Bill Cody's Top 10 Favorite Holiday Songs

Bill Cody

Tis the Season to sing holiday tunes! We asked GAC's Master Series host Bill Cody to pick his Top 10 favorite holiday songs...and here they are! (Plus one more for good measure)

1. "Til The Season Comes 'Round Again"--Amy Grant

Amy’s Christmas music is just part of the fabric of the Christmas season for our family. This song just speaks to the heart of our family as the years roll by.

2. "Child In A Barren Land"--Various Artists

It's a various artist compilation. Precious Child tells the Christmas story in spoken word and song. An amazing group of folks participated. This performance from Janis Ian is from Elizabeth's story of giving birth to John, who prepares the way for Jesus' coming.

3. "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day"--Suzy Bogguss
This song goes back to the Civil War, written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow after enormous personal loss.

4. "Baby It's Cold Outside"--Suzy Bogguss w/Delbert McClinton
This is a musical highlight for folks who like me who love and enjoy snow and winter weather. It's been sung most recently by Martina McBride w/ Dean Martin. Other wonderful versions have come from James Taylor w/Natalie Cole, Al Hirt w/Ann Margaret, Harry Connick, Jr. w/ Lee Ann Womack and many other combos. Delbert is just so wonderfully, mischievously smooth with Suzy. It remains my favorite version.

5. "Christmas For Cowboys"--John Denver
I love the plains and prairies of Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. This immediately takes me there. What a picture it paints of real ranch cowboys and the rugged simplicity of their lives at Christmas.

6. "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"--Andy Williams

This was the 'official' beginning of Christmas for me as a child. The "Andy Williams Christmas Special" on television and his singing of this song made it so and paved the way for Santa. My fellow baby boomers, you know exactly what I'm talking about. All worldly movement stopped while it was on.

7. "New Star Shining"--Ricky Skaggs & James Taylor

You wouldn't normally think of putting these two voices together. The first time I heard it, I wondered why they hadn't done it much sooner. The story, the harmony?the magic!

8. "Christmas In Dixie"--Alabama

I did mornings on KKYX radio in San Antonio for a number of years in the late '80s and early '90s. However, at Christmas time I was always taken back to the area of the country I grew up in when Randy Owen sang this. I've always thought they really captured the culture, geography, even the weather, so perfectly.

9. "Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem"--Emmylou Harris

My wife Rebecca and I share a love for this song. We've actually sung it at church during the holidays a few times through the years. It's been recorded by several different artists, but Emmy's is our fav.

10. "The Christmas Song"--Nat King Cole

THE STANDARD! Both the song, written by Mel Torme, and the singer.

11. "Grown-Up Christmas List" & "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)"--Amy Grant

For me, she ranks as the lone heir to Nat King Cole as the voice of Christmas. All three of Amy's Christmas albums permeate every inch of our home from Thanksgiving into the New Year.