Stories Behind the Greatest Hits of Christmas Review

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(More customer reviews)Ace Collins sounds like the name of an author who writes mystery novels featuring hard-bitten, steely-eyed detectives. His books include several titles that seem to belong to that genre, but most are of a gentler sort. Stories Behind the Greatest Hits of Christmas fits into the latter category. Having previously written The Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Collins now focuses on yuletide songs that generated sales on the charts (as my favorite carol, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," apparently didn't). These are among the most beautiful songs ever written, and are such a part of everyone's life that it's tempting to think they just materialized, fully-formed, delivered to our ears the same way God gave the 10 commandments to Moses. Of course, these songs were written by flesh and blood human beings, many of whom were inspired by events as cold and bleak as the darkest night in January.
These are fascinating stories, and Collins's research serves to deepen the listener's appreciation for these beloved songs. The book would make a perfect Christmas gift, but be careful not to give it to that chatterbox with an opinion on every subject, especially if he gets an invitation to your holiday festivities. Every time one of the songs Collins writes about is played on the radio, he'll blather on about its history, and may not even credit his source.
You're better off getting the information directly from Collins. Some of the stories are already familiar to anyone with more than a passing interest in the music, such as Irving Berlin's mistaken belief that "White Christmas" wasn't much of a song, or how lyricist Robert Wells scribbled the beginnings of what became "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. . ") to encourage himself to think cool thoughts during a Los Angeles heat wave. These are great stories that are as worthy of encores as the songs themselves, but what makes the book worthwhile are the more obscure origins of songs that we hear every year.
"Winter Wonderland," for instance, began when lyricist Dick Smith, seriously ill and incapacitated with tuberculosis, saw children playing in the snow and building a snowman, activities that made him nostalgic for his more vigorous youth. "Silver Bells" was titled "Tinkle Bell" until the wife of co-writer Jay Livingston laughed and informed him and his collaborator, Ray Evans, that it was a euphemism for taking a pee. That wonderful line about the star "with a tail as big as a kite" from the stirring "Do You Hear What I Hear?" almost didn't make it into the finished song. Gloria Shane, who set husband Noel Regney's words to music, told him that American listeners wouldn't understand it. Regney refused to change it. "As it turned out, he was right," she said. "It is a line people dearly love."
Collins presents the intriguing history of 31 other songs, and though most are classics worthy of inclusion, the book is like a radio station's Christmas playlist in that "Silent Night," "Pretty Paper," and "The Little Drummer Boy" are inevitably interrupted by a few clunkers, wretched songs like the offensive "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." Thankfully, this turkey is joined by only two other chunks of coal unworthy of consideration as Christmas classics. In the spirit of the season, I won't name them so as not to offend their many fans.
Collins's book deserves to be a classic itself.
Brian W. Fairbanks


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You know these songs by heart. They're the 'greatest hits' of Christmas. But do you know the fascinating, inspirational stories behind them---who wrote them and how they came to be? In his latest book, Ace Collins reveals the stories behind the greatest hits of Christmas---all the songs you have enjoyed for generations.For example, as the story goes, jazz great Mel Torme wrote 'The Christmas Song' after visiting a friend in California, who, longing to escape California's heat for the cold winters of his New England, doodled these now-famous phrases on his spiral pad: 'Chestnuts roasting ... Jack Frost nipping ... Yuletide carols ...' Torme saw those words and one of the most famous Christmas songs of all time, first recorded by Nat King Cole, was born.Within these pages, you'll discover the origins of such famous Christmas songs as 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' 'Winter Wonderland,' 'White Christmas,' 'Little Drummer Boy,' 'Feliz Navidad,' 'O Holy Night,' and two dozen others. Although not yet as famous as the Christmas songs of which he writes (he's working on that), Collins's many books have sold tens of thousands of copies and have become treasured family classics, read and enjoyed by young and old alike.His new book is a treasure-trove of the kind of magic that makes Christmas the beloved holiday it is. This is Ace Collins at his storytelling best ... which means it's sure to become a 'greatest hit' with your family, too.

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