| "Please Come Home for Christmas" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Charles Brown | ||||
| from the album Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs | ||||
| B-side | "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)" by Amos Milburn[1] | |||
| Released | 1960 | |||
| Recorded | September 21, 1960[2] | |||
| Genre | R&B, Christmas | |||
| Length | 2:50 | |||
| Label | King 45-5405 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Charles Brown, Gene Redd | |||
| Charles Brown singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Please Come Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song, written in 1960 and released the same year by American blues singer and pianist Charles Brown.[3] Hitting the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1961, the tune, which Brown co-wrote with Gene Redd[note 1], peaked at position number 76. It appeared on the Christmas Singles chart for nine seasons, hitting number 1 in 1972.[4][note 2] It includes a number of characteristics of Christmas music, such as multiple references in the lyrics to the Christmas season and Christmas traditions, and the use of a church bell type sound, created using tubular bells, at the start of the song. The song has been covered by many artists, including by Eagles, Etta James and Cher.
- ^ Kelly, Red (December 19, 2005). "Amos Milburn – Christmas (Comes But Once A Year) (KING 5405)". The B Side. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
- ^ "The Top 40 Christmas Oldies Songs and Holiday Music – #4". Oldies.about.com. September 21, 1960. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Christmas song has local roots" (Online Newspaper). Cincinnati.com. USA Today Network. December 18, 2014. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
...the original version was recorded in 1960 at Evanston's King Records studio by Charles Brown. [...] In 1960, word of Brown's presence in town reached Syd Nathan of King Records. In [a] 1990 interview, Brown recalled that Nathan asked him, "'Could you write something as good as 'Merry Christmas Baby?' I said, 'I don't know how good it will be, but I'll write.' He said, 'You and [Milburn] Amos go write one apiece and let me hear what you done.' When we brought it to Syd Nathan he fell in love with mine." Milburn's "Christmas Comes But Once a Year" ended up as the B-side of Brown's King single... Brown subsequently recorded other singles and even an album of Christmas songs for Nathan, but never had another hit. While Brown claimed he wrote "Please Come Home" alone, the credits listed Redd as co-writer.
- ^ a b CD sleeve: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits (1955 – Present), 1989 Rhino Records Inc.
- ^ Anthony, Randall. "Charles Brown blues". Hipchristmas.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
Merry Christmas Baby," first recorded with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1947, and "Please Come Home For Christmas," a 1960 hit on King Records covered with great success the Eagles in 1978. Brown recorded both of these songs many times...
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