Uploaded October 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Carla Venita Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas. Gee Whiz, It's Christmas is a follow-up to Carla's 1961 top 10 pop and R&B hit, "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)".
Hello there, merry christmas how you been
It's so good to talk to you again.
It's been a long long time
Cant' explain why you crossed my mind
I guess it's just to wish you a merry christmas
My best friend's having a party
And everybody's going
I know it's gonna be alot of fun - oh by the way
It's snowing
It's been a long long time
Cant' explain why you crossed my mind
I guess it's just to say gee whiz it's christmas
It's funny that I have'nt thought to call you before
And why is it i haven't seen you around anymore
Another year has passed and i can't erase
The memory of your smiling face
So i have to call you up and say
Gee whiz it's christmas
So don't forget the party that we're throwing
The warm fires of the fireplace
Will be glowing
It's been a long long time
Still can't figure out why you crossed my mind
I guess it's just to say gee whiz it's christmas
I'm wishing you a merry, have a merry christmas
Carla Venita Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas. Gee Whiz, It's Christmas is a follow-up to Carla's 1961 top 10 pop and R&B hit, "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)".
Hello there, merry christmas how you been
It's so good to talk to you again.
It's been a long long time
Cant' explain why you crossed my mind
I guess it's just to wish you a merry christmas
My best friend's having a party
And everybody's going
I know it's gonna be alot of fun - oh by the way
It's snowing
It's been a long long time
Cant' explain why you crossed my mind
I guess it's just to say gee whiz it's christmas
It's funny that I have'nt thought to call you before
And why is it i haven't seen you around anymore
Another year has passed and i can't erase
The memory of your smiling face
So i have to call you up and say
Gee whiz it's christmas
So don't forget the party that we're throwing
The warm fires of the fireplace
Will be glowing
It's been a long long time
Still can't figure out why you crossed my mind
I guess it's just to say gee whiz it's christmas
I'm wishing you a merry, have a merry christmas
![Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians - The Meaning Of Christmas Medley [Album] (Capitol Records 1961)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ez0aZYbJung/mqdefault.jpg "Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians - The Meaning Of Christmas Medley [Album] (Capitol Records 1961)
The Meaning Of Christmas Medley is a double sided album with the first side of the record consisting of choral settings of 13 familiar Christmas tunes strung together by Warings spoken reflections on the meaning of Christmas. Christmas means many things to many people, Waring intones in his introduction to the joyful Holiday. It means gifts, glamour, celebration, meditation, reunion, reminiscence, old friends...a time of great joy. The second side consists of only two tracks. The first is the Pennsylvanians jolly six-minute rendition of Twas the Night Before Christmas, which is probably the most famous musical adaptation ever recorded of that everlastingly popular holiday staple. The record concludes with The Song of Christmas, a 17-minute medley of sacred carols sequenced to tell the Biblical Christmas story. Let us not forget that to all men of goodwill who would pray for peace, Christmas means Christ, Waring suggests in an introduction tainted slightly by unintentional religious chauvinism. The record contains several charming performances, but among the highlights are the pretty Carol of the Bells and a snappy piano rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that recalls Warings jazzy roots.
The Meaning of Christmas Medley was composed by Fred Waring, Boland, Frank Cunkle, Jerry Toti, Johnny Marks, Leo M. Tellep, Mark Lawrence, Moe Jaffe, Mykola Leontovych, Roy Ringwald, Sherman Feller, and Victor Herbert
Fredrick Malcolm Waring (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was a popular musician, bandleader, and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as Americas Singing Master and The Man Who Taught America How to Sing. He was also a promoter, financial backer and eponym of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric blender on the market.
Warings Pennsylvanians was a dance band that was founded at Penn State University by Fred Waring.
First named the Collegians, the group was formed in 1918 at Penn State by the brothers Fred and Tom Waring and their friends Freddy Buck and Poley McClintock. They had a hit in 1925 with the song Collegiate. Other popular novelty songs were Ive Never Seen a Straight Banana and I Wonder How I Look When Im Asleep.
In 1929 they appeared in the movie Syncopation and on stage in The New Yorkers the following year. Their popularity increased in the 1930s with their presence in radio and movies. During the 1940s, they performed on Broadway and at the Worlds Fair and became the first band to broadcast its own TV show. From 1950–1970, they became a corporation that branched into workshops, real estate, and a magazine.
From 1923 until late 1932, Warings Pennsylvanians were among Victor Records best-selling bands. In late 1932, Waring abruptly quit recording, although his band continued to perform on radio. In 1933, You Gotta Be a Football Hero was performed on radio to great acclaim. His 1930 recording of Love For Sale by Cole Porter is one of the only period versions of this popular song.
Adding a mens singing group to his ensemble, he recruited Robert Shaw, recently out of the Pomona College glee club, to train his singers. Shaw later founded the Robert Shaw Chorale and directed the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Pembroke Davenport (1911–85) was Warings pianist and arranger.
During World War II, Waring and his ensemble appeared at war bond rallies and entertained the troops at training camps. He composed and performed dozens of patriotic songs, his most famous being My America. In 1943, he acquired the Buckwood Inn in Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania, and renamed the resort the Shawnee Inn. To promote the inn, he centered his musical activities at the inn itself. He created, rehearsed, and broadcast his radio programs from the stage of Shawnees Worthington Hall throughout the 1950s.
During the 1940s and early 1950s, Waring and His Pennsylvanians produced a string of hits, selling millions of records. A few of his many choral hits include Sleep, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Button Up Your Overcoat, White Christmas, Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, and Dancing in the Dark.
The song, Breezin Along with the Breeze was used as a signature tune by Fred Waring")
