As a songwriter, Johnny Marks had a pretty good career.
Although he penned 25 notable songs and is in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, he is best known for three songs: “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Burl Ives struck gold with “Holly, Jolly…” in 1964. Gene Autry had the first hit with “Rudolph…” in 1949. That song seems to be the third all-time best-selling Christmas song, with some 15 million copies sold.
But the most rocking hit Marks wrote, by far, is the absolute classic Christmas song, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” sung by Brenda Lee and released in 1958.
Recorded when she was only 13 years old, “Rockin’…” is still the one to get the toes tapping, even those of shoppers selecting Halloween candy.
Bing Crosby may hold the title of best-selling all-time Christmas song, with his “White Christmas” (1942) having sold an estimated 50+ million copies.
But “Rockin’..” is, well the most rocking.
Lee was very young when contracted to sing the song, but she was already a seasoned veteran of stages around the country. She had a hit in 1957 when she was 12.
She won a talent contest when she was 5 years old when she sang, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
At age 11, she became a regular on the early TV show called “Ozark Jubilee.”
In 1957, she toured with Ricky Nelson, Bill Haley and the Comets, and Patsy Cline.
Recorded just as rock ‘n’ roll was taking hold of young people and scaring parents everywhere, “Rockin’…” has a decided rockabilly feel. There are sweet guitar parts played by Harold Bradley and Hank Garland (that’s how you do it).
The great country player Floyd Cramer played the piano, Boots Randolph honked the sax, Bob Moore played the bass, and Buddy Harman was the drummer. It was a collection of some of the best musicians that could have been gathered in Nashville at the time.
The song was recorded live, on the spot, no muss, no fuss. When you have the A-Team of Nashville cats, you can do that.
The song is said to have been recorded in a converted quonset hut in Nashville, with the air conditioning turned up full blast and Christmas decorations regaling the studio. The musicians donned Santa hats and cut a classic.
The song was released the day before Thanksgiving 1958, and never really did a whole lot. It sold only moderately until, unbeknownst to Brenda Lee, it appeared in the movie “Home Alone” in 1990. That bumped it into the stratosphere of record sales.
In the years since, the song has been recorded by a who’s who of singers, but Lee’s is, I think, still the best.
