Y’all. It’s 33 degrees here and dropping. Jackson and Birmingham have had two inches of sneaux. Holy carp!
So, in the spirit of all things winter….
The original:
Ricardo Montalban & Esther Williams
The Hit:
Johnny Mercer & Margaret Whitting (Not Bing & Doris)
Most Recognized Version:
Dean Martin
Most Soulful:
Ray Charles & Betty Carter
Most Pure Version:
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan
Best Modern Version:
Bo Bice & Joan Osbourne
Worst Modern Version:
Nick Lachay & Jessica Simpson
The Child Molester Version:
Tom Jones & Cerys Mattews
Most Unusual Version:
Rod Stewart & Dolly Parton
Best Movie Version:
from Elf
I know that there are other great versions like James Taylor/Natalie Cole, Steve and Edy, etc. and if you really want to see more, check out Baby It’s Cold Outside on Wikipedia, here.
Keep warm. Off to gather firewood.
Music Maven 
shrewspeaks
January 20, 2008 at 9:21 am
Good morning my friend…Weather.com says Mobile, AL 29 degrees…Westfield, NJ 21 degrees…Boston, ME 26 Degrees
Yikes.
Bundle up and watch the games.
jenfera
January 20, 2008 at 11:43 am
My crazy husband is off to watch the Patriots game IN PERSON in Foxboro today. Windchills for kick-off are supposed to be around 9 degrees and sinking throughout the game. Yikes.
I had no idea that Esther Williams did anything besides swimming movies. I have a strange Esther-related story.
Esther’s current husband was married once before. His ex-wife lived in Maine in a cute cottage just two doors down from the cottage where we spend our summer vacations. We got to know the ex a little through the years, so when she passed away last spring, we wanted to attend the memorial service. The family held the memorial in the summer so all of her summer friends could attend.
It was a lovely service. The pastor knew her well and spoke kindly of her. Then, she was eulogized by many people and we learned more and more about what an extraordinary live she led. We were all verklempt.
Then, her ex-husband, (Esther’s current husband) got up to speak. He stood there in the church and told everyone what a passionate relationship he and his ex had, and went on to describe the many places they had, uh…, expressed that passion, such as on airplanes and in the dressing room at Bergdorf’s. We all just sat there in shock as he wrapped it up by playing the song, “I’ll Do Fine Without You” on a tape recorder and half singing/half speaking along to the words while he cried and made the whole thing about him.
Then we had to wonder how poor Esther would feel if she knew her husband was saying these things about his ex in such a public display!
Anyway, sorry for the tangent here! Stay warm, everyone!
morewines
January 20, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Well it was 62 degrees yesterday. Real nice if you are sitting in the sun. People sitting
in the courtyard sipping wine and listening to a
musican sing and play guitar. It was a great break
in the winter blues.
Colette
January 23, 2008 at 3:10 pm
What fun! Love this song, and it’s freezing here too so apropos —
One measure of a great song is that a lot of different kinds of artists can sing it well. I like a lot of the versions, but the one with Ray and Betty Carter is just the hippiest in my book…Joan & Bo had fun with it too.