Classic Carols

“There was one passage I couldn’t sing. It was very difficult, so I just changed it and made it very simple,” Mathis says of the part that goes, “We’re gliding along with a song of a wintry fairy land.”

Of all the Christmas songs Mathis has sung over the years, “Sleigh Ride” is the one he comes closet to owning. Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters recorded vocal versions of the Leroy Anderson instrumental before him, but Mathis’ 1958 version was the most enduring, and he can tell when people are copying him.

“Every time I listen to someone else’s version, I go, ‘Ah good, they heard mine,’ ” he says of the telltale passage. “You can sing it when you sing it slowly. But when you sing it fast like I sang it, it really is a tough musical phrase to accomplish.

“I’ve always been rather sad that I wasn’t able to accomplish it,” he adds. “I was very young at the time and I was full of energy and not much intellect.”

Mathis is 72 now, and still singing holiday classics live each year, as he does today and Saturday at the Las Vegas Hilton. Along with the obvious reason why he became so closely associated with Christmas — a voice that is both warmly wistful and formally operatic — is the fact that he got such an early start.

His landmark “Merry Christmas” album came a year after his back-to-back 1957 hits, “It’s Not for Me to Say” and “Chances Are.”

Christmas discs are now routine for most established singers, but back then even a long-play album wasn’t to be taken for granted. “That was a very prestigious thing,” indicating “a record company had total confidence that they could sell the album,” Mathis notes. And a seasonal album “was even more difficult to sell for the record company.”

Mathis says his Christmas success stems from his church choir upbringing and the sparkling arrangements of the first album. “Believe me, 75 percent of that album is all about Percy Faith,” who oversaw the project.

Mathis recorded five more Christmas albums over the years, and he still hears his legacy in department stores. “You just sort of stop and say, ‘Oh, that’s nice. I hope these little kids know who it is.’ “

Other Christmas weekend showroom attractions include:

• The “Clint Holmes Unplugged Holiday Show” continues the former Harrah’s headliner’s “free-flowing kind of format” he introduced at the Excalibur in late August. That limited run was backed only by pianist/musical director Bill Fayne and multi-instrumentalist Domenick Allen. This time, Holmes may add upright bass and drums to fill the larger theater at the Sahara through New Year’s Eve, while Trent Carlini’s Elvis tribute takes a vacation.

Holmes always gave his Harrah’s show a Christmas slant in December, and says about half of the songs this time are “holiday flavored.” He may even open the show with his Johnny Mathis impression. “One of the keys to doing this unplugged thing is that it has to feel unusual right from the beginning,” he says.

It will be the only place to see how Mathis used to take his bows. “I used to bow in such a strange way,” Mathis confirms. Holmes, a friend and fellow collegiate athlete, picked up on the fact that Mathis did a stiff-kneed bow to “exercise the back of my leg muscles.”

But when he saw Holmes’ imitation of him, “I was embarrassed, of course, and never did it after that.”

• “A Hawaiian Christmas Show” returns to make Las Vegas’ large population of islanders feel a little bit warmer. The revue played at the Suncoast last year, and now migrates to the South Point for shows today through Monday.

The revue ranges from traditional Hawaiian dances — recalling the era when the islands celebrated Makahiki — to familiar modern-day Christmas carols.

• Each of the “Legends in Concert” celebrity impersonators is adding a Christmas song. The house band also steps into the spotlight to shine with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s modern-day anthem “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24.” The holiday-themed “Legends” continues through Tuesday at the Imperial Palace.

• If you got a ticket to Marie Osmond’s “Magic of Christmas” shows at the Suncoast today through Sunday, you’re lucky enough to aim for the “Hannah Montana” tour. The cozy Suncoast booked this show back in May, long before “Dancing With the Stars” made Osmond America’s sweetheart again.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0288.