Easter songs of the 1940s and 1950s

In 2017, Bear Family Records released an odd compilation called Easter Bunny Hop. Known for its thoroughness and attention to detail, Bear Family usually has the last word on reissues of vintage American music, but this compilation mostly missed the mark by presenting miscellaneous non-holiday songs about chickens and rabbits instead of songs about Easter.

You might think that the compilation was padded out of necessity, because how many Easter songs are there, really? Unlike Christmas, Easter doesn't have many well-known songs. "Easter Parade" and "Peter Cottontail" are probably the best-known ones.

In reality, a lot of obscure Easter songs exist, many of which were recorded by major artists. Some of the most prolific purveyors of Easter songs were Gene Autry, Rosemary Clooney, and Jimmy Boyd.

Easter has passed, but I started thinking about Easter songs because of the previous Music Weird post about the flood of recordings by child performers in 1953. A number of those recordings were Easter novelties, many of which barely have been heard since their original release.

Today's Music Weird rounds up many—if not most—of the Easter songs and novelties that were recorded in the 1940s and 1950s. I didn't even try to catalog every recording of "Easter Parade" from that period, so for that song, at least, the list is very incomplete.

Song title	Artist	Label/catalog number
Benny the Bob Tailed Bunny	Gisele MacKenzie	Capitol F1997
Benny, the Magic Bunny	Kenny Roberts	Coral 60660
Billy Bunny	McGuire Sisters	Coral CRL 57097
Bunny Bunny Bunny	Betty Clooney	Golden R80
Bunny on the Rainbow	Rosemary Clooney	Columbia 90145
Bunny Round-Up Time	Gene Autry Mervin Shiner	Columbia CL 2568 Decca 27482
E-A-S-T-E-R	Milton Estes Rita Faye	MGM 10646 MGM 12203
Easter Bunny Day	Leslie Uggams Rita Faye	MGM 11437 MGM 12203
Easter Bunny Song	Baby Pamela Rich	Mercury 71024
The Easter Egg Parade	Jimmy Wakely	Capitol CAS-3090
Easter in Waikiki	Haleloke	Columbia GL 521
Easter Lillies	Bill Brown’s Chorus Hi-Fi’s	Kem 2712 Liberty 55011
Easter Mornin’	Gene Autry	Columbia CL 2568
Easter Parade	Eydie Gormé Red Nichols M. Whiting & J. Wakely Andy Russell Roy Elridge Jimmy Lunceford Eddy Duchin Sammy Kaye Liberace Harry James Ken Griffin Ray Noble Rosemary Clooney André Kostelanetz Johnny Long Tommy Sosebee Guy Lombardo Bing Crosby Ethel Smith Fred Waring Freddie Mitchell Durning String Band R.A.O.C. Blue Rockets Ork. George Wright Malcolm Lockyer S. Vaughan & B. Eckstine Ray Charles Singers Eddie “Piano” Long Del Wood Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Perry Como Frankie Carle Cesar Concepcion Joe Cain Kern & Sloop Del Wood Neil Lewis New York Percussion Trio George Feyer Malcolm Lockyer	ABC-Para. 273 Audiophile AP 7 Capitol 1382 Capitol 15034 Cleff 8975 Columbia 35484 Columbia 35705 Columbia 39186 Columbia 48007 Columbia 50054 Columbia 50092 Columbia CL-6053 Columbia J-234 Columbia ML 4241 Coral 60957 Coral 64080 Decca 23817 Decca 23819 Decca 24321 Decca 29063 Derby 733 Guy 1313 HMV 5790 King 395-504 Mercury 20205 Mercury 20316 MGM 12202 Rainbow 140 Republic 815 RCA Victor 21-0423 RCA Victor 47-3226 RCA Victor EPA-784 Seeco 4164 Seeco 6020 Tempo 904 Tennessee 815 Tico 245 Vox VX.25.740 Vox VX-800 Wing 12202
Easter Sunday Morning	Nat “King” Cole	Capitol F1994
Easter Sunday with You	Kenny Baker	Decca 18591
The Easter Time	Jimmie Dodd	Disneyland DBR-86
Edgar the Eager Easter Bunny	Mitchell Torok	Abbott 156
Eggbert, the Easter Egg AKA Egbert the Easter Egg	Gisele MacKenzie Rosemary Clooney Mervin Shiner Guy Lombardo Betty Clooney Ray Heatherton Roy Rogers	Capitol F1997 Columbia 90145 Decca 27977 Decca 1-171 Golden R80 Playtime 383-PVD RCA Victor 45-5336
Eldo the Easter Bunny	Rita Faye	MGM 12203
Flop, Mop, Cotton & Pete	Art Carney	Columbia J 4-241
The Funny Little Bunny	Gene Autry	Columbia CL 2568
The Horse with the Easter Bonnet	Gene Autry	Columbia CL 2568
I Want a Bunny for Easter	Guy Lombardo	Decca 18645
It Must Have Been the Easter Bunny	Little Cindy	Columbia 4-41346
It’s Easter Time	Vaughn Monroe	HMV 9894
Jimmy Roll Me Gentle (On Easter Day)	Jimmy Boyd	Columbia J4-199
Just About Easter Time	Jimmy Bell’s Trio	Aristocrat 1901
Let’s Go to Church	M. Whiting & J. Wakely Red Foley & J. Martin	Capitol 1382 Decca 46235
Little Bonnie Bunny	Jimmy Boyd	Columbia J 4-199
Mister Easter Bunny	Sammy Kaye Honey Dreamers Lawrence Welk Guy Lombardo Mervin Shiner Derry Falligant	Columbia 39186 Columbia 40668 Coral 57066 Decca 24951 Decca 46221 MGM 10675
My Bunny and My Sister Sue	Jimmy Boyd	Columbia 39955
My Choc’late Rabbit	Rosemary Clooney	Columbia MJV 4-95-2
Peter Cottontail	Jimmy Wakely Gene Autry Rosemary Clooney Sammy Kaye Mervin Shiner Guy Lombardo Ray Heatherton Roy Rogers Del Wood	Capitol CAS-3090 Columbia CL 2568 Columbia J-234 Columbia 39186 Decca 46221 Decca 1-171 Playtime 383-PVD RCA Victor 21-0423 Tennessee 815
Peter Rabbit	Rusty Draper	Mercury 70300
The Rabbit with the Two Buck Teeth	Mervin Shiner	Decca 27977
She’s My Easter Lily	Dick Todd	Rainbow 90088
Song of Easter	Fred Waring	Decca 41046
Sonny the Bunny	Gene Autry	Columbia CL 2568
Springy (The Little Easter Bunny)	Judy Tolbert	Stars, Inc. 505
Three Little Bunnies	Gayla Peevey	Columbia J 4-198
Two Easter Sunday Sweethearts	Jimmy Boyd Vera Lynn	Columbia 39955 London 1434
Wish I Wuz a Whisker (On the Easter Bunny’s Chin)	Gayla Peevey	Columbia J 4-198