Have a Holly Jolly Christmas features Burl Ivess Christmas songs, which were first released by Decca Records in October 1965. recorded in November 1964. Ives had previously recorded two of the songs on the album for the Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer soundtrack A Holly Jolly Christmas and Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer, but he recorded new versions for Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. The arrangement of A Holly Jolly Christmas, in particular, was significantly different and slower than what is heard today. This version was already released as a single the year before, along with a Bside of Snow for Johnny, which he also included on the album.
