Pat Boone’s Christmases through the years

Christmas this year will be made merrier and more memorable by the iconic Pat Boone who will topbill A Merry Christmas concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Dec. 6, produced by Renen de Guia’s Ovation Productions.

Boone will sing not only such Christmas songs as White Christmas, O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Winter Wonderland and many others, but also his all-time hits such as Love Letters In The Sand, Bernadine, April Love, Speedy Gonzales, Fascination, Tennessee Waltz and many others.

In an exclusive e-mail interview with Conversations, Boone talks about the many Christmases in his life — and much more.

Among your many Christmases, what do you consider the most unforgettable and why?

“The most unforgettable Christmas was the first my young wife Shirley and I experienced together when we were both 19.  We had no money, and I had transferred to N. Texas State in Denton, Texas, where we knew hardly anybody. She gave me a disc of a song I had recorded with the Texas Boys Choir which cost her nothing but which I greatly appreciated.

“My present to her was a beautifully wrapped box containing another smaller box, containing a smaller box…and the last little box had a note which said simply, ‘I love you, Merry Christmas, Pat.’ I don’t think we’ve ever given each other anything the other enjoyed more because it wasn’t so much the material value but the emotional and spiritual meaning. That’s what Christmas is really about.”

Have you ever experienced a blue Christmas?

“I never experienced a blue Christmas although I have written a song (which I intend to sing at my concert in Manila, by the way) called Little Green Tree. In the song, I speculate about what I would do if I were doing Christmas shows in another part of the world and was prevented from being home for Christmas by weather or something else. I decided I would find some excuse for a tree, put it in my hotel room, decorate it with whatever colorful things I might have like ties and socks and bottle caps and sit and enjoy memories of the Christmases past and dreams of the future with my loved ones. I really like the song and I hope my Philippine audiences will enjoy it, too.”

Which Christmas song do you find most touching?

“Silent Night means the most to me and is the most touching and I intend to include it in my Manila concert and hoping the whole audience will join me in singing it. It’s such a simple and profound picture of the night the world changed and all human souls were given the possibility of eternity with God, through that little babe in the manger.” 

Then and now(withOvationProductions’ Renen de Guia when they met last year): How do I want to be remembered? Honestly, I don’t think much about that because I’m not sure I will be particularly emembered... If ever, I’d like to beremembered as a good husband, father and a child of God.

How does your (growing) family usually spend Christmas?

“We rent a hotel ballroom!!! Just kidding. Shirley and I have to divide our time between three daughters and their growing families. We can’t have it at our house because of travel and other difficulties, and Shirley can’t cook a Christmas meal for such a big group, like she used to. So really, we’ll have three or four Christmases with the various segments of our family! Not bad.”

Do you still make any Christmas wish?

“I don’t make a wish anymore but I do pray a fervent prayer which is far more effective...that God will grant us time and grace to know Him and His will for us better. For God so loved the world, that He gave his only son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. That’s what He wants for Christmas…us!”

Looking back, what blessing in life are you most thankful for?

“I think my greatest blessing was being born to Christian parents in a place like Tennessee, in a country like America. All the rest of the blessings, though they come from God, have come to me uniquely because of that first one.”

Please tell us the story behind three of your well-loved songs: Bernadine, April Love and Love Letters In The Sand.

“Bernadine was written by Johnny Mercer, the Academy Award writer for my first movie, and which was the first true musical. People don’t know that, but it was a movie for teenagers and about teenagers and with music. 

“April Love was written by two Academy Award writers for my second movie with Shirley Jones, and I sang the song about my April love, my wife Shirley who was born April 24th. (And it became my all-time theme song.)

“And finally, Love Letters In the Sand was the ‘B’ side of Bernadine just because we had to put something on the other side. We had no idea it would become the biggest-selling record of my career and one of the biggest singles of all time! How little we know!”

Does the advent of social media make it easier for you to connect to your fans through the years?

“Yes, I’m no addict to the computer or the social media avenues, but I do tweet and I have a Facebook page, and also a website patboone.com. I think I’m the first and perhaps only entertainer to have his own app, it’s called Pat Boone music or Pat Boone radio, and I use it to provide a lot of my recordings free to people who want to hear them. I even added some pictures and captions myself, and continue to add more songs to it as I go. I think the reason other performers haven’t done that is because I do give my music free (though you can get on iTunes if you want to own one of the tracks).”

You will be performing at the Araneta Coliseum where you also performed many, many years ago. What fond memories do your previous visits bring back to you?

“I’m glad you asked that! My first performances at the Araneta Coliseum were the most exciting performances of my whole career! When I heard it was the largest dome arena in the world except for the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, I was terrified that I might not do well. I heard it seated 24,000 people and we did 10 concerts, all of them sold-out! That’s almost a quarter of a million people for my performances in the Philippines. How could I ever forget that or top that with anything? 

“Also, and I’ll tell my audience in Manila in December this story: I went out one night to a local night club owned by a TV director, as I remember, and heard Speedy Gonzales for the first time. I immediately fell in love with it, took the Philippine record home with me, recorded it — and it became the second biggest record seller of my whole career. I love the Philippines!”

What’s your take on the kind of music these days?

“I feel sad for most music these days. Popular music used to be songs that were memorable, that people could sing along to, that the whole family could enjoy. Now, so much of the music is either erotic, anti-social, or unintelligible. I don’t hear any songs like Harbor Lights or Blueberry Hill or I’ll See You In My Dreams. It’s a pity.”

How was your transition from pop/ballad music to Gospel music?

“I never made a transition. While I was recording rock ‘n roll and ’50s pop music I also recorded the first-ever million-selling album of Gospel songs, Hymns We Love.  All through my career, as I’ve sung country and rock ‘n roll and movie themes, I have recorded Gospel albums, some 25 or more, and I’m in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. And that’s the reason I’ll never be in the Rock ’n Roll Hall of Fame, though I have more rock hits than some who are in there. You don’t get into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame if you record other types of music, and I’m too eclectic for that. Furthermore, I’d rather be in the Gospel Hall of Fame than the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame anyway.” 

Has there been any change in the message of your music?

“There’s more message in my music these days. Among my latest recordings are a tribute to the Ink Spots, the first popular black group from many years ago, recorded with the eight-time Grammy winning group Take 6. 

“I recently released an album called Duets recordings from my TV shows in the past sung with Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Andy Williams, Count Basie and George Shearing, and other major stars. I’m very proud of that one. But the most recent is Legacy consisting of worship and Gospel songs for which I wrote the lyrics and the music coming out of my own intimate time with God. I’m hoping some of those songs will one day be sung in people’s church services.

“A late-breaking news alert: Songs I wrote over the last 20 years in support of our police humanizing the men and women in blue, extolling them as the heroes they are, have become air play hits on all genres of music here in America. Rap groups have been calling for their fans to ‘off the pigs’ and ‘kill police,’ and I wrote songs defending them. I’m the only entertainer to do that. And now those songs are all over American radio. I’m very happy about that.”

How do you want to be remembered?

“Well, I honestly don’t think much about that because I’m not sure I will be particularly remembered. I haven’t been a sensational or trend-setting performer. I’ve always sung from the heart, my true emotions and beliefs, and I suppose many other people can do that as well or better. If I’m remembered at all, I’d like to be remembered as a good husband, father and a child of God. That’s all that really matters, anyway.”

(A Merry Christmas with Pat Boone is presented by Ovation Productions in cooperation with The Philippine STAR, Manila Bulletin, BusinessWorld and Novotel Hotel. Among the media partners are Retro 105.9 DCG FM, 104.3 dwBR, Crossover 105.1, 96.3 Easy Rock, DWIZ 882 Khz and DWWW 774. It is also supported by Rappler, Clickthecity.com, philstar.com, Mb.com, Inquirer.net, Pep.ph, WheninManila.com and Philippine Primer Magazine. Tickets priced at P5,810, P5,280, P4,755, P3,700 and P2,640 are available at all Ticketnet outlets and online at www.ticketnet.com, or call 911-5555).

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected].)