Silent Night

Last December I went to visit my Junior High School Choir teacher. He is teaching at a different Middle School, but still working with young people as I remembered all those years back. I listened to him teach a guitar class. If you look very closely in this photo, you will see the chords to "Silent Night" on the whiteboard. Not only did he want them all to be able to play something for thier families during the school break, but he wanted them to know 'about' the song "Silent Night". He told them (us) about how the song was born from necesity--that a small village church in Austria needed a Christmas Hymn for the Mass, but the church organ had broken. In 1859 Joesf Mohr was asked to write a song that could be played on the guitar instead.
I watched as he taught his class the chords. Wonderful! What is even more amazing is that I have maintained my friendship with Jeff Jenkins since 1977. His daughter is fully grown and married now. I remember us singing a Christmas Carol called "Give me the Love of the 'Beth'lehem Child. That was always fun to sing, because we all smiled knowing he had just had a little baby daughter named Bethany. I got to sing my first solo with that group in "The Christmas Waltz".
Music is a big part of my favorite Holiday Memories - just last year we found mp3 recordings of organist Eddie Dunsteter online! Huge Music Memories there with his "Christmas Candy" album.
Top Christmas albums for me:
1. A Charlie Brown Christmas (There is no other than the Vince Guaraldi Trio to top the chart!)
2. Nat King Cole 'The Christmas Song'
3. Eddie Dunsteter 'Christmas Candy'
My absolute favorite Carols of all time are:
1. Ed Ames - The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey
2. Barbra Streisand - Jingle Bells
3. Nat King Cole 'The Christmas Song'
4. Good King Wenceslaus - Narada
5. The Carol of the Bells - instrumental
6. Do You Hear What I hear - Johnny Mathis
7. The Marvelous Toy - (A Carol we sang in Jr. High School - Thanks Mr. Jenkins)
8. Still, Still, Still
9. T'was the Birthday of a King
10. Blue Christmas - Elvis