Any Major Christmas Bells
Regular readers, in their detective ways, may have deduced that I love Christmas music, as the 20-plus mixes posted over the past decade show. And if a Christmas song has bells in them, I”m particularly happy.
Peggy Lee in the song that opens this collection shares that view: “Some folks like to hear a Christmas song, but I like Christmas bells that go ding-dong, jingle-jangle, ding-a-ling or just bing-bong; I love to hear ’em ring.”
Of course, many of the greatest Christmas songs don’t need them — imagine Nat King Cole ringing the bells in The Christmas Song! — and yet, no sound signals Yuletide quite as those jingling, jangling bells. Maybe that’s why Mel Tormé, who co-wrote The Christmas Song, used them in his 1992 version of it.
Reader Fred is himself a keen collector of Christmas songs, and has quite a collection of tracks in that genre that are about bells. So he suggested that I make such a mix myself. Helpfully, Fred sent an extensive list of some songs on that theme he has in his collection. I didn’t consult it in case he offers to do a Volume 2 next year. Our respective lists coincide in 11 songs.
The qualification for this mix is fairly simple: have a jingle or a bell in the title (strangely, some promise bells and feature none); or include bells, such as Winter Wonderland, which in any case is alternatively titled Sleigh Bells Ring. Likewise, The Emotions’ melancholy What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas features the jingling of cheerful bells throughout.
Another Christmas mix will drop in the week after next. All mixes listed below should have live links.
As always, this Christmas mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-jinglejangled covers. PW in comments.
1. Peggy Lee – Ring Those Christmas Bells (1953)
2. Nat “King” Cole – Caroling, Caroling (1963)
3. Dean Martin – Jingle Bells (1966)
4. Bing Crosby – I Heard The Bells (1956)
5. Mel Tormé – The Christmas Song (1992)
6. Andy Williams – Kay Thompson”s Jingle Bells (1963)
7. Burt Bacharach – The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle (1968)
8. The Beach Boys – Bells Of Christmas (1967)
9. Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz & Peter Tork – Christmas Is My Time Of Year (1976)
10. Johnny Cash – I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day (1963)
11. The Four Seasons – The Carol Of The Bells (1962)
12. The Funk Brothers – Winter Wonderland (1968)
13. The Emotions – What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas (1978)
14. The Trammps – Sleigh Ride (2000)
15. The Temptations – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (1980)
16. Stevie Wonder – Silver Bells (1967)
17. Bobby Nunn – Christmas Bells (1951)
18. Freddy King – I Hear Jingle Bells (1961)
19. Bill Haley and his Comets – Jingle Bell Rock (1957)
20. Barry & Highlights – Xmas Bell Rock (1960)
21. The Modernaires – Jingle Bell Polka (1947)
22. The Penguins – Jingle Jangle (1955)
23. Burl Ives – Jingle Jingle Jingle (1961)
24. The Sinatra Family – The Bells Of Christmas (1968)
25. The Chieftains – The Bells of Dublin-Christmas Eve (1991)
26. George Harrison – Ding Dong, Ding Dong (1974)
27. Lenka – All My Bells Are Ringing (2008)
28. Smashing Pumpkins – Christmastime (1997)
29. The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) (2003)
More Christmas Mixes
Any Major Christmas Favourites
Any Major 1980s Christmas
Any Major 1970s Christmas
Any Major 1960s Christmas
Any Major 1950s Christmas
Christmas Mix, Not For Mother
Any Major X-Mas Mix
Any Major Christmas Pop Vol. 1
Any Major Christmas Pop Vol. 2
Any Major Christmas Carols (in pop)
Any Major Christmas Bells
Any Major Smooth Christmas Vol. 1
Any Major Smooth Christmas Vol. 2
Any Major Christmas Soul Vol. 1
Any Major Christmas Soul Vol. 2
Any Major Christmas Soul Vol. 3
Any Major Doop Wop Christmas
Any Major Rhythm & Blues Christmas
Any Major Country Christmas Vol. 1
Any Major Country Christmas Vol. 2
Any Major Acoustic Christmas
Christmas In Black & White Vol. 1
Christmas In Black & White Vol. 2
Christmas In Black & White Vol. 3
Song Swarm: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
PW = amdwah
Thank you so much
There are so many new songs and covers I have gotten through the years that have become favorites of mine and it is most appreciated!
Happy Holidays!
Thank you, and Merry Christmas! I’m sure you could do many, many collections of Christmas bell songs. But how about Christmas zithers? Or harps? Moogs? The possibilities are endless!
Thanks for the acknowledgement! I’d forgotten about making that suggestion until I saw myself name-checked here. After all the great stuff I’ve acquired from you over the years, I’m pleased to give a little something back (in a manner of speaking).
Happy holidays to you and yours.
Thanks for this, and all the others too!
One question, I always thought it was Stan Francis who sang Jingle Jingle Jingle, not Burl Ives?
On the “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” soundtrack Stan Francis does the voice of Santa Claus (and Burl Ives the Snowman), and sings “Jingle Jingle Jingle”. But the Burl Ives version here predates that soundtrack by three years.
Thank you very much. I did open my box with christmas music already and I am enjoying your christmas mixes from the last years. I thought maybe a ‘GlamRockChristmas’ is a good idea. Some songs from this era are very well known (Slade, Wizard, Mud) but there are so many great chrustmas songs from the early seventies.
Anyway,, thanks for all your work and all you enjoyable very interesting great samplers.
Thanks for the info, all these years I’ve thought otherwise. Apologies to Mr. Ives..ha.
If you don’t have it on one of your lists already, you should place the Temptations’ “Little Drummer Boy” on a list. One of my favorite Holiday songs of all-time and it’s certainly one of the most underrated. I tried to find it, but you have so many great Xmas lists!
I discovered your site searching for Christmas music, so it’s always a thrill when we come back around for your annual mixes. This one was great, and I eagerly look forward to what you have in store next week as well! Thanks, and Merry Christmas!
Sorry to be so late to this party, Captain, but when I try to do the DL, the RG site just loops and brings it back to the original Choose Download Type dialog. I would appreciate if you could check it when time permits, muchas gracias,
Hi, the problem with the RG was the link on your page had a reference included. I edited the link to be only the RG file link and it worked to stop the looping. I’m looking forward to giving it a spion this morning. Thank you, again…
Love the Christmas Music Just found your site
This Link does not work will you fix it please
Thanks
Link is fixed now
Thanks for the quick reply
Password does not work
It’s amdwah