Have a Holly Jolly Christmas is a Christmas album by American folk singer Burl Ives, first released by Decca Records in October 1965 (recorded in 1964). It peaked at #32 on Billboard's Best Bets For Christmas album chart on December 2, 1967.[2]
Ives had recorded two of the songs on the album ("A Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer") previously for the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer soundtrack, but he recorded new versions for Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. "A Holly Jolly Christmas" in particular had a significantly different and slower arrangement, which is more commonly heard today. This version had already been released as a single the previous year, with a B-side of "Snow for Johnny", which he also featured on the album.[3]