On The Eighth Day of a Tony Bennett Christmas

On the eighth day of a Tony Bennett Christmas, he sings for us “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin, with lyrics by Ralph Blane.It was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 movie Meet Me In St. Louis. In a Twitter conversation in November 2012, Tony Bennett said that “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is his favorite Christmas song. It is also a favorite of your author, who shares both a home town (Birmingham, Alabama) and an alma mater (Birmingham-Southern College) with Hugh Martin. He was a frequent visitor to both the theater and music departments when he visited home and was always very supportive of our work. Merry Christmas, Mr. Martin.

Tony Bennett first recorded “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in 1968 for Snowfall. Today’s version is from A Swingin’ Christmas, released in 2008.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0Z52gqfioTOy0goZIrjcNy
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” as well as A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes.

And who can forget the luminous Judy Garland, singing this song to a young Margaret O’Brien in Meet Me In St. Louis.