Mary 's Boy Child - wikipedia Mary 's Boy Child `` Mary 's Boy Child '' Single by Harry Belafonte from the album An Evening with Belafonte B - side `` Venezuela '' Released 1956 Format Vinyl record ( 7 ``, 10 '' ) Recorded 1954 Studio Grand Ballroom, Webster Hall, New York City Genre Christmas Length 2 : 57 Label RCA Victor Songwriter ( s ) Jester Hairston Harry Belafonte singles chronology `` Jamaica Farewell '' ( 1954 ) `` Mary 's Boy Child '' ( 1956 ) `` Banana Boat ( Day - O ) '' ( 1957 ) `` Mary 's Boy Child '' is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. It is widely performed as a Christmas carol. Contents 1 History 2 Covers 3 Translations 4 Other uses 5 References History The song had its genesis when Hairston was sharing a room with a friend. The friend asked him to write a song for a birthday party. Hairston wrote the song with a calypso rhythm because the people at the party would be mainly West Indians. The song 's original title was `` He Pone and Chocolate Tea '', pone being a type of corn bread. It was never recorded in this form. Some time later Walter Schumann, at the time conducting Schumann 's Hollywood Choir, asked Hairston to write a new Christmas song for his choir. Hairston remembered the calypso rhythm from his old song and wrote new lyrics for it. Harry Belafonte heard the song being performed by the choir and sought permission to record it. It was recorded in 1956 for his album An Evening with Belafonte. An edited version was subsequently released as a single, reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1957. It was the first single to sell over one million copies in the UK alone. To date, Belafonte 's version has sold over 1.19 million copes. In 1962. the full - length version was added to a re-issue of Belafonte 's previously released album To Wish You a Merry Christmas. The song was also recorded by Mahalia Jackson in 1956 but titled `` Mary 's Little Boy Child ''. Covers One of the best - known cover versions of the song is from the German - based disco - group Boney M. from 1978, `` Mary 's Boy Child -- Oh My Lord. '' This version returned the song to the top of the UK chart. It is one of the best - selling singles of all time in the UK, and has sold 1.87 million copies as of November 2015. When Hairston found out how well the Boney M version had done, he said : `` God bless my soul. That 's tremendous for an old fogey like me ''. He was 78 at the time. The song has been recorded twice by Andy Williams, once on his 1965 album Merry Christmas and again on his 1997 album We Need A Little Christmas. It has also been recorded by Evie ( 1977 ), Anne Murray, The Brothers Four, Charlotte Church ( Dream a Dream, 2000 ), Greg MacDonald, The Lettermen ( 1966 ), The Merrymen, Jim Reeves ( 1963 ), Rolf Harris ( 1970 ), Roger Whittaker, The Little River Band, The Three Degrees, The Pete King Chorale, Nina & Frederik, Carola, Vikingarna, Kiri Te Kanawa ( 1984 ), José Mari Chan ( 1990 ), Al Bano and Romina Power ( 1991 ), Tom Jones ( 1993 ), John Denver ( 1990 ), the cast of Glee ( 2013 ), RJ Jacinto ( 2015 ), Harry Connick Jr, Bryn Terfel, Connie Talbot and many others. The song was also included on the 1991 live concert A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert, featuring Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade and Wynton Marsalis. Recent covers include The Wiggles on their 2004 album Santa 's Rockin ' ; Juice Newton 's folk - rock version on her 2007 The Gift of Christmas ; Mandisa on her 2008 album It 's Christmas ; Paul Poulton 's reggae version on his 2008 album Grooves 4 Scrooge ; Daniel O'Donnell on his 2010 album O Holy Night ; and Joe McElderry on his 2011 album Classic Christmas. In 2012, the Portuguese priest António Cartageno made a choral arrangement for the song. Translations Translated versions include `` Hankien Joulu '' recorded by Georg Malmstén, `` Kauan Sitten Beetlehem '' recorded by Petri Laaksonen ( fi ), `` Marian Poika '' by Tarja Turunen, `` Varje människa har ett ljus '' recorded by Jan Malmsjö, ``... und Frieden für die Welt '' by Rolf Zuckowski, `` Maria 's Kind '' by La Esterella, `` Bethlehem '' by Rob de Nijs, `` Det hände sig för länge sen '' recorded by Kikki Danielsson on her 1987 Christmas album Min barndoms jular, `` Det hände sig för länge sen '' recorded by Stefan Borsch on his 1981 Christmas album I kväll jag tänder ett ljus, `` Himlens hemlighet '' recorded by Tommy Körberg and `` Du är som en sommardag '' by dance band Schytts. The Schytts version was in the Swedish chart Svensktoppen for 10 weeks in 1979, where it peaked at No. 1. `` Ang Batang Hesus '' by mayor_junneil ( Filipino ). Other uses The words and music featured on a miniature sheet issued with the 1983 Christmas stamps of the Caribbean island of St Kitts, while the adjacent island of Nevis issued a complementary sheet featuring the `` Calypso Carol ''. References ^ Jump up to : Rice, Jo ( 1982 ). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits ( 1st ed. ). Enfield, Middlesex : Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 33. ISBN 0 - 85112 - 250 - 7. ^ Jump up to : Boney M, John Shearlaw and David Brown, Hamlin Paperbacks, 1979 ISBN 0 600 20009 4, page 105 Jump up ^ RCA Victor, 20 - 6735 ( 78rpm ) / 47 - 6735 ( 45rpm ) ^ Jump up to : Myers, Justin ( 29 November 2015 ). `` Official Top 20 biggest selling Christmas songs revealed ''. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 November 2015. Jump up ^ Columbia, 40777 ( 78rpm ) / 4 - 40777 ( 45rpm ) Jump up ^ Roberts, David ( 2006 ). British Hit Singles & Albums ( 19th ed. ). London : Guinness World Records Limited. p. 360. ISBN 1 - 904994 - 10 - 5. Jump up ^ Information på Svensk mediedatabas Jump up ^ Information at Svensk mediedatabas Jump up ^ Information at Svensk mediedatabas Jump up ^ Svensktoppen - 1979 Jump up ^ `` St Kitts 1983 Christmas m / sheet ( SG MS 138 ) ''. Justwendystamps.com. 1950s portal Preceded by `` That 'll Be the Day '' by Buddy Holly and The Crickets UK Singles Chart number one single ( Harry Belafonte version ) November 22, 1957 Succeeded by `` Great Balls of Fire '' by Jerry Lee Lewis Preceded by `` Da Ya Think I 'm Sexy ? '' by Rod Stewart UK Singles Chart number one single ( Boney M version ) 9 December 1978 - 30 December 1978 Succeeded by `` Y.M.C.A. '' by Village People Preceded by Mull of Kintyre by Wings UK Christmas Number One single `` Mary 's Boy Child -- Oh My Lord '' * Original Christmas Video ! ( Boney M. version ) 1978 Succeeded by Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall ( Part 2 ) UK Christmas number - one singles in the 1950s `` Here in My Heart '' ( Al Martino, 1952 ) `` Answer Me '' ( Frankie Laine, 1953 ) `` Let 's Have Another Party '' ( Winifred Atwell, 1954 ) `` Christmas Alphabet '' ( Dickie Valentine, 1955 ) `` Just Walkin ' in the Rain '' ( Johnnie Ray, 1956 ) `` Mary 's Boy Child '' ( Harry Belafonte, 1957 ) `` It 's Only Make Believe '' ( Conway Twitty, 1958 ) `` What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For ? '' ( Emile Ford & The Checkmates, 1959 ) Complete list 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s UK Christmas number - one singles in the 1970s `` I Hear You Knocking '' ( Dave Edmunds, 1970 ) `` Ernie ( The Fastest Milkman in the West ) '' ( Benny Hill, 1971 ) `` Long Haired Lover from Liverpool '' ( Jimmy Osmond, 1972 ) `` Merry Xmas Everybody '' ( Slade, 1973 ) `` Lonely This Christmas '' ( Mud, 1974 ) `` Bohemian Rhapsody '' ( Queen, 1975 ) `` When a Child Is Born '' ( Johnny Mathis, 1976 ) `` Mull of Kintyre '' ( Wings, 1977 ) `` Mary 's Boy Child '' ( Boney M., 1978 ) `` Another Brick in the Wall '' ( Pink Floyd, 1979 ) Complete list 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary%27s_Boy_Child&oldid=816978322 '' Categories : Christmas number - one singles in the United Kingdom Christmas carols American Christmas songs Songs about Jesus European Hot 100 Singles number - one singles Number - one singles in Germany Number - one singles in Sweden UK Singles Chart number - one singles Number - one singles in Switzerland Songs written by Jester Hairston 1956 songs RCA Victor singles Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2013 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Español Nederlands Norsk Suomi Svenska Tagalog Edit links This page was last edited on 25 December 2017, at 04 : 55. 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Question: who sang mary's boy child in 1957
Answer: Harry Belafonte