Christmas In July 2018-Day 08
Day eight, so that's the first week down. How we doin', everybody hanging on, keeping up, ready for more? Good! Let's go for week two!
1. Greensleeves by Raymond Lewenthal-Piano, from his LP Moonlight And Keyboard (Westminster XWN 18403, Mono, 1956). If you ever wonder why I share so many versions of Greensleeves, it's because it's easy to find versions of it. It's really old, so there's no royalties to be paid to the songwriter, and you can sing What Child Is This to the tune, so it's Christmas!
2. Silent Night by First United Methodist Church, Cullman, Alabama-Bell Choir, from their LP A Celebration In Song (Prestige 80-157, Stereo, 1981). Yes, it's my first song of the year featuring the handbells! And I don't know if I'll have anymore or not. This one was kind of a surprise when I put it on the turntable, I wasn't expecting it. So enjoy it!
3. Go Where I Send Thee by The Weavers from The Weavers At Carnegie Hall (Vanguard VRS 9010 (Metropolitan Music Library VG 9010), Mono, 1959). Pretty sure I've shared this one with you multiple times in years gone by, but this release featured a different cover than usual. Must be some sort of club or something, this Metropolitan Music Library.
4. White Snow by Bob Lind from The Elusive Bob Lind (Verve Folkways FT-3005, Mono, 1966). Don't know much about this one. Perhaps one of you will chime in with some detail. :) Good song, though.
5. Miniature Overture, the only Nutcracker song of the night, this time by Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra-Andre Kostelanetz, Piano Soloist, from Nutcracker Suite-Between Birthdays-Verses By Ogden Nash (Columbia Masterworks ML 5664, Mono, 1961). Got lots and lots of Nutcracker music this year, but I don't want to overwhelm you with it every day. At least not here at the beginning.
6. Winter by The Young Americans from The Young Americans Presented By Johnny Mathis (Mercury MG 21023, Mono, 1965). I swear, you have to turn over every record you find and scan the track listing, even if you think you've done it before. There's songs to be found everywhere!
7. Skater's Waltz by Lawrence Welk's favorite, Bob Ralston, from his LP 22 All-Time Organ Favorites (RCA Camden CAS-917, Stereo, 1966). OK, maybe not his favorite, but certainly one of his cohorts.
8. The Angelus by Bob Beck At The Chapel Organ from The Grotto Organs In Reverie (Adon, Oregon Ltd. V8844, Mono). Somebody told me once this was their favorite Christmas song, but I don't remember who that was. I'm not really familiar with it, I'm afraid.
9. Moonlight In Vermont by The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco, His Harp And Orchestra, from Music For A Summer Evening (RCA Victor Club Record CSP-105, Stereo, 1963). One of the first records I ever shared out for Christmas was Bianco's Christmas album, in mono. Thought I was the only person in the world who had that record. I thought harps for Christmas was the greatest thing ever. Little did I know the depth and variety of the Christmas world!
10. White Christmas by Steve Lawrence from Steve And Eydie Sing The Golden Hits (ABC Paramount ABCS-311, Stereo, 1960). Took me many years to find a stereo copy of this one, so now I have to buy it whenever I see it. I'm trying to to share too many reruns with you this year, but I'm sure it's still more than 50% of my shares. Maybe not in this post, but in general.
OK, that's it, another day down. Thanks for coming by!
Zippyshare
i applaud the effort to expand the christmas music repertoire. we ‘ve all heard the usual suspects too many times. i desperately want to hear new christmas songs. but that doesn’t mean i’ll redefine an old standard like “moonlight in vermont” simply because one or two verses reference cold weather. for me that’s not enough. i know, i know… half of the usuals don’t mention christmas or santa claus or the sweet baby jesus. and yet we call them christmas songs. i suppose that when i was six years old, if mr rogers or howdy doody or captain kangaroo had crooned in december “moonlight in vermont” (or for that matter, any other song) and simultaneously jingled a few sleigh bells, today i’d probably think of it as christmas music. but that didn’t happen (perhaps for a reason). like i say, i applaud the effort. the problem is with me. i guess it’s hard to teach an old dog new licks.
ReplyDeleteBob Lind had a hit way back when with "The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Love" or some such nonsense. I avoided the song and so have never heard the LP (although I have certainly seen it enough).
ReplyDeleteDid Welk have other organists than Ralston? Was Aladdin an organist? I thought he was creepy.
Bob Lind came out of the Folk music movement of the early 60s. He was as much a songwriter for others as a performer. He signed with World Pacific and scored a Top Ten hit with "Elusive Butterfly" in 1965. "The Elusive Bob Lind" is a collection of demos he'd recorded (for labels and/or artists) in the years before "Elusive Butterfly". Verve Folkways purchased the rights to the demos, slapped in some drums, strings, and other instruments, and released the album in 1966 hoping to capitalize on the success of "Elusive Butterfly". This was a pretty common tactic in those days. Bob disowned the album and it has never been re-issued. Only one song from it--"Cool Summer"--has ever been issued on CD (on some obscure British comp of obscurities). Bob went through some stuff, gained a reputation of being difficult, battled with drugs, and drifted in and out of music for a while. At one point, he was a writer for the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News (reportedly, the cover story about the Bat Boy was one of his). Arlo Guthrie coaxed him out of "retirement" in 2004 and he's been touring and recording ever since. Around 2005, Bob wrote "A New Year's Carol"--a biting yet hopeful takedown of Christmas commercialism. After polishing the song over the years, he released it as a free download around 2009 or 2010. It was oddly one of my most popular posts at Stubby's. You can still get "A New Year's Carol" as a free download from Bob Lind's website (scroll down to Bonus Demos). http://boblind.com/music/
ReplyDeleteBuster: Don't be afraid to check out more Bob. Elusive Butterfly isn't really that typical, and there are many of his tracks that go way beyond the hit making formula. There is a reason that "Elusive Butterfly" turned him into a one hit wonder. It's probably the worst song he recorded if you hate cheesy pop. The rest of what I've heard is more substantive than that, and it would have confused most of the AM radio listeners of the day.
ReplyDeleteErnie: Thanks as always for another batch, and possibly my favorite so far re: selections. I absolutely don't mind repeats as all as it's helping me to rebuild what I lost in the crash.
Stubby: Thanks for the info and link. I'll need to check that out.
Stubby and Kwork - Thanks for the info and recommendation! I'll have to give Bob another chance.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I wish I had time to do is to research and write up a bit of background on some of the artists and recordings I share. But unfortunately I fall into the trap of quantity over quality, so I don't get to do that like I would like. So thanks, Stubby, for taking the time to write that up and share some background, and even another holiday song! Much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to all the rest of you, too, for taking the time to leave comments frequently. Some days it seems awful quiet around here. But then it's July, not December. :)
You get considerably more comments than I do. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteI have a good core of people that support Christmas in Juky!! WereWlike a weird little family. :)
ReplyDeleteTrue, the holidays (or semi-holidays) bring out the people and the comments. Makes you wonder why our biggest public festival--biggest on the planet--has towns getting sued for celebrating it in the "public square." At least those types aren't chasing after us, though the internet is a public form (oops). Okay, don't tell them.
ReplyDeletePublic forum, I meant.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your continued efforts, Ernie. One comment: The date of release of The Weavers album "The Weavers at Carnegie Hall" was 1957 instead of 1959. That would apply to the songs on Day 8 and Day 23 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weavers_at_Carnegie_Hall
ReplyDeleteOh my--The Young Americans! I've been looking for anything by them forever! Thsnk you so much.
ReplyDelete