Christmas With Wally

Behind this horrible scan of a very shiny cover lies a great lost Christmas record.  It's a gold foil thing that looks great in person but my scanner couldn't make heads or tails of it.  But you're after the music, not the picture, right?  And this is pretty good music.  You can read all about it in my original post from 2010, and there are some very informative comments as well, so don't miss those.  But before you can give it a listen, you have to download Wally Stott, His Orchestra And Chorus-Happy Holiday-Christmas In Stereo (Warner Bros WS 1341, Stereo, 1959).

1. Happy Holiday
2. Wassail Song
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
4. Christmas Sleigh Bells
5. Shepherd's Chorus
6. The Holly And The Ivy
7. The Christmas Waltz
8. Away In A Manger
9. Good King Wenceslas
10. Snowfall
11. Silent Night! Holy Night!
12. White Christmas


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Something You Missed

You may have thought that I wasn't doing anything during my blogging hiatus.  Well, that's true in the sense that I certainly wasn't blogging, but I was still hunting down and discovering odd things pressed into vinyl grooves.  Head on over to Buster's Big 10-Inch Record blog and you can find a neat little 10" I shared with him (and he with his readers) a few weeks ago after the passing of Mike Nichols.  And then there was a fairly obscure EP from Sauter & Finegan before that.  I think Buster described me as a reformed blogger, but I guess I've relapsed a little, at least for the holiday season.

Oh, and something called the IBM Symphony was from me as well, though that was shellac, not vinyl...

Jazzy

This record was on my mind recently because I found a second copy of the vinyl.  Some things I see all the time, but others I stumble upon once and that's it.  This is something I had only ever seen once until I found that second copy.  So, since I saw it twice, you get it again, too. You can read all about it on my original post back in 2011, or you can just know that it's light jazz with some great vocals.  This is Glenn Zottola And His Allstars Featuring Maxine Sullivan-Christmas In Jazztime (Dreamstreet DR-110, for WYRS 96.7 FM, Stamford, CT, Stereo, 1986).

1. Let It Snow
2. Jolly Old St. Nick (with Maxine)
3. Winter Wonderland
4. White Christmas (with Maxine)
5. Silent Night
6. Jingle Bells (with Maxine)
7. Christmas Song
8. Greensleeves
9. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

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And if Jazz is what you're after, you should certainly help yourself to this one. This share dates all the way back to the beginning, and it's been a lot of fun.  You can't go wrong with The World's Greatest Jazzband Of Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart-Hark The Herald Angels Swing (2011 Remaster) (World Jazz WJLP 5-2, Stereo, 1972).

1. Hark The Herald Angels Swing
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
4. Silent Night
5. Joy To The World
6. Jingle Bells
7. White Christmas
8. I'll Be Home For Christmas
9. The Christmas Song
10. Winter Wonderland
11. Deck The Halls

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Incompatible

I don't know why, but someone requested this oldie from 2007.  Blech.  Download at your own risk. This is The Music City Choral And Orchestra With Lead Vocals By Troy Green-White Christmas And Other Holiday Favorites (Modern Sound Christmas Album #4).  This one may actually be on CD, I've seen some of these Modern Sound things show up here and there.  They were budget then and they're budget now. I see that I didn't even do a good job of making the sleeve look presentable.  Heaven knows what the music must sound like.  Like I said, let the buyer beware!

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The T Word

I'll probably regret this, as my ISP is sure to object, but I turned all the torrents back on.  That means everything I shared out two years ago, all 124 records (give or take), are now up for grabs.  So search through the archives and see if there's anything in there you missed.  And don't forget to let them seed for a while, your fellow Christmas aficionados will thank you.

Let Me Be Frank

Another record I got a request for is this little gem from Phase 4 stalwart Frank Chacksfield.  I'm a little surprised I've never seen this on the actual Phase 4 label, but I guess he didn't want to go back and revisit the Christmas canon after he'd made such a nice little EZ listening record.  This is a pretty old share, and the only remastering it ever got was when I found a stereo copy for the 2007 season.  So don't expect a very high bitrate or any fancy use of ClickRepair.  I don't think I was even scanning the LP labels at this point. But you get what you pay for, and in this case that is Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra-Music For A Merry Christmas (Richmond S 30056, Stereo, 1959).

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A Handy Tip

If you're looking for something to download besides Christmas music, head on over to Willard's Wormholes.  He's sharing the entire series of Warner Bros. Loss Leader albums from the late sixties through the early 80's.  This is a great series that introduced several generations of record buyers to what was new and cool, with quite a bit of wit and subversiveness thrown in for good measure, often through liner notes penned by Dr. Demento.  And if you insist on Christmas content, dig deep for tracks from Arlo Guthrie, The Beach Boys and Martin Mull. If I'm excited about it, you know it's got to be good!  Well, maybe...

Christmas X 60

Another old favorite that I got a request for recently was this collection featuring Les Djinns Singers and The Christmas Bell Ringers.  I don't think the Christmas Bell Ringers are anything that anyone is going to get too excited about, but the 60 French girls that make up Les Djinns Singers sure will make your holiday a bit happier.  And the cover ain't so bad either.  So from this very blog back in 2005 (and remastered for the 2011 season), this is 60 French Girls-Joyeaux Noël by Les Djinns Singers and The Christmas Bell Ringers (ABC-Paramount ABCS-397, Stereo, 1961).

01. Les Djinns Singers-Minuit, Chretriens (O, Holy Night)
02. Les Djinns Singers-Nuit Des Nuit (Silent Night)
03. Christmas Bell Ringers-Good King Wenceslas
04. Les Djinns Singers-Il Est Ne Divin Enfant (He Is Born A Divine Child)
05. Les Djinns Singers-Noël 'Trois Anges Sont Venus Ce Soir' (Christmas 'Three Angels We've Seen This Night')
06. Christmas Bell Ringers-Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
07. Les Djinns Singers-Non Beau Sapin (O Tannenbaum)
08. Les Djinns Singers-Pour Noël (For Christmas)
09. Christmas Bell Ringers-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10. Les Djinns Singers-Noël, C'est L'Amour (Christmas, This Is Love)
11. Les Djinns Singers-Noël Blanc (White Christmas)
12. Christmas Bell Ringers-O, Come All Ye Faithful

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A Little Something-Something

It's that time of year again.  Here in Florida, the temperatures plunged into the 40's for a day and a half, and that must mean that Winter is near.  And with Winter comes Christmas, and with Christmas come the requests.  Here on the blog, for many, many years, I shared out Christmas music that I loved.  Stuff that I had ripped from my collection of vinyl purchased over the years from many a thrift store, usually for $1 or less.  Who knew that so many people would love the same music and enjoy it like I do.  But times change, and so did I.  When I met Jennifer, Christmas music seemed a lot less important than it had in the years before.  Jennifer is still in my life, and a bigger part of it than ever, but I still miss the Christmas music.  This time of year, the letters and requests come in almost daily.  Everyone misses the shares, or just discovered the site, and they want to download this or that, or have me email it to them so that their holiday festivities will once again be whole, like they were when they were young.  I wish I could fulfill all those requests, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. 95% of what I shared were junk records that time has nearly forgotten, trashed pieces of vinyl that don't sound very good even with all the TLC in the world.  I often think that anyone with half an ounce of good intentions could go visit a couple thrift stores and do what I did, but I guess that's just not the case.  But anyhow, I've digressed from my point.  I'm going to try to share out a few old things this year.  Nothing new, just a few things that I've gotten requests for, and maybe a few old favorites.  Don't expect anything too regular.  And if Zippyshare starts giving me issues, don't expect reposts!  I'm a grumpy old man and don't put up with that mess. The first thing I wanted to get back out there is this dusty old record from way back in the day, The Ray Charles Singers-Winter Wonderland (MGM E3387, Mono, 1956).  This was one of the first things I ever ripped and shared, but this is a cleaner rip from 2012, I think.

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Button Up Your Overcoat
3. June In January
4. When Winter Comes
5. Snowfall
6. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
7. Winter & Theme For Indoor Sports
8. Moonlight In Vermont
9. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
10. When Winter Comes A-Callin'
11. Jingle Bells
12. By The Fireside


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And if that's not enough for you, here are Spring, Summer and Fall, too....

The Ray Charles Singers-Spring Is Here (MGM E3162, Mono, 1956).

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The Ray Charles Singers-Summertime (MGM E3529, Mono, 1957).

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The Ray Charles Singers-Autumn Nocturne (MGM E3145, Mono, 1954).

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And if you've managed to get this far, here's Ray's actual Christmas LP, The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling (MGM E3467, Mono, 1956).

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Stand By...