From France we go to the United States and another Johnny Marks Christmas hit. A Holly Jolly Christmas was featured in the 1964 television show, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was sung by Sam the Snowman. That character was voiced by Burl Ives, who re-recorded the song a year later for his own Christmas album — the version we hear on the radio during the holiday season.
There are a lot of different chords that can be added to the melody line when playing this on the ukulele. It’s a really challenging song to learn, especially for a beginner:
I’ve commissioned the family for the grand finale of the 2018 Uketide Tunes concert. We’re going on vacation for this one!
I started writing this series last year, telling tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. We often don’t remember the presents we received last year, let alone from decades ago. That said, there are gifts that resonate with us and are unforgettable. This is another of mine.
Mattel Electronics Football II
An absolute favorite from my childhood. After Pong, Mattel’s electronic games were my first real introduction to video games. I was given Mattel Baseball in the late 1970s, but it was Football II that I loved the most:
I would have said that Roger Staubach was in there, but the point in the commercial stands. Football II introduced passing into the game. In the original Football players could only run. Hey, the game was modernizing, so technology had to keep up!
My parents gave me this game for Christmas in the early 1980s. In what could have been a scene out of my own personal A Christmas Story, I had been strategically leaving the J.C. Penney catalog on Mom’s side of the bed that December. It was always open to the electronic games page so she would remember my desire to simulate gridiron greatness with my thumbs.
I blew through a lot of 9-volt batteries pretending to be the Dallas Cowboys. I used to pull out notebook paper and write down a schedule of games to be played. We beat the Pittsburgh Steelers most of the time, usually by multiple touchdowns. I think we rolled them in the Super Bowl, too. The game wasn’t licensed by the National Football League so any team representations were in my imagination. The players were all blips of light moving on a tiny screen, but the experience was glorious. You know what? I still have the game, and it works! Kudos to “ancient” technology that lacks planned obsolescence.
Do you have a favorite toy or game from your childhood? Do you still have it?
The sleigh is back in the barn after it was upsot in that tragic snowdrift accident. Today everything slows down to a more reflective pace with a 17th century Christmas carol originating from beautiful Provence, France. The first time I heard Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella was on Mannheim Steamroller’s initial Christmas album. The arrangement was beautiful, and I try here to emulate parts of it on the ukulele.
This is probably the most difficult song I’ve learned this holiday season. The single note melody played on the first verse is easy, but incorporating the chords into the melody on the second verse is challenging:
My understanding is that children in modern Provence carry torches and candles on their way to midnight mass on Christmas Eve while singing carols.
More Christmas ukulele to come as we hit the stretch run to the big day! A 20th century hit is next.
