The "Definitive Artist" Christmas Song List [Updated and Bumped for 2009!]

Karen and I started talking about this on the way to visit the Leahy clan for Thanksgiving this week, while listening to the Holly channel on the XM radio...we were talking about when you hear a Christmas song and whether it was THE artist for that song - when you say "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year", you think Andy Williams, even if it's Amy Grant singing it...so, here is our list of those songs and the artists WE think is THE artist - in some cases we can't agree, so we may list two or more artists:

1. Its The Most Wonderful... - Andy Williams
2. Blue Christmas - Elvis
3. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
4. The Christmas Song (1, 2) - Jim says Mel Torme (Mel wrote it), Karen says Nat King Cole (he recorded it 1st)
5. The Little Drummer Boy - The Harry Simeone Chorale
   
6. Ring Christmas Bells - Ray Conniff [JW note 2009: this is an update as I had attributed The Little Drummer Boy above to Ray Conniff's singers in '08, when it was Harry Simeone's singers instead. Er, they sorta sound the same!]
   
7. Rudolph (1, 2) - Gene Autry, The Temptations (we both agree that we can't decide between the two)
8. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Bing Crosby
9. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Dean Martin (got to sneak Dean-O in here)
10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Nat King Cole
11. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
12. Mele Kalikimaka - Jimmy Buffett
    
13. Silver Bells - Jim says Elvis (I'm sneaking this one in!)
14. Frosty The Snowman (1, 2, 3) - Burl Ives (tho Jim likes the Cocteau Twins' and the Jackson5's versions) Do we add Jimmy Durante since he did the version for the TV movie we all remember?
15. Please Come Home For Christmas - The Eagles (tho Karen has a well-known dislike for the Eagles)
    
16. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bruce Bringsteen [UPDATE by Jim 08DEC08 - I had to include this version by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, as this is the version that I grew up with in my house.
17. Happy Christmas (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)- John Lennon (But Jim really likes The Alarm's version, and has performed this version back in the day. For 2009, I've added The Corrs, U2, and Maroon5 versions.)
18. Sleigh Ride - The New Christy Minstrels, or pick your favorite instrumental version.
19. Winter Wonderland (1, 2) - lots of good ones, but the Darlene Love and Elvis versions really stand out.
    

Can you think of any more? Do you think we're wrong? And if we missed anything, then check out 77Santas or Ear Farm (Ear Farm is now here). ['09 update: you can also check out this wikipedia page of an 'incomplete' listing of x-mas songs and the artists that made them famous. You can also check out this 8tracks.com search on the subject for the latest and greatest mixes...]

BONUS: To help with any lingering Black Friday shopping, here's a soundtrack for the day:

Blog Dedicated to To New U2 Album Lyrics

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Jeff Buckley Reference: "Hallelujah" most popular iTune Download

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Found: One Hewitt Huntwork

This has been a long time coming...Hewitt was big on the local Boston folk scene for several after winning the Boston Folk award in 1993...I and my college buddies have kept up with him over the years but I had trouble finding him in the recent past...I especially wanted to contact him after the MTV version of Wuthering Heights was broadcast in 2003, since two of his songs were performed on the show, including his great I Will Crumble which was on his 1995 album The Only Drowning Goldfish...Hewitt m/c'd at the Acton Jazz Cafe for a few years to keep a spot open in the metrowest Mass area for the folk / acoustic scene...anyways, it's late, so more on this later, but here's a link to his new song & album...according to his website this will be a big year for him, releasing a new song each week this year!

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