My Favorite Things (song)

"My Favorite Things"
Song
Published1959 by Williamson Music
Genreshow tune
Composer(s)Richard Rodgers
Lyricist(s)Oscar Hammerstein II

"My Favorite Things" is a song from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.

In the original Broadway production, the song was introduced by Mary Martin playing Maria and Patricia Neway playing Mother Abbess. Julie Andrews, who had first performed the song in a 1961 Christmas special for The Garry Moore Show, reprised My Favorite Things in 1965 when she starred as Maria in the film version of the musical.

The list of favorite things mentions many holiday and winter time imagery including kettles, warm mittens, packages, sleigh bells, kittens, snowflakes, and silver white winters. The song has become a holiday staple on radio and in advertising.

In 2004, the movie version of the song placed at number 64 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Other notable versions

John Coltrane played a 14-minute version in E minor as the title track of an album recorded in October 1960 and released in March 1961. It became a jazz classic and a signature song for Coltrane in concert, also appearing on Newport '63 in 1963.[1]

In 1964, Jack Jones became the first of many artists to include the song on a Christmas album.[2]

In 1965, a popular version of the song performed by Diana Ross and The Supremes was included in the group's album release Merry Christmas.[3] Their version was featured in the 2018 Christmas film of The Grinch soundtrack.[4]

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass released a version in 1969 as a single from their 1968 album, Christmas Album. It reached number 45 on the Billboard 100.

Kenny Rogers recorded a version which appeared on his first holiday album titled "Christmas" in 1981.

Lorrie Morgan's version appeared in 1994 and again in 1999 at number 64 and number 69, respectively, on the Hot Country Songs chart after she recorded it for her 1993 album, Merry Christmas from London.[5]

Chicago dropped a Latin beat onto their 2011 version featured on their album, Chicago XXXIII: O Christmas Three. It reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

In her 2019 song "7 Rings", Ariana Grande interpolates the melody of "My Favorite Things".[6] The song topped the charts in 15 countries.

Charts

The Supremes version

Chart (1966) Peak
position
Singapore (Billboard)[7] 10

Glee Cast version

Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[8] 74
US Holiday Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[9] 21

References

  1. ^ Giddins, Gary (October 22, 1998). Visions of Jazz: The First Century. Oxford University Press. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-19-987953-3.
  2. ^ Bronson, Fred (December 21, 2017). "Mystery Solved: Here's How 'My Favorite Things' From 'The Sound of Music' Became a Christmas Song". Billboard. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  3. ^ Merry Christmas at Discogs
  4. ^ "The Grinch (2018) - IMDb". IMDb.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  6. ^ Hershberg, Marc (February 7, 2019). "Rodgers and Hammerstein Top the Pop Charts". Forbes. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD". Billboard. February 5, 1966. p. 37.
  8. ^ "Glee Cast Chart History (Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  9. ^ "Glee Cast Chart History (Holiday Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2020.