Winter Wonderland by Tony Bennett—Murfin Winter Holidays Music Festival 2025-26

 

                                                                        Winter Wonderland sung by Tony Bennett.

There is moderate amount of snow on the ground here in northern Illinois and temperatures are frigid. Other parts of the country, however, have been buried in all of the Winter Wonderland they can stand.  Looking at you, Buffalo! Time to revisit this classic winter-but-not-Christmas song and let the great Tony Bennett give it his swinging interpretation.

Winter Wonderland was written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard B. Smith. Since its original RCA recording by Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra, it has been covered by over 200 different artists, including Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Michael Buble, The Eurythmics, and Radiohead.

Smith’s lyrics were reportedly inspired by memories of his hometown Honesdale, Pennsylvania park freshly buried in snow but were written while he was being treated for tuberculosis in the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton.

Winter Wonderland snowman--Parson Brown or Circus Clown?

Among the most notable covers were by Johnny Mercer, which reached #4 on the Billboard radio play chart in 1946, and by Perry Como the same year which was in the top ten songs in retail sales.

Sinatra’s version is notable for changing the lyrics.  Despite the earlier success of the song, Sinatra was warned that powerful protestant clergy were prepared to demand radio stations ban the song because of the line “In the meadow we will build a snowman/We’ll pretend that he is Parson Brown/He’ll say, ‘are you married?’ We’ll say no man/But you can do the job when you’re in town.”  The preachers were alarmed that the words implied hanky-panky by the unmarried couple.  Old Blue Eyes changed the word to the nonsensical “In the meadow we can build a snowman /And pretend that he’s a circus clown/We’ll have lots of fun with Mr. Snowman/Until the other kiddies knock him down.”

Some other later covers of the song used Sinatra’s version while others stood by the original words.  Some even used both versions.

Tony Bennett at a Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting special on NBC a few years ago.

Tony Bennett’s jazzy take of this seasonal chestnut is one of my favorites.

Winter Wonderland by Eurythmics—Murfin Winter Holidays Music Festival 2025-‘26

 

Winter Wonderland is one of those Winter songs that are always on Holiday Season playlists despite having no direct connection to the holiday.   Ordinarily I wait until after Christmas to post but this year here in the far Northwest boonies of the Chicago metroplex we were pasted by a major storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on us.  It is an El Niño so a cold and snowy Winter looms ahead of us.  By late December we may already be sick to death of white accumulations and resistant to early dazzling alure. Here is the story of the song if we can stomach it.  

Winter Wonderland was written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard B. Smith. Since its original RCA recording by Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra, it has been covered by over 200 different artists, including Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Amy Grant, Michael Bublé, and Radiohead.  In 1987, Eurithmics had a modern twist on the old standard using synthesizer and the ethereal vocals of Anne Lennox. 

Smith’s lyrics were reportedly inspired by memories of his hometown Honesdale, Pennsylvania park freshly buried in snow but were written while he was being treated for tuberculosis in the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton. 

Among the most notable covers were by Johnny Mercer, who reached #4 on the Billboard radio play chart in 1946, and by Perry Como the same year which was in the top ten songs in retail sales. 

Winter Wonderland snowman--Parson Brown or Circus Clown?

Sinatra’s version is notable for changing the lyrics.  Despite the earlier success of the song, Sinatra was warned that powerful Protestant clergy were prepared to demand radio stations ban the song because of the line “In the meadow we will build a snowman/We’ll pretend that he is Parson Brown/He’ll say, ‘are you married?’ We’ll say no man/But you can do the job when you’re in town.”  The preachers were alarmed that the words implied hanky-panky by the unmarried couple.  Old Blue Eyes changed the word to the nonsensical “In the meadow we can build a snowman /And pretend that he’s a circus clown/We’ll have lots of fun with Mr. Snowman/Until the other kiddies knock him down.” 

Some later covers of the song used Sinatra’s version while others stood by the original words.  Some even used both versions. 

Annie Lenox channeling the Sprit of Christmas Present for her classic holiday album Christmas Cornucopia.

Winter Wonderland by Doris Day--Murfin Winter Holidays Music Festival 2024-25

 

                                                            Winter Wonderland by Doris Day.

This is a good time to share one of those holiday playlist songs that really have nothing to do with Christmas or any other seasonal fest.  Among the most common are winter or snow songs--think Frosty the Snowman for kids, the seduction or date rape song (take your pick) Baby It's Cold Outside, Snow from the movie White Christmas, My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music, and of course Jingle Bells.  But the most popular of these is Winter Wonderland.

Winter Wonderland was written by composer Felix Bernard (left) and consumptive lyricist Richard B.Smith.

The song was written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard B. Smith.  Since its original RCA recording by Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra, it has been covered by over 200 different artists including Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Michael Buble, The Eurytmics, and Radiohead.

 Smith's lyrics were reportedly inspired by memories of his hometown Honesdale, Pennsylvania Central Park where children played in the snow but were written while he was being treated for tuberculosis in the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton. 
 

Children played in Central Park in , Honesdale, Pennsylvania across the street from Richard B. Smith's boyhood home town.

Among the most notable covers by were by Johnny Mercer in 1945 and Perry Como the same year which was in the top ten songs in retail sales.

The song was featured in Billie Burkes's unsucesful revival of her late husband's Flo Ziegfeld's Follies.

Sinatra's version was notable for changing the lyrics.  Despite earlier success of the song, Sinatra was warned the powerful Protestant clergy were prepared to demand to demand that radio stations ban the song because of the line "in the meadow we will build a snowman/We'll pretend that he is Parson Brown/He'll say "are you married?/We'll say no man/But you can do the job when you're in town."  The preachers were alarmed that the words implied hanky-panky by the unmarried couple.  Old Blue Eyes changed he words to the nonsensical "In the meadow we will build a snowman/And pretend that he's a circus clown/We''ll have lots of fun with Mr. Snowman/Until the other kiddies knock him down."

Some later covers used Sinatra's version; while others stood by the original and some even used both.   

One of several Doris Day Christmas albums, re-issues, and compilations.

Today we share a version by former big band singer turned movie star Doris Day.  The video clips accompanying her voice are from two popular MGM movie nostalgia fests she made opposite Gordon McCrea--On Moonlight Bay  in 1951 and By the Light of the Silvery Moon in 1953.
                                                                                                                                                                             
 

Winter Wonderland by Tony Bennett—Murfin Winter Holidays Music Festival 2023-‘24

                                            Winter Wonderland sung by Tony Bennett.

There is no snow on the ground here in northern Illinois and temperatures have been unseasonably warm—daytime in the 40’s for more than a week.  Other parts of the country, however, have been buried in all of the Winter Wonderland they can stand.  Time to revisit this classic pop winter song and let the great Tony Bennett give it her swinging interpretation.

Winter Wonderland was written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard B. Smith. Since its original RCA recording by Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra, it has been covered by over 200 different artists, including Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Amy Grant, Michael Buble, The Eurythmics, and Radiohead.

Smith’s lyrics were reportedly inspired by memories of his hometown Honesdale, Pennsylvania park freshly buried in snow but were written while he was being treated for tuberculosis in the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton.

Winter Wonderland snowman--Parson Brown or Circus Clown?

Among the most notable covers were by Johnny Mercer, which reached #4 on the Billboard radio play chart in 1946, and by Perry Como the same year which was in the top ten songs in retail sales.

Sinatra’s version is notable for changing the lyrics.  Despite the earlier success of the song, Sinatra was warned that powerful protestant clergy were prepared to demand radio stations ban the song because of the line “In the meadow we will build a snowman/We’ll pretend that he is Parson Brown/He’ll say, ‘are you married?’ We’ll say no man/But you can do the job when you’re in town.”  The preachers were alarmed that the words implied hanky-panky by the unmarried couple.  Old Blue Eyes changed the word to the nonsensical “In the meadow we can build a snowman /And pretend that he’s a circus clown/We’ll have lots of fun with Mr. Snowman/Until the other kiddies knock him down.”

Some other later covers of the song used Sinatra’s version while others stood by the original words.  Some even used both versions.

Tony Bennett at a Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting special on NBC a few years ago.

Tony Bennett’s jazzy take of this seasonal chestnut is one of my favorites.