Recording

Merry Christmas Tonight The Isles of Rhythm

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John Coots (music) and Haven Gillespie (lyrics) were practically forced to write this song in 1934 when their publishing company, Leo Feist, Inc. promised a children’s Christmas song to the popular vaudeville singer and comedian Eddie Cantor. Although at first Gillespie told his publisher that he didn’t feel up to it, due to the recent death of his brother, on his way home he started writing down things his mother used to tell him around Christmastime when he was a kid back home in Kentucky. By the time he got home he had finished the poem. He sent it to his publisher who then hired Coots to put it to music. The song became one of the most commercially successful Christmas songs ever written through recordings by Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters (1943), and Perry Como (1946).

Gillespie had been writing songs for vaudeville acts and had two number one hits, Breezin’ Along with the Breeze, and Honey. Coots had written music for Broadway shows for stars such as Sophie Tucker and had some sentimental hits, such as Love Letters in the Sand. Gillespie and Coots had been writing songs together since 1933 and had some hits, such as There’s Honey on the Moon Tonight and You Go to My Head, both in 1938.

This version of the song represents a Western swing style. Swing, both Big Band and Western, were extremely popular when this song was written in 1934.

— Kevin Sanders, April, 2009