Mary's Boy Child

"Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. With its religious content, it is also widely performed as a Christmas carol.

It was first recorded by Harry Belafonte in 1956, for his album An Evening with Belafonte. An edited version was subsequently released as a single,^[1] reaching #1 on the UK charts in 1957. In 1962 the full-length version was added to a reissue of Belafonte's previously released album To Wish You a Merry Christmas. The song was also recorded by Mahalia Jackson in 1956 but titled as "Mary's Little Boy Child".^[2]

Covers

One of the most famous covers of the song is from the disco-group Boney M. from 1978, "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord." This version returned the song to the top of the UK charts.

It 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 Brothers Four, Charlotte Church, Greg MacDonald, Nat King Cole, The Lettermen (1966), The Merrymen, Jim Reeves (1963), Rolf Harris (1970), Kiri Te Kanawa (1984), Al Bano and Romina Power (1991), Sir Tom Jones (1993), John Denver, Harry Connick Jr, Tarja Turunen (as Marian Poika), Roger Whittaker, The Little River Band, The Three Degrees, The Pete King Chorale, Nina & Frederik, Carola, Jan Malmsjö (as Varje människa har ett ljus), Kikki Danielsson (as Det hände sig för länge sen), Stefan Borsch (as Det hände sig för länge sen), Tommy Körberg (as Himlens hemlighet), Vikingarna and Schytts (as Du är som en sommardag, where the Schytts version was at Svensktoppen for 10 weeks in 1979, where it peaked at #1), Bryn Terfel, Connie Talbot, Severe, and many others. It has also been included on the live concert DVD, A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert, featuring Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade and Wynton Marsalis, with André Previn as musical director. The Wiggles recorded this song on their album "Santa's Rockin'". In 2007, Grammy-winning vocalist Juice Newton included a folk-rock version of the song on her "The Gift of Christmas" CD. Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell recorded the song for his festive album O Holy Night in 2010.

Other uses

The words and music featured on a miniature sheet issued with the 1983 Christmas stamps of the Caribbean island of St Kitts^[3] while the adjacent island of Nevis issued a complementary sheet featuring the "Calypso Carol".

References

1. ^ RCA Victor, 20-6735 (78rpm) / 47-6735 (45rpm)
2. ^ Columbia, 40777 (78rpm) / 4-40777 (45rpm)
3. ^ St Kitts 1983 Christmas m/sheet (SG MS 138)

Preceded by "That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly and The Crickets	UK Singles Chart number one single (Harry Belafonte version) November 22, 1957	Succeeded by "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis
Preceded by "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart	UK Singles Chart number one single (Boney M version) 9 December 1978 - 30 December 1978	Succeeded by "Y.M.C.A." by Village People
Preceded by Wings Mull of Kintyre	UK Christmas Number One single "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" *Original Christmas Video! (Boney M. version) 1978	Succeeded by Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)