Windham composer’s ‘Maine Christmas Song’ becomes illustrated children’s book

By Ed Pierce

When first approached several years ago about turning his beloved “Maine Christmas Song” into a children’s book, composer Con Fullam of Windham was open to the idea but wondered how it would turn out. His answer is a beautifully illustrated classic that just like the song, will stand the test of time.

The Maine Christmas Song book is based upon
Windham resident Con Fullam's popular tune.
Fullam will be signing copies of the book at
the 'An American Family Holiday' concerts
at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 at 
Windham High School. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Fullam will be on hand at Windham High School for the Windham Chamber Singers “An American Family Holiday” concerts on Dec. 7 with copies of his book for purchase that he will autograph for the public. The “Maine Christmas Song” has been included in the “An American Family Holiday” concerts for decades.

Since Fullam composed the tune in 1986, the “Maine Christmas Song” has sold more than 100,000 copies and is the centerpiece of Christmas music set in the Pine Tree State. It’s been a holiday favorite of students and adults since it first hit the airwaves on WPOR as sung by Malinda Liberty and shows no signs of decreasing in popularity.

Publisher Stephanie Mulligan of Maine-based McSea Books first heard the “Maine Christmas Song” as a first grader growing up in Maine and always thought it would be great if it could be turned into a book.

“Like so many, I grew up with the song and always thought it could be a wonderful book with an important message, given the deep divide that we are experiencing today,” Mulligan said.

She sought out Fullam and pitched him the idea of using his song lyrics as a book filled with colorful illustrations. At the same time, Mulligan told an artist she knew in Otisfeld, Cynthia Baker, about the potential book and asked her to come up with some ideas for the book. As it turns out, Baker knew about the song because her husband had gone to college with Fullam.

Fullam grew up on a farm in Sidney and his father passed away when he was just 5, leaving behind his ukulele which his son learned how to play. Within a year of that, Fullam was playing guitar at church and school functions and by the time he was 10, he was performing on a Saturday night radio show in Waterville.

As an adult, Fullam’s love for performing, producing and songwriting lifted him to unprecedented heights in the music industry and five Emmy Award nominations. Along the way, he’s appeared on stage with such renowned artists as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, EmmyLou Harris, Joan Armatrading, John Sebastian, Asleep At The Wheel, Willie Nelson, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Earl Scruggs Review, Richie Havens, and Tammy Wynette. He is also responsible for creating The Wompkees, a popular animated television series for children on PBS.

In Maine, Fullam has a prominent place in music for his “Maine Christmas Song”.

“Reporter Bob Elliott of Channel 6 was working on a story about Christmas music in 1986 and I had just moved back to Maine from New York,” Fullam said. “He asked me to write a song about Christmas and I agreed. It sounded like fun. I figured I would work on it over the next year, but I was wrong. Bob told me he needed it now and that changed my original plans.”

Sitting down to create the song’s music, everything came together faster than Fullam expected.

“Sometimes things just magically happen in songwriting,” he said. “I didn’t have time to think about it. The melody and words came gushing out and in 20 minutes it was done.”

His inspiration for the song’s lyrics came from his recollections of his early life in Sidney and many Christmas seasons he spent there with his family growing up.

Maine actor Gary Merrill, the former husband of actress Bette Davis, recorded the opening narration for “The Maine Christmas Song” and Fullam then asked his friend, singer Malina Liberty, to record the tune in Portland. When it was first released in November 1987, the song became an instant sensation with proceeds from sales donated to Maine Credit Union League’s “End Hunger” initiative.

According to Mulligan, it took about 18 months from coming up with the book idea to its completion.

She said she was thrilled with the final product.

“It represents generations before us, but the message is timeless,” Mulligan said. “We’re trying to preserve the goodness and sharing with others.”

Fullam, who is included in the 2023 Marquis edition of “Who’s Who in America,” said he was delighted when he saw a proof of the “Maine Christmas Song” book.

“I really had no idea how it would turn out, but it was great,” he said. “The feedback I get about it is always wonderful. People all have stories about the song and what it’s meant to them and how it’s been a part of their lives.”

The “Maine Christmas Song” books are available in bookstores and gift shops throughout Maine, and online at McSeabooks.com and Amazon.com. <

Windham performer reflects on successful music career

By R.D. Frum

Con Fullam of Windham has been described as “Maine's musical maestro” because he combines lyrical genius and melodic magic to captivate your ears and win your heart. Fullam doesn't simply sing, he also orchestrates a symphony of passionate tales.

Musician Con Fullam of Windham has
performed with many bands and artists
such as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 
Aztec Two-Step, Razzy Baily, Gram
Parsons and Emmylou Harris. He is
also known as the composer of 'The
Maine Christmas Song.'
COURTESY PHOTO  

Fullam’s talent has taken him to stages around America and performances with legendary musicians and bands, but it all started where he grew up in Sydney, Maine on a gentleman’s farm.

“It was lovely and lonely,” Fullam said. “My closest peer was about six miles away, so I spent a lot of time by myself, and that’s where imagination comes in. My father passed away when I was 5 and so I inherited his ukelele, and that’s how I began to play. It was a huge help to me to get through some very sad times.”

Fullam’s entire family played music, further fostering his interest.

“My father played ukelele, my mother was a pianist and a voice teacher, my brother played the banjo and guitar, and my sister played the guitar, so we were a musical family,” he said. “Back in those days, I went to a Catholic school. I was the only kid without a father. It was a defining point at some level, but I found that I had something they didn’t have. I was the guy that played the ukelele, and then a four-string guitar, and it sort of set me up as somebody who could stand his own ground.”

Fullam would play at church and civic events, and he and his brother played together as a duo on a radio show that his brother had in Waterville. When Fullam was 14, he started a band, and since then he hasn’t looked back. Music has transformed Fullam’s life because it is his life.

“Sometimes lyrics come to me, sometimes melodies come to me. There's no real set process that I go through,” Fullam said. “Writing a good lyric to me is hard and writing a good melody is hard because as far as I know there hasn’t been an original song written in many millennia. This is a 12-tone scale and there are 50 million songs written. It's then a matter of finding something that is as best you can do and unique to yourself.”

He said that he’s written a lot of songs and on any given day one particular song sticks in his head.

“But if I finish them then I generally think that they're pretty good,” Fullam said. “At some point you get to a certain level where you can sort of tell when something's going to actually breathe or not. So, if they breathe and I finish them, then generally speaking they go into the repertoire.”

Fullam has performed with many other artists like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Aztec Two-Step, Asleep at the Wheel, Richie Havens, Tim Harden, Razzy Bailey, and more. And he’s co-written a song with Rex from Aztec Two-Step, who is also from Maine.

One of Fullam’s favorite places to perform is Max’s Kansas City in New York. There were three up-and-coming clubs during the time Fullam played in New York: The Bitter End, Gaslight, and Max’s Kansas City.

“I got to play all of them,” Fullam said. “I just had some great shows at Max's Kansas City. There was a great audience, always. It was a small, 200-seat room, very intimate. I played there with Richie Havens, Gram Parsons, and Emmylou Harris. It was always a special moment.”

According to Fullam, if a musician goes into writing a song thinking that they want to write a hit, they should probably find another profession.

“A hit song is a rare and unusual accomplishment and I warn people that in this business if somebody comes to you and says that they know what a hit is, you want to run away because they don’t, no one does,” he said. “Why something is a hit and why something isn’t, nobody knows.”

Fullam said if you don't play for yourself and about yourself, then you're never really going to capture an audience.

“The audience needs to see that you're genuine, that the songs you play or you're playing are coming from your heart,” he said. “And if that happens then as a rule the audience will buy in, and you know there's nothing better than to have people come up afterwards and say this song touched them. I wrote ‘The Maine Christmas Song,’ which is obviously special to Maine, and 35 years later, I still get people coming out and saying how much it meant to them and that's a very wonderful feeling. I never would have written it without Bob Elliot, who was the muse for the song.”

He also wrote a picture book inspired by “The Maine Christmas Song.”

“The book came absolutely out of the blue. Bob passed away several years ago, and it was two years ago that I got a call from this young publisher who grew up with the song, and she and her mom were talking about it and her mom suggested she thought it would make a great children’s book,” Fullam said. “I would’ve never thought about that in a million years.”

During his career, Fullam has served as the executive producer of the PBS children’s series, “Ribert and Robert’s Wonderworld,” for which he co-wrote, and co-produced the music. His co-creation “The Wompkees” has also aired on PBS and is now distributed in more than 40 countries around the world.

In 2005, Fullam founded Pihcintu, a multi-national girls’ chorus.

“The obvious and most immediate challenge is you lose your voice, literally,” he said. “They are coming in speaking Arabic or Portuguese or French or whatever it may be. That's obviously immensely difficult, so I formed the chorus to give girls their voices back.”

Fullam has a new 2-set CD called “A Song, Paintings, and Portraits” coming out with 26 songs.

“All of the songs on there made it because they’re important to me,” he said. “Some of the songs go back 40 years and some of them are as recent as months ago just before I finished compiling the CD.”

That CD will be available at confullam.com <

Windham composer of 'The Maine Christmas Song' proud 35 years later

Classic holiday tune 'The Maine Christmas Song' by Windham
composer Con Fullam has been turned into a new children's
book. Fullam wrote the popular song in 1986 and it has become
an annual tradition in Maine every holiday season since.
COURTESY PHOTO  

By Ed Pierce

Like everything associated with the Christmas season, many holiday traditions have an unusual story behind them and the one of “The Maine Christmas Song” is no exception and in fact has a unique Windham connection.

Musician Con Fullam of Windham composed the tune in 1986 and says he never imagined that it would go on to sell more than 100,000 copies and become the cornerstone of any serious discussion about Christmas music set in the Pine Tree State. It’s been a holiday favorite of schoolchildren and adults since it first hit the airwaves on WPOR as sung by Malinda Liberty more than three decades ago and shows no sign of slowing down in popularity.

Fullam grew up on a farm in Sidney and when Con’s father passed away when he was just 5, he left him his ukulele and he quickly learned to play it. Within a year he was playing a guitar at church and school functions and by the time he turned 10, Fullam was regularly performing on a Saturday evening radio program in Waterville.

His love for performing, producing and songwriting  carried Fullam to unprecedented heights in the music industry and five different Emmy Award nominations. He’s appeared on stage with such renowned artists as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Emmy Lou Harris, Razzy Bailey, Joan Armatrading, John Sebastian, Asleep At The Wheel, Willie Nelson, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Earl Scruggs Review;,Richie Havens, Tammy Wynette and many others.

As a songwriter, Fullam’s music has drawn favorable reviews from a bevy of industry publications including Billboard, Cashbox Magazine, Music Row, Village Voice and the Nashville Music City News. Fullam’s songs have been published by MCA Universal, Opryland, Sony/BMG, Acuff Rose, Chrysalis Music, and Warner Chappell and recorded by some of the best-selling artists in American music. He is also responsible for creating The Wompkees, an animated television series for children on PBS.

But for many Mainers, Fullam will forever be known for composing a classic song played every Christmas that evokes traditional values associated with residents of the state such as kindness, visiting and sharing with neighbors and the unmatched beauty of Maine’s great outdoors.

Fullam says he is humbled by the success of “The Maine Christmas Song” and never tires of being asked about it or performing the song in public.

“I like that it touches other people,” Fullam said. “It’s the greatest compliment a songwriter can receive. A lot of people tell me how much it means to them.”

In what may prove to be his legacy in Maine, Fullam’s Christmas tune surprisingly took little time to put together.

“Reporter Bob Elliott of Channel 6 was working on a story about Christmas music in 1986 and I had just moved back to Maine from New York,” Fullam said. “He asked me to write a song about Christmas and I agreed. It sounded like fun. I figured I would work on it over the next year, but I was wrong. Bob told me he needed it now and that changed my original plans.”

Sitting down to compose, it all happened quickly for Fullam.

“Sometimes things just magically happen in songwriting,” he said. “I didn’t have time to think about it. The melody and words came gushing out and in 20 minutes it was done.”

He said the inspiration for his lyrics came from recalling his upbringing in Sidney and Christmases of the past spent with his family there growing up.

Maine actor Gary Merrill, a former husband of actress Bette Davis, recorded the opening narration for “The Maine Christmas Song” and Fullam lined up his friend, singer Malina Liberty to record the tune in Portland. When it released in November 1987, the song became an instant sensation with proceeds from sales donated to Maine Credit Union League’s “End Hunger” initiative.

Through the years, Fullam’s song has taken on a life of its own and this year has been turned into a children’s book illustrated by Maine artist Cynthia Baker.

Stephanie Mulligan, the owner and publisher of McSea Books, specializing in books for children written by Maine authors, said turning Fullam’s lyrics into a children’s book was a great idea.

“Like so many, I grew up with the song and always thought it could be a wonderful book with an important message, given the deep divide that we are experiencing today,” Mulligan said.

The book is available for gift-giving at Sherman’s Books in Windham and the public can meet Fullam, during a special book signing event at Sherman’s on Saturday, Dec. 18.

The classic song is also included every year during the annual “American Family Holiday” concert performed by the Windham Chamber Singers.

Dr. Richard Nickerson, the director of chorale music for Windham High School, said “The Maine Christmas Song” is a timeless treasure that everyone enjoys and that’s why it’s performed year after year by the Chamber Singers.

"The Maine Christmas Song reminds us of a time when life was simple, when the focus was not on things, but on time spent together with family and friends,” Nickerson said. “As we grow, we come to realize what is truly important, sharing and caring, and that's what makes this song so appealing to so many."

Fullam himself says that he’s performed the song countless times for audiences young and old.

“I’ll admit to hundreds but it’s probably into the thousands,” he said. “In fact, Malinda and I are going to play it live on WPOR radio this coming Monday. They were the first radio station to play it and I’m told it’s still their most requested Christmas song.”

According to Fullam, he’s happy to be known for this song after all these years lengthy career in music.

“It only comes around once a year,” he said. “I’m shocked it’s had the longevity it’s had. As a songwriter nobody thinks their work is relevant, but for me, it’s been wonderful to know so many like this song. It’s been a great surprise.” <