ChristmasTimeTV
Uploaded on Nov 20, 2010
"A Holly Jolly Christmas" is a
popular song written by Johnny Marks. Although he was Jewish, he
specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many standards including
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,"
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, and "Run Rudolph Run." This song
was first recorded by the Quinto Sisters and later by Burl Ives.
One of my favorite Christmas songs! A song by Burl Ives with lyrics.
| Burl Ives | |
|---|---|
 Burl Ives in 1955, photo by Carl Van Vechten |
|
| Born | Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives June 14, 1909 Jasper County, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | April 14, 1995 (aged 85) Anacortes, Washington, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, voice over actor, folk singer, writer, author |
| Years active | 1935–93 |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Peck Ehrich (1945–71) Dorothy Koster Paul (1971–95) |
Life and career
Ives was born in 1909 near Hunt City, an unincorporated town in Jasper County, Illinois near Newton, Illinois; the son of Levi "Frank" Ives (1880–1947) and Cordelia "Dellie" White (1882–1954). He had six siblings: Audry, Artie, Clarence, Argola, Lillburn, and Norma.His father was at first a farmer and then a contractor for the county and others. One day Ives was singing in the garden with his mother, and his uncle overheard them. He invited his nephew to sing at the old soldiers' reunion in Hunt City. The boy performed a rendition of the folk ballad "Barbara Allen" and impressed both his uncle and the audience.[2]
Ives had a long-standing relationship with the Boy Scouts of America. He was a Lone Scout before that group merged with the Boy Scouts of America in 1924.[3]
The collection of his papers at the New York Library for the Performing Arts includes a photograph of Ives being "inducted" into the Boy Scouts in 1966.[4]
Ives received the organization's Silver Buffalo Award, its highest honor.[5] The certificate for the award is hanging on the wall of the Scouting Museum in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.[6]
Ives often performed at the quadrennial Boy Scouts of America jamboree, including the 1981 jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where he shared the stage with the Oak Ridge Boys.[7] There is a 1977 sound recording of Ives being interviewed by Boy Scouts at the National Jamboree at Moraine State Park, Pennsylvania; on this tape he also sings and talks about Scouting, teaching, etc.[8]
Ives is also the narrator of a 28-minute film about the 1977 National Jamboree. In the film, which was produced by the Boy Scouts of America, Ives "shows the many ways in which Scouting provides opportunities for young people to develop character and expand their horizons."[9]
From 1927 to 29, Ives attended Eastern Illinois State Teachers College (now Eastern Illinois University) in Charleston, Illinois, where he played football.[10] During his junior year, he was sitting in English class, listening to a lecture on Beowulf, when he suddenly realized he was wasting his time. As he walked out the door, the professor made a snide remark, and Ives slammed the door behind him.[11]
Sixty years later, the school named a building after its most famous dropout.[12] Ives was also involved in Freemasonry from 1927 onward.[13]
On July 23, 1929 in Richmond, Indiana, Ives did a trial recording of "Behind the Clouds" for the Starr Piano Company's Gennett label, but the recording was rejected and destroyed a few weeks later.[14]
1930s–1940s
Ives traveled about the U.S. as an itinerant singer during the early 1930s, earning his way by doing odd jobs and playing his banjo. He was jailed in Mona, Utah, for vagrancy and for singing “Foggy, Foggy Dew,” which the authorities decided was a bawdy song.[15]Around 1931 he began performing on WBOW radio in Terre Haute, Indiana. He also went back to school, attending classes at Indiana State Teachers College (now Indiana State University).[16]
During the late 1930s Ives also attended The Juilliard School in New York.
In 1940 Ives began his own radio show, titled The Wayfaring Stranger after one of his ballads. Over the next decade, he popularized several traditional folk songs, such as “Foggy, Foggy Dew” (an English/Irish folk song), “Blue Tail Fly” (an old Civil War tune), and “Big Rock Candy Mountain” (an old hobo ditty).
He was also associated with the 'Almanac Singers' (Almanacs), a folk singing group which at different times included Woody Guthrie, Will Geer and Pete Seeger. The Almanacs were active in the American Peace Mobilization (APM), an anti-war group opposed to American entry into World War II and Franklin Roosevelt's pro-Allied policies. They recorded such songs as 'Get Out and Stay Out of War' and 'Franklin, Oh Franklin'.[17]
In June 1941, promptly after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, the APM re-organized itself into the pro-war American People's Mobilization.
Ives and the Almanacs re-recorded several of their songs to reflect the group's new stance in favor of US entry into the war. Among them were 'Dear Mr. President' and 'Reuben James'(name of a US destroyer sunk by the Germans before US entry into the war).
In early 1942, Ives was drafted into the U.S. Army.
He spent time first at Camp Dix, then at Camp Upton, where he joined the cast of Irving Berlin's This Is the Army. He attained the rank of corporal.[citation needed] When the show went to Hollywood, he was transferred to the Army Air Force. He was discharged honorably, apparently for medical reasons, in September 1943.
Between September and December 1943, Ives lived in California with actor Harry Morgan (who would later go on to play Officer Bill Gannon in the 1960s version of Jack Webb's TV show Dragnet, and Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H). In December 1943, Ives went to New York City to work for CBS radio for $100 a week.[18]
On December 6, 1945, Ives married 29-year-old script writer Helen Peck Ehrlich.[19] Their son Alexander was born in 1949.[citation needed]
In 1945 Ives was cast as a singing cowboy in the film Smoky (1945).[20]
In 1947, Ives recorded one of many versions of "The Blue Tail Fly (Jimmy Crack Corn)", but paired this time with the incredibly popular Andrews Sisters (Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne). Only Bing Crosby sold more Decca Records than the sisters in the 1940s.
The flip side of the record would be a fast-paced "I'm Goin' Down the Road". Ives hoped that the trio's success would help the record sell well, and indeed it did, becoming both a best-selling disc and a Billboard hit.[21] It's unfortunate that the acts never paired again on record, as they well-balanced each other's musical genres for a pleasant blend.
His version of the 17th century English song "Lavender Blue" became his first hit and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for its use in the 1949 film, So Dear to My Heart.
Source: Wikipedia
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