Welcome to My Christmas World

This recording is especially important to me because it is the earliest surviving recording I have of myself singing lead with the boys choir.

When my family moved from Weeburn on September 1, 1969, I was six years old and going through a very difficult time. I missed my first best friend, Ricky Rondeau, terribly, and after what had happened to me that August, I became withdrawn. One of the things that frightened Mom and Dad most was that I stopped singing. I had always loved to sing, but for a while the music seemed to disappear from me.

One evening I finally sat beside Mom on the couch while she drank her tea and worked on the needlepoint she loved. I couldn't quite ask the question that was really hurting inside me, so instead I asked her where I came from — why I was here.

Mom understood what I was really asking. She told me that I was a precious gift from a loving God, an answer to her prayers, that I had been wanted more than anything, that I was worth more than all the gold in the world, and that I was her little angel.

Something changed inside me when she said those words.

That night, after Mom tucked me into bed, kissed me goodnight, and handed me my teddy bear, I began singing under the covers. I didn't know that Mom had stopped just beyond my bedroom door to listen.

The next morning she told me she had heard me singing and that it was more beautiful than anything she had ever heard. She promised she was going to get me singing lessons.

In January 1970, Mom took me to audition for the director of a boys choir. He loved my voice and accepted me immediately. By that summer, I had progressed enough to begin singing lead.

Mom asked for a copy of one of those early recorded performances. This is that recording.

Hearing it today means much more to me than hearing a little boy sing. This is the sound of six-year-old Ricky finding something inside himself that he had almost lost.

It is also the recording that, many years later, inspired our song When Mom Heard Me Sing.

This recording comes from the early fall of 1972, probably sometime in September, while our boys choir was rehearsing for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day performances.

That Christmas was a very big deal because I was being featured as lead singer. By then I was already well known at church as an exceptional young singer, and the choir could draw a crowd. The performances also helped raise money for the church, so the director was excited that I would be available to sing lead that Christmas.

We had decided not to go to Florida that year, so for the first time I would be there for the Christmas performances. I practiced the lead parts through the summer and fall.

The director also knew my hair, which had been cut so severely earlier that year, would have grown back enough by Christmas to restore the soft, innocent look he wanted for the presentation.

This is the recording where you can hear me stepping forward as lead while we prepared for that first Christmas program.

This was recorded during the actual Christmas Day performance in 1972 — the Christmas when I truly felt that I shined.

I was singing lead before a packed audience, wearing the gold collar and bracelets Mom had given me for Hanukkah so I would sparkle under the Christmas lights. By then the choir had become known for its performances, and this was one of the biggest days I had ever experienced onstage.

This is one of the most emotional recordings in the entire archive for me.

I opened O Holy Night as the featured lead, singing the first words in prayer. As I raised my hands, my choir robes fell back from my wrists and exposed the diamond bracelets Mom had given me. Under the Christmas lights, the bracelets and gold collar caught the light and sparkled across the stage.

I could hear people in the audience reacting. Afterward, people came up to the choir director and said I looked like a real angel — that I was beautiful, glowing, and angelic onstage. Some were moved to tears.

For a few minutes, standing there and singing with everything I had, I felt like the little angel they said they saw.

After my opening lead, the rest of the choir joined me, and the performance continued into the next song.

The First Noel follows directly from the same Christmas Day performance sequence. I continued singing lead as the program moved forward, with the full boys choir supporting me behind the melody.

This recording is from 1971. I was singing as part of the choir rather than as lead, although my voice can still be picked out because I had one of the highest voices in the group.

This was also recorded on Christmas Day 1972, but I was singing with the full choir rather than carrying the lead. My high voice can still be heard clearly within the group.

This was the final song in our Christmas Day lineup and a special addition created to close the performance.

I was featured specifically to show off my high voice, singing in harmony with the other boy who also served as lead when I was away on vacation. For this finale, both lead singers were brought together.

The two voices blended beautifully, and it became one of the most special moments of the entire Christmas program — a fitting way to close the performance.