fests, you likely know it by now...) The counterpoint, very famous song is performed here by Janis Paige and -- are you ready? -- Fred Gwynne! Though he hated being typecast in his famous TV role, since it almost ruined his career (I worked with him on the movie, Pet Sematary, and we briefly talked about), I feel compelled to identify him in this context for the sheer incongruity of it, as yes, 'Herman Munster,' whose TV series came along soon thereafter. He comes in the song here most-clearly at the 1:14 mark, singing (and really well) "Christmas, Christmas. Christmas Day. Bells ring, and hearts sing, every day..." So, here then is a lovely, sweet Christmas song you don't know, sung in counterpoint to an extremely famous one you absolutely do, both by Meredith Willson. As a bonus, we'll throw in a couple of other good -- and lesser-known -- Christmas songs from the show. This first (with video from a community production) is during the courtroom scene and W.H. Macy is called to the stand and has to say under oath whether he believes that there is actually a Santa Claus. And we'll conclude things with an absolutely lovely song that the lawyer (the fellow who ends up defending Kris at the end, played by Craig Stevens) sings to the daughter of his neighbor, the cynic who hired Kris but sees it all as just business (played by the aforementioned Janis Paige). The young daughter has picked up much of her mother's cynicism, but their neighbor Fred slowly starts to bring some holiday cheer into the girl's life. I can’t believe all the years of The Fest when I didn't included this. Fortunately, that oversight was finally corrected. I used to like the comic strip Pogo by Walt Kelly, and every holiday season he would love his inclusion of the characters’ version of “Deck Us All with Boston Charlie” – a song that the classical music station WFMT would usually play at Christmastime on their “Midnight Special” show. But when my pal Mark Evanier posted this video, it reminded me of it, and after slapping my head and thinking, “What was I doing??!” I’m so glad to include it here where it rightly belongs, as a wonderful, little-known holiday song. Mark is one of the world’s great experts on Pogo – quite literally, he’s helped edit and put out eight seriously-impressive volumes of the collected Pogo strips. As for the song itself, he noted that “Every year around Christmas in his strip, his lovely characters would debate the correct lyrics to their favorite carol.” This particular video does a wonderful job setting the apparently-correct lyrics (according to one of the characters) set to panels from the strip. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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