Welcome to a special holiday edition of Music Friday, when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, birthday girl Christina Aguilera (she was born on this day in 1980) belts out her rendition of the 1947 classic, "Merry Christmas Baby."
In first lines of the song, Aguilera — with an assist from Dr. John — sings about how a very special piece of jewelry has made this the best Christmas ever: "Merry Christmas baby, oh ooh / You sure did treat me nice, oh ooh / You gave me a diamond ring for Christmas / Now I'm living in paradise, oh oh."
Originally recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1947, this R&B holiday classic has been covered by a Who's Who of music-industry legends, including Chuck Berry, Otis Redding, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and Melissa Etheridge.
A little known fact about Aguilera's version, which appeared on her My Kind of Christmas album in 2000, is that one of her heroines, Etta James, was supposed to be a featured performer on the track. The idea was later panned and Dr. John was picked as a replacement.
In a snarky review, critic Chris Williams of Entertainment Weekly noted it was probably better that James didn't appear on the track.
"The blues legend is mysteriously absent from the finished track," Williams wrote, "but Aguilera oversings so wildly that there wouldn’t have been enough oxygen in the booth to sustain another life form."
Nevertheless, Aguilera's My Kind of Christmas peaked at #28 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and sold more than one million copies.
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers' recording of "Merry Christmas Baby" also was a great success. The song reached position #3 on Billboard's R&B Juke Box chart during the Christmas of 1947.
Please check out the video of Aguilera's live performance of "Merry Christmas Baby" on The Late Show With David Letterman. As a bonus, we're also including the original. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along. Enjoy!
"Merry Christmas, Baby"
Written by Brian Douglas Wilson and Mike E. Love. Performed by Christina Aguilera, featuring Dr. John.
Oh oh
Merry Christmas baby
You sure did treat me nice, oh ooh yeah yeah
Said uh, merry Christmas baby, oh ooh
You sure did treat me nice, oh ooh
You gave me a diamond ring for Christmas
Now I'm living in paradise, oh oh
I'm, I'm feeling mighty fine
Got good music on my radio
(Yes you do child)
Well I'm, I'm feeling mighty fine
Got good music, on, music on my radio, oh
Well I, I want to kiss you baby
While we're standing underneath the mistletoe
Santa came down the chimney
About a half past three
Left all these pretty presents
That you, that you see before me, oh
Merry Christmas baby, merry Christmas baby
You sure been good to me, oh, oh ooh
Well I, I haven't had a drink this morning
But I'm, I'm lit up like a Christmas tree
Christmas tree, oh oh oh, oh yeah
Oh, yeah yeah yeah
Oh oh ooh, yeah, oh, ooh,
Oh oh yeah, yeah, yeah
St. Nick came down the chimney
About a half past three
He left all these pretty presents
That you see before me
Merry Christmas baby
You sure been good to me
Haven't had a taste this morning
But I'm all lit up like a Christmas tree
Oh, oh, oh ooh, oh ooh
Merry Christmas baby
You sure been good to me
Oh oh, oh oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh
Sure been good, to, to, to, me
Hey, oh oh hey
Aguilera's version:
Johnny Moore's Three Blazers' version:
Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.
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