The Return Of Christmas In July-Day 04

Happy Fourth of July to all my visitors in America.  To the rest of you, Happy July Fourth!  Well, it was funny to me...  Let's jump into the music, shall we?

The first track is also the first of many songs from this album I hope to get to over the course of the month. In fact, the whole first side of the album is Christmas music, so I really could have saved it for Christmas, but I needed more stuff to share here in July.  The song is Winter Wonderland, the artist is Red Carter, and the album is Santa's Musical Grog (Frog Recordings, Ltd. RG 001, Stereo).  Good stuff here, you should be looking forward to the rest of the songs form this LP.

Next up is Ave Maria Lola, a mash-up between Gounod's Ave Maria and The Kink's Lola.  OK, not really, but that was what I was hoping for.  Not really anything Christmas related about this one at all I'm afraid, sorry.  But I'm sticking with it.  It's by El Cubanito And His Cha Cha Orchestra from their LP Hot (Musidisc M-6007, Mono, 1959).

Third is Skater's Boogie by Jo Ann Castle from 12 Great Hits In Ragtime (Dot DLP 25433).  Interesting, I'll give it that.  I'll also give you the fact that it's a rerun.

Fourth is a version of Greensleeves as performed on the duo harps of Dorothy Remsen And Catherine Johnk, with The Stanley-Johnson Orchestra, from the album Have Harp Can't Travel (Liberty LST 7118, Stereo, 1959).  This one is all about the cover image, but I'm not sharing that.  Sorry.  But look it up, it's a blast.

Track 5 is another repeat, The Bells Of St. Mary's by Roger King Mozian from the MGM stereo show-off series entry Spectacular Brass (MGM SE3844, Stereo, 1960).  Not too shabby.

And...there's a secret sixth track in there who's name shall not be spoken, but I found it today tucked onto the end of a ten inch record, and I thought it fit the theme quite well.

I'm also going to wish you a happy Fourth once again and throw in a Fourth of July track for you from The McGuire Sisters.  Enjoy!

Here's the download link, now go blow something up.

The Return Of Christmas In July-Day 03

A little late today, as I was busy last night actually recording some tracks to share with you.  Hopefully, that means you get better songs today, at least I like to think so.

Track one is something I'm quite excited about, I had no idea it existed (but I see several on Amazon right now, at a not-too-exorbitant price).  You'll really dig The Airmen Of Note With Nancy Wilson performing What Child Is This from The Airmen Of Note & Friends (USAF SM-306, Stereo, 1968).  This was a promotional LP sent to radio stations and interested parties, featuring tracks from other, even rarer records.  I've never seen the original LP with The Airmen and Nancy Wilson, but if you want to send me a copy, that would be really swell!  This is as good as it gets folks, so enjoy!

Track two is something else I picked up and recorded yesterday (sometimes you just get lucky!), One Little Candle by Jane Froman.  No, it's not really a Christmas song, but I think I first heard it in the context of  Christmas, and it's stuck there.  This is from her album Faith (Capitol T726, Mono, 1956), orchestra and chorus duties are handled by Glenn Osser.

Track three is odd because I found just the vinyl.  No sleeve, no art, nothing.  I usually don't pay any attention to such loose records, but sometimes I do, and this time I got paid for my trouble.  (The Airman LP above was also free of a sleeve, but I found the sleeve in a box further down the table, with the wrong LP inside.  So I corrected the error and kept moving.)  This one is Go Tell It On The Mountain by Bob Vernon from The Inspiration Of Bob Vernon (Capitol T-2778, Mono, 1967).  This is a pretty nice version of the track, with spoken interludes between the verses quoting the Bible version of the birth of Jesus.

Track four is a rerun, but it may be well worth visiting in the wake of that Mad Men finale.  This is I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing by The Korean Children's Choir from the album To The World With Love (Word WST-8523-LP, Stereo, 1972).  Again, not really a Christmas song, but I've always thought of it in terms of that famous Coke advertisement, and the Christmas version as well.  And a Christmas choir consisting of kids who probably didn't speak English as their first language!  There you go!

Lastly, the first of a few tracks from Lawrence Welk, His Accordion And Orchestra.  This time it's Doll Dance, and the record is Nimble Fingers (Coral 2x7" 45 RPM EC-82005, Mono, 1955).  We'll revisit this record again (and again) as the month goes on, for more tracks only very tenuously related to Christmas.  Probably a rerun, but I didn't check.

So it that it?  Five tracks for the third.  Here's the download link, enjoy yourselves!

The Return Of Christmas In July-Day 02

Day one went so well, why not do another?  Where to start, where to start...

Track one, that's a good place to start. Jimmie Davis, 2-time governor of Louisiana and country music/gospel recording artist, in a Christmas song from what may have been his last LP,  This One's For You (Canaan (Word) CAS-9907, Stereo, 1983).  This track, entitled Going Home For Christmas, was a bit of a surprise.  I knew Davis had recorded two Christmas LPs back in his prime for Decca, and I'd found at least one single that wasn't on either of those LPs, but I never expected to find a Christmas song on one of his later albums.  But there it was.  I like when that happens!

Track two is Waltz Of The Flowers by Joe "Fingers" Carr from Joe "Fingers" Carr Plays The Classics (Capitol T649, Mono, 1955).  This may be a rerun, I'm not sure and I can't be bothered to check, but it's a cool version.

Track the third, which I know is a rerun, is Mele Kalikimaka, everybody's favorite Hawaiian Christmas song, here performed by The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra Conducted By George Barati from their LP White Ginger Blossoms (Decca DL 74564, Stereo, 1964).  I always look for this track on the Hawaiian albums I find, but it's very rarely there.

Track 4, The Christmas Tree by David Rose from David Rose Plays David Rose (MGM SE3748, Stereo, 1959).  Another rerun, but a really good track that deserves more exposure.  He wrote and performed this song while working as the bandleader on The Red Skelton Show.  Or something like that.  I may have the details mixed up, but you can look it up.

Lastly, Jingle Bells by Danny Kaye-Conducted By Leith Stevens from the soundtrack album The Five Pennies (Dot DLP 29500, Stereo, 1959).  Another rerun, but another good one.

Nice mix of things tonight.  Too many reruns, but that's what you get.  A couple of these tracks came from a folder of Christmas in July tracks I recorded back in 2013, and the other three were recorded but never shared last year.  I didn't record very much in those couple of years, but there is a little bit there.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do, here's the download link.  Don't forget to tell your friends we're back online for the month!

Programming note: I removed the SiteMeter tracking counter from the blog.  I didn't have much trouble with it over the years, except it sometimes seemed to go down at bad times.  But I saw where it had been acting funny the past few days, and I read some not-so-good things on other blogs about it.  So if you've had any trouble on my site getting redirected strange places, that may have been the source.  But it's gone now.

The Return of Christmas In July-Day 1

Here's a little surprise for those of you who might still peek at my blog once in a while.  I've got my own little room over at Jen's house, and I'm filling it up with records.  Sometimes I have a minute or two to spare, and I've recorded a handful of tracks that qualify for Christmas in July.  With a little luck, I'm going to try to share those out with you for the next month.  I make no promises as to how many, or how often, we'll just have to see how this goes.  Lots of what I have is re-recordings of things I shared a long time ago, but I also have enough new stuff to make it worth your while.  So here goes...

Day one starts with a new track, The Star And The Wise Men by The Sarasota Messengers Quartet from their LP The Sarasota Messengers Quartet & The Southern Harmony Trio (Record Manufacturing Corporation 8011-47 (Private Press for The Bahia Vista Mennonite Church, Sarasota, Florida), Stereo).  Why not start with something local?

Track two, which I think is also new to the blog, is a medley of Honolulu Punch-Hawaiian Holiday-Mele Kalikimaka by The Banjo Barons-Arranged And Conducted By Marty Manning from Golden Hawaiian Hits (Columbia CL 1983, Mono, 1963).  Nice little medley with just a hint of Christmas thrown in at the end.  Wish I had found this one in stereo, but now I know to look for it.

Track three is a rerun, Skitch Henderson performing Snowfall with The Tonight Show Orchestra, recorded when he was bandleader on the Tonight Show.  Yes, they had a bandleader before Doc.  This is from the LP More Skitch Tonight (Columbia CS 9250, Stereo, 1966).

Track four, another rerun, The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy by The George Mitchell Choir-Conducted Be Robert DeCormier (well known for his work with Harry Belafonte) from the album Where Have All The Flowers Gone (Liberty LST-7316, Stereo, 1963).  A good track, well worth a revisit.

And finally, the last track and the last rerun of the night, My Favorite Things by The Norman Paris Quartet from their stab at the soundtrack to The Sound Of Music (Harmony (Columbia) HL 7235, Mono, 1960).  Meh, it's filler.

There you go, here's the download link.  Get it while you can, I make no promises.  Sorry if I sound a little rusty, I've been away from the blog for a long time, it may take me a while to find my footing.