"Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956

1956 in music

-Events:*January 26 – Buddy Holly's first recording sessions for Decca Records take place in Nashville, Tennessee*Roy Orbison signs with Sun Records*January 27 – Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was the One" is released...

 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston

Jester Hairston

Jester Joseph Hairston was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, and actor. His notable compositions include "Amen," a gospel-tinged theme from the film Lilies of the Field and a 1963 hit for The Impressions, and the Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child".-Early life:Hairston...

. With its religious content, it is also widely performed as a Christmas carol

Christmas carol

A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...

.

It was first recorded by Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...

 in 1956, for his album An Evening with Belafonte

An Evening with Belafonte

An Evening with Belafonte is a studio album by Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor in 1957.-Track listing:# "Merci Bon Dieu" – 2:54# "Once Was" – 4:44# "Hava Nageela" – 3:14...

. An edited version was subsequently released as a single, reaching #1 on the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 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

To Wish You a Merry Christmas

To Wish You a Merry Christmas is an album by Harry Belafonte Recorded May 27, 31, June 1, 3 and 8 of 1958 in Hollywood.Conducted by Bob Corman. Millard Thomas and Laurindo Almeida, guitarists...

. The song was also recorded by Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...

 in 1956 but titled as "Mary's Little Boy Child".

Covers

One of the most famous covers 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

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 charts.

It has been recorded twice by Andy Williams

Andy Williams

Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...

, once on his 1965 album Merry Christmas and again on his 1997 album We Need A Little Christmas. It has also been recorded by The Brothers Four

The Brothers Four

The Brothers Four are an American folk singing group, founded in 1957 in Seattle, Washington, known for their 1960 hit song "Greenfields".-History:...

, Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church

Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...

, Greg MacDonald, Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole

Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...

, The Lettermen

The Lettermen

The Lettermen are an American male pop music vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959...

 (1966), The Merrymen

The Merrymen

The Merrymen, sometimes written as The MerryMen, are a popular calypso band from Barbados.The Merrymen's career spans five decades, from the early 1960s to the 2000s...

, Jim Reeves

Jim Reeves

James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...

 (1963), Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

 (1970), Kiri Te Kanawa

Kiri Te Kanawa

Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...

 (1984), Al Bano and Romina Power

Al Bano and Romina Power

Al Bano and Romina Power were an Italian pop music duo formed by then-married couple Albano Carrisi and Romina Power. They are best known for their songs "Felicità", "Sempre sempre", "Nostalgia Canaglia", and "Libertà"...

 (1991), Sir Tom Jones (1993), John Denver

John Denver

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

, Harry Connick Jr, Tarja Turunen

Tarja Turunen

Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli is a Finnish singer-songwriter and composer. She is a full lyric soprano and has a vocal range of three octaves....

 (as Marian Poika), Roger Whittaker

Roger Whittaker

Roger Whittaker is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability...

, The Little River Band

Little River Band

Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...

, The Three Degrees

The Three Degrees

The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group. Formed in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, the group has always been a trio though there have been a number of personnel changes and a total of fourteen women have represented the group so far. The original members were Fayette Pinkney,...

, The Pete King Chorale, Nina & Frederik

Nina & Frederik

Nina and Frederik were a Danish popular singing duo of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their repertoire consisted of a blend of folk music, calypsos and standards...

, Carola

Carola Häggkvist

Carola Maria Häggkvist , better known as simply Carola, is a Swedish singer and occasional songwriter. She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s, and has released albums ranging from pop and disco to hymns and folk music...

, Jan Malmsjö

Jan Malmsjö

Jan Wilhelm Malmsjö is a Swedish stage and actor, musical star and singer. He is married to Marie Göranzon and father to Jonas Malmsjö.-Biography:...

 (as Varje människa har ett ljus), Kikki Danielsson

Kikki Danielsson

Ann-Kristin "Kikki" Danielsson is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She is also famous for yodeling in some songs. Kikki Danielsson gained her largest popularity in the Nordic region from the late 1970s until...

 (as Det hände sig för länge sen), Stefan Borsch

Stefan Borsch

Stefan Borsch, born 19 January 1947 in Hagfors, Sweden, is a Swedish dansband singer. At first, he sang for Swedish dansband Öijwinds, and from 1973 for the dansband Vikingarna, which he left in 1979. After this, he began a solo career. He participated at the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1985 with the...

 (as Det hände sig för länge sen), Tommy Körberg

Tommy Körberg

Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician. In 1969, he won Swedish Recording Industry Award Grammis in a category Best Debut Performance. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role in the Benny Andersson–Björn Ulvaeus–Tim Rice musical Chess...

 (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

Bryn Terfel

Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....

, Connie Talbot

Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic

Connie Talbot's Holiday Magic is the third album by British child singer Connie Talbot. Released 13 October 2009 by AAO Music, it features rerecordings of songs from Talbot's previous album, Connie Talbot's Christmas Album, as well as new tracks...

, Severe, and many others. It has also been included on the live concert DVD, A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert, featuring Kathleen Battle

Kathleen Battle

Kathleen Battle , is an African-American operatic soprano known for her agile and light voice and her silvery, pure tone. Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid 1970s. She made her opera debut in...

, Frederica von Stade

Frederica von Stade

Frederica von Stade is an American mezzo-soprano. Born in Somerville, New Jersey, she acquired the nickname "Flicka" in her childhood. Von Stade attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 and in 1971 appeared as Cherubino in The...

 and Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...

, with André Previn

André Previn

André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...

 as musical director. The Wiggles

The Wiggles

The Wiggles are a children's group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album...

 recorded this song on their album "Santa's Rockin'". In 2007, Grammy-winning vocalist Juice Newton

Juice Newton

Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American Pop music and Country singer, songwriter and guitarist...

 included a folk-rock version of the song on her "The Gift of Christmas" CD. Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell

Daniel O'Donnell

Daniel or Danny O'Donnell may refer to:* Daniel O'Donnell, Irish singer* Daniel O'Donnell , American legislator from the state of New York* Danny O'Donnell * Danny O'Donnell...

 recorded the song for his festive album O Holy Night in 2010.

Other uses

The words and music featured on a miniature sheet

Miniature sheet

A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups , or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary,...

 issued with the 1983 Christmas stamp

Christmas stamp

Many nations of the world issue Christmas stamps, postage stamps with a Christmas theme and intended for use on seasonal mail such as Christmas cards. These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike Christmas seals, and are usually valid for postage year-round...

s of the Caribbean island of St Kitts while the adjacent island of Nevis

Nevis

Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...

 issued a complementary sheet featuring the "Calypso Carol

Calypso Carol

The Calypso Carol is a popular modern Christmas carol, with the opening line "See him lying on a bed of straw".It has often been introduced by BBC announcers and others as a traditional folk carol from the West Indies. The calypso of the title refers to its West Indian flavour, and the words have...

".