Released 1960 Recorded September 21, 1960 Length 2:50 | Format 7-inch Genre R&B, Christmas | |
B-side "Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)" by Amos Milburn | ||
"Please Come Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song, released in 1960, by the American blues singer and pianist Charles Brown. Hitting Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in December 1961, the tune Brown co-wrote with Gene Redd peaked at position #76. It appeared on the Christmas Singles chart for nine seasons, hitting #1 in 1972. It includes a number of characteristics of Christmas music, such as multiple references in the lyrics to the Christmas season and Christmas traditions, and the use of a Church bell type sound, created using a piano, at the start of the song. It is sometimes referred to as "Bells Will Be Ringing", which are the first four words of the song.
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Eagles version
In 1978, the rock band Eagles covered and released the song as a holiday single. Their version peaked at #18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the first Christmas song to reach the Top 20 on that chart since Roy Orbison's "Pretty Paper" in 1963. This was the first Eagles song to feature Timothy B. Schmit on bass (having replaced founding member Randy Meisner the previous year). The lineup features Don Henley (drums/vocals), Glenn Frey (piano, backing vocals), Joe Walsh (guitar, backing vocals), Schmit (bass/backing vocals), and Don Felder (lead guitar). Originally released as a vinyl 7" single, it was re-released as a CD single in 1995, reaching #15 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. This version includes the lyrics "bells will be ringing the sad, sad news" (that is, a Christmas alone) as opposed to Brown's original version which references the "glad, glad news" (that is, Christmas in general).
Jon Bon Jovi version
Jon Bon Jovi also covered the song on the 1992 holiday album, A Very Special Christmas 2. A promo music video that featured supermodel Cindy Crawford was made to accompany that release. In 1994 the same recording was released as a charity single in Europe, but this time instead of being credited as a solo recording by Jon Bon Jovi it was released under the band name Bon Jovi. The 1994 single release made the Top Ten in both UK and Ireland.
Other cover versions
The song has also been covered by artists in various genres including Johnny Adams, Keith Anderson, Fiona Apple, Pat Benatar, James Brown, Kelly Clarkson, Harry Connick, Jr., Dion, Fats Domino, Josh Gracin, Cee Lo Green, Heart, The Hot Sardines, Toby Keith, B. B. King, Lady Antebellum, Melissa Manchester, Martina McBride, Jesse McCartney, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville, Christina Perri, The Platters, Lonestar, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Darius Rucker, Bryan Lazar, Southside Johnny, Little Johnny Taylor, Clay Walker, and Edgar and Johnny Winter.