Christmas In July 2009-Day The Thirty First

Well, here it is, the 31st. I thought we'd never get here. Since it's the last day of the month, you get some Happy New Year songs, and a few versions of Auld Lang Syne. Yeah, so I'm predictable.

Let's start with the first version of Auld Lang Syne. This time it's part of a medley by The Ames Brothers from the various artists LP Let's Have A Party (MCA Special Markets/Decca DL 734615). The full name of the song is Good Fellow Medley: Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here-For He's A Jolly Good Fellow-Auld Lang Syne. Gotta love the Ames Brothers.

Version two is by The Men Of The Robert Shaw Chorale, Robert Shaw, Conductor, from the record A Chorus Of Love (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2502, 1960). This is a pretty straight-forward version.

Version three is the first curve ball I have for you. This one is entitled Auld Lang Syne (Wenn Wir Heut' Auseinandergeh'n), and as you might be able to tell, it's in German. The artist is the Gunter Kallmann Chorus With Orchestra And Bells and the LP is Songs For My Love (4 Corners Of The World FCS-4226). If you enjoy foreign-language versions of familiar songs as much as I do, you're going to love this one.

What next? Oh, another track from the Kathy Lecinsky album I gave you some Christmas tracks from the other day, Look At The Holidays (A Good Apple Record PB 1586, 1982). This song is called The New Year Is Coming.

And, to wrap things up, I have three different songs called Happy New Year. The first version is from one of those albums I can't tell you about, and I can't tell you the artist. You'll understand. The second version is by The McGuire Sisters from the LP Children's Holiday (Vocalion VL 3685). I brought you a couple of Christmas tracks from this one the other day, also. This is the same music as from their Christmas LP, but they add a little bit of narration to it, so it's worth sharing again.

Last but not least, I've got this third version of a song called Happy New Year by Gordon Jenkins, His Orchestra And Chorus. There are a couple of things about this one that make it special. First, it's the second version of this song I've brought to you by Jenkins, who also wrote it. Oddly enough, this one has a female vocal and the other one has a male vocal, so it's sung from a slightly different perspective. The second thing is that I pulled this one from a reel-to-reel tape, a first for the blog. It's recorded from I Live Alone (Kapp Stereo Tape KTL 41074) and I've never seen the vinyl. I found the tape almost a year ago, and just last night I dug a reel-to-reel player out of storage, hooked it up and recorded it. I think the sound is really good, with only the slightest hint of tape hiss. And there is no surface noise or clicks or other vinyl noise to be heard here. So enjoy this special song. Also, listen to the lyrics and tell me if some of it doesn't sound a little bit, well, suggestive, especially in this female-vocal version.

And there you go, seven tracks for the last day of the month here. Thanks a lot for playing. Here's the download link. Enjoy!