Christmas Cut To Pieces

Tonight I'm sharing with you a remastered version of the very first Christmas record I shared with you at the blog. This opened the Christmas sharing on Thanksgiving Day, 2005. (There was a single I posted earlier the same day, but it's Thanksgiving music, so it doesn't count). I was never really happy with my recording of that one, since I had a pretty beat up copy. I finally found a better copy sometime during this last year, so I rerecorded it for you. I also spent a lot of time cutting it up into individual tracks for you. It's presented as two side-long medleys, but with a lot of listening and some zooming in and out, I was able to find good dividing points on all the songs. To me, this makes it much easier to listen to, and I enjoy it more as individual tracks than as long medleys. But I've made both versions available for you as part of my effort to keep everybody happy all of the time! So if you want the new version that's cut into individual tracks, please download George Feyer's Echoes Of Christmas (Vox VX25-010, 1955). If you want the uncut medleys, please download George Feyer's Echoes Of Christmas (uncut) (Vox VX25-010, 1955). Which ever version you get, the sound is much better on this version than on the original share.

Good News And Bad-I received an email from George Feyer's daughter-in-law last night, and she tells me that the family is in the process of making all his recordings available for legal download. That's the good news. The bad news is that I can't share it with you anymore, but I think the good outweighs the bad. So keep checking back and hopefully I'll have some information about when and where you can download some tasty George Feyer.

What's A Pianoforte?

I'm not afraid to admit it. I have no idea what a siena pianoforte is. But when I saw this album, I knew I had to buy it just because of the little sleepy guy perched atop the instrument. Turns out that it's a pretty neat little album. Lots of good songs on here in interesting arrangements. It's all played on the magic siena pianoforte, which sounds a lot like a plain piano to me, but I don't have the trained ears of an auteur. Why don't you download and tune your ears to Grace Castagnetta-Christmas On The Siena Pianoforte (Counterpoint/Esoteric (An Everest Records Production) S-2411-53005)? There's some noise on some of the tracks that I wish wasn't there, but you should be able to get the idea.

Used Music-Track Twenty

Seems like only yesterday I was starting, and here we are at day twenty! Of course, I didn't actually post anything yesterday on account of I was tired and fell asleep before I could start posting, and I've missed a couple of days in-between on this particular compilation, but still... It's been a lot of fun trying to put together a collection made up entirely of tracks that are pulled from these old compilations, and trying to make it more interesting than you'd expect. I think I'm doing a pretty good job overall. Tonight's contribution is certainly not something you'd expect to find on an album called Season's Greetings-A Christmas Festival Of Stars! (Columbia CS 8189), but there it was. Please get your Hawaiian fix for today and download Ed Kenney With Luther Henderson And His Orchestra-The Twelve Days Of Christmas. If you've never heard the Hawaiian version of this song, you're in for a treat!

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

Mail Call

I checked my mail box today, and nearly fell over. I found not one, not two but three packages of Christmas CDs in there! And that's not counting one I got last week! Thank you so much to all the folks who sent me their Christmas CDs! I haven't opened all of them yet, but I'm doing my best to get them all opened and listened to before Christmas. I actually got one CD that you can go out and buy if you'd like, and I highly encourage you to do so if you haven't already. It's called Seasonal Favorites Volume Two from Double Crown Records. It's all sorts of great Christmas tunes from a great label that issues modern surf, rockabilly, retro-cocktail, I hesitate to even try and put a label on some of this stuff. If you don't like the Christmas music you hear on the radio, you're sure to like what you hear on this CD (or on volume one for that matter). Go get it, and tell 'em Ernie sent you! (They may not have any idea who Ernie is, but say it anyway. Say it loud!) Oh, and support your local record store, unless they happen to be in a mall.

Layton The Evening

I've shared out so much great Christmas music in the past two years that I've forgotten some of it. I had completely forgotten about this Eddie Layton Christmas record from last year until I was looking for something else to post tonight. So I'm going to share it out with you again in hopes that I'll be able to remember it. I seem to recall finding this at the Goodwill store, bringing it home, recording it, scanning it and sharing it all in the same day. Gotta love it when a plan comes together! So don't be like me and forget it, go download Eddie Layton-Organ Music For Christmas With Chimes And Brass Choir (Epic BN 26118) right now!

The July Before Last

You may or may not have heard me telling you to go look at such and such song I posted back during Christmas In July. In case you didn't notice those, or didn't pay attention, here's the deal. Once Christmas is over around here at the blog, I go back to posting pictures (and the very occasional LP) until July, when I jump back into the Christmas music again. But July is different from December. In July, I share out individual tracks that I find on non-holiday albums that have a seasonal flair to them. There have been some real winners during Christmas In July, and I try to put out a best-of at the end of each season. This post is all about the Best Of Christmas In July from 2006. Trust me when I say that you can build a great Christmas album from all these songs. See for yourself and download The Best of Christmas In July 2006. I never did make any artwork for this one, so if you want to get the great cover shown above, and a back cover with the tracklist, head over to The Christmas Yuleblog, where CaptOT was nice enough to put something together for me last year. You can also read a track-by-track review of all the great music on this collection.

If the best-of doesn't fill your Christmas sweet tooth, you can go back to the posts from July 2006 and download each days posting of 2, 3, 4 or sometimes 5 tracks of Christmassy goodness. I'm pretty sure that all the download links are still good. When you've gotten those, you'll have a little over 100 more goodies in your Christmas collection, and it's all stuff that you'd never hear if you only listened to Christmas albums. Let me see if I can link them all for you here: 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. Whew! That's a lot of links. I hope you have a RapidShare account.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Here are a pair of albums from last year that some of you might enjoy. These two albums are both by the Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir, so they are very traditional and reverent versions of Christmas hymns. You won't find any Rudolph or Frosty here, and no one is going to ask Santa for a Cadillac. But there is a time and a place for that and this. So for a little something calmer than the usual fare around here, please download Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols (Roulette SR 25097, 1958) and Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Songs-Volume 2 (Roulette SR 25142). I shared out both of these last year over a couple of consecutive nights so you might find more information at those posts if you're curious.

Merry Christmas From Line Material

The Christmas cognoscenti have long been collecting the records released by the Line Material company in the late fifties and early sixties. I still don't know how many of them there actually were, but we've got a new one you might want to add to your collection. I found the record you see above and below at the big record store in St. Pete (Bananas) last year, but I had no way to play it, because it's a 78. So after letting it slip my mind last year, I finally shipped it off to Lee of Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else, who was kind enough to record it for me using his collection of needles for just such a record. He's hosting the sound files over at his blog, so go here and give them a listen. He's also got a Line Material single from 1964 (also donated by a blogger) and two singles from Line Material in Canada (again, from a blogger). Perhaps it's bloggers that make the world go 'round?

Don't forget about Lee's earlier collection of Line Material sides. Be careful when you listen to them, though. They'll stick in your brain like those little things that get on your shoes and socks when you walk through an open field. You can't get rid of them without a lot of effort, and usually not for several days.

I'm (Almost) Famous!

Little did I know that sharing out all these old Christmas records would get me noticed by places as far flung as Southern California and, well, that's about it. I got interviewed recently for an article about Christmas music in The Press-Enterprise, and I don't think I came off too badly. You can read the article that ran in print here, and a sidebar that appeared on the web only here. I guess the whole thing was actually a sidebar to this article, but I will take what I can get. It's funny to me because I can remember typing all those things, but when they show up somewhere else, it feels a little like an out-of-body experience. The only beef I have with the article is that The Three Suns are an instrumental trio, not a vocal trio. But close enough. Anybody out there actually see this in the paper? I'd love to get a scan of the actual paper!

Sweet, Sweet Christmas Music

One of the great, lost Christmas albums I rescued from obscurity last year is this gem from Domenico Savino. Not only do you get this great cover, you get some great music. And you get two great versions! The stereo version features his orchestra with a chorus added on a few tracks. And the mono version features just the orchestra. So you can get exactly what you want, whether it's instrumental or vocal Christmas! How great is that? So take your pick and download either Domenico Savino And His Orchestra-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAL-392, 1958, Mono) or Domenico Savino, His Orchestra And Chorus-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAS-392, 1958, Stereo). You just can't go wrong. I also shared an EP from Mr Savino last year, but I think all the music from that record is on the mono version here.

Holiday Hits

Here are a couple of slightly different sleeves from the Holiday Hits series by the Hit Records label that I was just praising. In addition to covering current hits with no-name musicians, they apparently put out a fair number of Christmas singles by these same musicians. And they all come out in these sleeves, proudly proclaiming their low $0.39 price. In fact, it was even worse that that. The flip side of one of these single still had a Kash & Karry price tag for only $0.34! I guess there's cheap, and then there's cheaper... (Both of these sleeves should be the same shade of old off-white. My scanner seems to have flaked out for some reason and I couldn't save it in Photoshop. Sorry about that...)

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 14

I couldn't resist this track after I first put it on the turntable. It was only later that I realized it was the same people who put out all the cheap "Compatible Sound" LPs that I just shared with you. This is a great bit of infectious Sixties female vocal that I would never in a million years compare to the stuff on those albums. But here it is, I can't deny it's greatness. I'm sure you'll enjoy it to. Here is part 14 of my 26 Days Of Christmas collection, Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter from the Hit Records single No. 46. You never know what's in the grooves until you put the needle in there.

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

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXIX-Christmas 2007

After offering those terribly cheap records a minute ago, I do feel the need to share some nice doodles from the back sides of them. The one above is from Children's Christmas Party (Halo #1001, 1974) and the one below is from A Christmas Party For Children (Modern Sound Christmas Album #2, 1967). I cut and pasted these together from all over the sleeve, so they weren't originally in nice little grouping like this. I like the one below, with all the little angels and the cool little tree.

Compatible Children

Here's another album from Modern Sound, this time it's a children's Christmas record, but some of the songs on here are the exact same recordings as on this earlier album I shared. It's weird, I tell you, but what else would you expect from a budget label? I think only the Caroleers story is more convoluted than this one. Look close at the cover above, and you'll see that you get to hear Rudolph, The Red Nose! What a treat! And it's printed crooked! Bad crooked! There's no artist info at all here, so I just credited it to Modern Sound. You get to listen to some stories, sing along with some songs, even get a little instrumental action on Silent Night. What parent wouldn't buy this for their kid? This is A Christmas Party For Children (Modern Sound Christmas Album #2, 1967). Does that mean this one came out before Album #4? Perhaps. I do know that this record was reissued as Children's Christmas Party (Halo #1001, 1974). Do these people have no shame?

I did find a web site that tried to unravel the mysteries of these cheap records. Maybe reading what they have to say will help you. Maybe not.

UPDATE: This appears to be available at a couple of different download sites, and that makes it ineligible for sharing. Gotta play by the rules here, folks. Sorry if I got your hopes up. Lemme find a link for you... Hmmm, I can't seem to link to iTunes, but go over there and search for the LP title Children's Christmas Party. It's there, shown under the same cover you see above.

Incompatible Christmas

Here's another record that at first I didn't associate with the one I just shared out. Then I looked a little closer. The doodle on the back is the same, some of the recording credits are the same, and it has that same cheap look about it. This one credits different artists, the art is obviously different and it's on a different label. After recording it, I discovered that some of the tracks are even the same, even though they are credited to someone else. But there are two extra tracks here, so I'm giving it to you! This one is Christmas Favorites-Special Holiday Issue-Current Hits Volume 22 (Hit Records MA 543, 1964). The songs are credited variously to The Music City Choir With Band, The Music City Carol Singers or William Randolph. Are there 22 more Christmas records in this series? No, I think this was part of a series where they cranked out covers of current hits, and then hoped that your old parents would buy them, thinking they were getting the versions that the kids wanted. I don't know how that would have worked with Christmas tunes, but maybe. Again, I like some of the arrangements on here, I just wish for better production values and cleaner vinyl.

Compatible Christmas

For years now, I've seen these odd records in the shops. No artist is listed, or at least not a real artist. The most distinguishing feature for me was the big banner across the top proclaiming "Compatible" as if that were every bit as important as Living Stereo or something. Prior to this year, I had never seen a Christmas record in this series, but then I got lucky. I think the first one I found is the one above, but there are more (stay tuned!). This one is The Music City Choral And Orchestra With Lead Vocals By Troy Green-White Christmas And Other Holiday Favorites (Modern Sound Christmas Album #4). See, the little number 4 there? Are there really 3 more of these? Not sure, but we'll see. And who is this artist? I don't think there was ever really a group called The Music City Choral and Orchestra. And Troy Green? Doubt it. These were cheap releases ground out by people who couldn't get real jobs in the music industry. Having said that, I have to admit to a fondness for a couple of tracks on here. I only wish they were better recorded, and the LP taken better care of down through the years.

Harp On This

I like to cover my bases around here, so I'm moving from the Moog on the previous share to the harp on this one. I shared this out last year for the first time in stereo, and it's a really great album to mellow out to while enjoying the Christmas tree. So go get yourself a copy of The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco, His Harp And Orchestra-Joy To The World-Everybody's Favorite Christmas Music (RCA Victor CSP-104, 1962). You really can't go wrong.

Used Music-Track Nineteen

I was feeling a little bad that I hadn't been able to share a great Moog track with you like I did last year, and then this song fell into my lap. How can you possibly go wrong with the Moog on your side, or at least on your compilation? Here is Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring from Wishing You A Merry Christmas (Columbia Masterworks MS 7322). I think this is the second compilation I've compiled from by this same title and on the same label even. I guess there are only so many titles out there...

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

Buddy, With Bunny

Here's your chance to hear the singing Bunny I mentioned in the previous post. Yes, folks, she actually sings on this LP, and she sings quite well. I don't know why Buddy left her off of their allegedly 'shared' LP. This album also features low-rent tracks from Bobby Russell, Bill Purcell and Don Les' Harmonicats, among others. You might be able to live without those, but you gotta hear Bunny. Go download A Family Christmas Album-Something For Everybody (Halo 1007), unless you got it last year, in which case you already have it...

Buddy, No Bunny

One of the goals of my Christmas sharing is not just to bring you stuff you remember from your childhood, but stuff that you've never heard before. And I think that this LP falls firmly in that category. Unless you got it here in 2005 or 2006, I can't imagine how you'd have ever heard it. Buddy and Bunny were lounge singers sometime in the late sixties when they recorded this album. It's full of great swingin' organ, typical of the genre. And oddly enough, even though she's prominently featured in the title and on the cover, I don't hear Bunny sing a lick on here. Shame. But stay tuned, because you get a little Bunny in the very next post. So if you want to hear something new and different, well, at least new, no, wait... If you want to hear this record, please download Buddy & Bunny Burden-Christmas Favorites (Modern Sound Christmas Album #5).

PS-More stuff on the Modern Sound label coming soon. Are you excited?

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 13

Halfway through 26 Days Of Christmas, and I'm still going strong. I don't think I've duplicated a song yet! I found another single featuring the theme of kissing for you tonight. I guess that's become a sort of sub-plot for the annual compilation this year. Don't know why, perhaps I'm lonely. Anyhow, I think you'll enjoy this one. It's noisy though, the record looked like it may have belonged to a kid. Lots of scratches and a big chip out of one edge. But I got a decent file out of it. The artist is Joe Dowell, who seems to be fairly well-known, but I'd never hear of him. Now you can hear him by downloading A Kiss For Christmas (O Tannenbaum) (Smash 7" 45 RPM S-1728, 1961). This is an odd mixture of guitar sounds, some Oriental sounds, and the German lyrics to O Tannenbaum get thrown in for good measure. You'll like it, though.

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

Waring Thin

No doubt you're starting to get tired of the Fred Waring stuff, and especially posts without downloads, but here's another cover I found in the archives. This is 'Twas The Night Before Christmas by Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians (Decca 2x7" 45 RPM ED-548), yet another release from Fred and the boys. It shares the title with this later release, but I don't think it's the same music, or even the same songs. I'm too lazy to compare the two right now, but maybe you can take a look sometime.

Used Music-Track Eighteen

Speaking of Fred Waring, here's a great, rousing version of White Christmas by Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians from the LP 12 Songs Of Christmas (Reprise F-2022, 1964). This is a great addition to my Used Music-The Thrift Store Christmas Compilation Compilation project. The other artists appearing on this LP are Bing Crosby, who you heard yesterday, and some skinny kid from Jersey by the name of Sinatra. You've probably never heard of him.

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

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXVIII-Christmas 2007

All this talk of little drumming boys made me want to post this doodle from the reissue cover of The Jack Halloran Singers-The Little Drummer Boy (Dot DLP 25233) that I just showed you. It's more a woodcut than a doodle, but it's still effective.

Drumming Allowed

Here's the deal. You need to read this earlier post first, then come back and read this one. OK, now that you're back, take a look at this LP. Doesn't look anything like the other one, does it? Same group name on the sleeve, but different album title, different album cover, even one different song name on the back. But it turns out to be the same album, released two years later. What happened to cause this? A little song called Little Drummer Boy. But the earlier album didn't have a song on it called Little Drummer Boy, right? Right. It had a song called Carol Of The Drum. Turns out to be the exact same song, but some legal mumbo jumbo had happened that made it a 'different' song, and Harry Simeone had made it quite a popular song. Lee can explain it better, as can Jack Halloran's daughter, so go read their eloquent posts. You can download all the same songs again if you'd like before you go. Actually, these aren't' exactly the same songs. They appear to have been re-recorded in stereo for this release, but you'll have a hard time telling the two apart. So here is The Jack Halloran Singers-The Little Drummer Boy (Dot DLP 25233, 1959). (Oops, I just noticed that I chopped a couple of medleys into individual tracks on this share. Sorry about that. Take a look at the back cover in the ZIP file if you want to see what went where.) I also found this different cover below. How can you compare this to the one above, and how can either of these hold a candle to the original?

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXVII-Christmas 2007

This great doodle comes from the back of the LP I just shared with you, The Jack Halloran Singers-Christmas Is A-Comin' (Dot DLP 3076, 1957). Like I said about the cover there, isn't this what Christmas is supposed to look like in 1957? Well, maybe not caroling in the snow in 1957. This may be more like 1857, except for the snazzy hats.

No Drumming Allowed

The reason I grabbed this LP when I came across it in the bin was this great cover. Isn't this what Christmas was supposed to look like in 1957? The music was secondary, but turned out to be quite good. These are some great vocal numbers done by a great chorus that did some great things in it's day. The leader, Jack Halloran, was a regular on albums by luminaries such as Bing Crosby and Dean Martin, even leading the chorus on Dean's TV show for many years. So trust me when I say the music on this album is great. Please help yourself to The Jack Halloran Singers-Christmas Is A-Comin' (Dot DLP 3076, 1957). Be sure and note that there is no song on here called The Little Drummer Boy. It hadn't been written yet.

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 12

I'm not entirely sure how this track has escaped me until now. Maybe I always thought it was on CD already. (And I think it is, just not in the US.) I would have bet it was on the short list for the Ultra Lounge Christmas discs. I think it's probably better than half the stuff on the third one for sure. But I want you to be the judge, please download this classic Christmas single from Capitol and you tell me what you think. Tonight's track for 26 Days Of Christmas is Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy (Capitol 7" 45 RPM F1255).

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

No More Fred Waring

I just posted two albums and an EP by Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians. Quite often after I've posted a group of records by a single artist, I'll get an email or a comment asking about another album, and can I post it. Well, I want to head off some of those comments here. The Fred Waring albums above and below, The Meaning Of Christmas (Capitol ST 1610) and The Sounds Of Christmas (Capitol ST 1260), have been released on CD and are available here under the name Christmas Magic (see below). You might not know it, because they've given the collection a new title and new artwork, but it's all the same recordings. If you're a lover of old album art like me, you might want to download and print these scans to go with your CD copy.

I think the two albums above were first combined years ago into the double LP you see below, again with the name Christmas Magic (Capitol STBB-347), and a new cover. I don't know that you'd really want a copy of this cover, but here it is just in case.

This last LP, Now Is The Caroling Season (Capitol T896), I need to look up. I think it's on CD. Yes, but it's out of print at the moment. Plenty of used copies floating around, so I'm not going to share it out.

I've got another LP from The Pennsylvanians that's got one side of Christmas music that seems to have been a promotional LP for the E.F. MacDonald Company, but I'm too lazy to scan it in right now. And they did some of their own songs and played backup for Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra on a Reprise Christmas collection. Again, I'm too lazy to go scan it.

A Wee Bit More Waring

While I'm on the subject of Fred Waring, here's another lost treasure from The Pennsylvanians. This EP of The Nutcracker Suite came out way, way back in 1950, making it one of the oldest things I've shared out. It also happens to be the best version of The Nutcracker that I've got. So don't delay, go get Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Nutcracker Suite (Decca 1-111 7", 1950). I first shared this last year, and it was quite popular. Don't be surprised when the lyrics begin...

Double The Waring

As I hinted in my last post, there was a companion album to Fred Waring's 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. Read the liner notes closely on either that release or the one above, and you'll see where they talk about both albums. I had forgotten about that until earlier this year, but when I remembered it, I knew I had to get his other album up here. So I dug it from the archives, recorded it, scanned it, and now I'm going to share it with you. The songs on this one run more toward the sacred, as opposed to the other one, which has more fun songs. But that doesn't mean you won't like it. Download Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians-Christmas Time (Decca DL 78172) and see for yourself. I don't know if this is a later stereo re-recording, or perhaps it's in electronic stereo. I didn't realize until later that it's unlikely to have come out in stereo if it was actually from 1955 like the other LP. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

The Return Of The Waring

I've shared a lot of things with you this year that I've referred to as one of the most popular shares ever, but guess which one's actually got the most downloads of all? That's right, it's this humble little Fred Waring LP. I've shared it out in 2005 and again in 2006, and both years it's gotten more downloads than anything else. More than Charo, more than the Moog, more even than Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. So if for some reason you don't have it yet, please download Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians-'Twas The Night Before Christmas (Decca DL 8171, 1955). This is the first year I've brought you the original cover, though. Previously I brought you the MCA reissue cover, which is pretty much the same, except for the little Decca Hi-Fi logo up there. I wanted to be a little more authentic with you this year, so I scanned in this older one. It's not in the download, so if you want it, save it to your hard drive now.

By the way, did you know there was a companion album to this one? Stand by...

Used Music-Track Seventeen

Got a great track for you tonight to go on the Used Music collection. I've talked about this track numerous times, but I'm pretty sure I never shared it with you. It's very similar to a Tennessee Ernie Ford song I shared last year, but I like this one better. I don't want to hype it up too much, but go download Bing Crosby With The Ralph Carmichael Chorus And Orchestra-Christmas Dinner Country Style and be amazed. This comes from the compilation The Favorite Songs Of Christmas (Capitol ST 2176). It was also featured on a single from Capitol, 5088, shown below.


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

Braking News

I thought it might be fun to use some of the doodles I've scanned from my old records in our company newsletter this month. So pages 1 and 3 are covered in fun doodles. See if you can tell where all of these came from. Every single bit of art you see here, even the snowflakes and garland, came from some doodle I've shared with you in the past. Some of them I colorized, but beyond that they are what you might find in your own record collection.

Iconic Faux Floyd

There were plenty of moments during The Australian Pink Floyd show where if you let yourself, you'd start to believe that you were really seeing Pink Floyd. Of course, you and I could never get tickets to see the real Floyd from the 8th row, and certainly not in a theater with only a couple thousand seats. But there were moments where the experience felt the same. They did a great job of duplicating some Floyd effects, especially the big round screen behind the band, and the visuals on that screen were very effective. Even the props were dead on. Check out the chair the singer is sitting in during One Of My Turns. Looks familiar? Footage of the flying pig over Battersea? Check. Bricks in a wall? Check. Even a giant mirror ball during the encore? Check. Only difference I remember was that when I saw Floyd at Tampa Stadium, the mirror ball was in the middle of the audience, behind my seat. And it was much, much bigger.

Beware Of Pink Kangaroos

What's that emerging from the mist? Why it's a pink kangaroo! Who'd a guessed that a band called The Australian Pink Floyd would have a giant inflatable kangaroo on stage? With all the Christmas sharity going on around here lately, I'd completely forgotten that I never finished up my postings from the show in Atlanta the weekend before Thanksgiving. But I got my Christmas stuff done a little early tonight, so I'm throwing up some more pictures from the show. This 'roo showed up near the end of the show, after we'd seen the giant pig, so it was quite the surprise. He was hopping up and down on stage like some sort of mad marsupial, so it was a little difficult to get a clear picture of him. But you get the idea. For those of you who missed the earlier posts from the show, go here, here, here and here. (I took a lot of pictures...)