Non-Christmas In July

As I was sharing out all of the Christmas in July music last month, I realized that you must think I only record Christmas music.  But that's not entirely true.  While Christmas is the majority of what I rip from scratchy old vinyl, I also rip a fair bit of non-Christmas stuff.  So here is a small smattering of items that I recently recorded, all from the same albums I grabbed Christmas stuff from, but none of it Christmas.  Some of it's good, some of it should have been good, but it's all from vinyl.

1. Adventure In High Fidelity by Robert Russell Bennett Conducting Members Of The NBC Symphony Orchestra, an absolutely splendid adventure from An Adventure In High Fidelity (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1802, Mono, 1954).  This was created as a showpiece to sell more records and more hi-fi sets by RCA.  You may have heard the excerpt Waltz Of The Vinylite Biscuits before, but this is the whole thing.  Someday I need to sit down and see if I can figure out exactly where each piece starts and stops.  Perhaps there's sheet music out there somewhere.  While I'm thinking about it, the parts are: The Arrival At The Great Gates Of Castle Hi-Fi; Welcome Of The Page Boy Prince Dynam; The Variable Pitch Of Princess Rhumbamba; The Balinese Ballad Of The Tweeter And The Woofer; The Circular Serenade Of The Diamond Stylus; The Waltz Of The Vinylite Biscuits; The Tomb Of The Ogre Distortion; Blasphemy In The Amplifier; The Full Frequency Fountain Of Farewell.  (I think Waltz Of The Vinylite Biscuits begins about 8:12 and ends about 9:40, based on the excerpt I've seen on other samplers.)

2. Mambo (From "West Side Story") by Hal Mooney And His Orchestra from Ballet With A Beat (Mercury PPS 6017, Stereo, 1961).  What can I say, I like mambos.

3. I Dig Rock And Roll Music by Count Basie & The Mills Brothers from one of their two albums together, The Board Of Directors (Dot DLP 25838, Stereo, 1968).  The old school steps up and says what's so great about the new school.  I dig, I dig!

4. The Pianists by Noel Coward With Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra: Leonid Hambro and Jascha Zayde, Pianists, from the LP The Carnival Of The Animals (Columbia Masterworks ML 4355, Mono, 1950).  Wait, why did I put this in here?  I didn't share anything off of this record for Christmas in July.  My mistake.  Anyhow, I've often wondered why Saint-Saens included pianists among the other animals in his Carnival Of The Animals.

5. The Fossils (Fossiles) by Camarata With The Symphonie-Orchester Grauke-Narrated By Mr. Camarata from The Carnival Of The Animals (Buena Vista Records STER-4028, Stereo, 1967).  And whatever mistake I made, I made it twice.  This time, Saint-Saens throws in fossils.

6. Heartbreak Hotel by Vincent Lopez Singers from A Century Of American Music (Album Set Productions 4xLP Box 5096 GT 12, Stereo, 1970).  I'm not sure they liked the original.  Oh, they also threw a Beatles number in, but I didn't share it.  Not at all sure how that became American music...

7. The Syncopated Clock by Rosemary Clooney With Orchestra from Children's Favorites (Columbia 10" 33 RPM CL 2569 Playhouse Party Series, Mono, 1956).  I didn't even know it had words!  From the credits, looks like the same guy who provided words for Sleigh Ride, Mitchell Parish, did this one too.

8. Efficiency by Dorothy Shay The Park Avenue Hillbilly, from her LP Coming 'Round The Mountain (Harmony (Columbia) HL 7017, Mono, 1957).  I'm working on completing the Dorothy Shay discography, and I think it's well worth the effort.  She put out some really funny stuff in her day.

9. Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar by The Orchestra Of LeRoy Holmes from the soundtrack to The Devil's Brigade (United Artists UAS 6654, Stereo, 1968).  Not exactly The Andrews Sisters.

10. The Elements, a bit of a ringer by Tom Lehrer and his LP An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer (Reprise RS-6199, Stereo, 1959).  Has anyone updated this with all the new elements out there at the end?  They should.

11. Coffee With The Meal by Ogden Nash With Music Composed And Conducted By Glenn Osser from the album The Fanciful World Of Ogden Nash (Capitol SW 1570, Stereo, 1961).  Great, great stuff.

12. Big Bad Jane, a sort of parody of Big Bad John from Jimmy Dean, this time by The Four Saints from their self titled effort (Warner Bros WS1477, Stereo, 1962).  For years I hunted for a female version of Big Bad John that heard when I was a kid, but it wasn't this one.  Turned out it as something from the same Jimmy Dean LP that originally featured Big Bad John.  Cajun Queen, I think it was called.

13. Bye, Baby Bunting by our old friend Ruth Welcome from the LP Golden Slumbers-Lullabies From Near And Far (Caedmon TC 1399, Stereo, 1972).  I told you Caedmon put out some very interesting stuff during their time.

14. Choo Choo Ch-Boogie by Meri Ellen And Her Cohorts Featuring Guest Star Don Elliott from their LP The Hi-Fi Antics Of Meri Ellen And Her Cohorts (Design DLP 63, Mono, 1958).  Imagine sitting in a lounge somewhere in the Adirondacks listening to this R&B number in the late 50's.  The shape of things to come...

15. Stop! Sit Down! Relax! Think! by The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra from their 10" LP New Directions In Music (RCA Victor 10" 33 RPM LPM 3115, Mono, 1953).  There's very little from the Sauter-Finegan catalog that isn't worth listening to. So do me a favor, stop, sit down, relax and think!

16. Brazilian Polka by Clebanoff And His Orchestra from Strings Afire (Mercury PPS 6019, Stereo, 1961).  A Brazilian polka?  That's about as likely as Brazilian sleigh bells!

17. Hey! Mr. Banjo by Joe "Fingers" Carr And Ira Ironstrings from their conspiratorial LP together, Together For The Last Time-Volume 1 (Warner Bros WS1389, Stereo, 1960). Lots of cool music on this one, but I grabbed this one because it was between two tracks I knew I already wanted.  That made the choice easy.

There you go, 17 non-Christmas tracks for your listening pleasure.  I think you'll enjoy them as a slight change of pace, at least between now and November.  :)

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