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=                            Silver Bells                            =
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                             Introduction                             
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"Silver Bells" is a Christmas song composed by Jay Livingston and Ray
Evans.

It debuted in the motion picture 'The Lemon Drop Kid' (1951), where it
was started by William Frawley, then sung in the generally known
version immediately thereafter by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell. The
first recorded version was produced by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards
on September 8, 1950, with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and
the Lee Gordon Singers. The record was released by Decca Records in
October 1950. When the recording became popular, Hope and Maxwell were
called back in late 1950 to re-shoot a more elaborate production of
the song.


                               History                                
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"Silver Bells" started out as "Tinkle Bells". Songwriter Ray Evans
said: "We never thought that 'tinkle' had a double meaning until Jay
went home and his first wife said, 'Are you out of your mind? Do you
know what the word 'tinkle' is?'"

This song's inspiration is the source of conflicting reports. Several
periodicals and interviews cite writer Jay Livingston stating that the
song's inspiration came from the bells used by sidewalk Santa Clauses
and Salvation Army solicitors on New York City street corners.
However, in an interview with NPR, co-writer Ray Evans said that the
song was inspired by a bell that sat on an office desk that he shared
with Livingston.

Kate Smith's 1966 version of "Silver Bells" became popular and has
since been featured prominently in film and on holiday albums. The
song was recorded by American country duo the Judds and was released
as a single in 1987, charting for one week in 1998 at No. 68 on the
Hot Country Songs chart. In 2009 the song charted in the United
Kingdom for the first time when a duet by Terry Wogan and Aled Jones
that had been recorded for charity reached the Top 40, peaking at No.
27.


                               See also                               
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* List of Christmas carols


                            External links                            
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* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5068947
What's in a song? 'Silver Bells'] — NPR interviews the author Ray
Evans, with audio.


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License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Bells


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