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If We Make It Through December
"If We Make It Through December" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard and the Strangers. It was released in October 1973 as the lead single from the album '' Merle Haggard's Christmas Present'', and was the title track on a non-Christmas album four months later. In the years since its release, "If We Make It Through December" — which, in addition to its Christmas motif, also uses themes of unemployment and loneliness — has become one of the trademark songs of Haggard's career. Content Written in 1973, it treats with Haggard's characteristically simple poetry the desperate optimism of a working-class man dealing with economic hardship. Having been laid off from his factory job just prior to the Christmas season, the man becomes depressed over his predicament during what normally should be a "''happy time of year.''" At one point, he observes that his little girl "''don't understand why Daddy can't afford no Christmas gift.''" The chor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield sound. With a career spanning over five decades, Haggard had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' all-genre singles chart. Haggard overcame a troubled childhood, criminal convictions and time in prison to launch a successful country music career. He gained popularity with his songs about the working class; these occasionally contained themes contrary to the anti–Vietnam War sentiment of some popular music of the time. Haggard received many honors and awards, including a Kennedy Center Honors, Kennedy Center Honor (2010); a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006); a BMI Awards, BMI Icon Award (2006); and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), online streaming, and radio airplay in the U.S. A new chart is compiled and released online to the public by ''Billboard''s website on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday, when the printed magazine first reaches newsstands. The weekly tracking period for sales is currently Friday–Thursday, after being changed in July 2015. It was initially Monday–Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay is readily available on a real-time basis, unlike sales figures and streaming, but is also tracked on the same Friday–Thursday cycle, effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021. Previously, radio was tracked Monday–Sunday and, before Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iona Fyfe
Iona Fyfe (born 16 January 1998) is a Scottish folk singer from Huntly, Aberdeenshire. In 2016, she was a semi-finalist of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and, in 2017 and 2021, was a finalist of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician award. In 2018, she won "Scots Singer of the Year" at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. In 2019, she won "Young Scots Speaker o the Year" at the inaugural Scots Language Awards, winning "Scots Performer o the Year" in the 2020 Awards, and "Scots Speaker o the Year" in the 2021 Awards. She has advocated for official recognition of the Scots language, successfully petitioning Spotify to add Scots to their list of languages. Fyfe is a National Director of the Traditional Music and Song Association and serves as a committee member of the Musicians' Union Scotland. In November 2024, Fyfe was elected as the Rector of the University of Aberdeen and took up the three-year position in January 2025. Biography Fyfe was born on 16 January ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter. Her indie folk music typically centers on acoustic guitar and Electronic music, electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes. She has won four Grammy Awards on eleven nominations. Born in Pasadena, California, Bridgers has performed music since her youth and was a member of Sloppy Jane. She released her debut solo album ''Stranger in the Alps'' in 2017, followed by ''Punisher (album), Punisher'' (2020), both of which received critical acclaim. She is also a member of the Supergroup (music), supergroup boygenius, with whom she released a boygenius (EP), self-titled EP in 2018, followed by their debut The Record (Boygenius album), album and another The Rest (EP), EP in 2023. She was also a member of Better Oblivion Community Center with Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes (band), Bright Eyes, with whom she released one Better Oblivion Community Center (album), self-titled album as well as two singl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mamas
The Mamas are a Swedish-American pop and soul group. They won Melodifestivalen 2020 with their single "Move", which reached number one in Sweden in March 2020. Career The group consists of Ashley Haynes (born 19 January 1987 in Washington, D.C.), Loulou LaMotte (born 16 April 1981 in Malmö) and Dinah Yonas Manna (born 5 September 1981 in Stockholm). Founding member Paris Renita left the group in 2019. As a four-piece, the group provided backing vocals for John Lundvik's Melodifestivalen 2019 entry " Too Late for Love". Lundvik went on to win the competition and got to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 held in Tel Aviv, Israel, with the Mamas continuing to provide backing vocals. The song finished 5th in the grand final on 18 May 2019. In late 2019, it was announced that the Mamas (without Paris Renita) would take part in Melodifestivalen in 2020, this time in their own right with their entry "Move". They performed in the first heat on 1 February 2020 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Cowsill
William Joseph Cowsill Jr. (January 9, 1948 – February 18, 2006) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the lead singer and guitarist of The Cowsills, who had three top-10 singles in the late 1960s. From the mid-1970s until his death, he was a successful alt-country artist and producer in Canada. Early life, The Cowsills, 1964–1969 Bill Cowsill was born in Middletown, Rhode Island, the eldest child of the seven Cowsill children—six boys and one girl—and was named after his father, William Joseph "Bud" Cowsill (1925–1992). At a young age, Bill began singing with his younger brother Bob (born August 26, 1949), playing guitars provided for them by their father, who at the time was serving in the U.S. Navy.Steve DoughertyAs Apple-Cheeked Stars of the '60s, the Cowsills Lost Their Family to Fame; Now They're Finding Harmony Again ''People'', December 17, 1990. Retrieved 2014-09-05. The brothers had originally wanted to form a rock band. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blue Shadows
The Blue Shadows was a Canadian alt-country band founded in Vancouver, and active between 1992 and 1996. They released two albums in Canada.Charlotte DillonBiography of The Blue ShadowsAllmusic. Retrieved 2015-02-06. History The band was formed by Billy Cowsill and Elmar Spanier, who had been performing, with Lindsay Mitchell of Prism, as Billy Mitchell's Trainwreck. On July 5, 1985, they opened for k.d. lang at Calgary's Fairmont Palliser Hotel. Their concert, which included an appearance Cowsill's protege Colin James, was recorded and, in 2004, Cowsill released that album as ''Billy Cowsill – Live From The Crystal Ballroom Calgary, AB July, 1985''.Biography of The Blue Shadows canadianbands.com. Retrieved 2015-02-08. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Farmhouse Christmas
''A Farmhouse Christmas'' is the first Christmas album by American country music duo Joey + Rory. It was released on October 11, 2011 via Vanguard Records and Sugar Hill Records. The album contains twelve tracks, ten of which are either new or not traditionally associated with Christmas. It includes the standards "Away in a Manger" and " Blue Christmas," as well as a cover of Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December "If We Make It Through December" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard and the Strangers. It was released in October 1973 as the lead single from the album '' Merle Haggard's Christmas Present'', and was th ..." featuring background vocals from Haggard. Track listing Chart performance References {{DEFAULTSORT:Farmhouse Christmas 2011 Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Country Christmas albums Joey + Rory albums Sugar Hill Records albums Vanguard Records albums Albums produced by Carl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joey + Rory
Joey + Rory was an American country and bluegrass duo composed of singer-songwriters Rory Feek (born April 25, 1965) and Joey Feek (September 9, 1975 – March 4, 2016), who were husband and wife. Both members of the duo were vocalists and songwriters, with Rory also playing acoustic guitar. Rory Lee Feek had written singles for other artists prior to the duo's foundation. The duo was the third-place finalist on CMT's competition ''Can You Duet'' in 2008. The duo recorded eight studio albums for Vanguard Records and Gaither Music Group and charted three singles on Hot Country Songs. History Before the duo's foundation, Rory Lee Feek worked as a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, and continued to work as a songwriter as a member of Joey + Rory. Songs he wrote for other artists include Clay Walker's Top Five hit " The Chain of Love", Blake Shelton's Number One hit " Some Beach", Easton Corbin's "A Little More Country Than That", Blaine Larsen's 2005 hit, " How Do You Get T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holly Cole
Holly Cole (born November 25, 1963) is a Canadian jazz singer and actress. For many years she performed with her group The Holly Cole Trio. Background Cole was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her father, Leon Cole, was a noted radio broadcaster for the CBC Radio 2, CBC Stereo network. Holly Cole Trio In 1983, Cole travelled to Toronto to seek a musical career. In 1986, she founded a trio with bassist David Piltch and pianist Aaron Davis. Offered a record deal in 1989, the Holly Cole Trio released an EP, ''Christmas Blues'', that year, which featured a version of The Pretenders' "2,000 Miles," which has proven to be very popular. This was followed by their first full album, ''Girl Talk'', in 1990. A succession of releases followed through the early 1990s. For example, 1991's ''Blame It On My Youth'', covered songs by Tom Waits ("Purple Avenue," aka "Empty Pockets") and Lyle Lovett ("God Will"), includes show tunes such as "If I Were a Bell" (from ''Guys and Do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faron Young
Faron Young (February 25, 1932 – December 10, 1996) was an American country singer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. His hits including " If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and " Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" marked him as a honky-tonk singer in sound and personal style; and his chart-topping singles " Hello Walls" and " It's Four in the Morning" showed his versatility as a vocalist. Known as the "Hillbilly Heartthrob", and following a singing cowboy film role as the "Young Sheriff", Young's singles charted for more than 30 years. In failing health, he died by suicide at the age of 64 in 1996. Young is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Early years Young was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the youngest of six children of Harlan and Doris Young. He grew up on a dairy farm his family operated outside the city. Young began singing at an early age, imagining a career as a pop singer, but after he joined some friends watching ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most of his nearly four-decade career, which spanned from the late 1940s to the early 1980s. He was also an early outlaw country pioneer. Born in Glendale, Arizona, Robbins taught himself guitar while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and subsequently drew fame performing in clubs in and around his hometown. In 1952, he released his first number-one country song, " I'll Go On Alone". Four years later, he released his second number-one hit " Singing the Blues", and one year later, released two more number-one hits, " A White Sport Coat" and " The Story of My Life". In 1959, Robbins released his signature song, " El Paso", for which he won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song began Robbins' association wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
