My strumming pattern – easier to play than explain.
1 2 3 4
D Dd dd dd
Where count:
1. downstroke on top two (bass) strings
2. slower downstroke on all strings then quick downstroke on bottom 4 strings
3. quick downstroke on top strings then quick downstroke on bottom strings
4. same as count 3
This is the basic strum but there are several variations.
I can remember my dad buying this record at Christmas 1957. I was 9 years old. My younger brother and sister and me could not get enough of it. As soon as it finished we lifted the needle and placed it back at the start. I think we wore it out in the end.
“Mary’s Boy Child” was written by Jester Hairston and first recorded by
Harry Belafonte in 1956 for his album An Evening with Belafonte. An edited version was subsequently released as a single, reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1957. It was the first single to sell over one million copies in the UK alone.
