Double Disco

The last disco share of the night, I promise.  Last share of the night, too, I've got to go finish my Christmas doings.  A single by Walter Murphy, he of 'Fifth of Beethoven" fame, among other disco classics.  This one seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth, but that's the sort of thing I like to find.  I'm sure I'll see this one pop up in dozens of collections next year, but remember, you got it from me.  This is the Walter Murphy Orchestra-Disco Bells b/w Deck The Halls (Major 7" 45 RPM (No Number), Stereo, 1975).

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Goodnight, and Merry Christmas!

Disco Down On Christmas Eve

Yes, I am as surprised as you that there are still disco Christmas albums out there that I don't have. Singles, yes, lots, but full albums, that's a shock.  As usually happens with these things though, someone will do a comparison with some other disco Christmas record and determine it's been released 14 times on 13 different labels as 4 different groups.  But maybe not.  It's Christmas Eve, and this could be a minor Christmas miracle.  Like me getting my Christmas shopping done.  It could still happen.  I found this in a stack of dirty records in a dirty store up in Tampa.  I think they wanted $2 for it and I talked them down to $1.  I'm cheap, what can I say.  But no one should have to pay $2 for crummy old disco.  OK, that's enough trash talk, it's really not that bad, even though it's geared towards kids.  I guess that means they leave off the bump and grind noises you might get on a Giorgio Moroder song.  For the kiddies, this is The Kid Stuff Repertory Company-A Disco Christmas (Kid Stuff KSD 024, Stereo, 1979).

1. Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Jingle Bells
3. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
4. Frosty The Snowman
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Jingle Bells Rock
7. White Christmas
8. The Twelve Days Of Christmas

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Better Lester

How about a remaster that isn't from 2005?  Here's one from 2008, which was itself a stereo re-recording of something first shared in mono back in 2006.  But it's still not from 2005, so we're good.  This is bandleader Lester Lanin, who was getting on up there at this point, but perhaps not so up-there as Sammy Kaye.  But he still had plenty of chops, as you'll hear if you download this 2011 remaster of  Lester Lanin And His Orchestra-Christmas Dance Party (Epic BN 547, Stereo, 1959).

1. Jingle Bells
2. White Christmas; I'll Be Home For Christmas; Home For The Holidays; Happy Holiday
3. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies
4. Here Comes Santa Claus; Frosty The Snowman
5. Silver Bells; Oh, Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum); We Wish You A Merry Christmas
6. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
8. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly; The Wassail Song; Good King Wenceslas
9. Christmas Night In Harlem
10. The Christmas Song; I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day; Christmas In Killarney
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Sleigh Ride
13. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; Auld Lang Syne; A Hot Time In The Old Time Tonight

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Yes, same deal as most of my other remasters this year, new music but old artwork.

Remastered Ruth

I'm on a roll here, this is the fourth remaster I've thrown up this morning!  Another of my shares from that great first year here, Ruth Welcome was a welcome surprise, playing Christmas music on the somewhat exotic zither.  It's very mellow, but it's nice relaxing background music.  I re-recorded a nice copy this year, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had some scans I made last year after a failed remastering attempt.  So I dropped the scans from last year in with the music from this year, and here you go!  (That front cover image is still too dark compared to the original.  I've got a lot to learn when it comes to color matching and image manipulation).  This is the 2011 remastered edition of Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland (Capitol ST 1782, Stereo, 1962).

1. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear/Lo, How A Rose Is Blooming/Angels And Shepherds
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem/What Child Is This?/O Come Little Children/Away In A Manger
3. O Holy Night/Coventry Carol/Angels From The Realms Of Glory/Silent Night
4. Jingle Bells/Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. Silver Bells
7. The Christmas Song
8. Winter Wonderland
9. White Christmas

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Those of you familiar with the old share might notice that I left the medleys in medley form this time. Six years ago I was of a different mindset, so I cut them into their individual songs. I'm more historical-minded now, and don't believe in such meddling. Unless it suites my purposes, of course, and then I don't mind so much.

Eddie's Better, Part Two

Where there's smoke, there's fire.  That means when I share out Eddie Dunstedter's first Bells Of Christmas LP, I've also got to share out his second.  And this one has also been re-recorded and remastered for 2011!.  Same old artwork, though, forgive me.  This one came out not long after JFK was assassinated,so it sorta sank like a stone.  I guess people just weren't in the mood for Christmas that year.  I first shared this in 2005 and it's been a big favorite both for me and for all of my visitors ever since.  This is Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas Chime Again (Capitol ST 1968, Stereo, 1963).

1. White Christmas
2. Silver Bells
3. Angels We Have Heard On High
4. Sweet Little Jesus Boy
5. Winter Wonderland
6. In The Clock Store
7. Ring, Christmas Bells
8. The Christmas Song
9. Beautiful Savior
10. I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. Happy Holiday

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Eddie's Better, Part One

I was on a remaster kick for a little while this fall, re-recording every old share of mine I could get my hands on, instead of concentrating on new music like I should have.  But some of these old shares of mine were just too poor to listen to anymore, and the music too good, so I felt it was a customer service to redo them.  This one dates back to the very beginning, 2005, and it's never sounded better.  So please download the 2011 remaster of  Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas (Capitol ST 1264, Stereo, 1959), you'll be glad you did.  Again, I didn't make any new scans, you'll have to make do with my original scans from 2005.  That also means they don't include scans of the labels, because I didn't start doing that until sometime after 2005.

1. The First Noel
2. March Of The Three Kings
3. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
4. Greensleeves
5. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear-O Little Town Of Bethlehem-Away In A Manger
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
7. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are-Bring Your Torches
9. Deck The Halls-Joy To The World
10. Adeste Fideles
11. O Tannenbaum
12. The Coventry Carol-Von Himmel Hoch
13. Silent Night

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Sammy's Back

This is another of the many remastered titles I'd hoped to bring you this year, but never got around to scanning the artwork.  So I'm giving you the music and dropping in the old scans, I hope you don't mind too much.  (My scans haven't been coming out too good this year, anyway, so you aren't missing much.)  But this is some great music, and I've been sharing my old rip with you since 2006.  Trust me, this sounds much better.  So please download and enjoy This is Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra-Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye (Decca DL 74070, Stereo, 1960).  I still don't know where that little girl is looking.  Perhaps she's a young Michele Bachmann.

1. White Christmas
2. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
3. Christmas Child (Loo, Loo, Loo)
4. Medley: The First Nowell-It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. Medley: O Little Town Of Bethlehem-O Come All Ye Faithful
6. Silent Night
7. It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas
8. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
9. Silver Bells
10. Sleigh Ride
11. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
12. (Joyeux Noel, Buona Natale, Feliz Navidad) A Merry Christmas (To You)

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Three Random Singles

You might think I'm running out of Christmas music just because it's the eve of Christmas Eve, but you'd be wrong.  I've got enough stuff recorded to go a couple more months here, it's just a matter of getting it in some form where it's fit to share.  You don't want me to upload random MP3 files with no track tags or artwork, do you?  OK, some of you might, but not many.  I try to provide a quality product to my readers, and I don't always succeed 100% but I like to think I come close.  Tonight I grabbed three random singles I'd recorded earlier, scanned them, and I'm sharing five songs from them with you.  The first one came in a sleeve, but only the A side was a Christmas song.  It goes by many titles including A Merry, Merry Christmas or A Merry, Merry Christmas To You or even (Joyeux Noel, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad) A Merry, Merry Christmas.  I guess they didn't know what exactly they wanted to call it.  This is the full version of the song with the spoken bit both at the beginning and the end.  I've heard it before without any of the spoken part, but I don't know if it was ever released that way or just edited by a DJ in a hurry to get to the good parts.  This is Art Mooney And His Orchestra-A Merry, Merry Christmas (MGM 7" 45 RPM K12847 (Special Disc Jockey Record-Not For Sale), Mono, 1959).

Next up is a cute little record by Philip Fox, performing as Dennis The Menace.  He's a little high-pitched, but I guess that's the way people thought Dennis The Menace should sound.  Poor Mr. Wilson, this explains why he's so high strung.  This is Dennis The Menace (Philip Fox)-When Christmas Comes Around Each Year b/w That's What I Want For Christmas (Golden Records FF649, Mono).  There was almost certainly a picture sleeve for this, but I don't have it.

Last, and perhaps most listenable (well, you'll listen to it at least once), is a later effort from The Korn Kobblers, late enough that it's actually credited to Stanley Fritts And The Korn Kobblers.  I'm not sure exactly when that happened, but this is the only record I've seen where they're listed as his sidemen.  The Korn Kobblers where similar to Spike Jones in many ways, but not nearly so popular.  You'll get all sorts of sounds in here, including a bit of Donald Duck.  And how can you go wrong with a polka?  This is Stanley Fritts And The Korn Kobblers-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer b/w Santa Claus Polka (MGM 7" 45 RPM K60005, Mono, 1950). Enjoy!

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I'd post more singles each year, but they take almost as long to process as a whole LP!  And you end up with only 3 minutes of music instead of almost half an hour.  Perhaps if I planned ahead a little better.  There's always next year...

PS-More Korn Kobblers on LP here or here, and more great polka here.

The Dregs

I was surprised to find that I still have a handful of shares alive at RapidShare.  RapidShare used to be my file host of choice, but they went downhill in a spectacular fashion in the past couple of years, so most of the files I had hosted over there went the way of the dinosaurs.  But I guess a few of them got enough downloads now and then that they haven't been deleted.  Looks like it's about half Christmas and half, umm, what's that other kind of music?  Oh, yeah, not-Christmas.  Anyhow, here's a list of what's available there.  Some of it may be old versions or non-remastered versions, so take it for what it's worth.

Randy Carlos-Makin' Whoopee Cha Cha Cha
Ronnie Ogden-Hits From Hollywood
Malcolm Lockyer-We're Having A Party
Don Swan-Hot Cha Cha
Malcolm Lockyer-A Lazy Afternoon
Don Amore-Latin Holiday
Jack Say-These Foolish Things
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music (2010 Remaster)
Hill Bowen-Love On Broadway
Jocelyn McNeil-Very Hi-Fi Organ
The Littlest Angel-Lullaby Of Christmas
Hill Bowen-I Married An Angel
George Wright-Merry Christmas
Jack Say-The Girl That I Marry
The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling
Tony Osbourne-Hands Across The Table
The Pied Pipers (Et. Al.)-Favorite Christmas Carols
Marimba Chiapas-Cha Cha Cha Volume 4
Nelson Riddle-Avon Wishes You A Happy Holiday
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
Hill Bowen-I Could Have Danced All Night
The Moog Machine-Christmas Becomes Electric
Tony Osbourne-A Trip To Romance

Wow, some of those things I haven't thought about for years, especially the non-Christmas stuff.  Quite a surprise to see that almost the entire Music For Hi-Fi Living series is still there.  Wait, I missed one, looks like the whole set of 12 is still there.  Cool!  I need to reshare those someday in a new post.  Anyhow, grab these things while they survive, RapidShare is sure to delete them before Christmas rolls around next year.

Christmas In Montana

I had someone comment on an old share of this disco Christmas LP, so I figured I'd throw it back up here in case anyone wanted to grab it.  I don't remember it being very good from when I posted it back in 2007, and I really don't feel like listening to it tonight.  Heard one side-long disco medley, and you've heard most of them.  But if you're trying to get the relatives to leave after the Christmas party, this might be just the ticket.  Please give a listen to Montana Orchestra-Merry Christmas (MJS 3302, Stereo) .

1. Montana Christmas Medley
2. Get Down New Year's Eve
3. New Year's Eve One More Time (Reprise)

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Best Of, Finally

It's been a long time coming, but here, finally, is my collection of the best tracks from Christmas in July 2010.  I shared a whole lot of stuff out that year, and here are the very best of all those songs.  If you don't find something in here that you like, well, you aren't trying very hard.  What's in here?  Let's have a look...

01. Brook Benton-Go Tell It On The Mountain
02. Dickie Goodman-Santa And The Satellite, Part 1
03. Paul Whiteman & Orchestra With Jack Teagarden & Johnny Mercer-Christmas Night In Harlem
04. The Bellwethers-Ukranian Carol Of The Bells
05. Julius La Rosa-We Need A Little Christmas
06. Hal Mooney And His Orchestra-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
07. The Bill Shepherd Singers-Christmas In Killarney
08. The Daughters Of The Cross-Mary's Little Boy Child
09. Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra-My Favorite Things
10. Richard Robinson & William Reeve-Jingles, The Christmas Clown
11. Matt Dennis-White Christmas
12. Jo Ann Castle-Skater's Boogie
13. Johnny Winter-Please Come Home For Christmas
14. The Gooding Band Organ-A Little Boy's Christmas
15. The Dunster Dunces-Winter
16. Gaylord Carter-Jingle Bells
17. Dickie Goodman-Santa And The Satellite, Part 2
18. Dimitri Tiomkin-Toy Trumpet March; Christmas Morning
19. Sammy Davis, Jr. And Carmen McRae-Baby It's Cold Outside
20. Fred Karlin-Christmas
21. Doug Setterberg & Stan Boreson-Winter Wonderland
22. The Jackie Davis Trio-The Christmas Song
23. John Klein-Hanukkah Song
24. The Kennedy Space Center Chorus-We Can't Go Wrong
25. Richard Ellsasser-Sleigh Ride
26. Teresa Brewer-Jingle Bell Rock
27. The Paul Mauriat Orchestra-The Little Drummer Boy
28. Irving Fields And His Trio-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
29. Hugo Winterhalter-A Marshmallow World
30. Frank Sinatra-White, The Young In Heart
31. Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Let Us All Sing Auld Lang Syne

There you go.  Now, I've got to go back and try to link all those tracks to the day I shared them, if the post is still there.  I know some of them have disappeared in the 18 months since I shared those tracks.  Nope, they all seem to be there, once I fixed the typos...  Anyhow, I'm pretty proud of this collection, so download it and enjoy it between now and the big day!

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Ring Those Christmas Bells

Tonight's share comes from the sometimes wild, sometimes wacky, sometimes weird, sometimes, well, fairly normal world of religious label Word.  This one covers all the bases quite nicely, I think, with some music that's never less than interesting, featuring organ by Del Roper and handbells by The Mason Swiss Bell Ringers.  You know how I'm a sucker for the handbells, and these are some good ones.  Nice selection of songs, too.  I like it, and I hope you like it, too.  This is Del Roper With The Mason Swiss Bell Ringers-I Heard The Bells (Word W 3067-LP, Mono, 1959).

1. Jingle Bells and White Christmas
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. Carol Of The Bells
4. We Three Kings
5. Gesu, Bambino
6. Joy To The World
7. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
8. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
9. The First Noel
10. Silent Night
11. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
12. O Come, All ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis)

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Famousness

I got a couple of mentions in the press today, which led a few extra people to the old blog site.  First up was a mention in The Guardian, a UK paper or magazine or website, or all three, perhaps.  I was in the online edition today, and I think the article is supposed to appear in the print version tomorrow.  I've gotten a few extra hits from the online mention, but I don't expect much from the print version.  Very few people type in URLs from the newspaper.

Also of note, one of my recent posts was mentioned over at PCL Linkdump, which generated a few extra hits as well.  I mention this mostly because it was a mention over there back in 2006 that really helped spread word of my Christmas shares around the internet and brought me to the attention of a lot of you folks who were looking for some great Christmas music.  So thanks to those folks!

Hmmm, this seems somehow familiar...

2009 Redux, Part 5

And, so it is, we reach the end of the Christmas In July reshares, both for 2009 and for the year, because I've basically shared out everything.  All the stuff from 2010 was shared out back at the beginning of August, and 2011 is still too new to be revisiting.  So download this last little bit of Christmas in July goodness while you can.  I think there's even a few Chanukah tracks in there for those of you celebrating the second night.

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Non-Christmas

I have long lamented the fact that the original Harmonicats did not release a Christmas album.  A splinter group recorded an album well after their prime on a budget label, and I've shared that one with you before.  I think there was also a single track recorded by the group in the sixties that showed up on a Goodyear Christmas LP (maybe...nope, it was a Columbia label Christmas collection).  But there isn't a Christmas album in all of their classic canon.  So I'm going to share this LP with a doll theme and pretend like it's a Christmas record.  There are plenty of tracks here that wouldn't be out of place on a Christmas record, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch.  I remember downloading a copy of this vinyl many, many years ago from a now defunct blog run by someone named Ben T.  Like so many excellent blogs through the years, that one eventually went belly up and was never heard from again.  I'm doing my best to keep that from happening around here, but you never know what tomorrow might bring.  Anyhow, I eventually found my own copy of the vinyl, and that's what I'm bringing you tonight.  This is Jerry Murad's Electronic Harmonicats-Dolls, Dolls, Dolls (Mercury SR60008, Stereo, 1959).  It's good stuff!

1. Waltzing Doll (Poupee Valsante)
2. The Toy Trumpet
3. Spanish Doll (Senorita Munequita)
4. Paper Doll
5. March Of The Toys
6. Wedding Of The Painted Doll
7. Oh! You Beautiful Doll
8. Dance Of The Dutch Doll
9. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
10. Pink Dresden Doll
11. The Wooden Soldier & The China Doll
12. Doll Dance

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This isn't the first time I've shared out a non-Christmas album during the holiday sharity season, mind you.  And something tells me it won't be the last.

And what would a Harmonicats Christmas LP really sound like?  Probably a lot like this EP from The Mulcays, another great, though lesser-known, harmonica group.

A Couple Kleins

A third (and fourth) reshare this evening, something that a certain someone from Chili keeps bugging me about, so here you go.  John Klein was a prolific and notable carillon artist in the late fifties and early sixties, releasing probably dozens of albums in his lifetime.  I've shared more than a few of the Christmas ones here, but many have lapsed into unavailability.  At least one of them is available on iTunes, so he's not entirely escaped the modern digital download world.  The two LPs here appear to be the same music, just released at different times and with different covers, and I didn't notice until after I'd ripped and shared them out.  So in the interest of completeness, here they both are.  The first one was originally shared here, and is John Klein-Noel Bells (Stone Mountain SM-201, Stereo).

1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. O, Holy Night
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. Good Christian Men Rejoice
5. As Lately We Watched
6. The First Noel
7. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
8. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
9. Joy To The World
10. Away In A Manger
11. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
12. O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
13. Good King Wenceslas
14. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
15. O, Come All Ye Faithful
16. Silent Night

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And here's the other one, John Klein-The Bells Of Christmas (Americana AR-6, Stereo). I also shared this one out in 2006 for the first time.

1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. The First Noel
5. O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. Good King Wenceslas
7. As Lately We Watched
8. O, Come All Ye Faithful
9. O Holy Night
10. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
11. Away In A Manger
12. Good Christian Men Rejoice
13. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
14. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
15. Silent Night
16. Joy To The World

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Christmas Re-Happens

Another blast from the far distant past, I first shared this in 2008, but recorded it in 2007.  That year, a track from it led off the prestigious ADVENTure in Carols over at FaLaLaLaLa.  I was pretty proud of that. I'm not sure why it hasn't been shared again since then, there's just never time, I guess.  Sometimes I share out so much Christmas goodness, I forget what I've got up and what I've forgotten about.  But this is a good one, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.  Please help yourself to Veo Gray And The Jodie Lyons Singers-A Christmas Happening (Alaco Records SLP-2156, Stereo).

1. Christmas Medley-O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Angels We Have Heard On High
2. Deck The Hall
3. Jingle Bells
4. O Come, All Ye Faithful
5. O Come, O Come Immanuel
6. Rest Your Head
7. Silent Night
8. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
9. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

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Return To Magnavox

This is a share from back in 2007 that I don't think has been back since.  The old link is long gone, and someone asked about it, so here it is again. I don't know much more about it now than I did then, but if you got one of these with you new hi-fi back in the day, perhaps you remember it.  If so, then please be my guest and download Christmas Favorites Sung By The Magnificent Magnavox Chorus (Magnavox, Mono).

1. Prelude A
2. O' Come All Ye Faithful
3. Interlude A1
4. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. Interlude A2
6. Jesus Is Born
7. Interlude A3
8. Angels We Have Heard On High
9. Interlude A4
10. Joy To The World
11. Finale A
12. Prelude B
13. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
14. Interlude B1
15. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
16. Interlude B2
17. The First Noel
18. Interlude B3
19. Silent Night, Holy Night
20. Interlude B4
21. Carol Of The Bells
22. Interlude B5 (Good King Wenceslas)
23. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
24. Finale B

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All regular tracks are performed by The Magnavox Chorus.  Preludes, Interludes and Finales are by Virgil Fox at the organ.  They weren't listed on the sleeve, and I only recognized the tune of one of them, so I couldn't give them their real names.

2009 Redux, Part 4

I'm getting near the end of these reshares from my Christmas In July.  Tonight, it's part four of five from 2009.  Lots of great music in these, I hope you're grabbing them while you have the opportunity.

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For The Captain

I'm rushing to get this up by seven this evening, and I see I'm a little late.  This record was a gift from one of my online Christmas friends, CaptOT, and this evening he's hosting a Christmas program on public radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  It started at 7, and I'm listening to it now.  You can listen, too, if you click here.  He's doing it again on Wednesday, so if you read this later, you can listen to it then.  Go now!  Anyhow, the record in question is by Richard Ellsasser, and the Captain sent it to me because I had shared out another LP by Ellsasser and I didn't have this one.  So I recorded it and I'm sharing it with you in honor of the Captain being on the radio.  Here's the download, now go listen to CaptOT.  This is Richard Ellsasser-An Old-Fashioned Christmas (MGM E3475, Mono, 1956).

1. Bethlehem
2. Coventry Carol
3. I Saw Three Ships
4. Christmas Eve
5. Patapan
6. What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
7. In Dulci Jubilo
8. While Shepherds Watched
9. The Holly And The Ivy
10. Good Christian Men, Rejoice
11. Vieni, Emanuel
12. A Virgin Unspotted
13. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
14. My Dancing Day

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Sounds good, Captain!

2009 Redux, Part 3

The title says it all.  Well, the title says most of it.  This is the third collection of tracks from Christmas in July 2009.  Get it, it's good.

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Ireene, With Three E's

Here's a neat little set of records I found just a couple of weeks ago, one of the very last things I recorded this season before I started sharing out records.  These are six out of what was originally a set of eight sides by Ireene Wicker, The Singing Lady.  I don't know much about her, but there's plenty of info out there on the internets.  The only other Christmas release I can find by her was a 78 on Mercury that was shared out by my buddy Lee over at his place a while back.  I don't know if that share is still any good, but if it's not, you might try politely asking for a repost and who knows, you might get lucky. Back to my shares, these are cute little version of Christmas classics, usually with a little bit of spoken introduction.  These probably came in picture sleeves back in the day, but when I found them, all I got were three little pieces of vinyl.  Well, they were vinyl, but they played at 78 RPM and I had to use my old, fat needle.  Decent sound, though, for being over 60 years old.  If any of this sounds the least bit interesting, please be my guest and download Ireene Wicker-The Singing Lady-Six Sides (Tots 'N' Teens/Regal Record Corp 3x7" 78 RPM, 1949).

Dicken's Christmas Carol Part 1
Dicken's Christmas Carol Part 2
Silent Night
Jingle Bells
O Come, All ye Faithful
Deck The Halls; I Saw Three Ships

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PI

Here's a politically incorrect single from 1953 just for you. If such things aggravate you, please just skip on to that last post about Dick Leibert, this is just how things were back in the day.  Harry Kari was another name used by Harry Stewart for his comedy, you might be more familiar with his more popular one, Yogi Yorgesson.  He is pretty funny to my ears, if a little bit insensitive.  This is a rerecording of a single I first shared with you many, many years ago that's been out of the loop for a while.  (Did I share both sides?  I'm not sure.  You're getting both sides tonight, I know that...)  Anyhow, here is Harry Kari And His Six Saki Sippers-Oh! Oh! Don't Ever Go b/w The Night Before Christmas (Capitol 7" 45 RPM F2618, Mono, 1953).

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Leibert

Somebody asked about the old Dick Leibert shares, so I'm gonna put them up here.  I'm a little pooped at the moment, so I'm just gonna give you the download links, and links to the old posts if you want to read all about them.  I know that's the lazy way out, but sorry...

A Merry Wurlitzer Christmas (Mono)
Christmas At Radio City (Mono or Stereo)
Sing And Rejoice (Mono)
The Sound Of Christmas (Stereo)
The Happy Hits Of Christmas (Stereo)

Other than the Stereo copy of Christmas At Radio City (which is two tracks shorter than the mono version), these are all pretty old rips that probably don't sound so hot.  So take 'em for what their worth.

Top 20 Countdown

I thought I'd give you a little list here of the twenty most popular downloads for the past couple of years.  These are based on the number of downloads showing over at MediaFire, which means it's only the stuff that's been shared out the past two years.  Before that I used RapidShare and that hasn't worked out so well lately.  So, let's take a look at what's most popular.

20. The Waikikis-Merry Christmas-It's interesting that things I shared out for the first time this year are already on the list.  I figured things that had been up for a year would have way more downloads, but I guess that's not always the case.  Part of that is due to the fact that I'm not throwing as much out there this year, and some people who come to the blog only download the most recent share, missing out completely on some of the other things.

19. George Greeley-The 22 Most Lost Christmas Piano Concertos-This one is odd because I didn't think it was that good, or that well known.  Maybe I sell it well, I don't know...

18. Marco Antonio Muniz-Navidad En Puerto Rico-Wow, another one I didn't think would ever last, much less show up this high on the list.  You never know what people are going to like.

17. Glenn Zottola-Christmas In Jazztime-Another brand new share this year, very nice if you like the jazzy side of Christmas.  I love the tracks from the guest singer Maxine Sullivan.

16. The Jimmy Joyce Singers-A Christmas To Remember-Now here's an excellent choice for the top 20.  Orchestra duties on this one are handled by Billy May, that alone is worth the price of admission.

15. The Lennon Sisters & Ruby Wright with a small handful of singles-I guess the demand for female singers at Christmas is large.  Good stuff!

14. Happy Holidays With The Best Of The Mummers-I told you this was the happiest Christmas music ever!

13. Sammy Kaye-I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas-There's a good reason why Sammy was as popular as he was for as long as he was.

12. Paul Mauriat-The Christmas Album-One of my earliest and best shares, sounding even better thanks to a 2010 remaster job.  Listen to this one, it speaks for itself.

11. 2010 Christmas In July ClickRepaired Bundle #4-Why is this in here?  I think because it was the first share any visitors saw if they visited the blog between the end of Christmas in July and the beginning of Christmas this year.  The other three parts aren't even close...

10. Christmas Music From The Stars-Good collection of early fifties singles that you just can't find anywhere else.  And a couple of things I probably shouldn't be sharing out, but what are you gonna do?

9. Vaughn Monroe-A Marshmallow World 7"-A nice pair of songs from the singer of Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!.  It's good, but maybe not that good.  Maybe I should bundle this with a couple of his other holiday singles, see if we can go top 5 with it.

8. The Somerset Strings-Music For Christmas At Home-This is a 2011 remaster that fixed a couple f skips on my old share.  The old share went nowhere, this one is hugely popular.  Odd.

7. Burl Ives-Christmas At The White House-I think this one is name recognition.  People associate Burl with Christmas, so they download it.  And it's really good with some different Christmas songs and arrangements on it, that helps.

6. St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols-Good choral Christmas songs.  I wonder if all those downloaders realize there's a second volume available?  I see that I mentioned last year that this was my most popular share at the time.

5. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Christmas Surprises-For my money, this record should be number one.

4. 16 Traditional Christmas Carols-This one, I don't know.  I almost didn't record it in the first place, it was just kind of a space filler to make my Bob Kames collection look bigger.  I guess it has an audience.  Perhaps someone posted a link out there and it's gotten out there somehow.  No clue.

3. Ramsey Lewis-More Sounds Of Christmas-Why this isn't on the CD with his first Christmas collection is a mystery to me.  It's great, and should be better known.

2. Warner Bros Stars-We Wish You A Merry Christmas-Nothing sells better than celebrity, so this one is no surprise.  Containing a huge Christmas single doesn't hurt, either, but the less said about that, the better.

And number 1?  No surprise here.

1. Fred Waring-Twas The Night Before Christmas-This was number one back on RapidShare as well, before I remastered it in 2010.  Everybody loves it.  From the people who grew up with it to the people who heard their great take on Rudolph in the store yesterday, no one can turn it off once it starts playing.

There you have it.  Hope you enjoyed seeing the little list.  Is your favorite on the list?  What should be on the list?  What shouldn't be on the list?  Remember, these are actual downloads, not my opinion.

The Return Of The King, 2011 Style

I got a request for this one to be remastered more than once, and here it is.  First shared out way back in 2007 (in mono) and again in 2008 (in stereo), this is one great album.  And it sounds even better this time around with the improved technology at my disposal, a little more experience and a great piece of software called ClickRepair.  But don't take my word for it, download and listen to The Pete King Chorale And Orchestra-Christmas Time (Kapp KS-3214, Stereo, 1960).

1. My Favorite Things
2. Silver Bells
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-It Came Upon The Midnight Clear-Joy To The World
4. The Christmas Song (Featuring Beth Adlam)
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Adeste Fideles-Silent Night
7. The Night Before Christmas
8. The Little Drummer Boy
9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Featuring Beth Adlam)
10. Mary's Little Boy Child
11. The First Noel-Away In A Manger-Oh, Holy Night
12. White Christmas

MediaFire

OK, I cheated a little. These are still the old scans. I've just been so unhappy with my scans this year, I put the old scans in with the new music. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

2009 Redux, Part 2

Another page in the 2009 Christmas in July reshares, here's the second part.  Excellent stuff in here, don't miss out!

MediaFire