Little Becky's Christmas Wish

Annotation

Probably the most well-known (and most commercially successful) of the 60s child spoken-word records, the song "Little Becky's Christmas Wish" (Warner Bros. Records # 7154) by the 6 year old girl Becky Lamb took the form of a letter to Santa Claus asking him to bring her big brother Tommy home for Christmas. However, he died in Vietnam. Her father Bill Lamb, hosted a radio program in Flint, Michigan, on the station WKMF from 1960 to 1984, where Becky occasionally made an appearance. A year later Becky continued the story with "Love, Tommy" (Warner Bros. Records # 7158). The record company ran a full-page advert in Billboard on 9 December 1967 which said that "every year a particular record performance seems to synthesize the Christmas sentiment of that particular season. This year an unusual offering by an unusually gifted child bears that kind of mood and feel, that stamp of Singles greatness. More Poignant than any in recent memory, the big-big Christmas Single of '67-'68 appears to be Little Becky's Christmas Wish".1 Billboard then noted the track in its "Christmas Spotlight" on 16 December 1967, describing it as a "moving ballad narration that has all the emotional ingredients of becoming one of the top hits of this Christmas. Timing is perfect for the sad lyric content, easily identifiable".2 Many viewed this as a cynical attempt by the music label to cash in on a sensitive topic, with the help of a small child. As a musical representation of the Vietnam war, it displays the impact of a soldier's death on young siblings, and thus an interesting track. The song reached # 2 in the Billboard Christmas chart. It started out with Becky telling Santa in a letter that her brother Tommy is away. Becky told how Tommy used to play President John F. Kennedy's speech, an inspiration to fight for the country. Becky then recalled the day that the bad news arrived from the postman. She wondered why Tommy's girlfriend never came around to the house anymore.Also featured in: Sources1Billboard, 9 December 1967↩2Billboard, 16 December 1967↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Children on Record

Probably the most well-known (and most commercially successful) of the 60s child spoken-word records, the song "Little Becky's Christmas Wish" (Warner Bros. Records # 7154) by the 6 year old girl Becky Lamb took the form of a letter to Santa Claus asking him to bring her big brother Tommy home for Christmas. However, he died in Vietnam. Her father Bill Lamb, hosted a radio program in Flint, Michigan, on the station WKMF from 1960 to 1984, where Becky occasionally made an appearance. A year later Becky continued the story with "Love, Tommy" (Warner Bros. Records # 7158). The record company ran a full-page advert in Billboard on 9 December 1967 which said that "every year a particular record performance seems to synthesize the Christmas sentiment of that particular season. This year an unusual offering by an unusually gifted child bears that kind of mood and feel, that stamp of Singles greatness. More Poignant than any in recent memory, the big-big Christmas Single of '67-'68 appears to be Little Becky's Christmas Wish".1 Billboard then noted the track in its "Christmas Spotlight" on 16 December 1967, describing it as a "moving ballad narration that has all the emotional ingredients of becoming one of the top hits of this Christmas. Timing is perfect for the sad lyric content, easily identifiable".2 Many viewed this as a cynical attempt by the music label to cash in on a sensitive topic, with the help of a small child. As a musical representation of the Vietnam war, it displays the impact of a soldier's death on young siblings, and thus an interesting track. The song reached # 2 in the Billboard Christmas chart. It started out with Becky telling Santa in a letter that her brother Tommy is away. Becky told how Tommy used to play President John F. Kennedy's speech, an inspiration to fight for the country. Becky then recalled the day that the bad news arrived from the postman. She wondered why Tommy's girlfriend never came around to the house anymore.Sources1Billboard, 9 December 1967↩2Billboard, 16 December 1967↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Dear Santa, this is the very first time I’ve ever written to you / All my Christmases have been wonderful and you gave me lots of nice toys / This year mommy says Christmas won’t be the same, because, well because my big bother Tommy won’t be here / Not too long ago Tommy was home in a green suit with great big gold buttons / I played Tommy's favourite record.... / A man was talking and said not what my country can do, what I can do... Or something like that / I asked what that meant...he said it means a lot... / Last week Mr. Dewey brought mommy a letter and made mommy cry / I don’t like Mr. Dewey anymore / When daddy came home, he cried too / And I never never saw my dad cry before / Santa why were mommy and daddy crying? / They took Tommy's record player and things and put them in the attic... / Tommy has a girlfriend, her name is Kathy, but she doesn’t come over anymore / I wonder why? / But please, please bring Tommy home for Christmas / So mommy and daddy won't cry anymore

Notes

Warner Bros. Records 7154 (K15765), orange label; "Little Becky's Christmas Wish" (DeAngelo-Casabon), Carlman Music, BMI - 2:58; produced by Dick Glasser, arranged by Al Capps, vocal supervision by DeAngelo, Casabon & Lamb. Issued in a Warner Bros. company sleeve with a red triangle pattern, "© 1964 Warner Bros. Records, Inc., a subsidiary and licensee of Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc." [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Currently Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Aka Rebecca Susan Lamb, Rebecca Susan Wood

Themes

Christmas · Patriotic · Child · Home Front Perspective · JFK · K.I.A.

In collections

Children on Record · Christmas Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]