"The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popularChristmas song written by American composerKatherine Kennicott Davis in 1941.[1] First recorded in 1951 by the AustrianTrapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 1958 recording by theHarry Simeone Chorale; the Simeone version was re-released successfully for several years, and the song has been recorded many times since.[2]
In the lyrics, the singer relates how, as a poor young boy, he was summoned by theMagi to theNativity of Jesus. Without a gift for the Infant, the littledrummer boy played his drum with approval from Jesus's mother,Mary, recalling, "I played my best for him" and "He smiled at me". The story of a drummer at the manger is not from the Bible.[3]
The song was originally titled "Carol of the Drum". While speculation has been made that the song is very loosely based on the Czech carol "Hajej, nynej",[4]Claire Fontijn, the chair of the music department at Davis's alma materWellesley College claims otherwise.[5]
Inspiration for "The Little Drummer Boy" came to Davis in 1941. "[One day], when she was trying to take a nap, she was obsessed with this song that came into her head and it was supposed to have been inspired by a French song, "Patapan", explained Fontijn. "And then 'patapan' translated in her mind to 'pa-rum-pum-pum', and it took on a rhythm." The result was "The Little Drummer Boy".
Davis's interest was in producing material for amateur and girls' choirs: Her manuscript is set as achorale, in which the tune is in the soprano melody with alto harmony, tenor and bass parts producing the "drum rhythm" and a keyboard accompaniment "for rehearsal only". It is headed "Czech Carol freely transcribed by K.K.D.", these initials then crossed out and replaced with "C.R.W. Robinson", a name under which Davis sometimes published.[6][7]
"Carol of the Drum" appealed to the AustrianTrapp Family Singers, who first brought the song to wider prominence when they recorded it forDecca Records in 1951 on their first album for the label. Their version was credited solely to Davis and published byBelwin-Mills.[8]
In 1957, the song was recorded with an altered arrangement byJack Halloran for his Jack Halloran Singers on theirDot Records albumChristmas Is A-Comin'. This arrangement is the one commonly sung today.[2] However, the recording was not released as a single that year. In response to this, Dot producer Henry Onorati, who left Dot to become the new head of20th Century-Fox Records in 1958,[9] introduced the song toHarry Simeone. When 20th Century-Fox Records contracted with Simeone to record a Christmas album, Simeone hired many of the same singers who had sung in Halloran's version and made a near-identical recording with his newly created Harry Simeone Chorale.[2][10][11] It was released as a single in 1958,[10] and later on the album,Sing We Now of Christmas, later retitledThe Little Drummer Boy. The only difference between Simeone's and Halloran's versions was that Simeone's contained finger cymbals, and the song's title had been changed to "The Little Drummer Boy".[2] Simeone and Onorati claimed and received joint composition credits with Davis,[2] although the two did not actually compose or arrange it.[10][11] Halloran never received a joint writing credit for the song, something his family disagrees with.[10][11][12]
The album and the song were an enormous success,[13] with the single scoring in the top 40 of the U.S. music charts from 1958 to 1962.[10] In 1965, Simeone, who had signed withKapp Records in 1964, re-recorded a new version of the song for his albumO' Bambino: The Little Drummer Boy.[14] This version (3:18 play time) was recorded in stereo, had a slightly slower tempo, and contained different-sounding cymbals. Simeone recorded the song a third and final time in 1981 (3:08 play time), for an album, again titledThe Little Drummer Boy, on the budget Holiday Records label.
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, whose version got to No. 13 in the UK charts at Christmas 1972[20]
Jazz/funk musicianStix Hooper, drummer and percussionist for the groupThe Crusaders, who recorded the song in 1979 as the final track onThe World Within, his first album as a lead artist.[21]
Pop groupBoney M., who recorded a version of the song for their 1981Christmas Album. The single peaked at No. 20 in Germany.[22]
Also in 1981, apop punk/hard rock version served as the final track onJoan Jett and the Blackhearts's albumI Love Rock 'n Roll. Jett's version includes a return of the traditional lyrics of "ass and lamb" instead of "ox and lamb", and another line, traditionally "Mary nodded", is rendered in apparentnonsense words. Besides these and a climacticelectric guitar breakdown, the song is otherwise performed fairly earnestly.[23]
Terry Wogan andAled Jones recorded a cover of the 1977 David Bowie/Bing Crosby duet, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy"; after a brief campaign amongst listeners ofBBC Radio 2 instigated byChris Evans to get the song released in support of theChildren in Need charity, it was released as a single on 8 December 2008, reaching No. 3 in theUK Top 40 singles chart.[26]
Norwegian electronic musicianHans-Peter Lindstrøm recorded a 42-minute version of the song in 2009. In 2019,The Guardian placed it at number 20 on their list of the 50 greatest Christmas songs.[27]
Justin Bieber released a version of the song, simply named "Drummer Boy", withBusta Rhymes on his 2011 Christmas album,Under the Mistletoe, adding rap verses. The song is listed among the Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart byBillboard.[29]
Pentatonix released it as a digital single, in 2013, which both debuted and peaked at No. 13 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart.[30][31]
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