Advent: December 5th - Joy To The World
Back to a historically known Christmas song today and one that I expect you will all probably know of; Joy To The World. Not to be confused with Joyful, Joyful which I ended up listening to before continuing in my search for versions of this Christmas ditty. I’m a sucker for Sister Act (and the sequel) so was glad to listen to the song, however, much to my disappointment, it is in no way connected to Christmas or Joy To The World.
Joy To The World, as a song, dates back to 1839 when music was arranged to accompany an English hymn by Isaac Watts; though the music itself is believed to have originated in part from Handel’s Messiah. It is the most published Christmas hymn in North America.
As with many Christmas songs, there are many known versions from a variety of artists. It was first recorded by Percy Faith, a conductor whose instrumental version of the song is well known. It has since been covered by Boney M (1984), The Supremes (1965), Andy Williams (1974) and Mariah Carey who, in 1994, covered the song in various styles.
Having listened to various versions of the song today I’m not really sure which ones to share. None of them really stood out in the same way other songs have, so I guess I’ll just have to share a couple chosen at random.
Joy To The World - Nat King Cole
Having given you some facts about Mariah Carey’s version I should probably share it with you.
And finally, Aly & AJ, them girls give it some style.
If you want to hear the Boney M version, here’s the link http://youtu.be/z6Q-TKzxf8k
And why not a bit of Whitney Houston http://youtu.be/BTknk-jxc2k
Joy To The World, as a song, dates back to 1839 when music was arranged to accompany an English hymn by Isaac Watts; though the music itself is believed to have originated in part from Handel’s Messiah. It is the most published Christmas hymn in North America.
As with many Christmas songs, there are many known versions from a variety of artists. It was first recorded by Percy Faith, a conductor whose instrumental version of the song is well known. It has since been covered by Boney M (1984), The Supremes (1965), Andy Williams (1974) and Mariah Carey who, in 1994, covered the song in various styles.
Having listened to various versions of the song today I’m not really sure which ones to share. None of them really stood out in the same way other songs have, so I guess I’ll just have to share a couple chosen at random.
Joy To The World - Nat King Cole
Click to viewHaving given you some facts about Mariah Carey’s version I should probably share it with you.
And finally, Aly & AJ, them girls give it some style.
If you want to hear the Boney M version, here’s the link http://youtu.be/z6Q-TKzxf8k
And why not a bit of Whitney Houston http://youtu.be/BTknk-jxc2k