Christmas In July (In August)-The Twenty-Sixth Day

Is that right, twenty-six?  Getting towards the end now.  What have I got tonight?  Let's begin with The Weavers singing Go Where I Send Thee from the classic The Weavers At Carnegie Hall (Vanguard VRS-9010, Mono, 1957).  Track two is Nutcracker Suite: Trepak, Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies, Dance Of The Flutes, Waltz Of The Flowers by Reginald Voort and his LP Waltz And Ballet (Cook Laboratories 1058, Mono, 1956).  Up third is Buddy Clark and Dinah Shore With Orchestra by Ted Dale doing the old chestnut for duet Baby It's Cold Outside from Buddy Clark's Greatest Hits (Columbia CS 9434, Fake Stereo).  When I recorded this, I knew something was missing.  It turns out they've edited the first 8 seconds or so of the song out of there.  So I dropped in a version I had that included the opening as I first heard it.  Somewhere around here I've got the original 78, so I'll have to listen to that someday to be sure I've got the whole thing.  Fourthly, we've got The Holly And The Ivy from that record you first heard yesterday, Music From Malvern College Chapel (Wealden Studios (UK) WS 175, Stereo, 1978).  The performers here are The Choir Of Malvern College Chapel With The Choir Of Hillstone School, Organist-Nigel Hancock.  Last up is Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by Milford Myrhe from A Carillon Recital At The Bok Singing Tower (Morse's Music MM-2000, Stereo).  Milford seems to have taken over the post of Chief Carilloner at Bok Tower from Anton Brees upon his death in 1967.  That's it for tonight.  Here's the download link, have a good evening.

Christmas In July (In August)-The Twenty-Fifth Day

Whew!  Day 25.  Let's go.  Track one is Benny Goodman And His Orchestra doing My Favorite Things.  I haven't brought you too many versions of this song this year, so I hope you'll let me get away with this one.  I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to share any Benny Goodman here at the blog before, so enjoy this.  It's from The Sound Of Music (MGM E3810, Mono, 1959). Track two is by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra-Julius Rudel, Musical Director and their album is Christmas In Concert And More... (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/Buffalo Savings Bank (No Catalog Number), Stereo, 1979).  This is a locally produced album, probably sold only around the Buffalo area, so I was lucky to find it.  Tonight you'll hear a medley of March and Waltz from The Nutcracker Suite, and there's another medley from it coming up soon.  Third is Once In Royal David's City by The Choir Of Malvern College Chapel With The Choir Of Hillstone School, Organist-Nigel Hancock from the LP Music From Malvern College Chapel (Wealden Studios (UK) WS 175, Stereo, 1978).  This one came to me all the way from Merrie Olde England, which is a lot further away than Buffalo NY.  Fourth is Jimmy Ruth And Rusty telling you a little Christmas Story, the second track I've shared from their record, Special Occasions-Songs & Stories For Children (Singchord (Zondervan) ZLP 967, Stereo, 1977).  Fifth and finally is Mr. Tony Bennett performing a song called Tell Her It's Snowing from his LP Listen Easy (MGM/Verve MV-5094, Stereo, 1973).  The orchestra on this is by Don Costa, so enjoy it.  I'm not a huge fan of Tony Bennett, but he's all right, I suppose.  Hope you enjoy tonight's selection of music.  Here's the download link.

Christmas In July (In August)-The Twenty-Fourth Day

Diving right in, you get twelve tracks tonight from side A of an LP entitled Christmas With The Gooding Band Organ (Gooding Amusement, Columbus Ohio 850C-3214, Stereo), commemorating 75 years of the Gooding Amusement Company.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to have survived much past whenever that 75th anniversary was, because I can only find mentions of them here and there on the internet.  Heaven knows what happened to the great old band organ (built in Germany in 1910, so it would be 100 years old this year) you'll here in these tracks, hopefully it ended up in the collection of some museum somewhere.  The twelve tracks are all fairly short, most of them under two minutes in length.  Side two is random songs that didn't have anything to do with Christmas, so I figured this would fit in with Christmas in July instead of Christmas in December.  Anyhow, the twelve songs are Silent Night, Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Frostie, The Snowman, A Little Boy's Christmas, Silver Bells, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Here Comes Santa Claus, Christmas Medley, I Saw Mommie Kissing Santa Claus, Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer and Winter Wonderland.  I think you'll really enjoy this one.  Here's the download link, see you later, alligator!

Christmas In July (In August)-The Twenty-Third Day

Welcome to day 23!  Ready for some more scratchy Christmas music?  Here we go...  Track one is Lullaby For Christmas by Adele Silke, Soprano & Richard Bailey, Pianist, from the album Nursery Songs And Rhythms (Judson Records H8-OP-2535/6, Mono).  Track two is the great Ethel Smith in a track I've been hunting for a long time now, Sleigh Ride, from her album Galloping Fingers (Decca DL 8456, Mono, 1957).  Good version.  Third is The Winter's Past-Rhapsody For Oboe And Strings by Howard Hanson Conducting The Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra.  The LP is entitled Americana For Solo Winds And String Orchestra (Mercury MG50076 (American Music Festival Series Volume 4 [grab volume 2 here]), Mono, 1954).  I'm not certain of that 1954 date, but I found an identically named LP with a different catalog number from that year, so I'm running with it.  I apologize for the horrible scratchy noise recurring for the first minute or so of this song.  There were two pieces of packaging tape stuck on this record, extending maybe 3/8 of an inch in from the edge.  I removed the tape, but I couldn't do much with the residue it left deep in the grooves.  Try to imagine it without that horrible noise...  Fourthly, we have Hank Snow, again from his LP Snow In All Seasons (RCA Victor LSP-4122, Stereo, 1969), this time with Roses In The Snow.  I think this is my last track by Hank this year.  Last is Skater's Boogie from 12 Great Hits In Ragtime (Dot DLP 25433, Stereo, 1963) by Jo Ann Castle.  This may be my favorite version of this great waltz this year.  So if any of that sounds at all interesting to you, please click this download link.  Thank you, please come again!

Christmas In July (In August)-The Twenty-Second Day

Day 22, it's all downhill from here.  What have I got for you?  Let's start with Jingles, The Christmas Clown by Richard Robinson & William Reeve.  This is the second track I've brought you from Songs For Children With Special Needs 3 (Bowmar 122, Mono).  This isn't the happiest song in the world...  Track two is Snowflower Polka by Dorine from Polka Favorites Volume 1-All Star Concertina (Recar PF4001, Mono).  Now we're starting to get happy!  Track three is happy, but in a much different way.  You have to listen closely to the lyrics on this one.  The track is called Winter and it's by the Dunster Dunces from Harvard and their LP Songs From All Corners ("Pressed but not recorded by Columbia Records" XTV 64384/64385, Mono, 1960).  Track four is another track by Belles & Beaus and their LP Canfield Choral Music Dept. Presents The English Handbell Sounds Of The Belles & Beaus (Canfield High School 7074N4, Stereo, 1974).  This time around it's Christmas Lullaby, and I think this is the last track from them that I have to share.  And the last track for this evening is The Little Drummer Boy by The Daughters Of The Cross With Peter Knight & His Orchestra from their LP Go Tell It On The Mountain (Chapter 1 (London) CPS 39002, Stereo, 1969).  I think this is the third and last track I'm sharing from this LP.  There you have it, five more Christmas songs for your collection.  Here's the download link, see you all tomorrow.

Christmas In July (In August)-The Twenty-First Day

Day 21, I can see the end from here.  Unfortunately, it's not gonna  be in August.  Christmas in September, anyone?  Anyhow, ten tracks tonight from an album of carillon music from The Singing Tower at Luray Caverns in Virginia.  The carillonneur is Charles T. Chapman and the LP is entitled simply Carillon Music (Alive 1034M, Mono).  The songs are The Bells Of Saint Mary's, Adeste Fideles, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Joy TO The World, Fairest Lord Jesus, I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In, The First Noel, Hark The Herald Angels Sing and Silent Night.  If that sounds like something you want to hear, here's the download link.  Enjoy!