James Pierpont
"Jingle Bells" is an American song and one of the most commonly sung Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont. It is an unsettled question where and when Pierpont originally composed the song that would become known as "Jingle Bells". It was published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. Although it has no original connection to Christmas, it became associated with winter and Christmas in the 1860s and 1870s, and it was featured in a variety of parlor song and college anthologies in the 1880s. It was first recorded in 1889 on an Edison cylinder; this recording, believed to be the first Christmas record, is lost, but an 1898 recording—also from Edison Records—survives. |
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1922 - 1951
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, lyricist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor | B-26053 | 10-in. | 1/26/1922 | Hortense | All Star Trio ; All Star Trio Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
| Victor | BS-022162 | 10-in. | 4/5/1938 | Jingle bells, jingle bells | Vernon Geyer | Electric organ solo, with piano | composer | |
| Victor | BS-035567 | 10-in. | 4/6/1939 | Jingle bells | Frank Dailey ; Stop and Go Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
| Victor | D9VB-0433 | 10-in. | 3/10/1949 | Jingle bells | Bill Boyd ; Cowboy Ramblers | Male vocal solo, with string band and vocal harmony | composer | |
| Victor | D9VB-0726 | 10-in. | 8/20/1949 | Jingle bells | Mitchell Boys Choir ; Bob Mitchell | Boys vocal chorus, with organ | composer | |
| Columbia | W151868 | 10-in. | 10/30/1931 | Jingle bells | Joe Gumin Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal ensemble | composer | |
| Columbia | C1679 | 10-in. | 11/17/1936 | Jingle bells | Hoosier Hot Shots | Instrumental ensemble, with male vocal ensemble | composer, lyricist | |
| Columbia | RHCO4255 | 10-in. | 9/12/1950 | Jingle bells boogie | Johnny Bond | Male vocal solo, with string band and mixed vocal chorus | composer, lyricist | |
| Columbia | CO45642 | 10-in. | 4/4/1951 | Massachusetts mixture | Lawrence Loy | String band, with dance calls | composer, lyricist | |
| Columbia (U.K.) | CL8646 | 10-in. | 2/22/1949 | Joyeux carillon | Jacques Hélian Orchestre | Vocal group, with instrumental ensemble | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Pierpont, James," accessed December 27, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106195.
Pierpont, James. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 27, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106195.
"Pierpont, James." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 27 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Jingle Bells
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Pierpont, James, 1822-1893. Jingle bells - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n90608100
Wikidata: Jingle Bells - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q406845
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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