Ernie (Not Bert): 2007

Sunday, December 30, 2007

The Last Week Of The Year

Here it is, folks, the last calendar page of the year. Oddly enough, it's a shot of the same bridge I showed you yesterday, only without all the fog. This is the bascule bridge over Longboat Pass, linking Anna Maria Island to Longboat Key, just offshore of Bradenton, Florida. I'm sure I've shared similar pictures dozens of times here on the blog, it's one of my favorite places to go take pictures.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

A Foggy Day In Braden Town

I thought I'd get out today and take some pictures since Christmas is over and I don't feel obligated to post a million things to the blog every day. Mother Nature was conspiring against me though, as Anna Maria Island was blanketed in some pretty thick sea fog most of the day. Off the island, clear. On the island, foggy. I felt like I was back in San Francisco for a bit. I tried to make the best of it, though, but I don't think any of the pictures today will make the highlight reel.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 26-The End

A day late and two dollars short. Here's another compilation I didn't finish up for Christmas. But I've got a great finale for it tonight. Here's A Special Arrangement By Santa Claus' Helper Little Joey-Ave Maria (Variety 7" 45 RPM 45-V1011). This is about as reverent as it gets around here, folks, so enjoy it while you can. I wasn't sure what a Klavier Pianette was, but now I know, and so will you. Google yields no results for this one, not even any sales listings, so heaven knows where it's been hiding. The label mentions Chicago, but it's a long, long way from home. I've got to get a cover put together for this collection, but I make no promises as to when that will be. Well, I promise it will be before next Christmas! Thanks to everybody who came around and downloaded it one track at a time. As soon as I get that cover together, I'll put the whole thing in a single ZIP file so you can download it all at once. It just may take me a bit...

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World
Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Claus Blues
Dora Hall-Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Burl Ives-It's Gonna Be A Mixed Up Xmas
Lisa And The Lollipops-Stumpy
Dinah Shore-You Meet The Nicest People
Marv Herzog-Round And Round The Xmas Tree

Christmas Cranes

When I was at my parent's house yesterday for Christmas, these sandhill cranes were hanging out in the pasture behind the house. There must have been plenty of food to go around, because they were out there for hours. Unfortunately, when the sun came out later in the day, they were gone. But I doubt if I could have gotten them to pose as nicely as this again.

Used Music-Track Thirty One-The End

Day late and a dollar short, that's me. I know it's the day after Christmas, but I just couldn't seem to get my act together yesterday to post the final track of this compilation. I had actually hoped to post three or four more tracks for this collection there in the last few days, but my eyes were bigger than my stomach, I guess. The last track gives you a little bit more fun on the Moog, and it repeats a title again, but it's really short so I don't think you'll mind. This had to be the oddest track that showed up in the middle of an otherwise normal double LP of Christmas tunes, Peace On Earth (Capitol STBB-585). You'll see what I mean when you download Douglas Leedy-Deck The Hall. If you really like this track, you can download the whole LP over at A Christmas Yuleblog, but you have to hurry. The Captain is taking down all of his shares first of the year. I hope you've all enjoyed this little compilation. It's been fun for me to put together, trying to find the hidden gems in those thrift store compilations you see all the time. Who knew that you could find such good music in those dusty grooves? Well, I did, and now you do. Sometime in the not-to-distant future, I hope to put together a little bit of artwork and a cover to go with this collection, so come back around when you get a chance.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Jerry Colonna-Too Fat For The Chimney
Tex Ritter-Ole Tex Kringle
Les Paul & Mary Ford-The Christmas Song
The New Sounds Of Christmas-We Three Kings
The Anita Kerr Singers-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
The New Christy Minstrels-Anderson: Sleighride

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Ernie The One

While I'm scanning and posting old pictures, I may as well share this oldy goldy with you. That's me on the right, and Ernie #1 on the left. Some of you may know that I'm Ernie IV and he's the reason why, I guess. He decided to name his son Ernie Jr, and so on and so forth. You might remember this picture I posted a long time ago showing all four Ernie's together. I'm pretty sure these were both taken at the same time in 1974. There are only two Ernie's around these days, and still no Berts.

The Ghosts Of Christmas Past

Happy Christmas to everybody out there! Hope you're having a good one. I'm here at my parents house, and since I had a few minutes, I dug out the baby book, hooked up the scanner and went to town. I found pictures from my first six Christmases, and I figured I'd share them with the world. You've got to allow me a vanity post every now and then... The shot above on Santa's lap is from 1970 when I was just six months old. I'm not sure what it is I'm wearing though, some sort of karate suit or something? My fashion sense hasn't gotten a lot better over the years.

Christmas number two, 1971. I think that's my grandmother's house. Pretty sure that's her bending over in the back, and that's one of my aunts right behind me. I'm your Rapid Delivery boy! I remember that rug being in my house growing up, it was in the dining room. That's why I'm not absolutely certain this is my grandparent's place. Perhaps they gave the rug to my folks.

Christmas, 1972. I remember that little farmhouse. It mooed when you opened the door. It was packed with little plastic farm animals and little plastic pieces of fence you could use to build a corral with. Never enough for my grand schemes, but some.

Christmas, 1973. Nothing exciting going on here at all, I'm afraid. I can remember that picture of my mom hanging in the wall of their bedroom for years. They also had one of those pastel chalk portraits of Mom and Dad in there, I always thought they got it at Disney World, but I'm not sure.

1974, and I'm back on Santa's lap. I had a baby brother at this point, so I'm probably asking Santa what I had done to deserve that.

And last but not least, 1975. This was my dad's new tractor, but I suspect I wanted it. I've always heard of pictures where I'm on the tractor in my undies, but I didn't find those in the baby book. Sorry. I always thought that was a Ford tractor, but I see it says Leyland on the cowl. He eventually had a couple of Massey-Ferguson's, but that was later on.

Monday, December 24, 2007

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 25

Happy Christmas Eve! Only one day left, and then it's the moment we've all been waiting for. I was looking back over my 26 Days Of Christmas collection, and I noticed that something is missing. It's got a little something for everybody in there, except it's lacking a good rousing polka. So tonight, you get polka. The share for Christmas Eve is Marv Herzog-Round And Round The Xmas Tree from Silver Bells (7" 45 RPM Sound 291). You know you love to polka round and round the Christmas tree.

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World
Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Claus Blues
Dora Hall-Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Burl Ives-It's Gonna Be A Mixed Up Xmas
Lisa And The Lollipops-Stumpy
Dinah Shore-You Meet The Nicest People

Used Music-Track Thirty

I know it's getting late, but I haven't packed it in just yet. I've been busy wrapping gifts and preparing some gifts that need a lot of preparation. But I want to squeeze in a few more posts tonight, and maybe I'll stay up late enough to be the first person to wish you a very merry Christmas. Maybe. Anyhow, my contribution to Used Music tonight is a version of Sleigh Ride by The New Christy Minstrels, inexplicably titled Anderson: Sleighride. Well, perhaps that will make sense when I tell you that the share tonight comes from a record put out by Ronco! Yes, the fine folks who brought you the pocket fisherman, spray-on hair and umpteen other things you really didn't need in the first place. This LP is A Christmas Present (Columbia Special Products For Ronco P 11772, 1973). But remember that Ron never sold you anything without throwing in something for free. This is a gatefold record, and when you open it up, this lovely Christmas scene pops out. Maybe this was something from Ronco that you needed after all!

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Jerry Colonna-Too Fat For The Chimney
Tex Ritter-Ole Tex Kringle
Les Paul & Mary Ford-The Christmas Song
The New Sounds Of Christmas-We Three Kings
The Anita Kerr Singers-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Hmmm, I just noticed I screwed up again this year. I've got We Three Kings on there twice. I've got to start planning this thing out better!

Christmas Eve Tradition

I wanted to post this repeat from last year before it got too late in the day and you don't have time to do anything with it. This record is designed to be listened to only one day a year, and that day is today, Christmas Eve. So if you've got little ones around the house who aren't going to be able to get to sleep tonight, or even if it's just you, download and listen to 'Twas The Night Before Christmas (RCA Camden CAS-1101, 1968) right before bed. I posted the great doodle from the back of this one way back in 2005, which is what caused someone to ask me to post the record. Oh, funny story. I got an email sometime in the past year from a guy who claimed he worked with the little girl who's picture is on the cover of this one. He wanted to buy a copy of the record for her, since she hadn't seen it in years. I asked for some sort of proof, but he wasn't able to send me anything because she didn't want anyone to see her old modeling stuff. All I wanted was an old head shot or something, even a current picture that showed she looked similar. I was willing to send him the record for free in exchange, but no proof of any kind ever showed up. But it's a neat story. Those are real people in the pictures on some of these covers, and they are still out there in many cases. If you have a story like that, let me know, I want to hear it!

Almost Christmas Time

We're down to the last few hours here, and I'm searching for something to share that won't take too much time out of my busy schedule. I still have to get some Christmas presents, check memory cards & batteries, wrap everything, and then get ready to pick it all up and head for my aunt's house tomorrow morning. I wish I could give my family Christmas music for Christmas, but I suspect they're onto me about that. But you, you get Christmas music for Christmas. And here is a classic that's been floating around my collection for years, I've just never taken the time to record it, and even more time-consuming, scan it. This is a huge gatefold, with all sorts of doodles and lyrics inside the gatefold, and it was just intimidating. I think I finally got it this year, though. I also scanned a non-gatefold reissue with the same cover, but a different back cover, so that's in the ZIP file as well. The picture below isn't that other cover, though. It's actually the back side of the cover you see above. I love a release that actually spends as much money on the back cover as on the front! So please be my guest and download the piano artistry of Roger Williams With The Concert Grand Orchestra Directed by Frank Hunter & Marty Gold-Christmas Time (Kapp KS-3048, 1959). I think you'll like it.

The Big Day

This record is something that drew my eye many years ago, and I've enjoyed it ever since. The music is only so-so, but if you look closely, you'll notice that it's Jack Benny playing Santa on the cover to Dennis Day and family. (The cover image above is actually a hybrid of the stereo and mono versions. The mono versions lack the stereo-spectrum banner across the top, and stereo versions lack the info about Jack 'Santa' Benny across the bottom.) I think I actually ripped a mono version all those years ago because my stereo copy was too beat. This may be a recording I need to revisit during the coming year and try to find a cleaner copy for you. But for this year, please be my guest and download Dennis Day Sings "Christmas Is For The Family" Featuring Lou Hollingsworth At The Wurlitzer Electronic Organ & The Vail Boys Choir With Full Orchestra (Design Records DLP-X-1). This is a rerun from both 2005 and 2006, so click through to those posts for more info on this great release. Even though the music on here is by Dennis Day, there are three little bits of audio with Mr. Benny that are worth more than the price of admission. Trust me.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Christmas Roundup Week 5

Magnificat Cleveland

This is the share from last year that seemed to draw the most comments. I'm not sure why. Some people from Cleveland stumbled across it, even a couple of people who went to the schools mentioned on the flip side. Some people just liked it, I suppose. I've thought about doing many a post from all the records I have like this, but few of them are this interesting. They're just records in generic covers made at Christmas time and sold to supporters in hopes of raising money for a band trip, or given away to people in the band and their families. This one is a step or two above that, probably because it covers the entire metro area, and not just one single school. Each group got to pick out their best music, so there's no filler to be found. Sound interesting? Then please download Christmas In Cleveland (Delta Records Of Ohio, processed and Pressed by Columbia XCTV-84680/1). And check out the back cover below and see if maybe your mom or dad is on this record!

Used Music-Track Twenty Nine

You can never go wrong with some good, tight vocal harmonies, especially at Christmas. So this time for Used Music you get the vocal stylings of The Anita Kerr Singers performing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen from For A Musical Merry Christmas, Volume 4 (RCA Victor For B.F. Goodrich PRS-253, 1967). Short, but sweet. Notice anything familiar about that cover? I did once I started looking at it closely. Compare it to this one, or maybe this one is a bit clearer. Who knew they were recycling these great images over at RCA. I've got another example I hope to share with you soon, but I don't know if I'm going to squeeze it into this year. One last note before I finish here, I shared the doodle form the back of this LP here.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Jerry Colonna-Too Fat For The Chimney
Tex Ritter-Ole Tex Kringle
Les Paul & Mary Ford-The Christmas Song
The New Sounds Of Christmas-We Three Kings

Felix Navidad

OK, let me get one thing straight. I know the phrase is Feliz Navidad. It's a play on words. See the artist I'm sharing here is named Felix. I mean, was named Felix, before he died. I hate when I have to explain myself. Anyhow, this share is a rerun of one from last year, but this time I have the other cover to share with you as well. Check it out below. Now you see what I meant when I described it last year as ugly. But this is about the music, right? Not the pretty pictures that come with the music. And speaking of music, that ugly reissue on the Sunset label omitted a couple of the tracks on the original Liberty issue. So go download The Fantastic Strings Of Felix Slatkin-Season's Greetings (Liberty Premier Series LSS 14013, 1961).

The Happiest Santa Of All

Now here's a Santa I wouldn't mind meeting. This happy cello-playing fellow graces the cover of an EP I found that was given away by banks to their customers who had Christmas Club accounts. This particular one is stamped Trenton State Bank, Trenton, Michigan. It's called Merry Christmas Carols (Decca Records Custom Division 9-34211 7" 33 RPM) and features tracks from The Four Aces, Ethel Smith, The McGuire Sisters, Sammy Kaye, Lawrence Welk & The Ames Brothers. Oddly enough, there are two versions of Adeste Fideles on here, once under the name Adeste Fidelis and once as O Come, All Ye Faithful. Sometimes I wonder... But you get a great Santa out of the deal, so everything is OK!

Santa's Last Stop

Due to it's proximity to the international date line, Hawaii has got to be one of Santa's last stops on his 'round the world flight Christmas Eve. And since he's there anyway, I'm sure he kicks back and relaxes for a while. After all, what has he got to go home to, a giant mess? A Mrs. Claus who's a little peeved that he's been hanging out with a bunch of elves for months on end, and now he's stayed out all night. While he's in Hawaii, perhaps he hangs out at The Hawaiian Village and listens to Alfred Apaka And The Hawaiian Village Serenaders. Or at least he did way back in the fifties when this record was cut. Now you can hear the sounds that Santa must have heard. Go download Christmas At The Hawaiian Village With Alfred Apaka And The Hawaiian Village Serenaders (Hawaiian Village HV-EP-2). And Mele Kalikimaka to you and yours!

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 24

There's a world of difference between yesterday's share and today's. No one is going to have anything bad to say about this track, I assure you. I'm surprised you don't hear this one more than you do. I've never even heard a cover of it. This is the one and only Dinah Shore, Orchestra Under Direction Of Dick Reynolds-You Meet The Nicest People from Season's Best From Your Chevrolet Dealer (Capitol Custom Services Department For Chevrolet 7" 33 RPM). This was a promotional EP, no doubt given away by Chevy dealers back when Chevy was a major sponsor of Dinah's TV show. Who can forget See The USA In Your Chevrolet? Well, I can't remember it because it happened long before I was born. My ulterior motive in posting this track was to point you to a post by Sanity Clause where he has a different EP from Dinah (this time on RCA) with a great cover. I'm going to have to hunt that one down, because in that picture she's holding a stack of Christmas EPs, including blog favorite The Three Suns!

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World
Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Claus Blues
Dora Hall-Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Burl Ives-It's Gonna Be A Mixed Up Xmas
Lisa And The Lollipops-Stumpy

Used Music-Track Twenty Eight

This is a track I wanted to put on this comp from the beginning, but I used a different track from the first LP I found it on, and I didn't want to double up. So I had to hunt down a second compilation that featured this track, and here it is. From The Spirit Of Christmas (Capitol Special Markets SL-6731), this is The New Sounds Of Christmas-We Three Kings. I'm sure this sounded new and different when it came out some time in the early seventies. Now it's just different without being new.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Jerry Colonna-Too Fat For The Chimney
Tex Ritter-Ole Tex Kringle
Les Paul & Mary Ford-The Christmas Song

The Best Of 2007 Christmas In July

Well, it's been a long wait, but I hope it was worth it. This is the collection you've been waiting for since August 1st, or at least since last week when I pointed you toward the 2006 best-of collection. This collection features many of the very best tracks from the shares I threw up in July of this year. If you're not familiar with Christmas In July around here, let me explain a little. I find Christmas songs, or songs that have a holiday or winter feel about them, in the middle of otherwise non-Christmas albums. Then I gather up all these tracks and share them out in July, a few a day for the whole month. It usually winds up being a little over 100 songs, and it makes for a great collection of songs you wouldn't ordinarily get to hear at Christmas. This handy little collection compiles 31 of the best from this year. I hope your favorite is in there. Here's the full track list with links to the original posts:

1. Nickelodeon-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
2. Ashtabula High School A Cappella Choir-Carol Of The Bells
3. Joanne Wheatley & Hal Kanner-Baby, It's Cold Outside
4. IBM 7090 Computer-Joy To The World
5. Ron Goodwin-Xmas It Ain't
6. Fred Sateriale's Big Band-Toyland Cha Cha Cha
7. Hugo Winterhalter-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Cha Cha
8. Earl Grant-Snowfall
9. Ferrante & Teicher-Happy Sleigh Ride
10. Bing Crosby-The Secret Of Christmas
11. Count Basie & The Mills Brothers-December
12. Connee Boswell-White Christmas
13. Andre Previn & David Rose-Blue Holiday
14. Waldorf "Punch & Judy" Orchestra-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
15. University Singers-Go Where I Send Thee
16. Sunshine-The Very First Christmas Day
17. Stan Wolowic-Happy Holiday
18. Sarah Vaughn & Billy Eckstine-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
19. Al Melgard-Jolly Coppersmith
20. Alfred Apaka-It's Snowing In Hawaii
21. Lawrence Welk-Holiday
22. The Klokken Ringers-Silver Bells
23. Ray Conniff-An Improvisation On "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy"
24. The Robert de Cormier Folk Singers-The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
25. The 'Promises, Promises' Cast-Christmas Day
26. Glenn Miller-It Happened In Sun Valley
27. Martin Denny-Snowflakes In Summer
28. Ruby Murray-Christmastime In Ireland
29. The Robin Hood Orchestra-Silent Night
30. John Gary-Let There Be Peace On Earth (Let It Begin With Me)
31. Gordon Jenkins-Happy New Year

And here's the download link for the whole collection: The Absolute Best Tracks from Ernie (Not Bert)'s Christmas In July 2007 Edition (Ernie (Not Bert) 2007). And if that's not enough for you, here are links to every day in July, where you can download dozens and dozens more holiday songs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. (Yes, there were 32 days in the celebration this year, don't ask...) Be sure to come back in July 2008, since I've got a huge stack of records all ready to go for next year's celebration. It promises to be a great July.

(Oh, the version of Blue Holiday by Andre Previn and David Rose included above is from a different LP than the one I shared originally, which was only credited to Andre Previn. I don't think it's a different recording, I just wanted to get yet another name in there.)

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXII-Christmas 2007

Fittingly enough, here are a trio of doodles from The Kingston Trio. These come from the back of their holiday album The Last Month Of The Year (Capitol T 1446), which has one of the great covers of all time on it. I think you can go here to look at the cover and to buy this great album on CD. But first, spend a second to enjoy these great doodles centering on the reason for the season, and the celebration there-of.

The Week Of Christmas

Well, here we are finally, the week that holds Christmas. But the calendar page for this week doesn't seem very Christmassy, does it? Well, what are you gonna do? This is a view of Manhattan Beach in LA, taken from the pier. I got lucky and caught that seagull in a decent spot. You can tell it's a bit smoggy as things sort of fade out of view a little too quickly, but that's LA for you. I think there is an oil refinery in this picture too, up north along the coast, along with the airport, so I guess the smog isn't a surprise at all.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

How Much Is That?

A lot of the records I share out come with the plastic shrinkwrap still on them. They aren't often sealed, but the original owner just slit open the thin plastic enough to get the vinyl out, and left the plastic on the sleeve. I even find gatefolds like that, which means they never actually got to see whatever was inside the gatefold. Odd, but whatever. Sometimes the original price tag is stuck to the plastic, and I've been trying to save those as I pull off the plastic when I go to scan the covers. I don't know how exciting all of these are, but I wanted to make some sort of record of them. Clicking the picture will open up a larger version, and you can actually read what it says on some of the smaller ones. One of those little ones is from Grant's, and was stuck to one of their infamous Christmas collections. The Hi-Fi one may not have come from a Christmas record, now that I think of it... The pink one was stapled to a record, which may explain why you sometimes find older albums with a staple in one of the top corners. I can think of easier ways to attach a price tag, but they liked their stapler, I guess. Can you tell how much I like bargain records?

Used Music-Track Twenty Seven

If I don't hurry up and post some additions to my Used Music collection, I'm not going to average out to one a day before Christmas. I missed too many days in the middle there, I'm afraid. I need to put more thought into these collections before I start, I suppose. But I've got a good track for you now, a little slow, but good. Please go download Les Paul And Mary Ford-The Christmas Song from We Wish You The Merriest (Harmony (Columbia) HS 11351). A little research tells me that this is an abridged reissue of another Columbia collection with a similar title, from which I shared tracks here and here. I also shared out another Les Paul Christmas tune last year on my 25 Days Of Christmas collection.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Jerry Colonna-Too Fat For The Chimney
Tex Ritter-Ole Tex Kringle

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXI-Christmas 2007

I recently stumbled across an LP copy of Lena Horne's Merry From Lena (United Artists UAS 6546, 1966), one that had eluded me for many years. I suspect it finally popped up because of a quality CD re-release this year. I'd had it on a budget CD for some years, but I'm always excited about getting stuff on the original vinyl. Unfortunately, I have to keep looking, because this isn't quite the original vinyl. Check out the doodle above. Now compare it to this one and this one. Notice how those are very similar and from records on the same label, yet they are in color. I've got later re-issues of those other LPs, and sure enough, the doodles have turned to B&W. So I need to keep looking.