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Mary’s Boy Child (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Mary’s Boy Child” | |
|---|---|
| German single sleeve
| |
| Single by Harry Belafonte | |
| from the album An Evening with Belafonte | |
| B-side | “Venezuela” |
| Released | December 1956 |
| Recorded | July 1956 |
| Studio | Grand Ballroom, Webster Hall, New York City |
| Genre | Christmas |
| Length | 4:20 (album version; UK single version) 2:53 (US single version) |
| Label | RCA Victor |
| Songwriter(s) | Jester Hairston |
| Harry Belafonte singles chronology | |
| “Jamaica Farewell“ (1954)”Mary’s Boy Child“ (1956)”Banana Boat (Day-O)“ (1957) |
“Mary’s Little Boy Child” as arranged by Leonard De Paur conducting the De Paur chorus on the album Calypso Christmas in 1956.
“Mary’s Boy Child” is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. It is widely performed as a Christmas carol.
History
The song had its genesis when Hairston was sharing a room with a friend. The friend asked him to write a song for a birthday party. Hairston wrote the song with a calypso rhythm because the people at the party would be mainly West Indians. The song’s original title was “He Pone and Chocolate Tea”, pone being a type of corn bread. It was never recorded in this form.
Some time later Walter Schumann, at the time conducting Schumann’s Hollywood Choir, asked Hairston to write a new Christmas song for his choir. Hairston remembered the calypso rhythm from his old song and wrote new lyrics for it.
Harry Belafonte heard the song being performed by the choir and sought permission to record it. It was recorded in 1956 and released as a single that year. Belafonte released it again the following year in 1957 on his album An Evening with Belafonte, using a different, longer take. This longer version was also released in the UK as a single (with a B-side of “Eden Was Just Like This”), where it became the first UK number one to have a playing time of over four minutes. It reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1957, and has since sold over 1.19 million copies there.
In 1962, the full-length version was also added to a re-issue of Belafonte’s previously released album To Wish You a Merry Christmas.
Similarly, the song was arranged for chorus and recorded by the conductor Leonard De Paur for Columbia Records on the album Calypso Christmas in 1956 (Columbia, CL 923 Mono LP, 1956).
Covers
One of the best-known cover versions of the song is from the German-based disco-group Boney M. from 1978, “Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord.” This version returned the song to the top of the UK chart. It is one of the best-selling singles of all time in the UK, and has sold 1.87 million copies as of November 2015.
When Hairston found out how well the Boney M version had done, he said: “God bless my soul. That’s tremendous for an old fogey like me”. He was 78 at the time.
The song has been recorded twice by Andy Williams; once on his 1965 album Merry Christmas and again on his 1997 album We Need A Little Christmas.
It has also been recorded by The Four Lads in 1956
and Mahalia Jackson in the late 1950s, both under the title Mary’s Little Boy Chile.
Other recordings include The Gospel Clefs in (1973),
Evie (1977),
The Lettermen (1966),
Jim Reeves (1963),
The Little River Band,
The Pete King Chorale,
Kiri Te Kanawa (1984),
José Mari Chan (1990),
Al Bano and Romina Power (1991),
De Nattergale (1991),
Tom Jones (1993),
John Denver (1990),
Cranberry Singers (1998),
and the cast of Glee (2013),
RJ Jacinto (2015),
Connie Talbot and many others.
Sissel – Mary’s Boy Child
Smokie – Mary’s Boy Child
Matt Monro – Mary`s Boy Child
Johnny Mathis – Mary’s Boy Child
Cliff Richard & Helmut Lotti “Mary’s Boy Child”
The Bee Gees recorded the song as part of a medley with “Silent Night” for their 1968 album Horizontal, although it was only officially released as a bonus track in 2006. The track is erroneously titled “Silent Night/Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”
The song was also included on the 1991 live concert A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert, featuring Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade and Wynton Marsalis.
Additional covers include a version by Charlotte Church as the fifth track on her 2000 album Dream a Dream, the Australian pop group Hi-5, released in 1998, a version by its American counterpart, released in 2005 but recorded in 2004, The Wiggles on their 2004 album Santa’s Rockin’; Juice Newton‘s folk-rock version on her 2007 The Gift of Christmas;
Mandisa on her 2008 album It’s Christmas;
Paul Poulton‘s reggae version on his 2008 album Grooves 4 Scrooge;
Daniel O’Donnell on his 2010 album O Holy Night;
and Joe McElderry on his 2011 album Classic Christmas.
In 2012, the Portuguese priest António Cartageno made a choral arrangement for the song.
Translations
Translated versions include “Hankien Joulu” recorded by Georg Malmstén,
“Kauan Sitten Beetlehem” recorded by Petri Laaksonen (fi),
“Marian Poika” by Tarja Turunen,
“Varje människa har ett ljus” recorded by Jan Malmsjö,
“…und Frieden für die Welt” by Rolf Zuckowski,
“Maria’s Kind” by La Esterella,
“Bethlehem” by Rob de Nijs,
“Det hände sig för länge sen” recorded by Kikki Danielsson on her 1987 Christmas album Min barndoms jular,
“Det hände sig för länge sen” recorded by Stefan Borsch on his 1981 Christmas album I kväll jag tänder ett ljus,
“Himlens hemlighet” recorded by Tommy Körberg
and “Du är som en sommardag” by dance band Schytts. The Schytts version was in the Swedish chart Svensktoppen for 10 weeks in 1979, where it peaked at No. 1.
“Ang Batang Hesus” by mayor_junneil (Filipino).
The Sinhala translation is “Kalakata Pera e Bethleheme” Sinhala: “කලකට පෙර ඒ බෙත්ලෙහෙමේ”.
Mary’s Boy Child (Chinese Version)
Andre Rieu, Peter Kraus & Florian Silbereisen – Mary’s Boy Child
Other uses
The words and music featured on a miniature sheet issued with the 1983 Christmas stamps of the Caribbean island of St Kitts, while the adjacent island of Nevis issued a complementary sheet featuring the “Calypso Carol“.
The tune is used as the basis for a widespread chant used in British football usually referencing a particular team’s closest rivals and the historical boxing day derby games that took place until the 1980’s.
Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord
| “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” | |
|---|---|
| Single by Boney M. | |
| B-side | “Dancing in the Streets” |
| Released | 27 November 1978 |
| Recorded | November 1978 |
| Genre | Euro disco, Christmas |
| Length | 5:43 (7″ version) 5:40 (French 7″ version) 5:22 (Spanish 7″ version) 6:18 (12″ version) |
| Label | Hansa (FRG)Sire (US/CAN)Atlantic (AUS/UK) |
| Songwriter(s) | Jester HairstonFrank FarianFred JayHela Lorin |
| Producer(s) | Frank Farian |
| Boney M. singles chronology | |
| “Rasputin“ (1978)”Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord“ (1978)”Painter Man“ (1979) |
| “Rivers of Babylon” (Remix) / “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” (Remix)” | |
|---|---|
| Single by Boney M. | |
| from the album Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix ’88 | |
| Released | October 1988 |
| Genre | R&B, disco |
| Label | Hansa (FRG) |
| Producer(s) | Frank Farian |
| Boney M. singles chronology | |
| “Bang Bang Lulu“ (1986)”Rivers of Babylon” (Remix) / “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” (Remix)“ (1988)”Megamix“ (1988) |
| “Christmas Mega Mix” | |
|---|---|
| Single by Boney M. | |
| from the album The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World | |
| Released | November 1992 |
| Genre | R&B, disco |
| Label | Hansa (FRG) |
| Producer(s) | Frank Farian |
| Boney M. singles chronology | |
| “Stories“ (1990)”Christmas Mega Mix“ (1992)”Mega Mix“ (1992) |
“Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” is a 1978 Christmas single by Boney M., a cover of Harry Belafonte‘s 1956 hit, put in medley with the new song “Oh My Lord”.
The single was recorded in a hurry in early November, included in the group’s live set and rushed out at the end of the month, topping the UK Singles Chart for four weeks and became Christmas number one in the UK, spending eight weeks in the charts. It has sold 1.89 million units as of November 2015. It was the second single for the group in the UK’s all-time best selling singles list. The song was later included in the group’s Christmas Album, issued in 1981.
In the United States, the track reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100, Boney M’s last of four singles to chart there. In 2017, it experienced somewhat of a resurgence and peaked at number 89 on the Holiday 100. In certain areas of the U.S., the medley can sometimes be heard during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season on radio stations which change to temporary all-Christmas music formats.
Single
A promotional gatefold single (15 816 AT) backed with “Never Change Lovers in the Middle of the Night” (from Nightflight to Venus) was released shortly before the commercial single which had a new track on the B-side “Dancing in the Streets”. Different edits were issued in various countries. In Spain and France, the third verse (Now Joseph and his wife Mary came to Bethlehem that night …) was excised, while the French mix of “Oh My Lord” was a different mix. The full-length 6:18 mix appeared as the B-side of the 12″ single “Dancing in the Streets”.
Music video
Two music videos were produced to promote the single. One featured the band in a white room wearing white furry coats, while the second, made to promote the 1988 remix featured the band once again dressed in white with a nativity scene.
“Dancing in the Streets”
After Christmas, Hansa Records flipped the single and released it with “Dancing in the Streets” on the A-side. The non-album track was sung solely by the group’s producer Frank Farian, singing the chorus in multi-dubbed falsetto vocals and singing the verse in his deep voice. The mix that came out on the B-side of “Mary’s Boy Child” in the UK and US was an early version with shriller falsetto vocals and no answer-back chorus vocals in the verses. Despite the lack of success, the track was chosen as the one to launch Boney M. in the USA which remained the only territory the group had yet to conquer. The group did a promotional tour in April 1979 and also lip-synced the track at important TV shows such as Soul Train but the single stalled at number 105 on the Pop chart and fared only slightly better on the R&B chart (number 75).
Releases
7″ singles
- “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” – 5:43 / “Dancing in the Streets” (Farian) – 3:57 (Hansa Int. 100 075–100, Germany)
- “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” – 5:43 / “Dancing in the Streets” – 3:43 (Atlantic K 11221, UK) (Sire 1036, USA)
- “Dancing in the Streets” – 3:57 / “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” – 5:43 (Hansa Int. 100 075–100, Germany)
- “Dancing in the Streets” – 3:57 / “Motherless Child” (Farian / Mitchell) – 4:33 (Durium DE 3047, Italy)
- “Dancing in the Streets” – 3:55 / “Never Change Lovers in the Middle of the Night” – 5:01 (Sire 1038, USA)
12″ single
- “Dancing in the Streets” – 6:18 / “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” – 6:18 (Hansa Int. 600 009–212, Germany)
- “Dancing in the Streets” – 6:18 / “Never Change Lovers in the Middle of the Night” – 5:01 (Sire SRD 1040, USA)
Charts
| Chart (1978–1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) | 3 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) | 4 |
| Finland (Suomen Virallinen) | 5 |
| Germany (Official German Charts) | 1 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) | 2 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 8 |
| Norway (VG-lista) | 2 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) | 1 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) | 1 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company) | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 85 |
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
| Denmark (Tracklisten) | 16 |
| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
| US Holiday 100 (Billboard) | 89 |
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
| Hungary (Single Top 40) | 28 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company) | 26 |
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
| Australia (ARIA) | 56 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company) | 47 |
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company) | 80 |
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
| South Africa (RISA) | 73 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company) | 60 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) | Gold | 35,000 |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | Platinum | 90,000 |
| Netherlands (NVPI) | Gold | 100,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Gold | 10,000* |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
| Summaries | ||
| Benelux | — | 200,000[26] |
| * Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
1988 remix
“Rivers of Babylon” / “Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord” is a 1988 remix single by German band Boney M., issued to launch the group’s reunion, having been split since their 10th anniversary, 1986. The double A-side single contained new mixes of the band’s two very most successful single releases ever. Although their remix album sold well, the single failed to chart.
“Christmas Mega Mix”
“Christmas Mega Mix” is a 1992 remix single by German band Boney M., issued to launch a new edition of their Christmas album, The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World. The Christmas Mega Mix was in fact just another name for a new remix of “Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord”. In the UK, the new mix was put on the B-side of their “Megamix” single.
7″ single
- “Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord” (radio version) – 3:58 / “Zion’s Daughter” – 3:50 (Hansa 74321 11933 7–100, Germany)
CD
- 1. “Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord” (radio version) – 3:58 / 2. “Zion’s Daughter” – 3:50 / 3. “When a Child Is Born” – 3:19 / 4. “Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord” (long version) – 5:09
(Hansa 74321 11933 2–211, Germany)
Charts
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (OCC) | 52 |
Covers
The song was covered by Glee in the episode “Previously Unaired Christmas” from the fifth season. It was covered by the Australian pop band The Eclectics featuring Jared Lerner. It was covered by Johnny Mathis in 1982. It was covered by Anne Murray in 1988.
Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord – Boney M – instrumental cover by Dave Monk
Mary’s Boy Child (Guitar instrumental)
Mary’s Boy Child | Style for Yamaha keyboard
Mary’s Boy Child – André Rieu
Gaither Vocal Band – Mary’s Boy Child
The Nativity Story
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Nativity Story | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster
| |
| Directed by | Catherine Hardwicke |
| Written by | Mike Rich |
| Produced by | Wyck Godfrey Marty Bowen |
| Starring | Keisha Castle-Hughes Oscar Isaac Hiam Abbass Shaun Toub Alexander Siddig Ciarán Hinds Shohreh Aghdashloo |
| Cinematography | Elliot Davis Rogier Stoffers |
| Edited by | Robert K. LambertStuart Levy |
| Music by | Mychael Danna |
| Production company | Temple Hill Entertainment |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release dates | November 26, 2006 (Vatican City) December 1, 2006 (United States) |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Hebrew |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Box office | $46.4 million |
The Nativity Story is a 2006 American biblical drama film based on the nativity of Jesus and directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The film stars Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub, Alexander Siddig, Ciarán Hinds, and Shohreh Aghdashloo.
The Nativity Story premiered in Vatican City on November 26, 2006, making it the first film to hold a world premiere in the city, and was released in the United States on December 1, 2006, by New Line Cinema. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $46 million worldwide.
Plot
The story begins in the Roman province of Judea with the portrayal of the Massacre of the Innocents in the Nativity. The remainder of the film portrays the annunciation and birth of Jesus Christ to explain why King Herod the Great (Ciarán Hinds) ordered the murder.
One year before the massacre, Zechariah (Stanley Townsend), a rabbi in Jerusalem, is making an offering, when he is told in a vision by the Archangel Gabriel (Alexander Siddig) that his wife, Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo), will bear a son. Zechariah does not believe him, stating that he is too old, and Gabriel tells him that he will be unable to speak until the boy is born. In Nazareth, 16 to 17-year-old Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is farming when soldiers come to collect taxes. One man, unable to pay, has a third of his land seized and his daughter pressed into debt slavery. Mary, betrothed to marry 32-year-old Joseph of Judaea (Oscar Isaac), is visited by Archangel Gabriel and told that she will become pregnant with God’s son, whom she is to name “Jesus”. He tells her that God has blessed her cousin Elizabeth with a child despite her old age. Mary visits her before the harvest, where she witnesses the birth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth and Zechariah, who regains his speech. Mary returns from the visit pregnant, to the shock of Joseph and her parents, who fear that Joseph will accuse her of adultery, a sin punishable by death by stoning according to the Torah. At first Joseph does not believe Mary’s religious explanation, but decides not to accuse her. Still shocked and angry, he is later visited in a dream by the Archangel Gabriel, who tells him of God’s plan for Mary’s son. Finally believing, he is ashamed of his earlier doubts.
Meanwhile, Roman emperor Caesar Augustus has demanded that every man across the Roman Empire return with his family to his place of birth for the census. A direct descendant of King David, Joseph is forced to travel 110 kilometers (68 mi) across Judea’s rocky terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the place of his birth. With Mary on a donkey laden with supplies, it takes the couple nearly four weeks to reach Bethlehem. Upon arriving in town, Mary goes into labour, and Joseph frantically seeks a place for her to deliver. There is, however, no room in any inn or home because of the crowds arriving for the census, but at the last minute an innkeeper offers his stable for shelter.
Meanwhile, three Magi—Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar (Stefan Kalipha, Nadim Sawalha and Eriq Ebouaney) —travel towards Judaea after having previously discovered that three planets will align to form a great star. This Star of Bethlehem appears before the Magi, after a visit by the Archangel Gabriel. The Magi visit Herod and reveal to him that the Messiah is still a child and he will be a Messiah “for the lowest of men to the highest of kings.” Shocked by this, Herod asks that they visit the newborn Messiah and report the child’s location back to him, under the pretence that he, too, would like to worship him, while in fact he plans to kill the baby for fear of a new king taking his throne. The Magi arrive at the stable where Mary is giving birth to Jesus, and they present the Infant with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Suspicious of his intentions, the Magi avoid Herod, returning home via a different route. Herod realises that the Magi have tricked him and orders the death of every boy in Bethlehem under the age of two. Joseph is warned in a dream of the danger and flees to Egypt with Mary and Jesus as the film ends.
Cast
- Oscar Isaac as Joseph
- Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary
- Hiam Abbass as Anna
- Shaun Toub as Joachim
- Ciarán Hinds as Herod the Great
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Elizabeth
- Stanley Townsend as Zechariah
- Alexander Siddig as the Angel Gabriel
- Eriq Ebouaney as Balthasar
- Alessandro Giuggioli as Herod Antipas
- Nadim Sawalha as Melchior
- Stefan Kalipha as Saint Caspar
Production
The film was shot in Matera and Craco, Italy, and Ouarzazate, Morocco.
Reception
Box office
The Nativity Story opened to a modest first weekend at the domestic box office by grossing $7.8 million, with a 39% increase over the extended Christmas weekend. After its initial run, the film closed out with about $37.6 million in domestic gross and $8.8 million in foreign gross, resulting in a worldwide total of almost $46.4 million on a reported $35 million budget.
Critical response
The Nativity Story received mixed reviews. As of June 2020, the film holds a 37% approval rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 131 reviews with an average rating of 5.29/10. The site’s consensus says, “The Nativity Story is a dull retelling of a well-worn tale with the look and feel of a high-school production.” Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 52 based on 28 reviews.
A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film a positive review saying, “At its best, The Nativity Story shares with Hail Mary an interest in finding a kernel of realism in the old story of a pregnant teenager in hard times. Buried in the pageantry, in other words, is an interesting movie.” Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post concluded a positive review of the film stating, “The most intriguing thing about The Nativity Story transpires during the couple’s extraordinary personal journey, advancing a radical idea in an otherwise long slog of a cinematic Sunday school lesson: that Jesus became Who He was not only because He was the Son of God, but because He was the son of a good man.”
Conversely, many critics felt that the film did not take the story to new cinematic heights. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly noted, “The Nativity Story is a film of tame picture-book sincerity, but that’s not the same thing as devotion. The movie is too tepid to feel, or see, the light.” Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, “This is not a chance to ‘experience the most timeless of stories as you’ve never seen it before’ but just the opposite: an opportunity, for those who want it, to encounter this story exactly the way it’s almost always been told.”
Incident
Keisha Castle-Hughes became pregnant during filming, at the age of 16, and received a lot of media attention.
Music
Mychael Danna‘s score of the film was released as an album on December 5, 2006. The album was nominated for a Dove Award for Instrumental Album of the Year at the 39th GMA Dove Awards.
An album of songs inspired by the film was also released under the title The Nativity Story: Sacred Songs. It featured music by artists like Point of Grace, Amy Grant, Jaci Velasquez, and others.
The Nativity Story
Soundtrack album by Mychael Danna (click on title to listen)
Watch the movie
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