Something You Might Need

I was quite excited the night I spotted this record at a local Goodwill store.  I rushed home and recorded it that night, thinking it would make a great addition to my around-the-world shares this year.  But while it was recording, I was doing a little research and found that you can still buy it from the order that these monks came from.  So head over there and get your own copy! On CD or cassette, no messing around with crusty vinyl!  They'll be happy to hear from you and I'll feel a little better about turning you on to some music you might otherwise not have heard!

Mount Alvernia Seminary Choir, New York-Christmas In A Monastery-The Sons Of St. Francis Sing ( ABC-Paramount ABC-211, Mono, 1957)

Missed One

Sometimes I can't keep straight what I did years ago.  Tonight's share is something I had in the archives and I thought I had shared it before, but I can't find it anywhere.  It was in a stack of stuff I recorded in 2011, and I thought I had shared it then, but I couldn't find any trace of it here at the blog.  How many times has this happened so far this year?  Twice?  Three times?  Getting to be a habit, I'm afraid.  So anyhow, this is another nice collection of songs performed by the various units of the USAF Band, which I imagine you're getting used to at this point.  Please be my guest and download The United States Air Force Band-Christmas (The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C. GXSV 221852/221853, Stereo, 1969).  Hmmm, there seems to be some overlap between this one and one I shared the other night.  Same recordings or just similar arrangements?

1. The U.S. Air Force Band & The Singing Sergeants-God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
2. The Singing Sergeants-Now It Is Christmas Time
3. The Strolling Strings-It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. The Singing Sergeants-Silver Bells
5. The U.S. Air Force Brass Choir-We Three Kings
6. The U.S. Air Force Band & The Singing Sergeants-O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. The U.S. Air Force Band-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
8. The U.S. Air Force Brass Choir-I Saw Three Ships
9. The Singing Sergeants-Sleep, Little Tiny King
10. The Symphony In Blue-I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. The Airmen Of Note-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
12. The Airmen Of Note-March Of The Toys
13. The Symphony In Blue-Christmas Song
14. The Singing Sergeants And Their Children-Away In A Manger

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The Seventh Night

When I first shared this album out in 2010, it was one of my Chanukah shares because it featured a Chanukah track.  And I'm bringing it back tonight because I need another Chanukah share.  I hope it counts. This was a record made locally in Chicago way back in the day, featuring local groups and put out by a savings and loan.  This is the sort of thing I enjoy finding, and I was pretty excited about this one when it popped up.  If you're interested in such things, download and give a listen to Songs Of The Season 1960 (First Federal Savings And Loan Association Of East Chicago, Indiana  10" 4628/4629, Mono, 1960).

1. Standard Oil Torchlighters-Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light
2. St. Luke's Lutheran Adult Choir-The First Noel
3. St. Luke's Lutheran Adult Choir-Silent Night
4. St. Stanislaus Boys' Choir-Wesola Nowine Brachia Sluchajcie (Polish Carol)
5. St. Stanislaus Boys' Choir-Tryumfy Krola Niebieskiego (Polish Carol)
6. Rabbi Ulrich Steur, Narrator-Mrs. Walter Hathaway, Organist-Richard Lewke, Soloist-Hanukkah Explanation-Jewish Traditional Selection-Rock Of Ages
7. St. Thomas More Girls Choir-O Come, O Come Immanuel
8. St. Thomas More Girls Choir-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
9. St. Thomas More Adult Choir-Gloria From The Midnight Mass
10. Purdue University (Cal. Ext.) Mixed Choir-Oh Holy Night
11. Purdue University (Cal. Ext.) Mixed Choir-Carol Of The Bells
12. First Christian Reformed Church Choir Of Munster-Good Christian Men Rejoice
13. Standard Oil Torchlighters-Angels We Have Heard On High

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Down The Pub

This album popped into my head just now and I can't believe that I haven't reshared it with you already this year!  I can't possibly go another day without throwing it back up here for those of you may enjoy going out for Christmas instead of staying at home and watching football.  First shared in 2010, and making a comeback now in 2018, this is Ken Stanley And The Pubsters-Christmas At The Red Lion And A Happy New Year Too... (Arc AC-15, Stereo).

1. Beer, Beer, Glorious Beer
2. Here's To Good Old Whisky
3. All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)
4. Musical Limericks
5. The Night Before Christmas
6. Good Night Ladies
7. Wee Deoch And Doris
8. Auld Sandy's Wee Special
9. The Northern Lights Of Aberdeen
10. The Miner's Dream Of Home
11. Auld Lang Syne

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An Olde World Christmas

For a while I thought this was a part of the same series of records as the two PX records I shared with you recently, but it turns out there is no indication on the sleeve that this is true.  The label is the same, the sleeve style is the same, the music selection is similar, but I can find nothing that ties it in with the post exchange.  But I went ahead and ripped it anyway, and I'm sharing it here as part of the Christmas around the world collection.  Unlike the other two, this one is in stereo, so the selections are a little newer and the sound is a little nice.  I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much even without the interesting history.  This is Christmas In The Old World (Philips (Holland) 850 010 PY, Stereo, 1960).

1. The Organ Of The Vienna Stephansdom (Organist Prof. W. Mück) With Soprano Solo By Traute Skladal And Mixed Choir-Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night)
2. Ronnie Carroll With Choir And Orchestra Directed By Wally Stott-The Holly And The Ivy
3. Children's Choir Las Avemarianas With Orchestra-Arre Borriquito (Get Along, Little Donkey)
4. Mixed Choir St. Maurice d'Annecy-Conductor A.F. Morand-Noël Savoyard
5. Men's And Boys' Choir-Accorri A Betlemme (Let's Hurry To Bethlehem)
6. The Boy's Choir Of The Danish State Radio-Conductor Henning Elbirk-Sikken Voldsom Traengsel Og Alarm (It's Very Crowded In The Streets)
7. Royal Male Choir Mastreechter Staar-Conductor Martin Koekelkoren-Nu Sijt Wellecome (Welcome To The Christ-Child)
8. Anne Shelton With Choir And Orchestra Directed By Wally Stott-Oh Come, All Ye Faithful
9. The Swedish Light Orchestra-Mu Är Det Jul Igen (It Is Christmas Again); Nu Har Vi Ljus Här I Vårt Hus (Now We Have Candlelight In Our Homes); Vi Äro Musikanter (We Are Musicians)
10. Die Schöneberger Sängerknaben-Conductor Gerhard Hellwig-Organ Heinrich Riethmüller-Süsser Die Glocken Nie Klingen (The Bells Never Ring So Beautifully)
11. Men's And Boys' Choir-Dormi Non Piangere (Sleep And Don't Cry)
12. Children's Choir Las Avemarianas With Orchestra-Canta, Rie, Bebe (Sing, Laugh, Drink)
13. Mixed Choir St. Maurice d'Annecy-Conductor A.F. Morand-Nouvelles, Nouvelles (Christmas Message)
14. The Organ Of The Vienna Stephansdom (Organist Prof. W. Mück) With Mixed Choir-O Du Fröhliche (Wonderful Christmas Time)

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Old Seeburg

Talk about your oldies, here's something I don't think I've shared in a long time.  First shared in 2007, this is a record made exclusively for the Seeburg BGM Machine, the letters standing for BackGround Music.  I remember finding a whole box of these records and being quite excited that some of them were Christmas records.  Well, it turned out that Christmas labelled didn't mean exclusively Christmas content. Only one of every five tracks on here was a Christmas song, and none of them were titled, so I couldn't even tell you what most of the tracks were.  I only ever shared out the Christmas ones, so that's what I've got for you here tonight.  The records themselves are a little odd because they are only 10" in diameter with a larger than normal 2" center hole.  I had to have a custom spindle machined to be able to put these on the turntable.  And even worse, they are meant to play at 16-3/3 RPM!  I've only ever come across one other Christmas record that spins that slowly, but at least it has the right size hole in the middle.  Anyhow, after all that, you just want to hear what's between the grooves.  This is The Seeburg Music Library-Matching Christmas Library (Seeburg 10" 16-2/3 RPM CH 10 A/B, Mono). For more Seeburg, be sure to check here & here.

1. Silent Night
7. The Little Drummer Boy
12. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
19. Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child
25. Jingle Bells
31. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

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Confusion For Christmas

Where to start, where to start.  Working backwards, and from the top, this is a great Christmas album by Domenico Savino with orchestra and chorus.  And it's in Stereo. Then down below is what looks like the mono version of the same album, but it's not.  The mono version is a completely different recording, and it omits the chorus completely.  All the way at the bottom, with the green cover is the original Mono version, credited to Savino with The Rome Festival Orchestra.  It's got the same music as the red Mono version, but it came out two years earlier.  It's taken me a few years to piece all this together, and I'm making it a little more confusing than it needs to be.  In short, you just need the mono and stereo versions because they are not the same.  For my money, I prefer the mono, but your mileage may vary.  For this release tonight, I re-encoded all the files at their full bitrate for your listening pleasure.  These are Domenico Savino And His Orchestra-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAL-392, Mono, 1958, shown below) (a reissue of Domenico Savino And The Rome Festival Orchestra-Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAL-333, Mono, 1956) shown in green at bottom) and Domenico Savino, His Orchestra And Chorus-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAS-392, Stereo, 1958, shown top).

1. White Christmas
2. Sleigh Ride
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Jingle Bells
6. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
7. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. The First Noel
10. O Holy Night
11. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
12. Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen (Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming)
13. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
14. Joy To The World
15. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
16. Silent Night

MEGA-Green Mono
MEGA-Red Mono
MEGA-Red Stereo

BWftHS

After the train wreck that was the cover of last night's military share, we move on to one of my favorites!  Have a look at this one!  Ain't it great? What a difference a year makes! The music ain't bad either, but let's all look at that cover just a bit more.  OK, from the various units making up the United States Air Force Band, this is Best Wishes For The Holiday Season (The United States Air Force No Number, Stereo, 1971).

1. Symphony In Blue-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
2. USAF Academy Cadet Chorale-Sleigh Ride
3. Airmen Of Note-March Of The Toys
4. USAF Band And Singing Sergeants-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
5. Symphony In Blue-Christmas Song
6. Singing Sergeants-Jingle Bells
7. USAF Concert Band-Children's March
8. USAF Strings-The First Noel
9. Singing Sergeants And Their Children-Away In A Manger
10. Brass Choir-We Three Kings
11. USAF Band And Singing Sergeants-Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)
12. USAF Academy Cadet Chorale-O Tannenbaum
13. Singing Sergeants-Do You Hear What I Hear
14. Singing Sergeants-Silent Night (In German)

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The Sixth Night

For the first time this year, I'm going to share something from the more recent past, in this case 2016, because I need some more Chanukah music to share. All of the posts of new shares in 2017 and 95% of the new posts from 2016 have new active links in the comments, so I've been avoiding resharing any of those because I figure if people are looking through them, they'll find them.  But I'm making an exception here just because I can. This is also a rare share pulled from a 10" 78 RPM record, though I did bring you an earlier Chanukah record that also spun at 78 RPM.  I've got lots of 78s, but they're hard to record and very time consuming, so it's somewhat rare that I do anything with them.  Anyhow, that's all beside the point.  For the sixth night of Chanukah, this is Abraham Davis-Chanukah-Feast Of Lights (Tikva 10" 78 RPM T-3001, Mono).

1. The Chanukah Blessing
2. Rock Of Ages (Ma-Oz Tzur)
3. Oh Chanukah
4. Mi Yemallel
5. Spin Sevivon

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Two Down

Well, we're just a hair over two weeks into the Christmas season, and I've shared out a small pile of stuff.  Anybody have any favorites yet?  And anything you hated and will never play again?  Just curious.  :)

Time For A Haircut

I've got a new barbershop record to share with you sometime this season, but in the meantime I figure I should throw up this old share from 2010 to feed your barbershop needs for a little while longer.  There don't seem to be too many barbershop Christmas records out there, so enjoy them when you find them.  Here is Yuletide Favorites-Barbershop Style (Official SPEBSQSA Recording, Stereo). Pretty sure if you hunt around back in the Christmas In July shares from this year, you'll find more than a couple barber shop tracks, some of them from the leading lady barbershoppers in the country!

1. Southern Gateway Chorus-While By My Sheep
2. Southern Gateway Chorus-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
3. Roaring 20's-Angels, From The Realms Of Glory
4. Southern Gateway Chorus-O Come, All Ye Faithful
5. Southern Gateway Chorus-O Holy Night
6. Roaring 20's-It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas
7. Roaring 20's-Let's Have An Old Fashioned Christmas
8. Southern Gateway Chorus-O Christmas Tree
9. Roaring 20's-Children's Medley
10. Southern Gateway Chorus-We Wish You A Merry Christmas
11. Roaring 20's-Silver Bells
12. Southern Gateway Chorus-Jingle Bells
13. Arlingtones-I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
14. Arlingtones-Away In A Manger
15. Soundtracks-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
16. Arlingtones-Coventry Carol
17. Soundtracks-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
18. Arlingtones-As With Gladness Men Of Old
19. Arlingtones-O Little Town Of Bethlehem
20. Soundtracks-It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
21. Arlingtones-Angels We Have Heard On High
22. Arlingtones-Silent Night
23. Soundtracks-Winter Wonderland
24. Soundtracks-I'll Be Home For Christmas

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Europe 2!

Apparently, the LP I shared with you yesterday wasn't the only one of it's kind.  The one you see above appears to have been made and sold at the same time for the same purpose, and even overlaps a few tracks.  But there is enough different music here for me to want to share it as well.  I think a slightly different government agency was responsible for this one, maybe Army instead of Air Force, but I'm not really up on all the details enough to figure it out.  Perhaps one of my visitors can explain the fine subtleties of such things.  If you enjoyed the last one, this is more of the same (and in certain cases, the exact same). This is Christmas In Europe (Philips (Holland) P 10185 L (AFX), Mono, 1956). I may have forgotten to mention this in the last post, but in both cases I have two different rear sleeve images, one with 1956 and one with 1957.  So this was apparently reprinted more than once, it must have been somewhat popular.

1. Der Bender'sche Kinderchor With Orchestra And Organ-Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
2. Royal Male Choir Mastreechter Staar, Martin Koekelkoren-Conductor-The First Nowel
3. Wally Stott And His Orchestra-Sleigh Ride
4. Choeur Des Mesanges Under The Direction Of Raymonde Davet With Organ Accompaniment By Linack-Tout Dort Dans La Nuit Sombre
5. Der Bender'sche Kinderchor With Orchestra And Organ-O Du Frohliche
6. Regesone Alpine Choir, Danilo Bertani-Conductor-Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle
7. Der Bender'sche Kinderchor With Orchestra And Organ-O Tannenbaum
8. Haags Kinderchor With Organ Accompaniment And String Quartet, M. Borstlap-Conductor-Komt Allen Tezamen
9. Muriel Smith With Accompaniment Under The Direction Of Wally Stott-Away In A Manger
10. Wally Stott And His Orchestra-Good King Wenceslas
11. Der Bender'sche Kinderchor With Orchestral Accompaniment-Ihr Kinderlein Kommet
12. The Belen Choir With Orchestral Accompaniment-Rin Rin
13. Royal Male Choir Mastreechter Staar, Martin Koekelkoren-Conductor-Les Agnes Dans Nos Campagnes
14. Wally Stott And His Orchestra-White Christmas

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A Christmas Pole

I'm sharing this one with you in the sense of completeness, not because it's anything special.  I shared this back in 2007, and about all I remember about it was that I didn't like it.  It sounded like maybe it was created from very old recordings, but it could have just been a very worn record.  What I'm saying here is don't hold it against me if you don't like it, there will be better stuff upcoming.  If you want to give it a spin, this is Holiday Greetings And Best Wishes (USAF XMB-536/537). I do like the cover though, it fits right in with some of the best one from the Air Force.

1.-3. Programs 1-3
4.-9. Season's Greetings

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More Wally

You probably noticed a track or two from Wally Stott on that Christmas In Europe LP (and on the next one coming up that you don't know about yet).  That reminded me of this great LP he released on Warner Bros in 1959.  I shared it out with you back in 2010, and it's good stuff.  I should add this to the queue for a redo, and certainly something needs to be done about that cover scan.  Reflective covers are a real pain. This is Wally Stott, His Orchestra And Chorus-Happy Holiday-Christmas In Stereo (Warner Bros WS 1341, Stereo, 1959).  Wally Stott was known as Angela Morley at the time of her death in 2009, but that's a story for a different time...

1. Happy Holiday
2. Wassail Song
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
4. Christmas Sleigh Bells
5. Shepherd's Chorus
6. The Holly And The Ivy
7. The Christmas Waltz
8. Away In A Manger
9. Good King Wenceslas
10. Snowfall
11. Silent Night! Holy Night!
12. White Christmas

Well, lookee what I found, I had ripped a new copy of this a couple years back and never shared it.  So I added the old LP cover to the MP3 files and here's a new remastered version for 2018.  (Added Christmas Eve, 5:51 PM EST)

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Cheap Cover

Tonight's military share came out of this cover which might look familiar to Christmas collectors. This is one of those covers that they used to package everything from high school choral groups to senior citizen carol sings.  I almost didn't pay it any attention when I saw it, except I noticed it said United States something on there, and then I picked it up.  I guess they picked the cover image out of a catalog of stock images, not realizing that it had been used by many, many, many different organizations over the years.  Oddly enough, there's a nice group photo reproduced on the back cover that looks like it cost a lot of money, and it's reproduced in full color! I guess they didn't think it looked enough like a Christmas album image so they went with the generic shot. Anyhow, the music is good stuff, performed by different units of the band, so there's a little variety here.  I'm sure you'll enjoy The United States Army Band And The United States Army Chorus-Christmas With The United States Army Band And The United States Army Chorus (The United States Army S19721, Stereo, 1972).

1. Jingle Bells
2. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
3. Winter Wonderland
4. O Tannenbaum
5. The Three Holy Kings
6. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
7. Stable Down The Road
8. Medley: White Christmas; The Christmas Song
9. Some Children See Him
10. Medley: Noel

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The Fifth Night

Another oldie for Chanukah tonight.  This one hails from back in 2010, which is now quite a while back, but recent enough that I scanned the labels on the vinyl.  It's taken a while to get the whole sharing process down, but I've gotten to a point where I'm pretty happy with it.  No, I don't do lossless yet, but you need to have some reason to track down the original record, right?  Of course you do.  For the fifth night, this is Temple B'Nai Abraham Of Essex County School Choir-Vivienne K. Bender, Director With Dr. Joachim Prinz-Children Sing On Hanukah (Tikva T-88, Mono).

1. Hava Narima
2. Dr. Joachim Prinz-Narration
3. Blessings
4. Hanerot Halalu
5. Al Ha Nisim
6. Maoz Tsur
7. Hanukah Hanukah
8. S'Vivon Sov Sov Sov
9. Sov Sov S'Vivon
10. Ner Li
11. I Have A Little Dreydl
12. Mi Yimalel
13. Y'Mey Ha Hanukah
14. Dr. Joachim Prinz-Narration
15. To Our Great God
16. Father In Heaven
17. Hava Narima

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Christmas With Ray et al

You want more Air Force Christmas shows?  You got it!  Here's one from 1973 that I shared out back in 2007.  I seem to have done one side in tracks, and the other side all as one long track.  I don't know what I was thinking.  And the bitrate isn't so hot, but it's all I've got for now. There's some good stuff in here, you won't be disappointed.  And I've got a date! 1973! This is An Old Fashioned Christmas (USAF, Stereo, 1973).

Side 1-Connie Smith and Sonny James (And The Jordanaires!)
Side 2-Ray Conniff, His Orchestra And Chorus with Roger Carroll

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Europe!

This share is a little something interesting that's been in my collection for a long time now, and it's been in the stack for ripping almost as long, I've just never had a chance to get to it until this year.  The record you see above features Christmas carols from countries all over Europe, which really isn't anything special.  What is special is that it was put together for and sold to US servicemen serving in Europe during the Cold War.  I've got several of these in my collection, and they often have notes on the back where it was sent home as a gift to loved ones in America.  This will probably bring back some memories for certain people in my audience, and if you were one of those who sent something like this home at the time, let me thank you for your service! This is Christmas In Europe (Philips (Holland) P 10181 L "Presented By EES Service", Mono, 1956)

1. Prof. Karl Walter With The Pummerin And Churchbell-Ringing Of The Stephansdom In Vienna-Silent Night, Holy Night-Churchorgan Improvisation
2. Der Bender'sche Kinderchor With Orchestra And Organ-O Tannenbaum
3. Chorus And Orchestra Conducted By J.P. Kreder-La Noel Passee
4. Duo Di Zampogne-Piva Piva
5. Wally Stott And His Orchestra-Good King Wenceslas
6. Choeur Des Mesanges Under The Direction Of Raymonde Davet With Organ Accompaniment By Linack-Tout Dort Dans La Nuit Sombre
7. Cantores De Madrid, José Perera-Conductor-El Belen Tocan A Fuego
8. Royal Male Choir Mastreechter Staar, Martin Koekelkoren-Conductor-Adeste Fideles (Sung In Latin)
9. De Leeuweriken Childrenchorus Under The Direction Of C. Kries With Orchestral Accompaniment-De Herdertjes Lagen Bij Nachte O, Hoe Heerlijk
10. Chorus And Orchestra Conducted By J.P. Kreder-Oh Que De Gens
11. Der Bender'sche Kinderchor With Orchestral Accompaniment-Ihr Kinderlein Kommet
12. Muriel Smith With Accompaniment Under The Direction Of Wally Stott-Away In A Manger
13. The Belen Choir With Orchestral Accompaniment-Rin Rin
14. Lillian Fugman With Arne Lamberth And His Orchestra-Du Kaere Gamle Julemand
15. Resegone Alpine Chorus, Danilo Bertani-Conductor-Tu Scendi Dalle Stellq
16. Der Bender'sche Kinderchor With Orchestral Accompaniment-Süsser Die Glocken Nie Klingen
17. The Bells Of The Stephansdom In Vienna (The Pummerin Is The Heaviest Churchbell)-The Sound Of The Pummerin

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The Frank And The Snowman

For those of you up and watching the blog at 4 in the morning, here's another oldie. Dating back to 2006 in mono, and 2007 in stereo, this is a nice one that's badly in need of a remaster.  Do I say that every year?  Probably.  For what it's worth, this is Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra-Music For A Merry Christmas (Richmond S 30056, Stereo, 1959).

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
2. Silent Night
3. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
4. Once In Royal David's City
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Alpine Sleigh-Ride
7. Good Christian Men Rejoice
8. Away In A Manger
9. The First Nowell
10. Greensleeves
11. White Christmas
12. The Skater's Waltz

Whoops, looks like this one is out there on CD, and fairly cheap.  Details below!

The tracks are spread out over two CDs, but the CDs are cheap.  Follow the links below!

A Carol Symphony

Christmas Lights

More Country Christmas

Here's a lost lost reshare from 2007 that slides right into my US military tribute this year. I need to go back and find this one for a redo, it's a really old rip and at a low bitrate, but I think it's worth resharing as is for right now.  Some of these old radio shows are rare as hen's teeth, so I like to put them out there when I can. I appear to have cut this one into pieces, so there's no option to download the shows in their entirety, yet another reason for a redo, I suppose. Stars of the shows include Marion Worth, Warner Mack, The Jordanaires, The Singing Rambos and The Florida Boys.  This is The United States Air Force Presents Country Christmas From Nashville ( The United States Air Force GXTV-222006/7, Mono, 1969).

Side 1-A Christmas Party With The Jordanaires
Side 2-The Gospel Sounds Of Christmas

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Two Sides Of Christmas

Next up in what I hope to be an almost endless parade of Christmas albums from US military organizations is this pair of radio shows that I first shared with you back in 2007 in a somewhat dismal version that included at least one track that skipped.  I re-recorded it shortly after, but for some reason never got around to sharing it.  And this year I've recorded it again, and I'm sharing it out tonight in both cut and uncut versions.  It's good stuff, featuring a side with Rosemary Clooney talking about Christmas and singing some of her music alongside The Falconaires. Oh, and Jack Halloran puts in an appearance as well.  Side two is live from The Grand Ole Opry and features Archie Campbell, Dottie West, Charlie McCoy and The Jordanaires!  Hard to beat a lineup like that.  I wish I had a date for this one, but in all these years I've never been able to put a good date on it.  I suppose if I laid them all out in a spreadsheet and put dates on the ones I knew, there would be an empty year that this one would fit into, but thus far I've been too lazy to do so.  Maybe someone else out there is more ambitious than I am.  In the meantime, please download and listen to Two Sides Of Christmas (The Directorate Of Advertising, HQ USAF Recruiting Service, Public Service-Not For Sale, Stereo).

Side 1-It's Christmas
Side 2-Christmas At Opryland

MEGA (Uncut)
MEGA (Tracks)

The Fourth Night

Another one from the archives for this fourth night of Chanukah.  Not sure if I am going to have enough stuff for all eight days, but I'm trying. This one is also from ye olden days of 2010, and is probably a little more listenable than what I gave you last night.  It's kiddie music though, so temper your expectations. This is Shimon & Ilana With Aviva And Shira, Featuring Sally Speer And Dave Tilman-Chanukah Songs For Children (Elite Records ELS-404, Stereo).

1. Y'Mey Ha-Cha-Nu-Kah
2. Neyr Li
3. Y'La-Dim Ba-Ney-Rot
4. Listen And Follow Me
5. Chanukah Begins Tonight
6. Ma-Oz Tzur--Rock Of Ages
7. Chanukah Blessings
8. The Dreidle Song
9. S'Vi-Von
10. Once There Was A Time
11. Peh-Leh P'La-Im
12. Ha-Yoh Ha-Yah Ish
13. Ha-Ney-Rot Ha-La-Lu
14. Shine, Little Candles
15. Chanukah, Chag Ya-Feh
16. Mi Y'Ma-Leyl (Who Can Retell?)

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Even More Bell Ringers

Even I can't keep track of what I've shared and what I haven't.  I discovered yet another LP full of handbell music in the archives.  What is this, number four?  I had no idea!  This stuff is great, I hope you appreciate it.  I shared this back in 2011 and I re-encoded it just last might for maximum listening pleasure. This is Del Roper With The Mason Swiss Bell Ringers-I Heard The Bells... (Word W 3067-LP, Mono, 1959).

1. Jingle Bells and White Christmas
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. Carol Of The Bells
4. We Three Kings
5. Gesu, Bambino
6. Joy To The World
7. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
8. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
9. The First Noel
10. Silent Night
11. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
12. O Come, All ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis)

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France!

Next up in our trip around the world for Christmas is France. I've been reluctant to put this one up because I didn't like the sleeve it came with.  The vinyl looked pretty good, but the cover was beat, and almost in two pieces.  I scanned it and cleaned it up a bit, but it's still nothing to look at.  Then this past weekend I stumbled across another copy and figured I could get a better scan.  But it turned out to be a copy from England on EMI, not Capitol. So I figured you'd know if I scanned that copy.  In the end, I used the beat up cover, but put a copy of the nicer EMI cover in the download as well. Lots of familiar songs in this one, and they aren't bad singers.  This is Les Petits Chanteurs De Versailles (The Child Singers Of Versailles), Soloiste-Annie Beaumont, Chef Dees Choeurs-Pierre Béguigné, Chef D'Orchestre-Jacques Metehen-Christmas In France (Capitol "Capitol Of The World" T10108, Mono, 1957).

1. Dans Cette Étable (In That Stable)
2. Vive Le Vent (Jingle Bells)
3. Les Agnes Dans Nos Campagnes (The Angels Of Our Fields)
4. Venez Divin Messie (Come Divine Messiah)
5. Le Noël Des Petits Santons (The Christmas Of The Little Saints)
6. Noël-Trois Anges Sont Venus (Christmas-Three Angels Have Come)
7. Noël D'Adam-Minuit Chrétiens (Adam's Christmas-Christian Midnight)
8. Noël Blanc (White Christmas)
9. Noël Nouvelet (Christmas Novelty)
10. Les Rois Mages (The Three Kings)
11. Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant (The Divine Child Has Been Born)
12. La Légende De Saint-Nicolas (The Legend Of Saint Nicholas)

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More Bellringers

I stumbled across yet another LP of handbells in the archives, re-encoded it to the highest possible bitrate, and I'm bringing it to you tonight.  I recorded this LP back in 2011, but didn't get around to sharing it until 2012 for some reason.  That seems to happen to me a lot, I think my eyes are bigger than my internet connection some years and I can't get everything done I want to.  But I did make time to get this one back out there for you, I hope you enjoy it!  This is The Cathedral Bellringers Of The Cathedral Of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia-The Rev. Canon Frederick L. Eckel, Founder And Director-Cathedral Bellringers (Westminster WP 6059, Mono, 1958).

1. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; The Birthday Of A King
2. Jingle Bells
3. What Child Is This?; Good King Wenceslas
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Silent Night
5. O Come Emmanuel; Once In Royal David's City; Gloria In Excelsis Deo
6. Away In A Manger; O Tannenbaum
7. I Know That My Redeemer Liveth; Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring; Joy To The World
8. The Holly Bears The Berry; Alleluia
9. Deck The Hall; Love And Joy (Wassail Song)
10. O Come All Ye Faithful; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; We Three Kings Of Orient Are
11. Sheep May Safely Graze
12. The Bell's Of St Mary's; Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes; America; Auld Lang Syne

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Nations And Nations And Nations

Still looking for old shares with some sort of international flavor, and I came across this oldie from 2008.  Well, I shared it in 2008, but some commenters back then tracked it down to 1955 and actually had copies of it in their home while growing up.  Seemed to have come out in Chicago. The songs may be from other lands, but the singers are all good little children from the Windy City. This is The Cardinal's Cathedral Choristers, Conductor: Very Reverend Monsignor Charles N. Meter-Carols Of The Nations (Pressed But Not Recorded By Columbia Records XCTV-9512/3, Mono, 1955). I tracked down the obituary of the Monsignor, he passed away in 1998.

1. Roman Martyrology (Latin)
2. Stille Nacht (Austrian)
3. Angels We Have Heard (French)
4. A La Nanita Nana (Spanish)
5. Ihr Kinderlein Kommet (German)
6. Nenie Pastorale (Italian)
7. Wsrod Nocnej Ciszy (Polish)
8. O Sanctissima (Latin-Sicilian)
9. The Christ-Child's Visit (Traditional)
10. Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant (French)
11. Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen (German)
12. Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (Italian)
13. Lulajze Jezuniu (Polish)
14. Stars Of Glory (Irish)
15. Tyliaja Natki (Lithuanian)
16. Dormi Non Piangere (Italian)
17. Carol Of The Bells

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Bring It Home

Time to jump back into my series of records from the US armed forces, tonight it's a custom radio show from the USAF featuring Jim Ed Brown, Dottie West and Johnny Mathis. (Not all together though.  Johnny is on the opposite side of everyone else, he gets his own show.)  I could have sworn I shared this out years ago, but there's no sign of it when I search the blog.  I know I recorded it quite a while ago because I found the old tracks in the archive, but I must not have done anything with it.  At first, I didn't realize I had the old files, so I recorded the whole thing again, but discovered the old stuff before I cut the new one into tracks.  So if you download the cut up version, you get the old files (at a slightly lower bitrate), or you can download the uncut version (at a full 320).  Your choice.  Both of them sound pretty good to me.  So please be my guest, download and listen to Christmas At Home... (Directorate Of Advertising, Hq USAF Recruiting Service No Number, Stereo, 1972).  Got more from this series upcoming, so stay tuned!

1. Christmas At Home Featuring Jim Ed Brown & Dottie West
2. Christmas With Johnny Mathis (Hosted by Roger Carroll)

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MEGA (Tracks)

The Third Night

And on the third night of Chanukah, I ran out of new stuff and had to dig into the archives to bring you something.  This interesting little artifact is a double 7" record that spins at 78 RPM but uses a regular microgroove needle.  I guess there wasn't a real clean transition from the old fat groove records and 78 RPM speed to microgrooves and 33/45 RPM back in 1949, but then nothing is ever simple.  I can remember the switch to CDs, then the gradual switch to digital & downloads, now streaming.  And the resurgence of vinyl is pretty unexpected to tell you the truth.  I keep hoping they'll bring back reel-to-reel tapes, but only time will tell.  Anyhow, this is from the horrible scan days of 2010, which is a long story, but I was happy to be able to do it like I did it.  Nothing too exciting here, but an interesting relic of the times.  Here is Tell Me About Chanukah-Story Of Chanukah and Chanukah Melodies (KTAV 2x 7" 78 RPM Microgroove, 1951, Mono).

1. Edward Gold With Elaine Wertheim-Story Of Chanukah-Side 1
2. Edward Gold With Elaine Wertheim-Story Of Chanukah-Side2
3. Honore Singer With Elaine Wertheim-It Was The First Night Of Chanukah
4. Victoria Yousha With Elaine Wertheim-Blessing Of The Candles
5. Honore Singer-These Chanukah Lights
6. Victoria Yousha With Elaine Wertheim-Hanerot Hallelu
7. Honore Singer-Do You Know This Chanukah Song
8. Victoria Yousha With Elaine Wertheim-Rock Of Ages
9. Honore Singer-In Hebrew We Sing It Like This
10. Victoria Yousha With Elaine Wertheim-Maoz Tzur
11. Honore Singer-In The Flickering Candlelight
12. Victoria Yousha With Elaine Wertheim-Al Hanissim

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