The Melody Spin Song Encyclopedia

 Song History - Joy To The World  is one of the best-known and best-loved of Christmas carols and is now universally sung as one of the most joyous songs of Christmas. Joy To The World contains a message of joy and love replacing sin and sorrow. The history of the popular “Joy To The World” is truly unusual. Its lyrics originated in the Old Testament as published in Isaac Watt’s 1719 translation of the Psalms of David. When American composer Lowell Mason set these words to music in 1839, he added a notation alluding to George Frideric Handel as lyricist (it was common to attribute a song to Handel in those days in order to generate popularity). Thus, for over a century, the world believed that Handel had composed the lyrics to Joy To The World. Ultimately, careful sleuthing by musicologists unearthed the truth, and credit was restored to the rightful source: King David.
However, the music for Joy To The World was adapted and arranged by Mason from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from Handel, but Handel did not compose the entire tune.

Song History - Do You Hear What I Hear is a Christmas song on birth of Christ. With words and music written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne in 1962, Do You Hear What I Hear tells the story of the Christ’s birth as it passes from the Night Wind (God) to a little lamb to a shepard boy to a king to his people as an allagory for the spreading of the Good Word.

A beautiful and gentle tune, Do You Hear What I Hear was originally recorded by the Harry Simeone Chorale in 1962. However, Bing Crosby made a hit recording of the carol on Capitol Records on November 22, 1963 and released a week and a half later on a then-new Christmas album. Over the years, Do You Hear What I Hear has been widely played on the radio. The original version of Do You Hear What I Hear has been available on numerous compilation Christmas albums and compact discs put out by Capitol Records. 

“For this medley, I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the march-like, upbeat Joy To The World with the sweet and meandering Do You Hear What I Hear. Check out the guitar harmonics (bell like sound) for the echoed chorus of Do You Hear What I Hear and the big church bell sound of the harmonics that I strum across the whole guitar in Joy To The World. I love harmonics for musical punctuation. Played on a Takamine steel 6 string acoustic guitar in an alternate tuning of D A D E A D.” - Darren Curtis Skanson