Jingle Bell Rock • Bobby Helms
Christmas Song of the Day: Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms.
Yesterday: My Only Wish (this year), Britney Spears
We referenced a few days back that the Elvis Presley song, Blue Christmas, hit the airwaves during the Christmas season of 1957. Well, one other song destined to be a classic was also introduced at the same time — Jingle Bell Rock, by Bobby Helms.
If you notice that Jingle Bell Rock and Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (the Brenda Lee song) sound familiar, that is because Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland played guitar on both songs. This song by Bobby Helms is the first real blending together of rock music and Christmas music (Brenda’s Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree came later in 1958). Jingle Bell Rock is the original and they’ve never stop playing it to this day!
It has received frequent airplay in the United States during every Christmas season since 1957. Jingle Bell Rockwas allegedly composed by Joseph Carleton Beal (1900–1967) and James Ross Boothe (1917–1976), although both Helms and session guitarist on the song Hank Garland disputed this. Beal was a Massachusetts-born public relations professional and longtime resident of South Ocean Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Boothe was an American writer in the advertising business.
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.
Jingle Bell Rock has been performed and covered by many, but Helms' first version from 1957 is the best known. The song's title and some of its lyrics are an extension of the old standard, Jingle Bells. It makes brief references to other popular songs of the 1950s, such as Rock Around the Clock, and mentions going to a "Jingle hop.” An electric guitar played by Hank Garland can be heard playing the first notes of the chorus of Jingle Bells. Backup singers were the Anita Kerr Quartet. In 1970, Helms recorded an entire album entitled Jingle Bell Rock with a picture sleeve. And now 63 years later, we still love hearing that record as if it were brand new.
So when you turn on your car radio on Black Friday and hear that old faithful, familiar guitar riff intro to Jingle Bell Rock, you’ll know the Christmas season is officially under way. Giddy-up jingle horse! Pick up your feet!
Enjoy listening to Bobby Helms below.
Here are some favorite tracks from Spotify, as well as a classic video:
First, Bobby Helms on Spotify:
Jingle Bell Rock
Bobby Helms Christmas
My Special Angel
A classic Bobby Helms video:
(Unfortunately there seem to be no videos of Bobby Helms performing Jingle Bell Rock. So, instead, so you can hear him sing at least...)
Here is his 1957 smash hit My Special Angel, performed by Bobby Helms on The Ed Sullivan Show:
Here is Jingle Bell Rock performed by Brian Setzer:
Here is Jingle Bell Rock performed by The Mean Girls in the movie of the same name:
(Just for fun)
Here is a Jingle Bell Rock cover performed by an adorable little girl by the name of Liza Petruchenko:
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Full Lyrics
(Jingle Bell Rock)
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell rock
