THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY ~ BY HARRY SIMEONE CHORALE

"The Little Drummer Boy" is a popular Christmas song, with words and music by Katherine K. Davis. Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone have been credited with writing the song, even though they were only the arrangers for their recordings of it. The version that made the song popular was the one sung and recorded by the Harry Simeone Chorale. It is also known as the "Carol of the Drum". In 1957 Onorati arranged the song for a recording by the Jack Halloran Singers on Dot Records, but this version was not released in time for Christmas. The following year Simeone re-arranged the song yet again and retitled it for his Chorale's hit single version, which was issued on 20th Fox Records' 45-121 with a 45rpm picture sleeve, then on their LP called Sing We Now of Christmas, which became an enormous bestseller. In 1963 the company, now known as 20th Century Fox Records, retitled and reissued their album. It was now called The Little Drummer Boy: A Christmas Festival, in order to boost sales even higher, as the 45-rpm single had continued to be a seasonal hit.



Lyrics | Christmas lyrics - Little Drummer Boy lyrics

THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY ~ BY BOB DYLAN

"The Little Drummer Boy" is a popular Christmas song, with words and music by Katherine K. Davis. Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone have been credited with writing the song, even though they were only the arrangers for their recordings of it. The version that made the song popular was the one sung and recorded by the Harry Simeone Chorale. It is also known as the "Carol of the Drum". The lyrics tell the apocryphal story of a poor young boy who, unable to afford a gift for the infant Jesus, plays his drum for the newborn with the Virgin Mary's approval. Miraculously, the baby, although a newborn, seems to understand and smiles at the boy in gratitude. The popularity of this song is to be seen by the quantity of cover versions of The Little Drummer Boy - a total amount of over 220 versions in 7 languages are known, in all kind of music genres. The song has been performed by classical orchestras, choral groups (both classical and popular), easy-listening stylists, rappers, rock groups and so on. Bob Dylan covered the song for his 2009 Christmas album Christmas in the Heart.

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