History of Christmas Carols...

Answer to last quiz...
To black slaves in the United States, the birth of a Savior who would set all men free was a miracle worth singing about. What Christmas Carol was based on a Spiritual and was first popularized by the Fisk University 'Jubilee Singers?' The Carol is 'Go Tell It On The Mountain.'

Today's Christmas Carol quiz...
Ross Bagdasarian was a novelty writer who wrote the hit song 'Come Onna my House' for Rosemary Clooney in 1951. But Ross preferred tinkering with the dials, gauges and lights in the sound booth at the recording studio. He is most famous for a bizarre hit he came up with in 1958. This Christmas song sold over 5 million copies in 1958 and received 3 Grammy Awards that year for 'Best Comedy Performance,' 'Best Recording for Children' and 'Best Engineered Record.' This is the last Christmas song to reach #1 on any US single record chart.
Name this popular Christmas song...

History of Christmas Carols...

Answer to last Christmas Carol...

The Christmas carol written on Christmas Eve of 1818 in the Austrian Alps when the church pipe organ was broken was...

'Silent Night'

Today's History of Christmas Carols...

To black slaves in the United States, the birth of a Savior who would set all men free was a miracle worth singing about. And there was no better place from which to communicate such a marvelous thing than a mountain.

Today's carol is an authentic spiritual that probably dates from the early 1800's and was first popularized by the Fisk University 'Jubilee Singers.' Appropriately enough, Fisk University was a college founded in Nashville, Tennessee to educate freed slaves.

Name this popular Christmas Carol...

History of Christmas Carols...

The words to this Christmas carol were written on the afternoon of Christmas Eve in 1818 in a tiny village high in the Austrian Alps by the local Catholic priest, Joseph Mohr.
The church pipe organ had just given out and the pipe organ repairman wasn't available at such short notice to repair the organ in time for the Christmas Eve service. The church organist, Franz Gruber, agreed to write out a simple tune to the pastor's text, setting the words for choir and a guitar.

Name this familiar Christmas carol, which was frantically put together on Christmas Eve, 1818.

History of Christmas Carols (answer)...

What singer thought the cute Christmas song would ruin his 'tough guy/cowboy' image?

Gene Autry singing 'Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer.'

History of Christmas Carols (answer)...

This singer/actor was afraid that singing a cute Christmas carol would ruin his 'tough guy' cowboy image. His wife had to talk him into recording it.
Name the song...'Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer'
Singer...Gene Autry

History of Christmas Carols...

He thought singing a Christmas carol would damage his 'tough guy' image.

For 16 years the public listened to him on on his radio show on the CBS Radio Network. He was the first performer to sell out Madison Square Garden. His concert appearances throughout the United States and Europe are legendary and served as a model for other performers. He is the only entertainer to have all five stars on the Hollywood 'Walk of Fame,' one each for Radio, Recording, Motion Pictures, Television, and Live Theatre/performance.

So when presented with the opportunity to sing this cute Christmas carol, he had to be convinced by his wife, Ina to record what was to become his most popular recording.

Name the singer.
Name the Christmas carol.

History of Christmas Carols...

This ancient French carol title comes from the Latin word for 'birthday.' The words of the carol describe the Christmas story of the shepherds, the angels, the star and the kings arriving with the gifts. The elation of that blessed night described in the carol was so joyful that it struck severe Puritans in England and the New World colonies as a little too sinfully exuberant, and the carol was suppressed in the mid-17th century.
NAME THAT CHRISTMAS CAROL.