The Little Drummer Boy

100% Little Drummer Boy.

I think few things make me question whether God is real than when I hear the little drummer boy come on.

And you know what? By the way,

I live in Nashville, which is home to the St. James family, for King and Country, that whole family, they're awesome.

And...

That song, like when people are like, AI is going to take over and destroy humanity.

I'm like, well, that's the same group of people that wrote the little drummer boy.

So maybe that's what we get.

They hand him the sheet music for the song they're supposed to sing together.

The Little Drummer Boy.

Right.

And Bowie flat out refuses.

If I have to sing it, I can't do the show.

which is a producer's absolute worst nightmare.

You have Bing Crosby waiting on set, you have the cameras ready, and your rock star guest is about to literally walk out over the little drummer boy.

So

However, when Bowie turned up at ATV Elstree Studios in Boreham Wood on September 11th 1977, the entire production almost went off the rails.

The script called for Bowie and Crosby to perform a duet of the 1941 standard The Little Drummer Boy, originally written by Catherine Kennecott Davis as Carol of the Drum.

Bowie absolutely detested the song.

As detailed in the historical breakdown on CBC Music, he walked into the studio and explicitly complained that the melody did not suit his vocal range, asking if there was anything else he could sing.

And my head's full of that kind of stuff.

But the albums contained 11 songs, including I'll Be Home for Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Silver Bells, White Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Christmas Song, Do You Hear What I Hear, and Happy Holiday.

But Percy Faith also included some newer material, like We Need a Little Christmas, which came from the Broadway musical Mame and was still a fairly new song at that time when the album was recorded.

So that's considered some new music.

Musically, the record is pure Percy Faith.

The arrangements are smooth and warm, and the strings often carry the heart of the melody, while the brass, percussion, the piano, and the chorus add layers around them.

The Little Drummer Boy is a good example of that.

The simple rhythm of the song gives Faith something to build on, and his orchestra makes it sound much bigger and more dramatic, just like from a movie.

100% Little Drummer Boy.

I think few things make me question whether God is real than when I hear the little drummer boy come on.

And you know what? By the way,

I live in Nashville, which is home to the St. James family, for King and Country, that whole family, they're awesome.

And...

That song, like when people are like, AI is going to take over and destroy humanity.

I'm like, well, that's the same group of people that wrote the little drummer boy.

So maybe that's what we get.