An Evening with William Price King – Christmas Music – The Little Drummer Boy.

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life.

William Price King put this series together for Christmas 2015 and I thought that I would share again to the new readers who have joined the blog since then. For those of you who enjoyed the music the first time around.. I hope you will enjoy again..

Today we are featuring probably one of the most recorded songs for the festive season.

The Little Drummer Boy began life in the early 40s as Carol of the Drum and was written by American classical composer and teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis. She had based the version on a traditional Czech carol with unknown origins and originally Katherine composed the piece specifically for girl’s choirs.

Carol of the Drum caught the attention of The Trapp Family Singers (Sound of Music) and they recorded for Decca Records in 1955. That began decades of recordings by some of the top artists of the time. By 1958 it had become The Little Drummer Boy when released by Harry Simeone on 20^th Century Fox Records.

Here are just a few of the artists who have kept this beautiful Christmas Song fresh in the minds of us all over the decades and brought it to new generations of music lovers.

Bing Crosby, Johnny Cash, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, The Supremes, Nana Mouskouri, Joan Baez, Stevie Wonder, Henri Mancini, The Jackson Five, Jimi Hendrix, Anne Murray, Kiri te Kanawa, Glen Campbell, Alicia Keys and Ringo Starr.

Here is the amazing group Pentatonix that brings us right up to date in a very beautiful version.

Pentatonix is an American a cappella group made up of five vocalists. They cover existing songs as well as produce their own material and it has a very definitive style. Exquisite vocal harmonies with extremely effective vocal percussion and beat boxing. You will be able to hear how wonderfully they bring this together in their version of The Little Drummer Boy.

Buy all their albums

http://www.amazon.com/Pentatonix/e/B00I4HOPXO

About William Price King.

About William Price King

William Price King is an American jazz singer, musician and composer. Originally he studied classical music and opera but over the years his style has evolved to what many refer to as the ‘sweet point’ where music and voice come together so beautifully.

His vocal mentors are two of the greatest giants in jazz, Nat King Cole and Mel Torme. His jazz album, ‘Home,’ is a collection of contemporary songs and whilst clearly a homage to their wonderful legacy it brings a new and refreshing complexity to the vocals that is entrancing.

His latest album Eric Sempe and William Price King is now available to download. The repertory includes standards such as “Bye Bye Blackbird” (a jazz classic), Sting’s “Englishman in New York,” Queen’s “The Show Must Go On”, Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and other well-known jazz, pop, and rock classics.

William and Eric Sempe have also brought their own magic to the album with original tracks such as Keep on Dreaming and Red Snow with collaboration with Jeanne King
Download the new album. http://cdbaby.com/cd/williampriceking

William is currently in France where he performs in popular Jazz Venues in Nice and surrounding area.

Connect to William

Website – http://www.williampriceking.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WilliamPriceKing
Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – http://cave-wilson.com/
ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/william-price-king/id788678484

You can find all of William’s posts on Jazz, Classical and Contemporary artists in this link: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/william-price-king-a-man-and-his-music-jazz-classical-and-contemporary-legends/

My thanks to William for putting this series together, running until the end of December on Friday evenings at 9.00pm. UK Time.. I hope you will tune in.