The Ultimate Christmas Song Guide: 2026 Edition

Did you know that...“Jingle Bells” was written for a Thanksgiving program at the author's father's school?“Let It Snow” and “The Christmas Song” were both written, by different songwriters, during the blazing summer of 1945, just to cool themselves off?“All I want for Christmas Is You,” the Mariah Carey super-hit, was written in 15 minutes and has no actual musicians playing on the song, being put together on a computer?The Best-selling Christmas album of all time is Elvis' Christmas Album?“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” was a plea for peace after the Mexican-American War, while “Do You Hear What I Hear?” was a plea for a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962?The Ultimate Christmas Song Guide: 2026 Edition is the most comprehensive guide to Christmas music that ever existed, providing fascinating information on more than 1000 Christmas Songs and over 3100 renditions of them. For each song the following is provided:Name and alternate names, if anyAuthor(s) - Composers and LyricistsDate - Year first written, if known, or year of first releaseBand or performer of first releaseAlbum or Single of first release, with yearDiscussion - There is a description of what the song is about. Detailed background information is provided for many songs. There are citations to references in the back of the book. Citations are also made to YouTube for some music videos and even old Christmas TV specials!Rendition list - List of renditions of the song, in date order, which contains for each the year of release, band or performer, and album or single it is fromRendition discussion - Genre of renditions and anything unique or interesting about themJam-packed with interesting trivia about the stories behind many popular songs, as well as providing a history of Christmas music for four different periods, the Guide will not only entertain you, but will put you on a voyage of discovery of new songs or renditions that you can almost instantly download from your favorite streaming service!NOTE to purchasers of last year's edition: The 2026 edition includes more than 160 additional songs, from all eras of Christmas music. In addition, it includes nearly a thousand more renditions, representing many musical genres. I also expanded on the stories behind the songs and added more references. In addition, I included an index to point you to the right chapters to find songs in. This edition contains nearly 100 pages more than the original edition.NOTE TO ALL: This is a book about Christmas music--it does not contain actual sheet music or lyrics. Read more