Ya sang along with it and ya KNOW ya did!!!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Please Come Home For Christmas

1960/1978

Charles Brown/The Eagles

Newsflash, gang...The Eagles were not the original artists to record 'Please Come Home For Christmas. Their cover of the son's the one you're most likely to hear on the radio during Christmas, and is the most popular, hands down...but they didn't cover it until about 18 years after it was originally released.

It was originally released by Blues singer and piano-player Charles Brown...add 'Songwriter to his resume' , too, because he also co-wrote 'Please Come Home For Christmas' with Gene Redd. They released it in 1960, but it didn't make it to the Hot 100 until Christmas '61, making it to #76. It charted on the Christmas Singles chart for nine straight years, peaking at #1 on that chart in 1972...and then it kind of faded slowly....

...Until a little band calling themselves 'The Eagles' got hold of it in 1978, put their extraordinary talents into their cover, at the same time introducing Timothy B Schmidt on bass as he had just replaced The Eagles original bass player Randy Meisner a few months earlier.

They gave the tune their legendary signature sound, released it just in time for Christmas of that year, and saw their cover quickly become the definite version of 'Please Come Home for Christmas'. It shot up the charts and cracked the Top 20, landing at #18 on The Billboard Hot 100, and found it's way onto Christmas playlists all on all genres of radio...but especially Top 40 and Rock stations...nationwide.

To this day it's still the version of the song that you hear most often during Christmas, and doesn't show any sign of loosing any popularity (I mean, after all, it's The Eagles!)...they convey the songs mood and feel perfectly. The four note opening on the bells that kicks their cover of the song off will be drifting form radios and stereos for generations to come!

So enjoy...The Eagles' cover of 'Please Come Home For Christmas', AKA The One We Always Hear.