Today is the seventh day of The Twelve Days of a Tony Bennett Christmas.
The song of the day for Tuesday, December 20, 2016 is “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”

About This Song

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written by Hugh Martin for the 1944 Judy Garland film 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’s mine as well.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” for his 2008 album A Swingin’ Christmas.” It’s a lovely arrangement.

I grew up in the same town as Hugh Martin: Birmingham, Alabama and we both attended the same liberal arts college, Birmingham-Southern College. He used to visit the music department on campus whenever he was came home to visit and was always so gracious and encouraging to students, including your author.

“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” as well as A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes.

As a special treat today, here is a 21-year-old Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to Margaret O’Brien. Just a little setup: the father of the family has accepted a promotion in his job which means relocating the family to New York. This is especially hard news on the youngest child, played by Miss O’Brien. No worries … they stay in St. Louis and all is well. Miss O’Brien won a special Juvenile Academy Award for her performance.