(Over the next twelve days, The Polyester Ball will countdown ASCAPs twelve most performed holiday songs of the last one hundred years.) At number 12 on the list is SILVER BELLS, the classic song by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first introduced in 1950. Livingston and Evans first started writing together in 1937 after they met at the University of Pennsylvania. The pair are three-time Academy Award winners for Buttons and Bows (1948, from The Paleface), Mona Lisa (1950 from Captain Carey, U.S.A.) and Whatever Will Be Will Be (Que Sera, Sera) (1956, from The Man Who Knew Too Much). In addition, their catalog includes Debbie Reynolds number 1 hit Tammy, Andy Williams Dear Heart and the themes from the television shows Bonanza and Mr. Ed. The pair originally wrote the song as Tinkle Bells, a title the songwriters thought was just fine until the meaning was questioned. Livingston said in American Songwriter magazine (July/August 1988) We wrote a song called Tinkle Bell, about the tinkly bells you hear at Christmas from the Santa Clauses and the Salvation Army people. We said this is it, this will work for the picture, so I took it home and played it for my wife. She said you wrote a song called Tinkle Bell? Dont you know that word has a bathroom connotation? So I went back to Ray the next day and told him we had to throw the song out, and we did. There are conflicting reports on the origins for the song. According to Livingston, the subject came from the many Salvation Army bell ringers around many cities during the holidays. Evans later contradicted that explanation, saying it was inspired by a bell that was on the writing partners shared desk. Bing Crosby and Carol Richards released the first version of the song in October 1950 becoming the holiday hit of the season. It charted again in 1952 when it went to number 20 and 1957 (#78). Prior to the Crosby release, Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell had filmed a version for the movie The Lemon Drop Kid and, in late 1950 when it became apparent that the song was going to be a hit, they were called back to the studio to film a more elaborate version of the song. The Lemon Drop Kid was released in March 1951. For Hope, the song became a standard in his yearly holiday specials, normally sung with a different female vocalist every year. Silver Bells has been recorded by hundreds of different artists including Doris Day (1950), Johnny Mathis (1958), the Supremes (1965), Andy Williams (1965), Dean Martin (1966), Elvis Presley (1971) and many, many more.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 04:06:24 +0000
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