December, Part Two

The other little monthly calendar I want to share with you is the one we gave away to customers last year. I'm supposed to do another set for this year, but I haven't started yet. Once I get started, it shouldn't take too long, though. These small calendars usually consist of pictures from earlier year's large calendars. So what have we got here? The shot above is a lighthouse on Lake Erie, near Mentor Headlands, Ohio. It's always a stop on my trips to Ohio, if we have time to get out there. It's a beautiful spot. And below? Another lighthouse, a lot further south, this time in Ponce Inlet, Florida, a few miles south of Daytona Beach. This is a spot I visit every time I'm at our Daytona Beach shop. This is the only shot I've got that's actually tied to the Christmas holiday. I just happened to be there one year when they had all the Christmas decorations up on the lighthouse, and the big tree in the yard. Pretty cool, isn't it?

December, Part One

First day of the month means you get calendar pages, and here they are! Well, the first set anyways. These are the big ones that hang on the wall at work, printed out at 11 x 14". The Florida picture above is actually quite old, but it showed up at the right time and made it's way onto the calendar. That's kalanchoe blooming, and if I remember right, I shot it at Rainbow Springs State Park near Dunnellon, Florida. You'd think a picture of the beautiful springs or river would have made it onto the calendar, but no, you get flowers. The shot below is downtown Cleveland, Ohio, shot from down in the Flats. I was pretty happy with this photo. It's nice and sharp even though I shot it handheld in the dark. You get lucky sometimes.

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 2

Here's a great little ditty that helps explain why I never have seen Rudolph flying over on Christmas Eve. Turns out there's another reindeer that Santa turns to when he has to fly to the warmer climes. I won't tell you any more of the story, you'll just have to download and listen to Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer (Bournefield 7" 33 RPM SF 800, 1979). This is the second installment in my 26 Days Of Christmas CD, so be sure to check back and get all the songs. Hmmm, Sandy seems to be making a comeback, as is Scott Fagen. Check it out!

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time

Is A Licorice Stick The Same As A Candy Clarinet?

For the past couple of years, I've brought you this record in it's mono format. Last year, The Captain had a stereo version that he shared out, which I encouraged you to go get instead of my mono one. But this year I finally have a stereo copy of my own to share out. This is Pete Fountain-Candy Clarinet (Coral CRL 757487, 1966).

Dot And Ray

Here's another EP that I picked up at Banana's last week, same as my previous post. I probably wouldn't have given this one a second glance except for the small words "Produced Under The Supervision Of Raymond Scott". That caught me off-guard. I was pretty sure that Raymond Scott had never released any Christmas music. Well, there's one Christmas-titled track, but it's not very Christmassy. (Wait, I may be wrong...) I went ahead and bought this single, and I'm glad I did. Turns out that Dorothy Collins was married to Raymond Scott. I can't find too much information about this record on the net, but it's a great one. The orchestra has a lot of bounce to it that I'm sure comes from Mr. Scott. It's really jumping on the two fast numbers, and the two slower numbers aren't bad either. Turns out that I had shared a Dorothy Collins tune with you last year, yet I had forgotten all about it. These four tracks make a great addition to that one, so please go download Dorothy Collins-Season's Greetings In Song (A Top Rank Artist 117058/117059). As I keep finding myself saying, if you know anything more about this, please post it in the comments!

Snoopy Versus The Blue Barron

I didn't mean to trick you, but this post really has nothing to do with Snoopy. But it's got everything to do with Blue Barron, a previously unknown to me big band leader. Someone mentioned the name over at FaLaLaLaLa.com the other day, and I wondered who it was then forgot all about it. Fast-forward to a couple of days later during my annual trip to Banana's in search of great Christmas singles. What flashes past my eyes but the EP you see above and below? I'd never seen it before, but I figured karma was telling me something. I snatched it up, recorded it and wow is it great! Swingin' big band versions of Christmas tunes both classic and never-heard. This will more than make up for the lackluster Seeburg post of a few hours ago. Hurry right now and get Blue Barron-Christmas EP (MGM X1055). I'm pretty sure that these recordings predate the 45 era, and were originally from 78s. But the sound is still good!

Seeburg (Not Seabird)

I talked to you about Muzak a bit earlier, spurred on by Lee's posting of a Muzak Christmas LP that I needed. Lee also posted a Seeburg Christmas record, something else I needed, even though I didn't know it existed prior to his posting it. What I did know existed was this series of Seeburg Background Music records, which I've had for years but never listened to. Why not, you ask? Well, in addition to my having more records than I could listen to in a lifetime, these records have a hole in the middle that is too big for a standard record player, and they spin at half the speed of a standard LP. That big hole you see in the scan above is 2" versus the 1.5" hole in the standard 45. And if that weren't enough, the music is supposed to be played back at 16-2/3 RPM, half the normal LP speed of 33-1/3. This frustrated me for years until I finally decided to do something about it this year. I had my machinist father make an adaptor for the spindle on my record player so it would fit, and I figured out how to slow the recording down once I got it into my PC. All that work, and it turns out I wasn't missing much. I only recorded one out of the 24 records in the series, and at that point I had had enough. Turns out that only one out of every five tracks is Christmas, and the versions are sub-par even for background music. Well, maybe it's just the poor fidelity of the record that's ruining it for me. I don't know. If you want to give it a listen, here're six tracks from The Seeburg Music Library-Matching Christmas Library (CH 10 A/B). I suppose it's amazing that these things have survived. They were supposed to be returned to Seeburg after the season, but somehow these never got sent back. I guess Seeburg didn't want these things saved for posterity.

One Day In December

There's only one day of December in this week, so you're going to have to hurry up and enjoy this picture before tomorrow. You'll get a new one tomorrow morning, so I guess you can't be too upset over not getting to look at this one for long. These skimmers were all huddled together and facing into the wind on South Lido Beach in Sarasota, Florida. Those condos in the background are on the mainland, so you're looking back across Sarasota Bay. These guys normally face into the wind as they rest on the ground, but that one guy on the left is out of formation for some reason. Maybe there's a cute girl skimmer out of the frame on that side and he's making his move...

The Return Of Muzak

I mentioned this share a minute ago in a post about another Muzak LP, so I figured I'd better repost the original. I first shared this album out two years ago, to little fanfare, then again last year to a few comments. Now it's back for a third showing, so we'll see how it does. This is Muzak Christmas (Muzak AA 36, 1980). As I asked when I originally posted this, why does Santa only have six reindeer on this cover? Was Muzak that out of the times? It boggles the mind...

Missing Music, Part Two

Here is another record sleeve I found during the year that gave me a nasty surprise when I opened it up. I didn't find a copy of Muzak-Stimulus Progression Number Three-Christmas inside. Instead, I think there was another record in the Stimulus Progression series, one of the non-Christmas ones. I was pretty bummed. I thought this would make a great complement to my other Muzak Christmas record, but it was not to be. But I got an early Christmas present this morning from Lee over at Music You (Possibly) Won't Find Anyplace Else (or something like that...). He's posted this exact same LP, and his copy had the right record in it! He's also got a Seeburg record, which I can also post about later! It's a two-for-one deal! So go over there and get this great music. You'll be stimulated to progress in no time.

A To Z (Not Q Or Z) 2007

As the time came to prepare for the 2007 sharity season, I wanted to find a good way to highlight some of the stuff I've shared out over the previous two years. I thought about putting together a best-of of some sort, but then I thought better of it. I like most of the tracks and albums I share, so how could I ever hope to distill down all of my shares into a single collection or two? So then the idea hit me. Why not get other folks to do it? Well, this is your invitation. Who out there would like to do a collection of stuff from my two years of sharing? There are about 120 albums, miscellaneous singles, two different Christmas In July celebrations, and who knows what else. If you'd like to put together something, please drop me a line. I can't guarantee to share out everything I get, but I'll certainly do the best I can.

To give you an idea what I'm looking for, let me present this first collection of Ernie (Not Bert) shares, A To Z (Not Q Or Z) 2007, assembled by Friend-of-the-Blog Steve! You can download this collection here, and you can find links to all the tracks below. If you think you could put together a great collection like this, please let me know! You don't even need to come up with a great theme like this one, but it helps. Steve didn't have any artwork, but you're welcome to put something together for that as well. Don't be shy, put that brainpower to good use this yuletide!

A
All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)
Mimi Hines With Ray Martin’s Orchestra
The Merriest of Christmas Pops (RCA Victor LSP-2032, 1959)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/11/swingingest-christmas-oodles-of-doodles.html

B
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Marty Gold And His Orchestra
Stereo Action Goes Hollywood (RCA Victor LSA-2381, 1961)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/07/christmas-in-july-part-10.html

C
The Christmas Waltz
The Lennon Sisters
Christmas With The Lennon Sisters (Wing)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-with-twice.html

D
Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
The Three Suns
The Sounds Of Christmas (RCA Victor LPM-1132, 1955)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/12/two-suns.html

E
Everything Says Christmas Is Here
Robert Way Orchestra And Chorus
New England Sleigh Ride Volume 1 (Fleetwood FCL3023)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/12/right-of-way.html

F
Frosty The Snowman
The Sandpipers With Mitch Miller and Orchestra
Frosty The Snowman (Golden Records 2092, 1966)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/12/sand-not-snow.html

G
Good King Wenceslas
Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra
Music For A Merry Christmas (Richmond B 20056, 1959)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/12/frank-not-sinatra.html

H
Have Reindeer, Will Travel
Johnny Mathis
Sounds Of Christmas (Mercury SR 60837, 1963)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/12/25-days-of-christmas-day-2.html

I
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Holiday People
Holiday Disco (Universal Spectaculars USL 101, 1979)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/11/burn-baby-burn.html

J
Jingle Bells
Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus
Songs To Sing At Christmas Time (Grand Award G.A. 33-348)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/12/grand-award-not-command.html

K
Kay Thompson’s Jingle Bells
The Williams Brothers
Christmas With Andy Williams And The Williams Brothers (Columbia Special Products C 10105)

L
Let It Snow! Let it Snow! Let It Snow!
Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra
Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye (Decca DL 74070, 1960)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/11/sammy-kaye-day-part-one.html

M
Mele Kalikimaka
Poncie Ponce
15 Great Christmas Favorites Sung By Warner Bros. Stars (Warner Bros B 1337, 1959)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/11/merry-christmas-indeed.html

N
Not A Creature Was Stirring
The King Family
A King Family Christmas (Fleetwood FCLP 3038 or 3031, c. 1968)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/12/king-me.html

O
Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco His Harp And Orchestra
Joy To The World (RCA Victor CPM-104, 1962)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/11/harpo-not-zeppo.html

P
Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
Henri René And His Orchestra
Dynamic Dimensions (RCA Victor LSA-2396, 1961)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2007/07/christmas-in-july-2007-day-10.html

Q
:(

R
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
’Big’ Tiny Little
Christmas With Big Tiny Little (Coral CRL 757391, 1961)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/11/big-things-in-little-package.html

S
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
Artie Malvin
Songs To Sing At Christmas Time (Grand Award G.A. 33-348)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/12/grand-award-not-command.html

T
Tijuana Christmas
Tijuana Voices
Tijuana Voices With Brass Sing Merry Christmas (Pickwick SPCX-1005)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-in-tijuana-part-3.html

U
Under The Christmas Mistletoe
Dick Leibert
The Happy Hits Of Christmas (Christmas Evergreens Played On The Radio City Music Hall Organ) (RCA Victor LSP-2771, 1963)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/12/organ-transplant.html

V
The Very First Christmas Day
Sunshine
Step Into The Sunshine (Light LS-5586-LP)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2007/07/christmas-in-july-2007-day-13.html

W
We Need A Little Christmas
Skitch Henderson And His Orchestra
A Very Merry Christmas-Volume Two (Columbia Special Products For Grants CSS-788, 1968)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2006/12/skitch-in-time.html

X
Xmas It Ain’t (Interpolating: Jingle Bells)
Ron Goodwin
Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies (Paramount PAS 5006, 1969)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2007/07/christmas-in-july-2007-day-20.html

Y
Yingle Bells
Yogi Yorgesson With Johnny Duffy And The Scandahoovians
Yingle Bells (Capitol EAP 1-461, 1951)
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2005/12/long-before-fargo.html

Z
:(

Note: Yeah, there are a couple of ringers in this list that I had to send to Steve to fill out the alphabet, but that's the spice that makes this compilation worth downloading. Also, there are a couple of things here that are not shared out anymore, so this may be your only place to get those tracks. Thanks again, Steve, for putting together this great compilation!

PS-The only Q I could think of would be Quiet Christmas, and Z might be 'Zat You, Santa Claus. But I never shared out anything like those, so my goal this year is to find tracks for those letters. Stay tuned!

Be Like Mike More

As I said a few minutes ago while reposting the first Mike Douglas Christmas record, no bonus points for figuring out what this post is all about. I stumbled across this LP recently at a Goodwill store in St. Pete, still sealed in the plastic. That resulted in some very nice recordings that I get to share with you tonight. It's a short album, only ten songs, but the quality is high. And every once in a while you'll hear a little something in these songs that tells you it was recorded during the reign of disco. This is an odd release for the Word label, being a pretty famous name for them. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that, though. Didn't Word also release some albums, or at least an album, by Paul Harvey? I think so. But that's beside the point. Why don't you go download this great LP, The Mike Douglas Christmas Album (Word WSB-8815, 1979)? You'll like it, I'm sure. This is the second share this year from the Word label. I think it's also the last, but you can never tell around here...

Be Like Mike

I posted this album last year after the death of Mike Douglas. It's a much better album than your typical celebrity vocal album, I guess since Mike could actually sing. It leans a little towards the religious side, and there are a couple of original songs here that mine that vein pretty well. When I first posted this, I mentioned that Mike had another Christmas album out there that I didn't have yet. No bonus points for guessing what LP post is coming up next. But first, get Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas (Epic BN 26322, 1967) if you haven't already.

Happy Harmonica Christmas

I brought you zither tunes last night, so tonight I'm playing the harmonica for you. Well, I'm not playing it, I'm just providing it for your listening pleasure. This album comes from the world famous Harmonicats. No, wait, scratch that. This LP comes from The Don Les' Harmonicats, a slightly less famous version of the Harmonicats led by one of the former members. I guess Don Les split from Jerry Murad at some point and decided to go off with his own version of the band. Shame that the original band couldn't have come out with a Christmas album, because this record is really nothing to write home about. But if you haven't heard it, it's worth downloading and giving a listen to Christmas With The Don Les Harmonicats (Halo 1005). I first shared this out last year, I believe. Oh, I almost forgot, there was a track from the original Harmonicats shared out on my 25 Days Of Christmas collection that I just posted. You can also read about it in the original post from that day.

25 Days From Last Year

I just started a new compilation called 26 Days Of Christmas, so I figured I should re-post my collection from last year, more cleverly titled 25 Days Of Christmas. I shared out a lot of great tracks last year, and I hope to be able to duplicate the success this year. And I promise to try and find 26 different songs titles, instead of duplicating several titles... So if you want a great little Christmas compilation to play at your next holiday party, please go download 25 Days Of Christmas (Ernie Not Bert, 2006). Be sure you tell everyone where you got it. Here's the track list, in reverse order, and you can click each title to take you to the original post and read a little bit about each track.

Tennessee Ernie Ford-Christmas Dinner
Harry Kari-Oh! Oh! Don't Ever Go
Dorothy Collins-Mister Santa
Connie Canuso-Somebody Painted Rudolph's Nose A Chocolate Brown
Sandy Offenheim-If Snowflakes Fell In Flavours
Up With People-Jingle Bell Beat
The Ames Brothers-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Got Stuck In The Chimney
Lou Monte-Italian Jingle Bells
Les Paul-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
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

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 1

I thought I was having trouble keeping up with the blog posts already (Like how I've missed my other comp posts for three days in a row now...), so I've decided to start my other Christmas comp. This one follows on the heels of last year's collection, which was titled 25 Days Of Christmas. This year is a little bit different, as I'm getting an extra days worth of Christmas by starting on November 30th instead of December 1st. Pretty clever, eh? This collection will be just odds and sods from any piece of vinyl I happen to have in my collection. I've got tons of singles and albums that I don't think will fit in elsewhere, so I'm going to throw some of those tracks up here. The very first share is a great track that I missed way back in 1981 when it first came out. Some of you may remember Mickey Gilley's big hit, Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time, an ode to beer goggles and not going home alone. Here he's adapted those lyrics slightly to have a holiday edge, which clashes a little bit with the parts of the song he doesn't change. But it's still a great tune that you never hear. And that cover is a redneck classic! I'm going to throw up the back cover just so you can see the mechanical bull all dolled up like a reindeer. So let's get the compilation under way with Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time from Christmas At Gilley's (Epic FE 37595, 1981). Remember that Mickey is cousins with Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart before you dismiss this as boring old country...

Santa's A Cynic

A buddy of mine threw this up, and I thought I'd share the link with you folks. It's probably just something he got sent from somewhere else, but I'd never seen it before. It's called Holiday Hack Newsroom Bingo. Better hurry, though, I think you've already missed some of these.

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXIII-Christmas 2007

These two bells hail from inside the gatefold of the album I just shared with you, The Medallion Orchestra And Chorus-The Sound Of Christmas-Deck The Halls (Medallion (Kapp) MS-7512, 1960). It's not as exciting as the doodle as I shared with you last night, but it's still nice. They can't all be home runs, sometimes you just have to try and get on base any way you can.

Yet Another Sound Of Christmas

Through absolutely no intention on my part, I seem to have recorded quite a few records this season called The Sound of Christmas or Sounds of Christmas. It's a little disconcerting because I didn't even notice it until someone pointed it out to me in the comments. But I'm not one to look a gift trend in the mouth, so here is yet another LP in that same tradition. But first, a little setup. The Medallion label, an arm of Kapp, seemed to be the equivalent of RCA's Living Stereo. Well, maybe not the equivalent, but something similar. A place to showcase high fidelity stereo recordings using state-of-the-art recording methods and sparing no expense in the production and packaging of the resultant records. I've not seen too many records in this series, and was surprised when I found this Christmas contribution. You'll be impressed by the great recording of both the orchestra and the chorus, as well as the interesting arrangements of lots and lots of old chestnuts, bunched together in medley form. I'm a little surprised to have never heard of this recording before, and there's precious little info on the internet. So add this one to your pile of great lost Christmas records. Please download The Medallion Orchestra And Chorus, Directed By John Paul Krance-The Sound Of Christmas-Deck The Halls (Medallion (Kapp) MS-7512, 1960). Please leave me a comment if you can shed any light on the history of this recording. I suppose that holds true for all of my shares, but sometimes I just like to emphasize it...

Zither And Yon

I wanted to post a share that actually had some good sound tonight, and I think this is the record for that. I've shared this out for a couple of years now, and everyone has always had plenty of good stuff to say about it. It's not your normal Christmas instrumentals, but it's not so far out there that your parents won't like it. So why not download Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland (Capitol ST 1782, c. 1962)? It's good listenin'!

Ethel The Second

As promised, here's the 12" 33 RPM version of Ethel Smith-Christmas Music (Decca DL 8187). It's got a couple of tracks that aren't on the 2x7" I shared out last year, so if you enjoyed that one, you'll like this one as well. This record has some of the same sound problems as the 7" version, so don't download this in hopes of getting some great listening music, 'cause it sounds rough in the louder spots. Those of you who can't get enough Ethel might want to visit this Christmas In July post. Those sound a lot better than these. Oh, and I shared out a doodle from the back of this LP here.

Ethel The First

There was much discussion about this record last year, or at least this artist. I finally posted this record to help end some of that discussion, but I still wasn't satisfied. I had found both the 45 RPM and 78 RPM versions of the record, but nothing at 33 RPM. Well, I finally found that version, and it's going to be the very next post after this repost. But for now, I've fixed the dead link and you can once again download Ethel Smith At The Organ-Christmas Music (Decca ED-558, 2x7" 45 RPM). I have to warn you that this record has terrible sound. The music is just fine, but the grooves must be worn out or something. If you just want random Christmas music to listen to, don't download this, go get something like this. If you want to hear Christmas organ by Ethel Smith, then give this a listen. I'm on the lookout for a better copy, but it's going to take some work.

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXII-Christmas 2007

This may well be the best Christmas doodle of the year, perhaps the best ever. Shame this is from one of those covers I have without a record inside. Pretty sure it's just repackaged stuff from some random subsidiary of Crown or Pickwick or Precision Radiation Instruments or something though. This actually comes from the front side of Robert Cole Chorus & Organ-Merry Christmas And Happy New Year (Riviera R-0040). I just love this picture. Those ornaments look like something that would be in the Dr. Seuss Collection at the Hallmark store!

Disco Day-Part Five

The conclusion to Christmas Disco Day is probably the best of the bunch, and certainly the one you're going to play the most. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the one, the only, Charo. What else can I say? It sounds exactly like you think it does. Why this hasn't been released on CD I will never know. Short of a couple of late-50's, early 60's classic Christmas albums, this is my most popular download title. Don't miss it. Go get Charo-(Mamacita) ¿Donde Esta Santa Claus? , (Salsoul SG 201, 1978). This is the third time I've shared the former Mrs. Cugat with you, so you can read up on my previous posts here and here. But just download the music, it speaks for itself.

Disco Day-Part Four

The next-to-last installment of Christmas Disco Day is this, umm, interestingly covered record by Disco Belles. No idea who the Disco Belles were or are, but they seem to love candy canes. I have to apologize about the quality of the above image. I try to take great pains to give you nice cover scans, but I didn't have much to work with on this one. It was still in the plastic outer sleeve when I got it (slit open though), and some water had gotten in there at some point. So there was lots of discoloration and warpage going on. The record was fine, but the sleeve was about shot. I did the best I could without just faking the whole thing. But you're just interested in the music, right? No problem, go download Disco Belles-Tis The Night To Disco (51 West (CBS) Q 16080, 1979). I should also mention that this was a continuous mix, but I split it into ten individual songs. So if any of the tracks sound like they start or stop abruptly, that's why.

Disco Day-Part Three

Still got your boogie shoes on? Here's another rerun from last year that's sure to get the elves out on the dance floor. After all, you can't build toys all the time. I think this album was released under several different names over the years, but I'm not sure. I'm too lazy to compare it to the other albums I've been told it resembles. If you want to do so, please be my guest. But if you want to do that, you have to first download Holiday People-Holiday Disco (Universal Spectaculars USL 101, 1979).

Disco Day-Part Two

The second installment of Disco Christmas Day here at Ernie (Not Bert) is a rerun from last year by some guy named Max Fagen. No idea who that is, but this was a big hit last year, and seemed to be every one's favorite disco album. I'm sure you'll like it as well. Have the biggest and loudest Christmas party on the block by downloading Christmas Disco Party (Classic Christmas CCR 1941, 1979).

Disco Day-Part One

Today's the day that some of you have been looking forward to, and others have been dreading. It's time to share out some disco Christmas! Kicking things off is the Montana Orchestra, who appear to still be around (maybe not...). You can buy Christmas music from them over at CD Universe, but I think it's different recordings from what I have here. This one features a huge Christmas medley on side one, and then two different New Year's Eve medleys on side two. You'll be discoing from Christmas to New Years with this one. Go download Montana Orchestra-Merry Christmas (MJS 3302) and get down with your bad self.

It's Never Fall In Florida

I didn't get a chance to tell you that I spent the Sunday after the Australian Pink Floyd concert hiking through some woods north of Atlanta, Georgia. An old college roommate of mine took me up to Amacalola State Park, and we walked up the side of a mountain to see a waterfall. The leaves were changing quite late this year, so I got plenty of fall color. You don't get color like this in Florida, believe me. This part is the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Well, actually I guess it counts up as you go North, so this is the start of the trail. There's a marker, and I took a picture of it, but it wouldn't be very interesting to you next to these bright oranges, reds and yellows.


The falls plummet quite a way, but it's tough to get a clear picture of the whole fall. You can see the top of the falls at the top of the picture above, and I'm standing at the base of the falls, which is an artificial pond, shown below. We walked up the hill to the right along well-marked trails and an old logging road. We came down on the other side, where they've installed hundreds and hundreds of steps. I think one set was four hundred and something, then it's trail again, then another set of 100 and something steps. I don't know what the total altitude was (725 ft, duh!), but I think we wound up walking about two and a half miles.

You can't tell it from these pictures, but Georgia is in the midst of their worst drought in decades. We weren't sure there was going to be any water coming over the falls, but as you can see, we needn't have worried.

Used Music-Track Six

(Almost posted this track with the wrong album cover up there. I need to get some sleep...) Real quick, tonight's track is Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home from The Christmas Song And Other Favorites (Columbia Special Products P 12446, 1974). I had lots of great tracks on this compilation to choose from, but I grabbed this one because I don't think there are any Debbie Reynolds Christmas CDs out there anywhere. The track has a strong seventies feel to it, so perhaps it was new when this compilation came out.

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)

More Singing Nuns

I complained a day or two ago about boring choral music, yet here I am sharing out some choral music again. I don't dislike this one, though. Maybe I'm just so enamored of the cover art that I turn a deaf ear to the music. It's just a bunch of nuns singing, after all. Once you're done drinking in the eye candy of that great cover, go get yourself a copy of The Glen Riddle Franciscans-Choral Group-Sisters Of St. Francis-We Sing Of Christmas (Private Pressing LPM-2). Do you think it's just a coincidence that this has an RCA Victor-style catalog number? Hmmm... Well, I guess those started at LPM-1000, so maybe it's nothing.

More, And Better, Rudolph

If you liked the previous Rudolph cover I shared with you, then you'll love this one. I believe this is the original 78 RPM RCA Victor release of the Paul Wing story. There's a copyright notice on here from 1939 for Montgomery Ward, and an assignment to Robert L. May from 1947. I'm not entirely sure of the exact year on this one, but '47 or '48 is certainly not out of the question. It was in terrible shape, and I didn't do a lot to fix it up. It's still got some great artwork, and there's a few great bits of Rudolph's story printed inside. It's hard for me to imagine a time when Christmas didn't automatically involve Rudolph, but here is an artifact from that period. For the search engines, this is Paul Wing With Russ Case And His Orchestra-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (RCA Victor Youth Series Y-353), story by Robert L. May, Music by George Kleinsinger.

The Lost Luboff

For my next trick, I'm going to share out the album you see above. My dad was always a big fan of The Norman Luboff Choir, but I don't remember having any of their Christmas music in our house when I was growing up. We certainly didn't have this album. I recently found a sealed copy, and knew I had to share it on the blog. Of course, once I got the sealed copy home, I realized that I already had a copy in the archives, but had never listened to it. Shame on me. This turns out to be the soundtrack to a Christmas TV special, one that I'm afraid I've never seen. I guess Rankin-Bass had the market pretty well sewn up for memorable holiday specials in the sixties and early seventies, but that doesn't mean that others weren't trying. I think there are some delightful tracks on here, and I'm sure you'll agree. So go now and download The Norman Luboff Choir-The Night Before Christmas (Elba Productions, 1968). Based on a sticker from the front of the sealed copy I found, this LP was probably originally given away to clients of the show's sponsors. Whether that was a bank or an insurance agency or whatnot, I have no idea. Note that the wording on the sticker is intended for the person giving the record away, not the person receiving the gift. Odd...

That Wacky Rudolph

For the first time this season, and certainly not the last, someone has beaten me to the punch on an album. I had the above LP all ready to share with you, but you can already download it over at Hi-Fi Holiday. He's got some other great shares there, so it's well worth your visit. I've got a different cover than he does, so you might want to download this one if you're a Christmas completist. For the record, this is Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (RCA Camden CAS 1068(e), 1965). The little (e) means it's electronic stereo. The artists here include Paul Wing (doing two stories about Rudolph), Gisele MacKenzie (a song from this LP), Vaughn Monroe, Dale Evans and The Voices of Walter Schumann (doing a track from this LP).

Merriest Christmas Ever

Keeping on with some great shares to make up for yesterday, here's one of the most exciting things I shared out last year. This great LP featured Esquivel, Ray Martin, The Skip-Jacks and Mimi Hines. You wouldn't know that from looking at the cover, though. I suppose that's why this recording is so rare today. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not sharing out the whole LP. The Esquivel stuff is available elsewhere on a CD that you really should already own. (We'll, it was available. I think it's currently out of print, but I'm sure it'll be back soon.) Enough blather, just download this and enjoy The Merriest of Christmas Pops (RCA Victor LSP-2032, 1959). It's awesome! You can read the story about how I found this LP, and see the great doodle from the back on my post from last year.

Christmas With The WB

Is there actually a WB anymore? I think it's part of the CW now. Anyhow, this recording is from way, way before all that. I shared out such mediorce stuff with you yesterday that I'm sharing out this great record today, featuring such stars as Ed "Kookie" Byrnes, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Connie Stevens, Peter Brown, Ray Danton, Poncie Ponce, Eddie Cole, Bob Conrad, Dorothy Provine, Clint Walker, Roger Moore and Ty Hardin. With a lineup like that, how can you not download We Wish You A Merry Christmas-15 Great Christmas Favorites Sung By Warner Bros. Stars (Warner Bros B 1337, 1959)? This is a rerun from last year, so you can click on over to the post from then to see more information about this record.

The Ghost In The Cube

OK, just a couple more and I'm done for the night. See that ghostly image looking at the cube? That's me. The exposures were so long, I ran over to the face of the cube, held still for 10 or 20 seconds, then ran back to the camera. I think it's a cool effect. Next time, I'm going to carry a little LED light or something and leave trails.

And Coming

OK, I admit it, I took some more of those shots of the cube in motion. So sue me, I like them. If I take enough of these, I'll get really good at it. The name of the sculpture is Pulse, and to me, these pictures replicate that pulse.