Christmas songs CONTEST NUMBER 57

[Stan]

Which now famous Christmas Song, that most people know, was written by a person who is now an adventist???

[LynnDel]

Oh, I know this, somewhere deep down in my brain (a filing system for which I am constantly losing the index). Is it White Christmas?

LD

[LynnDel]

I'll answer my own question: No, of course not!

LD

[Gail]

I know what it is, but I don't want to spoil the surprise

Or... I knew who it WAS- I didn't know he was still alive, cause surely he must be really old by now

[Neil D]

Hmmmm....The adventist church has a person in the entertainment industry?????? And has even wrote a Xmas song sung by Bing Cosby???? This is news to me!

[Gail]

No, not Bing Crosby, but there was one sung by Judy Garland...

[Amelia]

Irving Berlin wrote White Christmas. http://www.carols.org.uk/wh1te_christmas.htm

[]http://www.carols.org.uk/background.jpg[/]

[Gregory Matthews]

I have been asked to post the following by Carole, who states that she cannot post:

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"The wonderful gentleman that everyone is trying

to think of is named Hugh Martin. The song he

wrote was Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

He wrote the song to be included in the musical

he also wrote Meet Me In St. Louis with Judy

Garland. He also wrote the Trolly Song, and The

Boy Next Door for that same movie. Hugh became

an Adventist quite awhile ago. He was an accompaniest

for Del Delker for several years. He is now

living in Southern California. He is a precious

friend of mine that I truly treasure. He is

such a humble person considering all the fame that

Hollywood has brought him. The most precious

thing about Hugh is that he loves his Lord

so much. Several years ago he changed the words

to his song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

to Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas.

It was sent as his Christmas card that year.

I along with many others have been singing

it in concerts during the Christmas season

since then.

Now when you hear the song, I hope that it will

have an extra special meaning to you.

Carole"

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[carole1012]

The name of the wonderful man that you are trying to think

of is Hugh Martin. He wrote the song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. He wrote it for the movie Meet Me In

St. Louis. Judy Garland was the star in the movie. He

also wrote the Trolly Song, and The Boy Next Door for that

movie. Hugh became an Adventist I believe over 20 years ago. He was the accompaniest for Del Delker after he

became an Adventist. He is living in Southern California.

He is the most humble person that you would ever want to meet. He loves the Lord so much. I am proud to say that

he is a dear friend of mine. A few years ago on his

Christmas card, he sent his new words to Have Yourself

A Merry Little Christmas. He has changed the words to

Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas. It is a wonderful

song. You can hear it on the Del and Friends VOP

Family Reunion video.

Carole

[carole1012]

Gregory,

Thank you for posting for me.

I had tried for a long time and was not

able to post. Finally I figured it out.

In the meantime, I sent my own e-mail.

Thank you again,

Carole

[Stan]

from my friend Carole...

Here are the words:

Have yourself a blessed little Christmas

Christ the King is born

Let your voices ring upon this happy morn

Have yourself a blessed little Christmas

Seranade the earth

Tell the world we celebrate our Savior's birth

Let us gather and sing to Him

And to give to Him our praise

He's the Son of God

And a friend of all

Through the end of all our days

Sing hosanna's, hymn's and hallelujah's

As to Him we bow

Make the music mighty as the heaven's allow

And have yourself a blessed little Christmas now

[cricket]

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Culture: 'Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas,' Composer Hugh

Martin and Singer Del Delker Recollect

Encinitas, California, United States .... [Wendi Rogers/ANN]

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He was a huge success story during Hollywood's golden era. Hugh Martin

penned some of the most memorable songs and worked with some of the top

entertainers of his era.

He wrote the original songs for the classic Hollywood musical "Meet Me

In St. Louis" starring Judy Garland, and he wrote and co-wrote many

other memorable and original songs.

Perhaps his best-known tune, which is still considered a seasonal

classic, is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." He worked with

stars such as Gene Kelly, Andy Williams, Lucille Ball, Ethel Merman,

Mickey Rooney and many others who defined Hollywood in the 1930s and

1940s.

He was in the heart of it all -- success, fame and fortune. But he

wasn't happy. And one day, he said, he "hit rock bottom."

"It was a turning point in my life. Things were going great. I thought

I was pretty successful and I thought I was pretty good too. I really

had an inflated idea of my virtue," Martin told ANN in a telephone

interview.

But then, he added, "God had to bring it to my attention that I was not

all I thought I was. I had a nervous breakdown. A full-blown nervous

breakdown. I was diagnosed as being mentally unsound. That was 1960."

Martin wandered into the hospital chapel one day, "having nothing else

to do," and was "suddenly overwhelmed with what a wretch I was. ... I

threw myself on my face and begged the Lord to heal me. I said, 'I

don't even know if you exist, but if you do I'll give myself to you for

the rest of my life' ... to make a long story short, he did heal me and

I did give myself to him."

It was 14 years later, in another hospital, that he met a Seventh-day

Adventist gentleman, who shared the hospital room, marking the

beginning of his life today.

Martin describes the show business world as "wonderful in a way but

very temporal, very superficial." He says they lived to glorify

themselves. "Everybody was out to look as good as he could and impress

people as much as he could. It was a very self-centered existence."

"You were restless and competitive and didn't have the peace and

contentment that you have found," his good friend Del Delker tells him.

Now, he says, "It's a totally different world. A wonderful world, and

so much better than the other one," he says.

It was Martin's dream to accompany Delker, a lady with a huge singing

voice, he reminisces. "It was me running after Del, not the other way

around," Martin laughs in a sing-song voice that somehow sounds like an

old movie.

He heard her on the Voice of Prophecy, a worldwide radio ministry of

the Adventist Church, and "fell in love with Del's voice."

What he did next he describes as "a very amazing thing. I packed my

bags and went to Newbury Park [California] and just decided I was going

to become Del's accompanist."

But when she first met him, Delker says, "We were all set. We had a

broadcasting group; I had an accompanist. At the time he first went

there to Newbury Park I was already settled into another program. But

there were changes made and all of a sudden I found myself needing an

accompanist."

Martin adds, "Miracles do happen. I did end up playing the piano for

her. ...My dream came true." And it did for several years. They

traveled together for four years, bringing their music to thousands.

"It was God's timing, wasn't it?" Delker comments.

Martin doesn't miss a beat: "It sure was."

"What amazed me was the change in his life even as I was watching,"

says Delker, who affectionately calls him Hughy. "I asked him to tell

[his story] in front of audiences."

But, "I was very shy and didn't think I could do it."

"Well, you can talk a leg off of me," Delker told him.

So he did. The two shared their stories with thousands across the

country, and at 91, he still loves to talk about it.

"He's 91 going on 14," says Delker, who speaks with Martin as often as

twice a week.

Martin responds, "I'm in love with life and that keeps you young."

He's since helped to turn "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" into

"Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas," with Christian lyrics sung

by Delker.

"I just wish everyone could hear this version," she says.

Does Martin still correspond with his old Hollywood pals, and does he

share what he's found? "Yes I do. I do whenever I can." But, he says,

"I try to do it without being sanctimonious. But I do slip it in

whenever I can."

He admits that "most of them are dead. I don't know why I'm so lucky to

still be here. All of the lovely stars that I worked with at MGM are

gone."

He signs off from his home in Encinitas, California: "It was my

pleasure, always to talk to Del, and also to talk about Jesus. There's

nothing I'd rather do."