Christmas In July 2017 Day 49
Good evening, and welcome to the next-to-the-last day of Christmas In July for this year. Yes, that's right, I've finally gotten down to the end of my enormous stack of vinyl, or at least the end of what I want to spend time recording and sharing. This has been a great month and a half, much more than any of my expectations going into the month. I figured I might be able to do 5 tracks a day, with the occasional skipped day here and there, but I had a few really good weekends of recording, and a few really good weekends of hunting down new records to share. Still some good stuff to share out tonight, with some new stuff, and some special little fixes that I want to get out there before tomorrow's New Year's celebration, the second one this season! So let's see what's here in the pile.
1. The Spirit Of Christmas by Liz Anderson (mother of Lynn), from her album Cookin' Up Hits (RCA Victor LSP-3852, Stereo, 1967). Great cover on this one of Liz in the kitchen cooking up the hits with some rather non-standard kitchen items. That's why I picked it up, but when I saw a Christmas song tucked away in the track list, I knew I'd struck gold.
2. The Pause Of Mr. Claus by Arlo Guthrie from his LP Arlo (Reprise RS 6299, Stereo, 1968). Many years ago, I found this song on one of those old Warner Bros loss-leader double LP samplers they sold for cheap in the late sixties-early seventies. I thought I'd found a Christmas song, but when I played it to see if it really was Christmas, all I heard was Arlo running on about the FBI for six or seven minutes, so I figured it was nothing worth hearing and put the record away. This time, I found the actual LP and listened all the way through. And after all that prologue, Arlo does eventually get around to singing a short song about Santa. As a special hidden bonus track in the download, I dropped an edited version of the track that's just the song. That one you may be willing to listen to more than once. The big monologue, not so much.
3. 4. 5. Narration by Phil McLean
6. Ave Maria by Toni Arden With Chorus And Orchestra Conducted By Earl Sheldon, all four track from The Life Of Christ (In Songs And Narration) (Manor Records ST 91328 aka MR S201, Stereo, 1968). The little narrative bits are Christmas, but not very interesting. However, this version of Ave Maria (the Schubert version) has special lyrics that are well sung by Miss Arden.
7. Jingle Bells by Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians, the final song I ripped for you from Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians Sing America's Favorite Songs (Reader's Digest 8xLP RDA-238 "Courtesy Of Capitol Records Inc.", Stereo, 1981). A good song to end on. Still don't know if these are special recordings or just stuff lifted from his much earlier Capitol albums. So much research to do...
8. Holiday For Strings by David Rose And His Orchestra from The Very Best of David Rose (MGM SE-4155 aka ST-90641, Stereo, 1963). The original (or at least a stereo re-recording by the original artist of an earlier hit) and still the best. Not Christmas, but still well worth your time.
9. Holiday by The Four Freshmen-Orchestra Conducted By Dick Reynolds from The Four Freshmen In Person (Capitol ST1008, Stereo, 1958). Speaking of holiday music... The second volume of this album featured much earlier in the year with a much more Christmas-themed track.
10. Greensleeves by Richard Hayman, His Orchestra And Chorus, from Melodies Of Love (Mainstream ST-91092, Stereo, 1967). Not the best song by Richard Hayman I've shared this season (not a harmonica in sight on this one), but a nice addition to the collection overall.
11. The Christmas Song by Mel Tormé With Wally Stott And Orchestra from Verve's Choice-The Best Of Mel Torme (Verve V6-8593, Stereo, 1964). A great version of a song he wrote much earlier in his career.
12. Christmas In San Francisco by Vic Damone-Arr. & Cond. By Norm Geller-The Sal Carson Orch., from Vic Damone In San Francisco (Rebecca Records R-1214, Stereo, 1979). I've had this song for many years on 45, but I only recently spotted it on an LP. Then I forgot about it and bought it again, so now I have two copies. And I recorded it way back on the very first day of July, but kept saving it for a rainy day. And here it is. This is the sort of thing I love to find!
13. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by Tau Kappa Epsilon (Killan Fehr, Dir.)
14. Holiday For Strings by Kappa Alpha Theta (Beth Shigley, Dir.)
15. Christmas Alleluia by Alpha Chi Omega (Cathy Bondies, Dir.)
16. Ave Maria by Delta Delta Delta (Roxy Anne Childs, Dir.), all four tracks from Sing Song 1962 (Austin Custom Records LCS-33-6244, University Of Texas, Austin, TX, Mono, 1962). I just discovered this last night in the stacks, so I can't spread it out over four days like I normally would, but I figured you'd be interested to hear what Greek life was like in 1962 in the most musical city in Texas. Not sure if things were the same in Austin back then, but these aren't the worst versions of these tunes you'll ever hear. And a vocal version of Holiday For Strings, that's gotta be worth something, right?
17. Frozen Logger by Cathie Taylor from Hootenanny Hoot (MGM E4172ST, Mono, 1963). Not a Christmas tune, but a great little ditty for the cold weather. I read on the sleeve that Cathie was a regular on the Tennessee Ernie Ford TV program, and Jack Fascinato gets an arranging credit on this song, so there's some good solid talent here.
18. Greensleeves by Mantovani And His Orchestra from his album sampler LP Monty (London MS-1 Limited Edition, Mono, 1955). I hate sharing out multiple versions of a song on one night, but I'm running out of days to put things in...
19. The Children's Marching Song (From The 20th Century-Fox Film "The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness") by Ray Martin Conducting The Swingin' Marchin' Band from the LP Parade Of The Pops (RCA Victor LSP-1960, Stereo, 1959). I shared this track out earlier in the season, but that version was mono. Here's a version that will fill up both of your speakers at the same time.
20. Christmas At The Cape by The Kennedy Space Center Chorus, Directed By Arthur C. Benington-Featuring Walter C. Shirra, Narration By Bill Larson, from Voices Of Space (Century Records 32909, Stereo). This is the complete Christmas side of this LP, tracks from which I've been sharing all season. I figured some of you might like to hear the whole presentation as originally presented. Nothing new here, just uncut.
21. March Of The Flowers by Jose Melis, His Piano And Orchestra, from Our Love (Seeco CELP-4710, Stereo, 1961). Again, a stereo version of something I earlier shared in mono. Amazing what turns up sometimes, especially when you've looked at it recently.
And that's it for tonight. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the end-of-year stuff. You don't want to miss anything if you've made it this far. We'll see you then.
Zippyshare
Another fine collection! You've had Holiday for Strings for accordions, flutes and voices this year, to my recollection. I may be missing a few.
ReplyDeleteMerry Mid-Way and Happy Half-Year Ernie!!! You did a fantastic job. Thank you for all the music, it made the summer cooler and will make Christmas warmer.
ReplyDeleteThe Fred Waring track sounds like it may have come from "The Sounds Of Christmas", one of his Capitol albums.
ReplyDeleteI love it when July has 20 days more than expected. Thank you for all the Christmas goodies. Looking forward to much tonight, none of it I knew before in these versions.
ReplyDeletethe 1963 version of rose’s holiday for strings is first rate. i prefer the 1955 version. the real point is that both are far superior to the original 1942 version. that is due in part to production techniques. but i also believe that in later versions, rose just had better musicians. i’m usually predisposed to like an original of anything. but this song is a showpiece that’s designed to impress. and on that 1942 recording, the pizzicato strings don’t blend very well and sometimes struggle to keep up with the beat, leaving you with the feeling that all the really good fiddlers had already been drafted. that’s my opinion, anyway. the millions who bought the record obviously thought otherwise. [and how about those chicks in texas. they didn’t even need a fiddle.]
ReplyDeleteThanks for the extended festive feast. You probably already knew this about Liz Anderson, but if not, here's a link to a whole album of Christmas songs she did, courtesy of blogger 'el rancho' --- www49.zippyshare.com/v/35a2C2CA/file.html
ReplyDelete