Christmas In July 2018-Day 38

Hello! And welcome to day 38!  And for the first time in a long while, we have a theme day!  It's taken forever, but I have collected up a whole double handful of tracks from those most curious of records, the 10 incher!  This post is dedicated to by buddy Buster who has a whole blog devoted to 10" record, though he does often stray from the format (and I always give him a hard time for such dalliances).  Some of these are from 10" vinyl, but some are from the original style of 10" record, the shellac 78 RPM model.  Those are generally older, more fragile, and incredibly hard to record sometimes.  I've spent the past four hours trying to get decent rip of five songs from four records, and I'm pooped.  So I hope you enjoy what you get because it's been a real pain.  I don't know how Buster does it sometimes, he shares ten things a week sometimes, and I can't seem to go a whole week without missing a day.  But anyhow, let's jump into this 10" deep pile and see what's in it.

1. Sleigh Ride by Ethel Smith from Galloping Fingers (Decca 10" 33 RPM DL 5327, Mono, 1951).  I'm starting out with one that I recorded in 2016, but never shared out.  I think that was because I wound up pulling the same track from a 12" record, and didn't want to repeat myself.

2. Sweet Little Jesus Boy by Lyle Richardson, Baritone; Alexander McCurdy, Organist, from the LP Hymns Of The World (Fidéle 10" 33 RPM MRR 328, Mono).  Lots of obscure artists and labels in these 10" records.  And a lot of it has not made it to the digital age for whatever reason.  The recordings are just more obscure I suppose.

3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Les Brown And His Band Of Renown from Musical Weather Vane (Coral 10" 33 RPM CRL 56077, Mono, 1952).  Somehow I wound up with two copies of this one, which is good because one of them was pretty rough.

4. Satan Takes A Holiday by Hal Pearl from Hal Pearl At The Aragon Pipe Organ (Replica 10" 33 RPM 33 x 502, Mono).  The wonderful world of organ music is not limited to 12" vinyl, as we shall see at least once more.

5. Ave Maria by Hour Of Charm All Girl Orchestra And Choir Featuring Vocal Solo By Jeanne And Evelyn And Her Magic Violin Under Direction Of Phil Spitalny, taken from Favorite Melodies From The Hour Of Charm (Columbia 4x10" 78 RPM C 108, Mono, 1952).  This is the first selection taken from shellac, one of the most fragile substances ever made.  So of course they used to make records out of it.

6. Bells, performed by and unknown artist but taken from Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 09 (Columbia 10" 78 RPM Microgroove JS-329, Mono, 1956).  From a large series of records, only some of which had Christmas related tracks, and thus the only ones I picked up.  They all had those old pockets taped to the front that held a little card so you could check it out from the library.  None of them ever showed being checked out.  I guess they weren't very popular.

7. Carol Of The Birds, again by who-knows-who from the next record in the same series, Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 10 From Book 3 (Columbia 10" 78 RPM Microgroove JS-330, Mono, 1956).  Never seen this series, but it's on Columbia, so it can't be that obscure...

8. Doll Dance by Leon Berry from Glockenspiels, Trap And Plenty Of Pipes With Leon Berry At The Hub Rink Chicago-Volume 1 (Replica 10" 33 RPM 33x501, Mono, 1956).  As often happens, I've seen the same material on 12" vinyl, featuring additional tracks.  But sometimes, the stuff on the 10" record is unique.

9. The Hanover Winter Song by Dartmouth College Glee Club-Director: D.E. Cobleigh '23, from Dartmouth In Song (James Campion Inc 3x10" 78 RPM BS 065750-55, Mono).  More shellac.  And you thought homemade records were unique to vinyl...

10. In The Good Old Winter Time (Adapted From "Amaryllis"-Air Louis XIII By Ghys) by Bob Hannon With Jerry Sears And His Orchestra from Songs For Little Folks (Mercury Miniature Playhouse 4x10" 78 RPM MMP 50M, Mono, 1949).  Kiddie records aren't unique to vinyl either.  How these things survived being played with all those years ago, I'll never know.  Both front and back covers were torn from the package, but they were there, along with two song sheets.  Maybe it never got played with.

11. The Skaters, Op. 183 (Schlittschuhlaufer) Waltz by Prague Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: Dr. Vaclav Smetacek, from Famous Waltzes (Supraphon (Czechoslovakia) 10" 33 RPM HLPM 392, Mono).  That's right, Czechoslovakia!  I go to the ends of the Earth to get music for you folks!  This isn't even a single country anymore!

12. Yuletide, Park Avenue (From Musical Revue "Call Me Mister") by Betty Garrett, Comedienne And Vocal Septet With Call Me Mister Orchestra Under Direction Of Lehman Engel, from Call Me Mister (Decca 5x10" 78 RPM 466, Mono, 1946).  Last but not least, this is my favorite song, but worst recording.  Turns out the record has an almost inch and a half chip in one edge, it's still attached, but it's hanging on by a thread.  It gave my needle a double whammy every time it spun around, so you're going to hear a lot of thunks and crunks in the first minute or so of the song.  Bear with it.  Other than that, it's an interesting idea for a Christmas song. Never heard Hammacher-Schlemmer name-checked in a song before!

And that's it, couple of extra songs thrown in because a couple of them are so short.  Hope you enjoy this selection of small-sized recordings.

Zippyshare