To date, Lee’s newer version of the song has racked up over 61 million streams on Spotify. Though Brenda Lee’s original rendition of Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree is regarded as definitive, the singer re-recorded her signature song in 1991 – staying faithful to the arrangement – for her seasonal album A Brenda Lee Christmas.
(Among his other well-known Christmas jewels are I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day and Run Rudoph Run.) Despite his penchant for writing cheerful, upbeat holiday songs – he churned out 27 in a fertile 20-year period between 19, many of which still rank among the best Christmas songs of all time – and the fact that he had his own publishing company, St Nicholas Music, Marks did not celebrate Christmas, as he was Jewish. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree was just one of many Christmas-themed gems from the pen of the noted New York City tunesmith Johnny Marks (1909-1985), who had previously written and enjoyed commercial success with the immortal Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, originally cut by country singer Gene Autry, and A Holly Jolly Christmas, as sung by Burl Ives.
Who wrote Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree?
