Christmas In July 2009-Day The Seventh

Looks like I'm about to make it though the first week of Christmas in July relatively unscathed. Yesterday was a pretty poor day, but other than that they've all been above board. Today is going to be a good day, too, with Christmas songs from the Great White Way. That's right, all of today's tunes came from Broadway musicals, and some of these are actually from those original cast albums. And do you know what the best part is? Nothing from The Sound Of Music!

Starting at the beginning, track one is Greenwillow Christmas (Carol) by Greenwillow Chorus from the original cast album Greenwillow (RCA Victor LSO-2001, 1960). I've always liked this song since I first heard it performed by The Browns. If it's new to you, you're in for a treat. (It shouldn't be new to you, really, since I shared a version out last year.)

Track two is Be A Santa by Sydney Chaplin & Chorus from the original cast album Subways Are For Sleeping (Columbia Masterworks KOL 5730). Again, great track if you've never heard it. I'm still looking for the Percy Faith LP that features this song. I have the MP3, but that doesn't count. With all the Percy Faith records I see every weekend, you'd think this would be a no-brainer, but no... If you like this song, you might want to hear Mitch Miller and his gang take their stab at it. They put it out on a 45, and as far as I know, it's only available here at the blog.

Track three is from the soundtrack to a movie that started out as stage play, so that's sort of keeping with our theme. It's Ribbons And Wrappings by Harry Secombe, Florence Henderson, Elizabeth Larner, Toralv Maurstad & Chorus from the soundtrack LP Song Of Norway (ABC ABCS-OC-14). Yes, you already heard one Christmas song from this LP. After I posted that track, I did a little research about the movie, and I'm afraid that no one had anything good to say about it. But the music is nice.

Track four is Pine Cones And Holly Berries (With "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas") by The Merrill Staton Voices. On this LP, they're performing all the songs from Meredith Wilson's Here's Love (Columbia Special Products CSRP 8899, 1963) (or so the LP title tells us), but it's not an original cast album or soundtrack. I'd only ever heard this song by The Osmonds, I had no idea where it was from. Now I know.

Last but not least is a bit of a ringer. It's We Need A Little Christmas by Skitch Henderson & The Tonight Show Orchestra, from their LP Broadway Tonight! Skitch Henderson & The Tonight Show Orchestra Play Music From "Mame" (Columbia CL 2518). Again, not a soundtrack or cast album, but still a good track. I've had this one recorded for years (and even shared it out before) from one of those Columbia Records Christmas records, but this year was the first time I came across the original LP it was pulled from.

So, there you have it. Five more tracks towards the ultimate Christmas collection. Here's the download link, see you tomorrow.