Mary's Boy Child

"Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston.

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 on RCA Victor 20-6735 (78rpm) / 47-6735 (45rpm), 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" on Columbia 40777 (78rpm) / 4-40777 (45rpm).

Covers

The most famous cover 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 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) 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, S.K.Y. 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.

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.

References

• Svensktoppen chartinfo