Musical Giftstravaganza, Day 27 Today's Gifstravaganza celebrates a man beloved for his Christmas albums, and two songs that are closely associated with Christmas, but have scant basis for being so.→[More:]

Andy Williams, who passed away this year at 84, had a long, successful recording career with easy-listening hits such as "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses." He recorded eight Christmas albums, including the iconic first two, The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963), and Merry Christmas (1965). He hosted TV Christmas specials, and in later years, staged an annual Christmas show at his Moon River Theater in Branson, MO. This was the 21st year of "Mr. Christmas"'s productions in Branson, and the show went on as scheduled, the planning having been completed before his passing. His music was a staple of my 70s childhood, and no Christmas is complete for me without listening to his first two Christmas albums.

Today's selections are most often heard at Christmastime, and both of them are from films with marginal or no Christmas content. The first, The Bells of St. Mary's, is from a 1945 film of the same name in which one scene featured a Christmas pageant. The second is My Favorite Things, from The Sound of Music. There are several wintry references in the song ("Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes / Silver white winters that melt into springs"), but no Christmas content in the film.