The song, “Mary’s Boy Child”, was originally recorded by Harry Belafonte in 1956

The Calypso-Reggae Christmas song “Mary’s Boy Child” was written by Jester Hairston (1901-2000) and has been performed as a popular Christmas carol ever since. In 1956, American actor and singer Harry Belafonte (1927-2023) recorded the song and took it to No.12 at home. The following year, it topped the UK singles chart becoming the Christmas number one there and has since sold over a million copies in that territory.

Many artists have covered the song for their own Christmas collections, but the most notable came from 70’s Funk group Boney M. Producer Frank Farian (b.1941) adapted the lyrics to a give a slightly different version called “Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord” and it was released in November 1978. The single went to No.1 in Germany, Sweden and in the UK, and has been a perennial favourite ever since, selling over a million copies in Germany and nearly two million in the UK!

But which version is the best? HARRY’s original or BONEY M’s rework?

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