Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas etc., mainly because this bizarre situation was caused by my naive and atrocious lack of business acumen." Judy Garland's 1944 version of the song reached No. 27 on the "Billboard" charts. The lyrics Garland sang in "Meet Me in St. Louis" have been recorded with only slight variations by a number of artists, including Sinatra (in 1950 and 1963 single recordings), Bing Crosby (in "I Wish You a Merry Christmas"), Doris Day (in "The Doris Day Christmas Album"), Ella Fitzgerald (in "Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas"), The Pretenders (in the first "A Very Special Christmas" compilation), James Taylor (in
Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys Some of its recordings were later released on the 1998 compilation "Ultimate Christmas". After Warners rejected the Beach Boys' 1977 album "Adult/Child", the group submitted "Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys" in late 1977, but they were once again rejected, and the label demanded the band submit a regular studio album instead. New lyrics were overdubbed on to some of the original Christmas tracks the following spring, which, together with quickly penned new material, formed the basis of a new album entitled "California Feeling", named after an original song recorded in 1975 which Brian refused to include on the album.