A New Old Ray

The real remaster of the day is this classic from way back in my very first year. (And look!  No Dust-Proof sticker!  Took me a while to find a cover without that on it.) It's long been in need of a redo and I finally got around to it this year. I'm not going to blab on and on about it, so just take my word for it and download The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling (MGM E3467, Mono, 1956).

1. Here We Come A Caroling
2. Silent Night
3. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
4. The First Noel
5. O, Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
6. Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child
7. Angels We Have Heard On High
8. What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
9. I Saw Three Ships
10. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
11. Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabelle
12. Away In A Manger
13. Good King Wenceslas
14. O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
15. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
16. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
17. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
18. Rise Up, Shepherd, An' Foller
19. Joy To The World
20. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
21. Here We Come A Caroling

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Christmas Down Under, Sorta

I have to tell you right off, I don't get this album. I think it's supposed to be funny, but I don't laugh.  I don't know...something about an American ex-pat living and working in Australia, yet singing with a stereotypical Italian accent.  It just doesn't add up for me.  But the reason I'm sharing it here is because of the presence of Chris Dedrick on the record, as co-writer and arranger of several songs, and leader of the band.  Chris was a member of The Free Design, which was featured in my last post, and I was surprised to find his name listed inside the sleeve here.  I've never shared this out before on the blog, but I did share it over at FaLaLaLaLa many years ago without any artwork.  So if you're wondering why the file is labelled "Remaster", that's why.  So anyhow, from the guy that became famous for the insult "Shaddup You Face", this is Joe Dolce Music Theatre-Arranged And Conducted By Chris Dedrick-Christmas Album (Montage ST-72002, Stereo, 1981).  Sharp-eyed readers will see a lot of credits on the inner sleeve (scans included), including "Mary Wilson as The Supremes".

1. Jingle Bell Rock
2. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
3. This Time Of The Year
4. Silent Night
5. Medley
6. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
7. Christmas In Australia
8. Christmas At Our House
9. Blue Christmas
10. Open Up Your Heart

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Welcome To December

And now, in honor of this being the first day of December, I give you one of the best shares of the season.  I found this record a couple of years ago in a Goodwill store, and I was pretty excited about it.  It's one of the rarer entries in a series of records put out by the US Air Force in support of their annual recruitment efforts during the late Sixties and early Seventies.  I've brought you a few of these before, but they never seem to be very popular.  I hope this one becomes the huge hit that it deserves to be.  Side one features the hit duo Sandler & Young, but the second side is the real gem, featuring music otherwise unheard from The Free Design.  If you've never heard of The Free Design, this may not excite you much, but those of you in the know will dig it.  The Christmas songs performed by Sandler And Young eventually saw release in slightly different versions on their Christmas albums, but the stuff by The Free Design never saw general release and is only available here.  I could go on and on about how great this is, but let me just tell you to go download this and listen to it, it's good.  The United States Air Force Presents The Now Sound Of Christmas And A Christmas Party 1968 Featuring Sandler & Young And The Free Design With The United States Air Force Band (Advertising Division, Hq. U.S. Air Force, Stereo, 1968).

I'm not going to type out all the tracks here, I think I cut it up into 35 individual tracks.  Sandler & Young perform It's Christmas Time All Over The World, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Mr. Santa & I Sing Noel.  The Free Design play The Now Sound Of Christmas, Proper Ornaments, Close Your Mouth, Christmas Is The Day & Shepherds And Wisemen.  There are also tracks by The Air Force Symphony In Blue and lots of talking about Christmas.

You can download two different versions of this, one includes the two sides as complete shows, the way it was meant to be broadcast, or cut up into tracks as individual songs or bits of talking.  Your choice, they both make for good listening.

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Re-Greyed

I said I wasn't going to post any old, non-remastered shares, but somebody reminded me of this one, and even though it probably doesn't sound it's best, I figured I'd bring it back anyway.  I first recorded this in 2007, but I didn't share it until 2008.  This is another of those records that proves you never know what's in the grooves until you drop a needle in there.  Well, don't drop it, you should carefully place it in the groove, sometimes before you even start the record spinning around.  But I'm biased.  Anyhow, this is Veo Gray And The Jodie Lyons Singers-A Christmas Happening (Agaco 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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Singalong

I didn't know what this album would be like before I put it on the turntable, but it's pretty much what you might expect from a budget label in the years after The Chipmunks hit it big. In fact, there are a couple of songs on here that showed up on a single I shared back in 2010 that seemed to be pretty popular with the folks 'round these parts.I suspect that these recordings have turned up elsewhere with different covers and credited to different artists, but I haven't listened to enough of these budget collections to find any others.  But there's some nice music on here, I think you will be able to find a song or two worth hearing again.  This is The Pixie Helpers-Sing Along With Santa's Helpers (Tops L 1700, Mono, 1959).

1. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Sleigh Ride
3. The Animal's Christmas Song
4. O Come All Ye Faithful; Silent Night
5. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Featuring a tap dancing solo!  I kid you not!)
6. Frosty The Snow Man
7. The Christmas Song (Yes, it's the cha-cha-cha version)
8. Joy To The World
9. Jingle Bells
10. Deck The Halls

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Greatest Hits?

So, I promised the guy at Banana's Records that I would make him a CD of some of my best Christmas music, since I've bought so much of it from him over the years.  But I have no idea what I should put on there.  I gravitate towards the weird and different, but that doesn't always appeal to some people.  I don't mind putting a few novelties on there, but I want to make sure it's an excellent all-around good listen, and I don't really make good compilations.  Any suggestions?  What songs have I shared that you guys go back to and listen to again and again and again?  If I come up with something good, maybe I'll post the collection here, too, but we'll see.  Thanks for your input!

Little Star Two

It took me a while to figure out why that record I shared in the last post seemed familiar, even though I'd never seen or heard it before. I finally figured out that I had shared out a record many years ago with the exact same story on the front side, and the same suite on the flip side. Evidently, the folks at kiddie label Cricket decided to rip off the whole record! Once I discovered all this, I had to go find my old record and remaster it for sharing with the new one, and here it is.  This is David Wayne Narrating The Little Star Of Bethlehem And The Toy Box With John L. Eastman Conducting The Cricket Symphony (Cricket CR-X1, Mono, 1959).

1. The Little Star Of Bethlehem
2. The Toy Box

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Little Star One

How about a nice story for this, the last day of November? When I was in Atlanta a few months back, I wanted to find a record store, so we discovered a place called Fantasyland Records that was around the corner from the salon of a friend of mine.  We actually had a hard time finding the place because the addressing scheme was funny, but that's a long story.  Anyhow, we go inside and look around, it's a nice place, lots of records, CDs, what-have-you, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes records.  After looking around for a bit, I asked the guy behind the counter if they had any Christmas records, even though it was August.  He says yes, follow me, and leads me to the back of the store.  We go through a couple of rooms, down the hall, around a couple of corners, and I kid you not, into a bathroom.  On the floor of the bathroom, opposite the toilet, are a dozen boxes, four of which were Christmas albums.  I go through all the boxes and bought maybe 10 albums, most of which were reasonably priced, some of which I'd never seen before.  That's where the record I'm sharing tonight came from.  I'd never seen it before, yet it seemed very familiar.  It's a nice little story on one side, and the flip side is some good music from a seldom heard suite called The Toy Box.  I'm sure you'll like it, so please download The Little Star Of Bethlehem (Columbia CL 1046, Mono, 1957).

1. Kenny Bowers, Narrator-David Randolph Chorus And The Orchestra Of Ancient Instruments Conducted By David Randolph-The Little Star Of Bethlehem
2.-6. The Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Carl Bamberger-The Toy Box (Ballet Suite)

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Sweet Suite

Tonight's remaster is this organ suite written by Michael Carr, who I know nothing about, and performed by Richard Ellsasser, who I also know nothing about, but I shared a whole Christmas LP from him last year, I think it was.  Anyhow, I don't know much about the recording either, but it does have great track titles.  So be my guest and download this remastered version of Richard Ellsasser-Michael Carr's Wintertime Suite (MGM E3284 (Richard Ellsasser Playing The Organ of the John Hays Hammond, Jr. Museum, Gloucester, Massachusetts), Mono, 1955).

1. King Winter
2. Happy Fat Man (With A Sleigh Full Of Toys)
3. Winter In Mexico
4. Home For Christmas
5. Winter Setting
6. December Has A Warm Heart
7. Red Indian Snowman
8. Eight Very Busy Little Reindeer
9. Star In The East
10. Holly And Ivy And Mistletoe
11. Jack Frost, Incorporated
12. Ring In The New Year

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Another Christmas In Tijuana

I think it's been years since I've brought you any new Tijuana Christmas music, mostly because it's hard to find, and it's all available at your local online music retailer. However, I found this one recently, and it's something I think I can share, at least until someone points out otherwise.Sometimes these things come out under different names, both artist and album, so who knows if this one is out there or not already.  But for tonight, I'm taking it and running with it.  The album jacket may be beat up and split, but the music sounds nice.  So be my guest and download The Toreador Brass-Tijuana Christmas (Harmony (Columbia) HS 11352, Stereo, 1969).

1. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. While Shepherds Watched
4. Good King Wenceslas
5. Away In A Manger
6. Silent Night
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
8. Once In Royal David's City
9. O Come All Ye Faithful
10. The Holly And The Ivy
11. Christians Awake
12. The First Noel

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Old & New Skitch

Here's a combination remaster-new share for the night. Back in 2006, when I first shared this album, I only shared side one, which has all of the winter holiday themed tracks.  Side two features 'Sun Holiday' tracks that really have nothing to do with winter or Christmas, so I didn't even record it back then.  But over the years, enough people have asked me about that other side that I figured I'd go ahead and record the whole thing and share it with you again.  So here is Skitch Henderson At The Piano Conducting the New York Philharmonic-Winter Holiday ((Columbia MS 6381, Stereo, 1962).

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Moonlight In Vermont
3. Sleigh Ride
4. Winter Holiday-Winter Holiday
5. Winter Holiday-Around The Bonfire
6. Winter Holiday-Home Again
7. Troika
8. Caribbean Polka
9. Three Coins In The Fountain
10. Macarenas (La Virgen De La Macarena)
11. La Mer
12. Paris Match
13. Never On Sunday
14. Einsamkeit

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Sew Good

Here's a record I saw shared out a long time ago, but it's been out of circulation for a while, I'm bringing it back. I ripped a copy of this early in the year, and it's been in the stack so long that I had forgotten about it until a couple of weeks ago when I started scanning covers. If memory serves, that's Donna Reed (and her TV family) who's show was sponsored by Singer at the time.  That may be one of the reasons you don't see this LP too much, people by it for the celebrity on the cover, yet never pay any attention to the music inside.  So don't make that same mistake, be sure you listen to the music inside of The Singer Orchestra Conducted By George Siravo Featuring Steve Clayton And The Don Janse Choral-Favorite Christmas Songs From Singer (The Singer Company HE-S1, Stereo, 1964).

1. Good King Wenceslas
2. O Holy Night
3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. O Come All Ye Faithful
5. Joy To The World/The First Noel
6. Silent Night
7. Jingle Bells
8. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. The Christmas Song
11. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
12. White Christmas

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Re-Eddie (Or Not)

Tonight's do-over from years past is this somewhat somber record from Eddie Layton.  I remember the day I first found this, it was during the season and I had promised myself I wouldn't record any more music, but I ran home and recorded it, then scanned it, and shared it that same night.  I had high hopes for how it would sound, but I quickly discovered this wasn't one of his more outlandish recordings.  Some of the things he did for Mercury back in the day are just outstanding, often with covers to match, but not this.  This is pretty straight-ahead organ demo stuff.  Which isn't to say it's not worthy of a download, because it totally is, but don't think you're going to find anything on here to rival Bob Kames.  If you're still wanting to give it a listen (and this is a new, better rip), this is Eddie Layton At The Hammond Organ-Organ Music For Christmas With Chimes And Brass Choir (Epic BN 26118, Stereo, 1964)

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
2. White Christmas
3. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer; Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
4. I'll Be Home For Christmas
5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
6. Silver Bells
7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Joy To The World
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are; It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
9. Away In A Manger; Silent Night, Holy Night
10. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)
11. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

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A Little Bit Of Soap

This is probably the newest thing I'm going to share with you this year, and it's 30 years old! But it's a very distinct change of pace from the moldy oldies I normally share out around here.This is a collection of soap opera stars circa 1982 singing their favorite Christmas songs for you, the viewer!  I've seen plenty of similar collections recently, from the stars of NBC to the hosts at QVC, and none of them look as cheaply thrown together as this one.  But at least you get a nice picture of a very young Lori Loughlin to look at, that can't be a bad thing.  There's even an insert (which I included in the scans) talking about how Johnny Marks himself called Lori in the studio to wish her a happy birthday!  (There was also a cover slick in the sleeve that was identical to the album cover, so I didn't scan that in.  If you want a scan of it, just rename the cover as Slick-Insert and you'll be good.)  So anyhow, if you want to listen to a bunch of people who used to be famous, please download Soap Opera Christmas (Pink Wings Productions PW-101, Stereo, 1982).  And if you know who any of these other people are, let me know.  I'm too lazy to Google them.

1. Candice Earley-Oh Holy Night/Oh Happy Day
2. Allen Fawcett-Christmas Is You
3. Randy Hamilton-Merry Christmas Darling
4. Lori Loughlin-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
5. John McCafferty-Jingle Bell Rock
6. Mary Gordon Murray-Blue Christmas
7. Tom Nielsen-Winter Wonderland
8. Frank Runyeon-White Christmas
9. John Wesley Shipp-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10. Darnell Williams-The Christmas Song

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A Tale Of Three Records

OK, here's a fun one for tonight's remastered musical memory.  Technically speaking, I've never shared the record above with you.  It's Domenico Savino And The Rome Festival Orchestra-Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAL 333, Mono, 1956).  I've shown you the cover before, though.

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But it turns out that it's exactly the same as this record, which I have shared out in the past.  For some reason, they decided to release it two years later with a different cover.  Now it's Domenico Savino And His Orchestra-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAL 392, Mono, 1958).  They've changed the name to include Hi-Fi, but it's the same recording that wasn't labelled hi-fi two years earlier.  It's all in the name, I guess.

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Now, to add insult to injury, or at least to annoy the record buying public, this is not just a remixed-to-stereo version of either of the records above.  This is a complete re-recording of all the songs on the mono version, with the addition of a chorus on four of the tracks.  And for my money, it's not as good as the mono version.  I can't explain why I like it better, I just do.  So stereo isn't always preferable to mono, I think that's the lesson for tonight.  This record is Domenico Savino And His Orchestra And Chorus-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAS-392, Stereo, 1958).

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Oh, the tracklisting for all three records is exactly the same:

1. White Christmas
2. Sleigh Ride
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Jingle Bells
6. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
7. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) (With Chorus on the Stereo version)
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. The First Noel
10. O Holy Night
11. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (With Chorus on the Stereo version)
12. Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen (Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming)
13. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
14. Joy To The World (With Chorus on the Stereo version)
15. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
16. Silent Night (With Chorus on the Stereo version)

Are you following all this? There was also an EP version of that top one that I shared out many years ago, but the music is the same, and the artwork is very similarly tinted.

Torrents 2

Well, it's been a few days now, and I'm curious as to how folks are doing with the torrents.  I don't see them getting used a whole awful lot, but I think it's still early.  For those of you who don't know about torrents, they're a type of peer-to-peer sharing software, so you're basically downloading the share directly from me, or, in a best case scenario, from several other people who've downloaded it before you.  The more people share it, the less the load on any one person.  All you have to do is download the share and leave the client running for a while, the software handles the rest.  Some clients even stay open automatically in the background without you knowing it, so if you decide to try it, you need to pay attention to what you're doing.  If you'd like to try the torrent, give utorrent a try.  Just download it, install it, then click on one of the torrent links in a post.  But read the instructions!  There are lots of setting you can change, including how much bandwidth it uses, but you can screw things up pretty badly if you aren't careful.  I don't want to get blamed if you share out the root of your C: drive with the world.

Any Accordion

At first glance, this is not the sort of Christmas release that you might find interesting.I don't think a lot of people would give it a second glance if they spotted it in a stack of records.  But I'm not like a lot of people, I have to take a closer look.  Flipping it over, I saw a woman with an accordion, and into the pile of Christmas To Share it went!  If you're a fan of accordion music, mixed with a little organ, calliope, harp, sax, cello, flute, even violin, then I'm sure you'll dig this.  And really, where else are you going to get music like this other than Ernie (Not Bert)?  So show a little love and download Sharon Parker-Songs Of Christmas (Rev. Donald L. Parker 17813/17814 (Baxter, West Virginia), Mono).

1. Joy To The World
2. O Come All Ye Faithful
3. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
4. Ring, Merry Bells
5. Silent Night! Holy Night
6. Away In The Manger
7. Go Tell It On The Mountain
8. Oh! Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
10. Angels From The Realms Of Glory
11. The First Noel
12. Oh! Holy Night
13. We Three Kings Of Orient Are

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Buon Natale

I always pick up Christmas records I see from other countries. Well, they may not actually be from other countries, but they feature music from other places. Sometimes I like what I hear, sometimes not. This one stood out, not because it featured a couple of tracks from Sergio Franchi, but because it featured an Italian version of  Frosty The Snowman!  And man, is it good!  So you should download this just for that track.  This is Buon Natale-Christmas In Italy With Sergio Franchi And Favorite Italian Stars (4 Corners Of The World (Kapp) FCS-4223, Stereo, 1965).

1. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (O' Bambino)
2. The Radar Quartet-Jingle Bells
3. Achille Togliani And The Comet Quartet-E' Natale (It Is Christmas)
4. The Padova Chorus-Adeste Fideles
5. The Radar Quartet-Babbo Natale
6. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Santa Notte
7. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Bianco Natale (White Christmas)
8. The Radar Quartet-Frosty L'Omino Di Neve (Frosty The Snowman)
9. Achille Togliani And The Comet Quartet-Buon Natale All'Italiana
10. The Alpi Chorus-Canto Della Nativita (O Tannenbaum)
11. The Radar Quartet-Tony DeVita, Soloist-Sott L'Albero Di Natale
12. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Fra L'Orrido Rigor

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Old John

Today's remastered LP comes from 2008, which by all accounts was a very good year. But things have changed since then, so I'm revisiting some of those old shares to make them a little more presentable in today's modern computer age. If you're curious, you can look and see what I wrote back then, or you can just help yourself to Robert John Carwithen-The Bells On Christmas Morn-The Schulmerich "Carillon Americana" Bells (Decca DL 8792, Mono, 1958).  Yes, it's played on a carillon, but you get used to it, trust me.

1. "Basilican" Bells-Pealing
2. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
3. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
5. The First Noel
6. Joy To The World
7. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
8. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
9. Silent Night
10. White Christmas
11. Carol Of The Bells
12. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
13. Good Christian Men Rejoice-What Child Is This?
14. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
15. Deck The Hall-Good King Wenceslas
16. I Saw Three Ships-I Wonder As I Wander
17. Away In A Manger

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Sunday Singles #5-Double Hugo

Double your trouble on this, the last singles post of the day.  Two singles by the great Hugo Winterhalter, both of which have been featured here at the blog before, but these are shiny new rips, so they sound better than ever.  The first one is Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra And Chorus-Blue Christmas b/w White Christmas (RCA Victor 7" 45 RPM 447-0875, Mono, 1950).  This version of Blue Christmas is actually a remake of his earlier hit version for Columbia (which I need to get around to sharing one of these days. I've got it and ripped it, I just need to share it...).  Also, the version of White Christmas on the flip side is different from the one that later showed up on his 10" Christmas LP Christmas Magic from 1953.

The second single in the download is Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra-The Christmas Song Cha Cha b/w Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Cha Cha (RCA Victor 7" 45 RPM 47-7397, Mono, 1958).  Clearly a much different take on both holiday classics, and for me, the novelty never wears thin.

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And if you like those, check through the archives and you'll find the odd holiday-themed track from Mr. Winterhalter here and there.  Someday I'll put them all together into a single share, but not this year.

Four More

While I'm at it, I may as well give you my copy of The Four Aces Christmas record. It's good stuff, but I don't think it sounds much like that single I just shared.  Either way, you'll enjoy it, because I know you're like me and you like all sorts of Christmas music.  Here is The Four Aces-A Merry Christmas With The Four Aces Featuring Al Alberts With Orchestra Directed By Jack Pleis (Decca DL8191, Mono, 1955).

1. White Christmas
2. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
3. Silver Bells
4. Jingle Bells
5. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
6. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. Silent Night
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Joy To The World
10. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
11. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
12. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
13. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
14. The First Nowell
15. Deck The Hall

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Singles Sunday #4-Four

I hope you're enjoying the singles today.  I've always thought that some of the best Christmas music out there comes from singles and not albums, but they're so hard to find that I've never spent enough time playing with them.  This year I tried to make it a point to record a bunch of them and share them 'round these parts.  Sometimes I pick something up and put it down because I know an artist has a Christmas album and the single is probably pulled from it.  But I've learned to double check that, because it's not always the case.  Take this single.  The Four Aces had a Christmas record, but they released this single a few years later and it's been MIA ever since.  So I'm bringing it back to you tonight.  Who'd a-thunk that a group like the Four Aces would have released a kiddie record like this, but here's the proof.  Please download and give a listen to The Four Aces With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Jack Pleis-Ol' Fatso b/w The Christmas Tree (Decca (Canada) 7" 45 RPM 9-30775, Mono, 1958).

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Singles Sunday #3-Grist Mill

Every once in a while, when researching a release date in the old issues of Billboard available through Google, I'll stumble across some Christmas release that I've never heard of.  Such was the case with this single from The Mills Brothers.  I knew of an album they put out, and another single, but not this one.  It seemed to have disappeared into the depths of history, even though Hoagy Carmichael was a co-writer of one of the songs!  So I started hunting for it and eventually found this re-issue 45 (the original came out a year earlier, when Decca only issued 78s).  It's typical Mills Brothers harmonies, and certainly deserves to be better known than it is, so I'm doing my part by sharing it out here today.  This is the Mills Brothers-My Christmas Song For You b/w On This Christmas Eve (Decca 7" 45 RPM 9-24768, Mono, 1949).  Enjoy!

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Singles Sunday #2-The First

Boy, was I excited when I discovered this! This is the very first Christmas single ever issued by the then-new Warner Brothers label way back in 1958.  Jumping on the kiddie-vocal bandwagon, they found the worst sounding kid they could and wrote a song just for him about Santa and trains, something I think Spike Jones had already done.  I suspect that by '58, the kiddie vocal trend had just about run it's course, and it shows here.  I doubt if you'll listen this one twice.  That's probably the reason it's remained so obscure to this day, but I couldn't let sleeping dogs lie.  I had hoped for so much more...  Anyhow, this is Johnnie Alvin-Santa Claus Wrecked My 'Lectric Train (Thana Cwaus Wecked My Wectrick Twain) b/w Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Warner Bros. 7" 45 RPM 5024, Mono, 1958).  Please don't smash your Ipod if this starts to play at random.

1. Santa Claus Wrecked My 'Lectric Train (Thana Cwaus Wecked My Wectrick Twain)
2. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer

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Singles Sunday #1-Outta Space

I noticed last night that I am rapidly running out of space on my 1 terabyte drive, and I think that's because I have too much Christmas music! So in honor of being out of space, here's a little song about outer space that I finally broke down and bought this year.  I've always wanted it, but never owned it, and it's one of the coolest things Lawrence Welk ever recorded (though his first Christmas record is pretty cool, too).  This is Lawrence Welk's Little Band Featuring Janet, Brian, Cubby And The Lennon Sisters doing Outer Space Santa b/w All Around The Merry Christmas Tree (Coral 7" 45 RPM 9-62053, Sample Copy-Not For Sale, Mono, 1958).  I know who The Lennon Sisters are, and Cubby is actually the same Cubby from The Micky Mouse Club, but I'm not entirely certain who Janet & Brian are.  One of The Lennon Sisters is named Janet, but why credit her twice? Because she's playing piano and gets called out by name in the song?  Any ideas?  There's a picture sleeve for this one, but my promo copy didn't come with one.

1. Outer Space Santa
2. All Around The Merry Christmas Tree (What is this, 4 songs now with a very similar title to this?)

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