25 Days Of Christmas-Day 16
Sometimes I am just amazed at the stuff that has yet to be released on CD. Tonight's track for my 25 Days Of Christmas online compilation is just such a track. Most people have heard of Les Paul, or at least the guitar that bears his name. Les (and his partner Mary Ford) recorded very few Christmas songs in their career, but four of them were collected on this EP from Capitol sometime in the mid-fifties. I think two of them have shown up on various compilations and box sets, but the one I'm giving you hasn't, to my knowledge, seen the light of day in come 50-odd years. And that's a shame, because it's so good it hurts. Here's Les Paul-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town from Les Paul & Mary Ford-Christmas Cheer! (Capitol 7" 45 rpm EAP 1-543, 1954). Mary is nowhere to be found on this track, so I just credited it to Les. If you don't enjoy this one, then you're just not tryin'.
Previous tracks:
The Harmonicats-Winter Wonderland
Steve Allen and Ricky Vera-Can I Wait Up For Santa Claus?
Ricardo Montalban & Randy Newman-La Campanilla
Ralph Carmichael-The New Hallelujah
Lawrence Welk With The Lennon Sisters-Santa From Santa Fe
Billy May-March Of The Toys
The Davis Sisters-The Christmas Boogie
Anna Russell-Please Santa Claus
Kathy Dunn-Santaville
The Williams Brothers-The Holiday Season
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Banjo Barons-Jolly Old St. Nick & Jingle Bells
Johnny Brandon-Santa Claus, Jr.
Johnny Mathis-Have Reindeer, Will Travel
The Crew-Cuts-Twinkle Toes
There used to be an excellent Les Paul fansite (with a complete discography), but it has apparently gone by the wayside. I discovered that there were only 6 Christmas songs total on Capitol - the four included here plus "Jungle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. As I remember, Mary's vocals in "Rudolph" were speeded up ala The Chipmunks.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post! I was just curious if there is any chance of you posting the other tracks from the collection! Great blog! Keep up the good work and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDelete