Perry Como's 1950-52 Christmas Songs and Promos

That laid-back baritone Perry Como recorded a great deal of Christmas material during his long career. In this post, we'll look at a few of the more unusual items, all of a promotional nature.

Perry's warm voice and holiday material were made for one another, This can be heard on the opening selection in our program, The First Christmas, where Como is both the story teller and the vocalist, supported by a Mitchell Ayers chorus and orchestra. 

Perry's label, RCA Victor, had been pushing the 45-rpm format for the past few years in opposition to Columbia's 33-rpm speed. But in 1950, RCA gave in and began issuing LPs. To promote The First Christmas, the label sent radio stations a special 12-inch, 33-rpm pressing of the elaborate eight-minute production, in a promotional sleeve. The cover is below; complete scans are in the download, along with the cover of the commercial issue.

The First Christmas was not Como's biggest seasonal success for that year, however. His hit was Carl Sigman and Mickey Addy's "There Is No Christmas Like A Home Christmas." Victor had Perry produce promotional voice tracks for that song and its flip side, another holiday hopeful called "The Christmas Symphony," which, while attractive, did not do as well as its mate. I believe RCA re-issued the latter song in 1951, but it still did not chart, to my knowledge.

Promotional voice tracks came in two forms - one asking the nation's disk jockeys to play a record, the other designed to be played on the air as an intro to the selection. These two items are of the latter variety.

Perry's holiday entry in 1952 was the touching song, "One Little Candle," by George Mysels and J. Maloy Roach. The singer had actually recorded the piece early in the year. It was released in March, possibly timed to Easter. The Christmas Seals charity decided to adopt the memorable tune for its 1952 campaign theme, and Como produced a promotional voice track, which was sent to radio stations along with the song.

As Perry noted in his voice track, the Christmas Seals stickers each bore "one little candle." The song is one of the best of the spate of the inspirational songs that were popular in the postwar years. The idea was that "if everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be." This fit very well into the Christmas Seals message that each individual could play a role in eradicating the leading infectious disease of the time, tuberculosis. The song also advocated that "we all say a prayer that the world will be free" - a popular sentiment in a world that had seen a Communist takeover of eastern Europe and was embarking on a prolonged Cold War with the real threat of nuclear destruction.

I well remember the song, not so much from its the 1952 release, but from its continued use as the theme of The Christophers, an inspirational group founded by Maryknoll priests that produced a television show in the 1950s and thereafter. One of my father's Navy friends had become a Maryknoll brother, so I knew about the organization from their correspondence. "One Little Candle" is a beautiful work that underlines The Christophers' belief that everyone can make a difference in the lives of others, a sentiment pertinent to the Christmas season and every day of the year.

These records were remastered from the vast collection on Internet Archive. The download also includes relevant articles and ads. Below, Perry and RCA's Mindy Carson on the Cash Box cover during the 1950 Christmas season.

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