“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,"
a song primarily written by Hugh Martin (with an assist from Ralph Blane), was introduced by Judy Garland
in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra, whose 100th
birthday we celebrated a couple weeks ago, then recorded Martin's 1950s version that
became the standard that we so often hear at Christmas.
In 2007, ASCAP ranked "Have Yourself a
Merry Little Christmas" as the third most performed Christmas song and the 76th
most performed song of ALL songs that had been first written and recorded for the cinema.
I
shared thoughts on the song a couple years ago after hearing an interview with Martin about the song's genesis. Martin said developing the song was “a moment that just came to him” as he thought about Christmas, and being together with family while vacationing near his family home in Alabama. It became a “writer’s moment” if you will.
Martin said one of his favorite versions was done in the 1970s by the incomparable
Karen Carpenter. So on this
Christmas Eve day, here’s that version. And Merry Christmas everyone!
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