Jingle Bell Rock by Arjen

Arjen - Jingle Bell Rock

Arjen

Dec 09, 2024 05:33am

"Jingle Bell Rock" is an American <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Christmas song</a> first released by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Helms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bobby Helms</a> in 1957. It has received frequent airplay in the United States during every <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_season" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Christmas season</a> since then, and is generally considered Helms' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_signature_songs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signature song</a>. "Jingle Bell Rock" was composed by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe, although both Helms and session guitarist on the song <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Garland" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hank Garland</a> disputed this (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#Authorship_controversy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Authorship controversy</a> section below). Beal was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a>-born <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_relations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">public relations</a> professional and longtime resident of South Ocean Avenue in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_City,_New_Jersey" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Atlantic City, New Jersey</a>, and Boothe was an American writer in the advertising business.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[8]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[9]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jingle_Bell_Rock_-_Captain_Santa_Claus_-_Billboard_ad_1957.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Jingle_Bell_Rock_-_Captain_Santa_Claus_-_Billboard_ad_1957.jpg/170px-Jingle_Bell_Rock_-_Captain_Santa_Claus_-_Billboard_ad_1957.jpg" height="251" width="170"></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard</a> advertisement, November 25, 1957 "Jingle Bell Rock" has been performed by many, but Helms' first version from 1957 produced by Paul Cohen<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a> is arguably the best known.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-11" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[11]</a> The song's title and some of its lyrics are an extension of the old Christmas standard, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bells" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jingle Bells</a>". It makes brief references to other popular songs of the 1950s, such as "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Around_the_Clock" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rock Around the Clock</a>", and mentions going to a "Jingle <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sock_hop" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hop</a>". There are two recorded versions of Jingle Bell Rock. An electric guitar played by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Garland" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hank Garland</a> can be heard playing the first notes of the chorus of "Jingle Bells" in one version. In the other version, a steel guitar played by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Ade&action=edit&redlink=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henry Ade</a> can be heard playing those jazzy jingle twangs. Backup singers were the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Kerr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anita Kerr Singers</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-12" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[12]</a>Helms' original version, on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decca_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Decca</a> 9-30513 from October 1957, was re-recorded by him on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapp_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kapp</a> K-719 in 1965, and yet again in 1967 on Little Darlin' LD-0038. In 1970, Helms recorded an entire album titled Jingle Bell Rock on Certron C-7013, releasing the title track on Certron C-10021, with a picture sleeve. In yet another re-recording, Helms released a version on Ashley AS-4200 (1971). He again recorded the song for Gusto Records, it was subsequently released on their "Power Pak" label. In 1983, Helms released his last recording of "Jingle Bell Rock" on Black Rose 82713. Personnel<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Helms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bobby Helms</a> – vocals, guitar</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Ade&action=edit&redlink=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henry Ade</a> - steel guitar</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Garland" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hank Garland</a> – guitar</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Kerr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anita Kerr Singers</a> – backing vocals</li></ul> Helms, as well as session guitarist on the song Hank Garland, both claimed until their deaths, that it was they, not Beal and Boothe, who wrote the song. They claimed that the original song by Beal and Boothe was called Jingle Bell Hop, and that it was given to Helms by a Decca executive to record. This song, according to Helms and Garland, had little to no resemblance to the current song. Helms did not like it, and as a result, they both proceeded to work on it, changing the music, lyrics, and tempo and also giving it a previously missing bridge. This new song, they claimed, was the one that is known today. However, neither of them received writing credit or subsequent writing royalties.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Bizarticle-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[20]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Songfacts-21" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[21]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Helmsbiography-22" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[22]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Indystar-23" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[23]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Businesslessons1-24" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[24]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Businesslessons2-25" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[25]</a> <blockquote>"'I really didn't want to cut it because it was such a bad song. So me and one of the musicians [Hank Garland] worked on it for about an hour putting a melody to it and we put a bridge to it,' said Helms [in a 1992 interview]."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Indystar-23" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[23]</a></blockquote><blockquote>"'I let it hop back to where it came from' Garland recalled. 'It wasn't any good. [Bobby and I] came up with the 'Jingle Bell Rock' America hears every holiday season,' he [Garland] said [in a 2001 interview]."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Bizarticle-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[20]</a></blockquote><blockquote>Billy Garland, brother of Hank Garland, maintains his deceased brother's story, and has long been involved with and vocal about the issue.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Bizarticle-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[20]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock#cite_note-Businesslessons2-25" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[25]</a></blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bell_Rock</a></blockquote>