[Fuusm-l] Fwd: Jingle Bells - James Lord Pierpont

[Randall Kidder]

     James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) was born in Boston, Massachusettes.
There is some debate whether Pierpont wrote this in a Boston rooming house
in the summer of 1857, or at Simpson Tavern in the Boston suburb of
Medford, Massachusettes during the autumn of 1857. It was first published
with the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" the same year. In 1859 it was
retitled "Jingle Bells."  Some think he wrote it for a Sunday school choir
(and if one only considers the first verse that might be so), but
additional verses which refer to picking up girls, sleigh drag-racing, and
a high speed crash imply it was conceived more as a drinking song. At first
it had no connection with Chistmas at all, but was inspired by the popular
sleigh races in Medford, Mass. Sleigh bells were attached to the harnesses
of horses to avoid collisions at blind intersections since a horse-drawn
sleigh makes little sound in snow.
     He was the son of a Unitarian minister, Rev. John Pierpont. His
brother, also named John Pierpont, was a Unitarian minister too. In 1853 he
worked as organist at his brother's Unitarian church in Savannah, Georgia.
His father and brother were both abolitionists and Union sympathizers
during the Civil War (1861-1865), the father served as chaplain in the 22nd
Massachusettes Infantry. James, however, was a Confederate sympathizer and
served as a clerk in a Confederate cavalry regiment.
     It was dedicated to the organizer of a minstrel troupe, Dr. John
Ordway, a Boston physician, and has the rather unfortunate distinction of
receiving its first public performance by Ordway's Aeolians on September
15th, 1857. Paradoxically, minstrel shows originated in the early 19th
century in the northeastern states, which all became Union states during
the war.
     On Dec.16th, 1965, during the joint Gemini 6 and 7 mission it became
the first song ever broadcast from space. Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford
and Wally Schirra had smuggled a harmonica and sleigh bells aboard the
craft to use during a prank they planned to play on Gemini 7 and mission
control. Schirra played the harmonica, Stafford played the sleigh bells.
I've sent a separate email of a recording.


Randall Kidder

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Randall Kidder <randallkidder88 at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Dec 10, 2020, 8:17 AM
Subject: Jingle Bells - James Lord Pierpont
To: Randall Kidder <randallkidder88 at gmail.com>




Randall Kidder
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