Welcome back to the countdown!!!

More music and vintage Christmas card goodness to share with you today.  I think candles are very peaceful to look at, even when they are in a picture.

Found on Pinterest (original source unknown).

Today’s song was written by a man many only saw as a comedian, but he was so much more.  He was a writer, an actor, a radio personality, a musician and a composer.  A year after he wrote today’s song he co-created and became the first host of  “The Tonight Show” in 1954.  Hard to think about American culture without late night television.

It would be even harder to imagine our world without the artist who performed the tune we celebrate today.  A New Orleans native, he practically invented the sound we now associate with that part of the country:  a blend of jazz, creole, the blues and anything else that might sweeten the pot.  He mastered the trumpet & coronet before he began singing as well.  His distinctive  rough, gravely voice was the complete antithesis of what was popular in a generation of crooners.  But his innovate vocal scat technique not only influenced them but taught them more about the power of their own voices.  And if there is one song in existence that almost everyone would agree is a masterpiece, it is probably this man’s  version of “What A Wonderful World“.

Louis Armstrong:  “Cool Yule” (1953, written by Steve Allen in 1953).

And for a fun female celestial take on this song,  listen to the one by The Divine Miss M.

Bette Midler:  “Cool Yule” (2006, written by Steve Allen in 1954).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!