Tennessee Ernie Ford
My favorite:
Smokey has a nice version:
My favorite version:
This was the only Christmas album my dad would ever play.
Thank you for all the contributions. I’m down with a bad cold and will be catching up with the music selections.
This is a nice quick one:
Alright I’ve worked through the songs here. Well, ‘worked’ isn’t quite the right word. Many are beautiful. The songs above are listed here, with my favorites in bold. Thank you for this beautiful music.
@burpo_the_wonder_mutt — 5:27, Mannheim Steamroller; Instrumental — slow, long, very pretty — Mannheim Steamroller - Stille Nacht (Silent Night) [Audio] - YouTube
@solost — 3:43, Mac Rebennak on piano, Jazzed up rendition — Silent Night - YouTube
@Prof.Pepperwinkle — 4:14, Mahalia Jackson, very Gospel style — Silent Night- Mahalia Jackson - YouTube
☆ @janis_and_c0 — 2:21 Simon & Garfunkel from album, Wednesday Morning, 3AM; with news overlay — Simon and Garfunkel - 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night (6B) - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night Simon & Garfunkel
@janis_and_c0 of course this works! Wednesday Morning, 3AM is one of my favorite albums. Great music from their early days. Yes their silent night is a little different. But there are other ‘different’ renditions here too.
In fact I’ll add one from there that fits into the solemn and reverent theme of Christmas:
☆ Simon & Garfunkel: Benedictus, from Wednesday Morning, 3AM
Simon & Garfunkel - Benedictus - YouTube
YouTube search: Benedictus Simon & Garfunkel
@BigT — 5:42 OurSong Atlanta choir, arrangement by Peter Anglea; church-like; very interesting arrangement! —
☆ @BigT — 4:11 Baylor University Chamber Singers, a capella; arrangement by Edwin Fissinger; hauntingly beautiful — Silent Night (arr. Edwin Fissinger) -- Baylor Chamber Singers - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night Baylor University Chamber Singers
☆ @JohnGalt — 4:31 his church’s Christmas Eve service, they do this medley: Gonzaga Night of Silence/Silent Night; Daniel Kantor, composer; very nice! — Night of Silence / Silent Night - Gonzaga University Choirs - YouTube
YouTube search: Gonzaga University Silent Night Night of Silence
@kayaker — 5:57 Tom Waits, from a hooker in Minneapolis — Tom Waits - Silent Night & Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis - YouTube
@peccavi — 6:06 The Temptations; extended, soulful version, mix — The Temptations - Silent Night (Extended Version / Visualizer) - YouTube
@peccavi — 4:45 Sinéad O’Connor; a quiet version — Silent Night (Long Version) - YouTube
Continued…
@romansperson — 4:38 Stevie Nicks; good harmony, and… it’s Stevie Nicks — Silent Night - YouTube
@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness — an FB short; duet with chihuahua; funny! — I laughed entirely too hard at this 🤣🤣 #voiceover #silentnight | Sarah Hollingsworth | Sarah Hollingsworth · Original audio
@AHunter3 — 1:13, Julie Andrews 1961, and George Becker Singers on the Garry Moore Show — Silent Night (1961) - Julie Andrews, George Becker Singers - YouTube
@AHunter3 — 3:39, Harry Belafonte
@Elmer_J.Fudd — 2:19, the dickies, punk band — Silent Night - YouTube
@kaylasdad99 — 1:40 Inner Voices Christmas Harmony, 4 women a cappella; Morgan Ames / Alto, Clydene Jackson / Tenor, Darlene Koldenhoven / Soprano, Carmen Twillie / Bass — Sleep In Heavenly Peace (Silent Night) - YouTube
@peccavi — 5:39 Bootsy Collins, for a more secular audience, jazzy and upbeat — Bootsy Collins - Silent Night - YouTube
@Hampshire — 5:39 Bootsy Collins, for a more secular audience, jazzy and upbeat — Bootsy Collins - Silent Night - YouTube
☆ @Hampshire — 3:05 Southern California Children’s Chorus; Lori Loftus, Director — Silent Night | The Southern California Children's Chorus - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night Southern California Children’s Chorus
☆ @2_More_Bits — 4:06 not Silent Night — CORRESPONDENCE, Jens Lekman, Annika Norlin, about the creation of the song; the 1914 truce; pretty and moving, touching; awesome! — Silent Night - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night Annika Norlin
Thank you for this one, @2_More_Bits!
☆ @Chefguy — 2:14 not Silent Night — Still, still, still, weil’s Kindlein schlafen will {Still, Still, Still = hush, hush, hush), is a Wiegenlied (or “cradle song”, or lullaby) from mid-1800s Austria; beautiful! See https://is.gd/wuawnH for translation — Still, still, still, weil's Kindlein schlafen will - YouTube
YouTube search: Still, still, still, weil’s Kindlein schlafen will
Thank you for this @Chefguy !
Concluded…
☆ @furryman — 2:39 Tennessee Ernie Ford solo, deep baritone, very nice — Silent Night - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night Tennessee Ernie Ford
@Happy_Lendervedder — 4:25 Smokey Robinson, from 2017 Christmas Overload; quite nice — Smokey Robinson - Silent Night - YouTube
@frognot — 4:07 Aaron Neville, soulful, syrupy sweet — Smokey Robinson - Silent Night - YouTube
☆ @SpoilerVirgin — 4:21 Kelly Clarkson, Trisha Eastwood, Reba McEntire — Kelly Clarkson - Silent Night (Official Video) ft. Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire - YouTube; and this too, a studio cut — Silent Night (feat. Reba & Trisha Yearwood) (Audio) - Kelly Clarkson - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night Kelly Clarkson, Trisha Eastwood, Reba McEntire studio cut
☆ @Meurglys — 4:19 Cyndi Lauper, Merry Christmas, have a nice life!; angelic, respectful, surprisingly very nice; beautiful! (Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton, born 1953) — Silent Night - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night Cyndi Lauper
☆ @Dr.Girlfriend — The Oak Ridge Boys; 1982 album, Christmas; Southern Gospel male quartet, and spoken gospel reading; William Lee Golden / baritone, Duane Allen / lead, Richard Sterban / bass, Joe Bonsall / tenor — Silent Night - YouTube
YouTube search: Silent Night The Oak Ridge Boys
☆ @BigT — Irish duet; Emmet Cahill / Celtic Thunder, and Malinda — Silent Night in the Irish language 🇮🇪 ft. Emmet Cahill - YouTube
YouTube search: Irish Silent Night Emmet Cahill, Malinda Kathleen Reese
Wow, Emmet Cahill sang just last week near where I live.Search YouTube for this:
YouTube search: Emmet Cahill Los Altos CA
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And also one that I found and like:
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☆ 3:12 Tori Kelly, a cappella atop Capitol Records at night — Tori Kelly - Silent Night (Top of the Tower) - YouTube
@Bullitt Glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for posting Benedictus. I had not listened to that in a long while.
Enya has a version sung in Irish with about a thousand layers of harmony:
Mannheim Steamroller also gets my vote. Beautiful.
Another New Agey version you may like:
Very late, I know. As to “nicest”, I like simple traditional arrangements, so here are my choices.
Very close to the original original. Note the slightly different melody. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf "Christmas Album" - YouTube
Robert Shaw Chorale. Silent Night - YouTube
Thanks. I will check these out.
Correction: their Silent Night is on their Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme album. It is called 7 O’Clock News.