I'd like to share the following newspaper article with any of you out there who might want to take the time to read it. It appeared in our local Santa Barbara paper this morning and it was kind of special to me for a couple of reasons.
My wife and I went to a little Christmas program put on by the kindergartners at a local elementary school where my daughter teaches. Since her class was one of the three taking part in the song fest, I video taped the whole thing so she could show her class the video the next day. One of the songs the kids sang (to the accompaniment of the CD) was the song featured in the newspaper article below. I've heard the song before and the tune is rather catchy and it grows on you after a while.
So I took a special interest when Santa Barbara newspaper did a feature article (along with several nice photos) on the song and the local composer who wrote the song. But as I read the article and some of the comments by the composer, I was especially heartened by some of his words that related to his singing ability. He admits to not having a great voice but then adds: "I have learned one important thing: Even if your voice is imperfect, if you're sincere, then a certain spontaneity and charm comes through and people don't become concerned with the imperfections."
I took a lot of encouragement from that comment. I've never felt very comfortable with my singing voice either, especially after listening to some of the wonderful voices of many of the guys on this forum. But my retirement home music playing jobs got me into incorporating vocals into some of the numbers and gradually I've been adding vocals at other venues as well. So I thought maybe some others out there, who may have been too shy to try vocals (as I was for several years) might take some encouragement from what this composer has to say. So for what it's worth, here's the article, followed by the complete lyrics to his song.
Paul C.
The Christmas song
Barry DeVorzon's holiday ditty gives him a little fame every December
12/21/02
By CHARLOTTE BOECHLER
SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Do you hear what I hear?
If you listen to local radio stations during the holidays, you probably can't get Barry DeVorzon's "It's Christmas Once Again In Santa Barbara" out of your head.
Go ahead. Admit it. The song's as addicting as William Sonoma's Peppermint Bark. Maybe even more so. You catch yourself humming it while wrapping presents or singing it at your desk while co-workers burn holes through your cubicle:
"It's Christmas once again in Santa Barbara
There is not a snowflake to be found
No sleigh rides, no snowmen, like you see on the Christmas card
Oh, but we've got a lot of Christmas
We've got a lot of Christmas
We've got a lot of Christmas in our hearts."
There's only one known cure for it playing like a broken record in your mind: "Just go with it," said Mr. DeVorzon, who co-wrote the song with Micheal Towers about six years ago as part of a fund-raising CD for Unity Shoppe. "You won't hear it for another year."
The Montecito (a suburb of Santa Barbara) composer admits even he gets a little tired of the song.
"Some of my friends say their children are driving them crazy! They're playing it over and over and over," he said with a chuckle while sitting inside his home studio where the tune was produced. "My friends kid me about it a lot. They call me a one-hit wonder."
But that's not exactly the case. Above a wall of 40 years' worth of recording equipment are six Emmys -- one from 1991-92 for outstanding music direction and composition for the daytime drama "Guiding Light" -- and a Grammy in 1977 for "Nadia's Theme," the opening song for the hit CBS soap "The Young and the Restless."
He also received an Oscar nomination in 1971 for Best Song from "Bless the Beasts and Children" and has written songs for The Eagles, including "In the City," which is featured on the album "The Long Run."
So, what exactly motivated the award-winning composer to write a simple hometown harmony about snowmen and palm trees? Just a few guys you may have heard of -- such as Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald and Peter Noone. Along with other local musicians, they got together to make a holiday CD to be sold in record stores as a benefit for Unity Shoppe, a nonprofit that distributes goods to the needy. Mr. DeVorzon, who counts the men as his friends, was the only one who hadn't already cut a Christmas carol.
"The surprise came, for me, when radio, TV, everyone, jumped on this little song of mine called 'It's Christmas Once Again In Santa Barbara.' I was on there with some pretty big heavyweights!" said Mr. DeVorzon, grinning. "The first time I heard it on the radio, I almost got into a car accident."
Though he had two hits in the 1960s -- "Barbara Jean" and "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight?" -- the husky-voiced musician with a touch of country twang insists he's not comfortable around the mic.
"To be honest, I'm a little insecure about my singing," he said, noting he strives for perfection in his craft and it "bugs" him that his "different, but not great" voice makes it impossible when it comes to singing. "If your mind or heart wants to use that voice as an instrument to do different things it's not capable of, it's frustrating."
But not enough to stop him. Following the success of his carol, he recorded another CD on which he sang the tune along with Christmas classics.
"I have learned one important thing: Even if your voice is imperfect, if you're sincere, then a certain spontaneity and charm comes through and people don't become concerned with the imperfections."
Maybe he's right. Barbara Tellefson, executive director of Unity Shoppe, said the albums featuring his original song always sell out during the holidays and have probably raised more than $20,000. Only a few tapes are left at the Chapala Street thrift store and are available through donation.
"I've got orders from London," she said, noting that various groups -- from real estate agents to bikers -- are featured every year singing the song on KEYT-TV's annual Unity Shoppe holiday telethon. "It's so catchy and makes everyone feel like they're in the Christmas spirit even though there's no snow anywhere or sleigh bells."
Mr. DeVorzon, who made snowmen as a boy while living a "gypsy" life across the United States with his mother and musician father, insists he doesn't feel gypped that he no longer experiences the winter wonderland of which Felix Bernard wrote.
"The conditions here in Santa Barbara are probably closer to the conditions in Bethlehem, where it all took place," he said with a laugh.
Along with the palm trees and warm breezes he writes about in his song, he has had snow-less traditions that are just as inspiring as making angels in a freshly-fallen powder, such as videotaping his family, including wife Jelinda and sons Michael, Matthew and Daniel, rushing down the staircase to open presents on Christmas morning.
Not to mention the holiday shindigs.
"I remember one night around Christmas we had (Grammy Award-winning composer) David Foster on the piano and Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta and Kenny Loggins all singing the songs from 'Grease.'" he said. "It was a real kick."
Come Dec. 25, the real star in Mr. DeVorzon's house is the one singing "It's Christmas Once Again In Santa Barbara" while his family unwraps gifts.
"It's kind of fun being famous once a year, at least in Santa Barbara," he admitted. "Probably long after I'm gone, they'll be playing that song in Santa Barbara at Christmas -- and that's a nice feeling."
"It's Christmas Once Again In Santa Barbara"
"It's Christmas once again in Santa Barbara
There is not a chance that it will snow
Palm trees are swaying in the warm breeze
Back east it's 10 degrees below
I can hear the mission bells are ringing
State Street is all dressed up in Christmas Cheer
Kids are counting days 'til Christmas morning
It's my favorite time of year
It's Christmas once again in Santa Barbara
There is not a snowflake to be found
No sleigh rides, no snowmen like you see on the Christmas cards
Oh But we've got a lot of Christmas in our hearts
Some folks say it doesn't feel like Christmas
You can't look outside and see some snow
I don't recall that it was snowing in Bethlehem 2000 years ago
Trees hung with lights and decorations
Families gather by the fireside
This scene would make a perfect Christmas card
As long as you don't look outside
It's Christmas once again in Santa Barbara
There is not a snowflake to be found
No sleigh rides, no snowmen like you see on the Christmas cards
Oh But we've got a lot of Christmas in our hearts
It's Christmas once again in Santa Barbara
There is not a snowflake to be found
No sleigh rides, no snowmen like you see on the Christmas cards
Oh But we've got a lot of Christmas
We've got a lot of Christmas we've got a lot of Christmas in our hearts.
It's Christmas once again in Santa Barbara
There is not a snowflake to be found
No sleigh rides, no snowmen like you see on the Christmas cards
Oh But we've got a lot of Christmas
We've got a lot of Christmas we've got a lot of Christmas in our hearts."
Composers: Barry DeVorzon and Micheal Towers
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