Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell" Rock reaches top 10 sixty years after it first charted

Jingle Bell Rock Bobby Helms

Writer(s): Joe Beal, Jim Boothe (see lyrics here) Released: November 28, 1957 First Charted: December 9, 1957 Peak: 3 BB, 11 CB, 10 GR, 11 HR, 18 AC, 13 CW, 7 UK, 4 CN, 6 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.2 UK, 2.73 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 21.21 video, 887.13 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Songfacts.com called “Jingle Bell Rock” “the first mainstream rock ‘n’ roll Christmas song.” SF It was composed by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe. Beal was a public relations professional born in Massachusetts and a longtime resident of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Boothe was an American writer in the advertisting business. WK This has been disputed by Bobby Helms, who sang the definitive version of the song. He and Hank Garland, the session guitarist on Helms’ recording, saying they wrote the song. WK They claimed that Beal and Boothe contributed a song called “Jingle Bell Hop” and a Decca executive gave it to Helms to record. Helms and Garland proceeded to change the lyrics and music and it evolved, according to them, into “Jingle Bell Rock.” WK There have been numerous artists who have recorded “Jingle Bell Rock” but Bobby Helms’ 1957 recording has become the signature version. He first charted on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 23, 1957. It returned to the chart in 1958, 1960, 1961, and 1962. In 2016, changes to chart methodology meant that old songs could return to the chart because of airplay and streaming. The song became a perennial favorite, charting every year from 2016 to 2023. In 2018, it reached #8, breaking the record for longest wait to reach the top ten. WK For the next five years, the song reentered the top ten, peaking at #3. More than 400 versions of the song have been recorded SH although the only other version to reach the Billboard Hot 100 was by Bobby Rydell & Chubby Checker (#21, 1961). Others to record it include Herb Alpert, Eddy Arnold, Chet Atkins, Michael Bolton, Teresa Brewer, Jimmy Buffett, Glen Campbell, Natalie Cole, Kelly Clarkson, Neil Diamond, Dion, Earth Wind & Fire, the Glee Cast, Amy Grant, Bill Haley & the Comets, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Engelbert Humperdinck, Billy Idol, Miranda Lambert, Brenda Lee, Richard Marx, Johnny Mathis, Reba McEntire, Michael McDonald, Anne Murray, Wayne Newton, the Osmonds, the Platters, LeAnn Rimes, Marty Robbins, Blake Shelton, George Strait, .38 Special, Frankie Valli, Bobby Vee, and Dionne Warwick. SH Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bobby Helms SH Second Hand Songs SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 12/19/2023.

Today in Music (1943): Bing Crosby “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” charted

I’ll Be Home for Christmas Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Walter Kent (music), Kim Gannon and Buck Ram (words) (see lyrics here) Released: October 26, 1943 First Charted: December 4, 1943 Peak: 3 PM, 7 GA, 3 HP, 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.6 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” originated in 1922 as a poem by Buck Ram. The songwriter would later be known for some of the Platters’ biggest hits, including “Only You” and “The Great Pretender.” He wrote it for his mother while he was a student at the University of Illinois. WK In 1943, lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent turned it into a song. They were acquaintances of Ram’s mother and happened to discuss the poem at a chance meeting at a bar in 1941. WK Gannon and Kent turned it into a song sung from the point of view of a soldier stationed oversees during World War II. He writes a letter to his family, saying he’ll be home for the holidays. Bing Crosby recorded the song as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)” on October 1, 1943, with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra. His version of the “traditional Tin Pan Alley Christmas favorite” TY1 has been the most successful, reaching #3 on the pop charts and selling a million copies. It became the most requested song at Christmas U.S.O. shows. WK The G.I. magazine Yank said Crosby “accomplished more for military morale than anyone else of that era.” WK Surprisingly, the BBC banned the song, fearing it would lower morale amongst British troops. WK Others to chart with the song include Reba McEntire (1999, #68 CW), Kenny Chesney (2003, #60 CW), Joe Nichols (2005, #56 CW), Sara Evans (2006, #46 CW), Josh Groban (2006, #96 BB, 1 AC), Elvis Presley with Carrie Underwood (2008, #54 CW), Brian McKnight (2008, #14 AC), Rascal Flatts (2008, #34 CW), Michael Bublé (2010, #7 AU), Kelly Clarkson (2011, #93 BB, 7 AC), Megan Trainor (2014, #5 AC), Seth MacFarlane (2014, #28 AC), Kanisha K (2016, #26 AC), Idina Menzel (2019, #24 AC), and Camila Cabello (2021, #71 BB, 24 UK). Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bing Crosby TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 268. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/20/2023.