Christmas In July 2017 Day 48
What day is this? I can't keep track anymore. Wednesday, I think. I know it's day 48 of Christmas in July, even though it's been 47 days (I got the bright idea to share twice on one day, not sure why). We're getting really close to the end here, though we're not at the bottom of the barrel by any means. I've been trying really hard all this time to space out the really good tracks so it doesn't become too boring around here. So you've always got something good to look forward to, and I don't think tonight is any different. Let's jump in and see what we've got.
1. The Sleigh by Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians from the box Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians Sing America's Favorite Songs (Reader's Digest 8xLP RDA-238 "Courtesy Of Capitol Records Inc.", Stereo, 1981). Short, but sweet.
2. Silent NIght by The Band Of The Irish Guards, Director Of Music: Lieut-Colonel C.H. Jaegar, Conducted By Alfred Ralston, from the soundtrack to Oh! What A Lovely War (Paramount PAS 5008, Stereo, 1969). I always pick up old soundtracks when I see them, you never know when you're going to find some Christmas music hidden in there.
3. Oriental Holiday by Billy Vaughn And His Orchestra from Songs I Wrote (Ranwood HLP 12162, Stereo, 1966). More of the pizzicato string music that's been a staple around here for a few days. Vaughn may have written it, but it owes an awful lot to David Rose.
4. Moonlight In Vermont by Lee Scott With Tony Luis Quintet from Lee Scott Sings Cool Music For Warm People (Strand SLS 1047, Stereo, 1962). An album with a great cover that I picked up and checked just because of that cover. And this was the closest I could come to a Christmas song on there. Old stereo where the balance is all on one side, so don't be surprised when you listen.
5. Mary Had A Baby by Eastern Mennonite High School Touring Chorus, Director: Marvin L. Miller, Soprano Solo: Sylvia Brunk, from the LP Eastern Mennonite High School Touring Chorus, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 1969-70 (Rittenhouse Custom Recordings RCR 1019S, Stereo, 1970). One of the very last private press things I've got for you, or at least one of the last ones I recorded.
6. Joy (Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring) by The Ventures from their album Joy-The Ventures Play The Classics (United Artists UAS-5575, Stereo, 1972). I was trying to find their Nutcracker tribute, but came up with this instead. Good enough for me! This isn't your usual guitar-driven Ventures track, though. More keyboards than anything else.
7. In The Winter by Janis Ian from her album Between The Lines (Columbia PC 33394, Stereo, 1975). After I shared out Sheena Easton's version of this song, I had to go searching for the original, and here it is. You get lucky sometimes.
8. In The Bleak Midwinter by Oratorio Chorus Of The Guelph Light Opera Company-Charles M. Wilson, Mus. Doc., Director, from Songs For All Seasons (Guelph Light Opera Company GLOC 1968, Stereo). Gotta be close to the end on this album. I hope.
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by St. Paul's Boys Choir from Songs For The Seasons (Fleetwood BMC5075, Stereo). Not the same album as the one above, they just happen to share a title.
10. A Dreamer's Holiday by Buddy Clark from Buddy Clark's Greatest Hits (Columbia CS 9434, Electronically Re-Channeled For Stereo, 1967). Another track from this one, but not as good as the one with Dinah Shore.
11. Dirty Claus Rag by Country Joe And The Fish from the album Reunion (Fantasy F-9530, Stereo, 1977). Now this, this was a find! I picked up the album just to verify that it was the same Country Joe & The Fish from Woodstock, and it was. But then I happened to make out one word in a handwritten font in one of the track titles that looked like it said Claus. So I grabbed it and gave it a listen. Sure enough, it's a Christmas song about Santa stealing his Christmas tree. Awesome stuff!
12. Cold Blanket Polka (Zimna Pierzyna) by Connecticut Twins Orchestra from Holiday In Poland (Stella S-LP 926, Stereo). Can I share all the songs from this LP since it has the word Holiday in the title? No, I best not.
13. The Christmas Song by Tony Mottola from Close To You-A Guitar For Lovers (Project 3 PR 5050SD, Stereo, 1970). Very mellow, but still a great track.
14. At Christmastime, another track by Harry Secombe, Florence Henderson, Elizabeth Larner, Toralv Maurstad & Chorus-With The London Symphony Orchestra, from the soundtrack to Song Of Norway (ABC Records ABCS-OC-14, Stereo, 1971). This one grows on me a bit each time I listen to it.
15. All Praise To Thee, Eternal Lord by Professional Chorus And Orchestra, Musical Director-Dale Warland, Organist-Paul Manz, from the triple album A Time For Singing (Commission On Worship And Church Music and The Commission On Public Communication Of The American Lutheran Church, Distributed Through Augsburg Publishing House 3xLP 5-5597, -5598, -5599, Stereo). I think this is the end of the selections I pulled from this one.
16. Quiet Christmas by St. Paul's Catholic Church Junior Choir-Sister Marie Therese S.S.J., Director-Mrs Eleanor Loyless, Accompanist, from the LP St. Paul's Junior Choir (Fidelity Sound 633F-1584 "Dedicated To The Memory Of President John F. Kennedy", Mono, 1964). I wonder if this St. Paul's has anything to do with the one above? Doubt it, it's a pretty common name.
17. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by Bingtown Brass Band & Others from the album Tubby The Tuba And Other Stories, Songs And Marches (Happy Time (Pickwick) HT-1020, Mono). Since this one sounds much older than the other track I previously shared from this album, I'm guessing it's performed by the "Others" in the artist credit.
18. My Favorite Things by Mary Martin-Music By Robert Lowe And His Orchestra, from the LP Mary Martin Sings The Sound Of Music-Rodgers And Hammerstein (D*sneyland DQ 1296, Mono, 1966). Short, very short.
19. Greensleeves by The Ramsey Lewis Trio from Down To Earth-The Ramsey Lewis Trio Plays Music From The Soil (Mercury MG 36150 Promotional Record For Broadcast Only Not For Sale, Mono, 1958). There is probably a story behind this LP that I don't know. The trio appears courtesy of Argo, so why they didn't release the LP? I don't know.
20. Gin For Christmas by Lionel Hampton And Orchestra from Open House (RCA Camden CAL-517, Originally Recorded October 30, 1939, Mono, 1959). A collection of older tracks, and one of the first songs I ever found for Christmas In July years ago. That copy was on an older 10" LP. Was still excited to find this version, though.
And that's it for the 48th night. Hope there's something in there for you to enjoy. Come back tomorrow for more.
Zippyshare
One of your best, if not the best collection of them all.
ReplyDeleteI have that Lee Scott LP and I know why you like the cover.
I've shared some obscure Mennonite records, but this takes the prize.
The Buddy Clark track is superb, no matter what you say.
Country Joe reunited with the Fish to sing the Dirty Claus Rag? That one's a must.
Thank you very much for this set. Without actually listening yet, by the descriptions and the selection, this could be one of my favorite nights yet, and it's nice to see a familiar selection, the Janis Ian, amongst the unknown. Between the Lines is one of my favorite softer rock albums from the mid Seventies.
ReplyDeletei liked the humble quality ‘quiet christmas’ by the st paul’s catholic church junior choir. the record doesn’t even promise high-fidelity… merely fidelity. i contrast that with the rather bombastically named Professional Chorus and Orchestra. i mean, you are professional insofar as you are professional. if you have to stake a claim to it, then i suspect room for doubt.
ReplyDeletewith all these pizzeria strings plinking and planking and even plunking away, i gotta make sure everyone has heard this favorite, but somewhat obscure example of the genre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyM02WpzDn4
tony acquaviva did a lot of work at mgm around the time that david rose was there. ‘curtain time’ just reeks of rose. he was married to joni james.
trivia question: what is the best-selling instrumental band of all time? answer: the ventures! probably some of you here knew that. it was as much of a surprise to me as learning about how big guy lombardo once was. but just think. if you are some kid who loves rockNroll and wants to be cool, but you speak japanese or finnish or greek, and you know you will sound ridiculous if you try to sing it in english, what do you do? sing in finnish? yeah maybe. but it’ll never sound like the original stuff. or you can avoid the language problems entirely by playing instrumentals. and that’s what untold thousands of rock bands did around the world for decades. and the ventures were the band with a distinctive sound that could do instrumental rock versions of any song that hit the charts. i remember going to woolworths in the early 60s because they were cheaper than the local record store. for some reason, their record counter was in the middle of the pet section. and so, while surrounded by caged parakeets and piles of hartz mountain bird seed, i’d thumb through bins of albums that i couldn’t afford. the ‘youth market’ bins had examples of one-hit wonders, a few early beach boy albums, and even by 1963, half a dozen ventures albums. these guys could record their laundry list and it would have ‘the sound’. and that sound could be (and was) imitated all over the world. long after they faded from any pretense at popularity in the states, they were still big international stars. i can’t say that their version of ‘jesu joy…’ rings my chimes. and if they knew that, they might cry all the way to the bank.
I've picked up quite a few Acquiviva albums recently for whatever reason, but I haven't found anything to share yet. Someday...
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