Christmas In July 2017 Day 15

Trying to get this done early today so I can go out and see Spiderman today.  I doubt it has any Christmas content in it, though, so this post is going to have to be it for the day.  Here's what you're getting for the almost halfway point.

1. Snowfall, a personal favorite version by George Shearing, String Choir Conducted By Billy May from the LP The Shearing Touch (Capitol ST1472, Stereo, 1960).  And Billy May makes anything better.

2. Glory To Him (Ukranian Carol) (Na Nebi Sirka) by Don Cossack Choir-Serge Jaroff, Conductor-Soloist: I. Seifert from Russian Fair (Decca Gold Label DL 710016, Stereo, 1959).  I'm sure neither Donald Trump nor any of his associates have ever listened to this song.

3. Fuyu No Yoru (Winters Night) by 101 Strings, Conducted By Richard Müller-Lampertz, Koto Solos By Shinichi Yuize, another track from Songs Of The Seasons In Japan (Alshire S-5019, Stereo, 1964).  If you'd told me 20 years ago that I'd be caring even slightly about 101 Strings, I'd have told you that you were crazy, yet here we are.

4. Doll Dance by Vincent Lopez, His Piano And Orchestra from Lopez Playing (Columbia Special Archive Series CSRP 8229, Stereo, 1960).  I thought I had already shared this one this year, but I guess not.  I know I've shared it in years past, though.

5. (a) Las Posadas: Pastorcita Virgen (b) Las Posadas: Virgen Shepherdess By Unknown Mexican Children from the LP Latin American Children Game Songs-Recorded In Puerto Rico And Mexico By Henrietta Yurchenco (Folkways FC 7851, "Electronically Rechanneled To Simulate Stereo", 1968).  I guess Henrietta Yurchenco was somewhat like Alan Lomax in that she went out and recorded folk music in it's natural environs.  Interesting stuff.  You'll get more of this later in the month.

6. The Troika by Alfred Newman Conducting The 20th Century-Fox Orchestra, which I just pulled this morning from Anastasia-Music From The Soundtrack (Decca DL 8460, Mono, 1956).  Doesn't sound very Christmassy, but the name...  It's all in the title.

7. The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot by The Sun Tones, another great old favorite of mine from A Touch Of Gold (Sunrise Records LP 2309, Mono, 1961).  It's hard to go wrong with a barbershop Christmas song!

8. I Wonder As I Wander Out Under The Sky, another song by John Jacob Niles, Mountaineer Tenor, With Dulcimer Accompaniment from his LP John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs (RCA Camden CAL 245, Mono, 1956).  Again, someone who sought out old folk songs, only this time he recorded them himself instead of recording the original performers.

9.  Beautiful Candy By The Paul Smith Ensemble from Carnival! In Percussion (Verve V-4051, Mono, 1961).  I love the candy songs!

And that's it!  Today is the day when I passed the symbolic 100 songs shared!  So you've got a pretty good selection going and there's plenty more where this came from.  I'm back on track with recording more than I'm sharing (which obviously can't keep going forever) so there's plenty in the pile for you.  Here's the link for you, and have a great day.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 14

Fourteen days in a row, I'm on fire!  No, really, I'm on fire, somebody come over and spray some water before all this vinyl starts melting and I drown!  OK, I'm obviously delirious from staying up too late recording music.  So I'm gonna share some Christmas music and hit the hay.  What have I got for you tonight?  Let's have a look...

1. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year, another one by Leslie Uggams-Arranged And Conducted By Glenn Osser, from the album So In Love! (Columbia CL 2071, Mono, 1963).  Need to dig this one up in stereo.  And I need to dig up two Christmas singles that Leslie recorded for MGM back in the day under the name Leslie Crayne.  I believe they were also reissued as a single EP once she became a little better known.  Anybody care to hook me up with a hard copy?

2. Winter Moon by the legendary Hoagy Carmichael With The Pacific Jazzmen-Arranged And Conducted By Johnny Mandel from what I think was his last LP, Hoagy Sings Carmichael (Pausa 9006 (reissue of Pacific Jazz PJ 1223, 1957), Mono, 1982).  Good stuff.  I only know of one true Christmas song by Hoagy, and it took me forever, but I eventually found a 45 of it as performed by The Mills Brothers.

3. Blue December by Gordon Jenkins And His Orchestra from the album Gordon Jenkins' Almanac ("X" (on sleeve) Vik (on label) LXA-1026, Mono, 1955).  Interesting collection of songs, one for each month of the year.  Another one I may go back and revisit in it's entirety after the month is over.

4. March Of The Toys by Ethel Smith from Ethel Smith's Toy Parade (Decca 10" 33 RPM DL 5283, Mono, 1951).  I still need to go back through and compare these older versions to the newer ones to see if they are the same or re-recordings.  She re-released a lot of her stuff time and again, so much so that I don't know what's what.

5. Ave Maria by Connie Francis from her tribute to JFK, In The Summer Of His Years (MGM SE 4210, Stereo, 1963). Don't think I've had this one in stereo before, but I could be mistaken.

6. Skater's Cha Cha by the great Claude Thornhill And His Orchestra from his album Dance To The Sound Of Claude Thornhill And His Orchestra (Decca DL 78878, Stereo, 1958).  Yes, he did songs other than Snowfall.

7. Divertissement De Chocolat, another track from Tchaivoksky's Nutcracker Ballet performed by Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, pulled from the album Khatchaturian-Masquerade/Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1029 (Reissue of 78 RPM set DM-1164), Mono, 1946).  Excellent stuff, as always from these folks.

8. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Bill Mann With The Concert Orchestra Of Stockholm, title track from the album Go Tell It On The Mountain (Word W-3321-LP, Mono, 1965).  Good stuff here.

9. Jesus Born In A Manger by Aunt Theresa Worman from Aunt Theresa's Stories (Super Recordings SR-2026, Mono).  Well, they can't all be good, can they?

And that's it.  I'm tired.  Good night.  See you again tomorrow, I hope.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 13

Lucky number 13!  I must be doing something right.  Let's jump right in, feet first. first time!

1. The Sound Of Christmas by 101 Strings, Recorded Under The Direction Of D.L. Miller, a rerun around here, but this time pulled from the album Themes And Songs Of American Holidays (Alshire S-5056, Stereo, 1967).  Pretty sure when I shared this with you last time, it was from a promo version sent to radio stations with a slightly different track list.  This track is still the same, though, and pretty good.

2. Toy Symphony, Hob. II, No. 27, a bit of classical goodness by Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Heilbronn-Jörg Faerber, Conductor, from the LP Humour In Music-18th Century Style (Turnabout (Vox) TV 34134S, Stereo, 1967).  I don't know about the humour bit, but it's nice music.

3. Winter Time by Trio Shmeed-Orchestra Conducted By Don Costa, an excellent new find this year, and the second song I've shared with you from their LP Trio Schmeed (ABC-Paramount ABC-103, Mono, 1955).  There's some other nice stuff on this LP, probably one of the ones I'll go back and record when I have some free time and it's not July.

4. Les Patineurs-Waltz, OP. 183 performed by Robert Irving, Conducting Sinfonia Of London, and lifted from the LP Philharmonic Pops (Capitol SG 7178, Stereo, 1958).  If you don't recognize the title, it's The Skater's Waltz in French, I believe.  Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

5. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers  (From "Chauve Souris") by Richard Hayman And His Harmonica Orchestra from his stereo spectacular Harmonica Holiday (Mercury PPS 6005, Stereo, 1961).  From another set of stereo show-off discs, this time the series put out on Mercury.

6. Let There Be Peace On Earth (Let It Begin With Me) by The Norman Luboff Choir from This Is Norman Luboff! (RCA Victor LSP-2342, Mono, 1961).  One of those albums I've seen a thousand times but never looked at the track list.  Monday I picked it up and there it was.  Now if I'd only done that with a nice clean stereo copy...

7. Ding Dong Merrily On High by The Dixie High School Madrigal Singers from The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, OH, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  I really haven't shared out very many of these home-baked high school musicals this year.  I have them in the pile, I've just been more interested in the other stuff I have to share.  But when I get to them, you'll know it!

8. Moonlight In Vermont by Brook Benton from Songs I Love To Sing (Mercury SR 60602, Stereo, 1960).  Not sure about the Christmas relevance of this song, but I've seen it pop up on plenty of winter-themed albums.  I guess there are a couple lines in there that could be winter...

9. Dream Of A Doll by Al Bollington, another track from his LP Organ Hues In Hi-Fi (Dot DLP 3110, Mono, 1958).  Not sure how I reached the point where any song with the word 'Doll' in the title is a possible Christmas song, but here we are.

And here we are at the end of a particularly long list of songs tonight.  Hope there's something in there that you find enjoyable.  Leave me a note and let me know what your favorite is.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 12

Whew, got off at a decent hour today so I was able to record a few tracks for the pile. I keep finding more and more records that I want to grab a track from, they seem to come out of the woodwork at times.  At some point I'm going to have to just stop and call it good enough, but not any time real soon since I'm on a bit of a roll.  So let's take a look at what I've got tonight for you.

1. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Thurlow Spurr And The Spurrlows from The Spurrlows Now (Word WST-8445-LP, Stereo, 1969).  A great little bit of Now Sound from a religious LP.  These guys were hired by Chrysler to go around and perform concerts back in the late Sixties.  They even released a Christmas LP during that period, and it's not too shabby.

2. Baby Doll (Theme From "Baby Doll") by Ted Heath And His Music from Showcase (London LL 1737, Mono, 1958).  Not quite as good as the other Ted Heath I shared with you recently, but no the worst thing I'll share out with you this month.

3. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers, one of those songs I probably share too frequently this month, but you gotta take what you can get.  This one is performed by The Peter London Orchestra-Arranged And Conducted By Art Harris from the LP The Sound Of Top Brass (Kapp ML-7500, Mono, 1960).  If memory serves (and it usually doesn't these days), this is the second track I've brought to you this month from this LP.  And I think there's one more to go.

4. Skating In Central Park (From "Odds Against Tomorrow") by John Lewis from the various artists album Jazz From The Movies (Ascot AM 13012, Mono, 1964).  Pretty sure I shared out a track of the same name by The Modern Jazz Quartet some years ago, but it didn't ring any bells when I listened to it.  Must not be very memorable.

5. Lulle Lullay (The Coventry Carol) by John Jacob Niles, Mountaineer Tenor, With Dulcimer Accompaniment, one of the unsung early collectors of folk songs across America, taken from his album John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs (RCA Camden CAL 245, Mono, 1956).  Nice, and there are a couple more where this one came from.

6. My Favorite Things by The Hi-Lo's With Orchestra Conducted By Warren Barker from Broadway Playbill (Columbia CS 8213, Stereo, 1960).  Everybody needs more of The Hi-Lo's in their life.  Honest!

7. Winter Wonderland by Cliff Duphiney With Vincent Marino, Percussionist from the interestingly titled LP Cliff Duphiney's Explosion Of The Tone Cabinets (Decora-Amphora DALP 2002, Mono, 1961).  I was disappointed to find out that I had shared this one before in Stereo.  I guess not every re-share is an improvement.

8. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year by the great Bing Crosby With The Pete Moore Orchestra from the very last LP he recorded in his lifetime, Seasons (Polydor PD-1-6128, Stereo, 1977).  Such a great voice, and truly the father of almost all modern Christmas songs.  If he'd stopped after his first version of White Christmas, we'd still be talking about him today, but the rest of his Christmas catalog is right up there with the classics of Western civilization.

And that's it.  Another eight tracks, and I recorded 12 today, so I'm banking four.  That doesn't catch me up to yesterday, but I'm doing OK.  The weekend isn't too far away.  Hope you're finding something you like and thanks for stopping by!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 11

Whew, long, long day at work today, and didn't get anything done.  So I'm late tonight.  And I didn't get to record a single thing.  That's the first time since the beginning of the month that I haven't recorded more than I shared.  Oh, well, there should be plenty of days left in the month for me to make up for it.  Anyhow, I picked a quick set of shares tonight, so here goes.

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Vaughn Monroe, not the original hit but a short version he recorded for Dot, His Greatest Hits (Dot DLP 25431, Stereo, 1962).  Nice to have this song in stereo, but it turns out this wasn't his first stereo recording of his 1945 hit.  Stay tuned...

2. Baby It's Cold Outside by not one but two great bands, Ted Heath And His Music & Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra, performing together for their second LP, Heath Vs. Ros Round 2 (London Phase 4 SP 44089, Stereo, 1967).  If you don't have both of their albums together, go find them now!

3. My Favorite Things (From The Production "The Sound Of Music") by Peter Nero, pulled from the album The Screen Scene Starring Peter Nero (RCA Victor LSP-3496, Stereo, 1966).  No arguments about whether or not this is a Christmas song, please.  It is what it is...

4. Honolulu Punch; Hawaiian Holiday; Mele Kalikimaka, a giant medley with a little bit of Christmas content by The Banjo Barons-Arranged And Conducted By Marty Manning, the stereo version of something I shared out a couple years ago in mono, from the LP The Banjo Barons Play Golden Hawaiian Hits (Columbia CS 8783, Stereo, 1963).  There's more where this came from, so stay tuned.

5. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (From "On The Avenue") by Erroll Garner from Plays For Dancing (Columbia CL 667, Mono, 1956).  Garner is an underappreciated pianist in my humble opinion.  Wish he'd done more Christmas stuff.

6. Chilly Winds by Morgana King from her album Everybody Loves Saturday Night (Ascot ALS 16020, Stereo, 1964), which is actually a reissue of an earlier LP on United Artists from 1959 that I've never seen.  Good stuff, but not the best track on this LP.  Stay tuned!

7. Pas De Deux, a tiny slice of the Nutcracker Ballet by Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, reissued in the LP Khatchaturian-Masquerade/Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1029, Mono, 1946).  This is the second track I've shared with you from this LP, and I've got two more to go.  Stay tun...well, you get the picture.

8. Walking On Ice, the second track I've brought you from The Kermit Leslie Orchestra and their album "Middlebrow" Music For The Hi-Fi Fan With The Kermit Leslie Orchestra (Epic 10" 33 RPM LG 1019, Mono, 1954).  And as a special treat for you tonight, my good pal Buster has decided to host the whole thing over at his blog, the home of all the 10" mid-century vinyl you could ever want.  Head on over and say howdy, tell him Honest Ern sent you!

And that's it.  Don't forget to stay tuned each and every day for the entire month of July for more and more goodies just like these!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 10

Hello!  And welcome to day 10!  I've just wasted an hour trying to get a cha cha cha version of a Nutcracker Suite song to play without skipping, and nothing I did worked.  So I'm a little frustrated tonight.  It's very rare that I come across a record that I can't play without skipping, I've got quite a few tricks up my sleeve, but this one just wouldn't cooperate.  So that's one track you aren't going to be hearing tonight, sorry.  Let's take a look at what I do have to share tonight.  I think all the tracks this evening are pulled from stuff I recorded for the un-heard Christmas in July 2016.  Here goes.

1. Silver Bells From The Paramount Picture "The Lemon Drop Kid" by Kitty Kallen & Richard Hayes from the LP Kitty Kallen Sings (Mercury Wing SRW 16241, Electronic Stereo, 1963).  I was so excited when I picked up this record and saw this track on there.  I ran home and ripped it pretty quick.  I think they recorded this for a single back in 1950, but I've never seen it.

2. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by Ken Griffin, not from his Christmas album but from The Sparkling Touch!-Bright And Merry Organ Favorites (Columbia CL 1709, Mono, 1961).  It could be on his Christmas album, but I didn't look to see.

3. The Things We Did Last Summer by Eydie Gorme-Arranged And Produced By Don Costa, one of a few tracks I'll be sharing from her LP Love Is A Season (ABC-Paramount ABC-273, 1959).  Not sure how it happened, but side one of my LP is in stereo while side two is in mono.  Luckily this track was on side 1 so it's presented here in stereo.

4. Snowball by The Four Populaires from the LP The Four Populaires At Greenbrier (Squire LP 553 A-B "At The Greenbrier, White Sulpher Springs, W. Va.", Mono).  Another LP by some local group that wanted to sell a souvenir at gigs.  Sometimes good, sometimes bad, you just never know what you're going to get.  Not sure that this one has anything to do with Christmas, but the title is good.

5. Green Sleeves by Kurt Jensen & His Orchestra from the album Complete Dance Party (Hallmark Blue Label Series HLP 305, Stereo).  And another one from somebody few people ever heard.

6. O Holy Night by Helen Harbourt Zingg, Soprano; Male Chorus; Julius C. Zingg. F.A.G.O., Organist And Director, from their album Union Choir Sings (Mirrorsonic CM 7135, Mono).  And then there's the records that are pressed up by groups who just want a record of their singing.  Lots of these, too.

7. Greensleeves by Buck Owens' Buckaroos-Fiddle Solo By Don Rich from a Buck-less LP called Anywhere, U.S.A. (Capitol ST 194, Stereo, 1969).  Did I really just put a second version of Greensleeves in the share tonight?  Sigh...

8. Snowfall by Hugo Winterhalter from his great unknown LP A Season For My Beloved (ABC-Paramount ABCS-447, Stereo, 1963).  I guess Mr. Winterhalter got tired of being the house everything at RCA after a while and went to record this LP for ABC.  Not sure how that worked out for him, it's not something you see very often.

And that's it.  Eight more tracks, we're headed in the right direction.  See you tomorrow!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 9

It is the ninth, right?  I'm losing track of time.  So much Christmas music, so little time.  Let's go...

1. Baby It's Cold Outside, one of my favorite versions ever, by Ted Heath And His Music & Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra from their second LP together, Heath Vs. Ros Round 2 (London Phase 4 SP 44089, Stereo, 1967).  Seriously, give this a listen right now.  And if you love it, so out and buy the rest of the songs from their two albums together.

2. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm by Eric Johnson And His Orchestra from the LP Irving Berlin-Blue Skies And Other Favorites (Westminster WST 15021, Stereo, 1958).  I love these early Westminster albums.  I found this one and a couple full Christmas albums I didn't have just yesterday.  Gotta love it when you find good stuff at a good time.

3. 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 LPM-1960, Mono, 1959).  Not really a Christmas song, but a lot of childhood favorites in medley form.  Pretty good either way.

4. Dancing Doll by TV favorite Lawrence Welk And His Champagne Music from Dance Party Featuring Lawrence Welk And His Champagne Music (Mercury MG 20092, Mono, 1956).  If you've never listened to Lawrence Welk's early stuff, so give it a listen.  It's much better than the stuff you used to watch with your grandmother on TV.  Really!

5. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers (From "Chauve Souris") by Henri René And His Orchestra from the Stereo Action LP Dynamic Dimensions (RCA Victor LSA-2396, Stereo, 1961).  I've got all the albums in this series after many years of collecting, but I still buy them when I see them if they're cheap.  They are a beautiful thing to behold with their thick cardboard die-cut jackets, their fancy abstract color photographic inserts and the copious liner notes.

6. Sleigh Ride by Al Bollington from Organ Hues In Hi-Fi (Dot LP 3110, Mono, 1958).  Sleigh Ride is one of the easier Christmas songs to find on non-Christmas LPs.  It shows up in all sorts of places, from organ show-off LPs like this one to Leroy Anderson tributes to seasonal themed albums.  You learn over the years how to spot these things, trust me.

7. I Wonder As I Wander-Appalachian Carol by Mildred Miller from 100th Anniversary Commemorative Concert (John Hancock JH-100S, Stereo, 1961).  I shared this out a long time ago in mono, but had never seen a stereo copy until a week or so ago.  There is was at the half-price Goodwill clearance store.  I figure it was a sign!  Most of the tracks on this one feature Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops, but this one seems to be a capella.

8. Winter Melody by Donna Summer-Accompanied By The "Munich Machine" from the album Four Seasons Of Love (Casablanca NBLP 7038, Stereo, 1976).  I'd hoped this would be a little more disco, but it's closer to early Euro-pop.  Still a nice change of pace from what you normally get around here.

And I think that's it for the night.  Before I give you the download link, I want to point you to an interesting little spreadsheet I made the other day.  It lists every single track I've ever shared with you during Christmas in July!  I put everything into a playlist, then exported it to a spreadsheet.  It's a neat look at what I've shared before, and you can see the things that I've shared more than once.  I figure even after you take out all the duplicates, it's well over 1000 songs!  Have a look here.  And it's not a list for requests.  Most of those songs aren't coming back, at least not in that form.  And here's the download link for the night:

Zippyshare