One of the best parts of the holiday season is the Christmas carols. I'm pretty much a purist as far as stylization is concerned and get cranky about things when artists vary too far from the traditional take on the classics. The straightforward playing of the carols is how I like it.
In my opinion, one of the best is 'The Little Drummer Boy'. I recently went looking for my favorite version. I didn't know exactly who sang it, I only knew it was a choir and I knew it was an old recording. If you type 'Little Drummer Boy' into itunes, 150 different songs are returned to you in the blink of an eye. The results span many genres and range from the good (Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney), the bad (Rosie O'Donnel with Lauryn Hill, the Jackson 5), the ugly (New Kids on the Block, Kenny G), and the strange (the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Klezmonauts).
Happily I did find what I was looking for. It's a version sung by the Harry Simeone Chorale recorded in 1959. Somehow with this version the 'rum-pa-pum-pum's don't get distracting and the message hits home for me every single time I hear it. In the second verse when they sing, "I have no gift to bring that's fit to give our King" I start to get a lump in my throat. Then I actually get tears in my eyes when they sing, "I played my best for him, then He smiled at me, me and my drum".
p.s. You can see/hear the version I'm talking about here. You should have heard me try to sing this for Lucas. It sounded a little like "Alvin and the Chipmunks' Sing a Christmas Opera"
1 comment:
I love how the classics remind us what Christmas all about. Thanks for sharing!
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