Yeah! The best part of the holiday season is the songs (and my grandma’s pecan balls) and today I’m adding the fifteenth song to my Christmas playlist. Song Fifteen: The Bell that Couldn’t Jingle by Herb Alpert

So – I just had my mind blown learning that everything I thought I knew about this song (it was an original by Herb Alpert, his was the only version, only my family knows this song) is wrong. Burt Bacharach, that talented son-of-a-gun, wrote and originally recorded it in the early 1960’s and Bobby Vinton eventually made it a ‘hit.’ And that’s the version it seems most people who know this song are familiar with.

Personally, after listening to the different versions, I still like Herb Alpert’s the best. His intro to the 1st verse makes all the difference. And, maybe I’m wrong, but I think Bobby Vinton might have been enjoying an herbal refreshment while recording his.

Let’s stick to my childhood and pretend this is the only version.

 

To recap my list so far:

1. Christmas is Starting Now, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

2. Feliz Navidad, Jose Feliciano

3. Gotta Be Good, Chris Isaak

4. It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas, Harry Connick, Jr. or…

5. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Josh Grobin or Mercy Me or…

6. Angels We Have Heard on High, Vanessa Williams

7. Do You Hear What I Hear, Vanessa Williams

8. Carol of the Bells, George Winston  or Barenaked Ladies or…

9. Someday at Christmas, Stevie Wonder

10. Cold December Night, Michael Buble

11. Sleigh Ride, Ella Fitzgerald or…

12. Winter Dreams, Kelly Clarkson

13. That Christmas Feeling/Thank You Santa, Olivia Olsen/Mitchel Musso

14. Happy Xmas (War is Over), John & Yoko

15. The Bell that Couldn’t Jingle, Herb Alpert