"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson and most famously recorded byElvis Presley, although it was first recorded by Doye O'Dell in 1948. It is a tale of unrequited love during the holidays and is a longstanding staple ofChristmas music.
The song was originally recorded by Americancountry singer, musician and actor Doye O'Dell in 1948[1] and was popularized the following year in three separate recordings: one by country artistErnest Tubb, one by musical conductor and arrangerHugo Winterhalter and his orchestra and chorus, and one by bandleaderRuss Morgan and his orchestra (the latter featuring lead vocals by Morgan and backing vocals by singers credited as the Morganaires).[2] Tubb's version spent the first week of January 1950 at No. 1 onBillboard magazine'sMost-Played Juke Box (Country & Western) Records chart, while Winterhalter's version peaked at No. 9 onBillboard's Records Most Played by Disk Jockeys chart, and Morgan's version reached No. 11 onBillboard's Best-Selling Pop Singles chart.[3] Both Morgan's and Winterhalter's versions featured a shorter pop edit of the original lyrics. Also in 1950,croonerBilly Eckstine recorded his rendition, backed by the orchestra ofRuss Case, with these shortened lyrics in a variation close to what is now the common standard for this song; the orchestral backing of this recording has often been wrongly accredited to Winterhalter.[4]
In December 2023, theBritish Phonographic Industry certified the single with a platinum award, reflecting sales and streams in the UK in excess of 600,000 units since its release in 2004. OnBillboard magazine's January 5, 2019 edition, the song reached the number 40 position on theBillboard Hot 100, the latter for the first time since its release in 1964.
The rock bandThe Beach Boys recorded a version featuringBrian Wilson on lead vocals, releasing it in the United States on November 16, 1964, in two separate formats simultaneously: as the B-side of "The Man with All the Toys" single and as a track onThe Beach Boys' Christmas Album. The song also appears in the 1974Rankin/Bass animated special,The Year Without a Santa Claus. In the cartoon, Santa is considering skipping Christmas one year, thinking no one believes in him, and there is very little good will on the planet. Children around the world respond by sending Santa presents, and one little girl sends him a letter, telling Santa it will be a "blue Christmas" without him, while the song plays, and is sung by a little girl.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
^Badman, Keith.The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2004.ISBN0-87930-818-4 p. 72
^Badman, Keith.The Beach Boys. The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and in the Studio Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, 2004.ISBN0-87930-818-4 p. 58
^Whitburn, Joel (2004).Christmas in the Charts (1920-2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 25.ISBN0-89820-161-6.
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