The Sleigh

Perhaps the shortest, quickest share of the season, here's a single song by Mitch Miller released as a single in 1950 before Columbia had adopted the 45 RPM speed used by RCA at the time.  So I was surprised when I found this on a 7" disc, but then I noticed it spun at 33 RPM, so I wasn't quite so surprised anymore.  I had previously found it on a 10" 78 RPM disc, and couldn't get much sound out of it, but this little record yielded some pretty good results. I may be wrong, but I don't think this has shown up anywhere since that initial release.  This is Mitch Miller And His Orchestra & Chorus-The Sleigh (B-side to Tzena Tzena Tzena, Columbia 7" 33 RPM 1-706, Mono, 1950). Sorry about the stickers on the label, they just didn't want to come off.

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Jimmie 2

As soon as you saw the '1' in the title of that last post, you should have known what would pop up next.  That's right, it's Jimmie's second Christmas LP, the one that shares a bit of it's cover with an old Bing Crosby Christmas EP.  This one at least is in stereo, so you can listen with both your ears. It's also got some more-fun songs than the other one, I think, and a traditional Christmas recitation just like the old days.  You'll love this one if you're into that sort of thing.  This is Jimmie Davis-Going Home For Christmas Featuring The Song Forgive Me Santa (Decca DL74868, Stereo, 1967). If this still isn't enough for you, there's a later remake of Going Home For Christmas on my Best Of Christmas In July 2015, which you can download here.

1. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
2. Silver Bells
3. It's Christmas Time Again
4. The Priceless Gift Of Christmas
5. Blue Christmas
6. Sniffles (Santa's Pet)
7. Forgive Me Santa (Recitation)
8. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
9. Come To The Manger
10. White Christmas
11. Take Me Back To Babyland
12. Going Home For Christmas

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Jimmie 1

The return of a classic share from 2008, a Christmas album by country singer and two-time governor of Louisiana, Jimmie Davis!  I wish I could find this one in stereo, but for now this old mono rip will have to do. You know you want to download Jimmie Davis-It's Christmas Time Again (Decca DL 4587, Mono, 1964). In case this isn't enough for you, there's an earlier single available at this old post.

1. It's Christmas Time Again
2. Silent Night
3. Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem
4. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. Christmas Message
6. No Room At The Inn
7. Go Tell It On The Mountain
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Away In A Manger
10. A Child Was Born
11. Joy To The World
12. Gently Rock His Cradle

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Moog En Espanol

I had pretty much forgotten about this one until I saw it in a playlist yesterday, and it all came flooding back to me.  It's Spanish-language vocals dubbed over instrumental Christmas carols played on the Moog.  The original record is here, but I think this is the version you want.  Those kiddies singing Spanish really add something to it.  You can read the old post from 2012 for a few more details, I don't think anything has changed since then, but you never know.  If this is all new to you, trust me when I say you need to hear this.  Re-encoded for your maximum listening pleasure, this is Los Mensajeros De La Alegria-Navidades Blancas (White Christmas) Cantan Y Tocan Los Mensajeros De La Alegria (Mr. Pickwick (Pickwick) SPC 1506, Stereo, 1973).

1. Santa Claus Muy Pronto Llegara (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)
2. Navidad Tijuana (Tijuana Christmas)
3. El Niño Del Tambor (The Little Drummer Boy)
4. Navidades Blancas (White Christmas)
5. Al Mundo Paz (Joy To The World)
6. ¿Que Niño Es Este? (What Child Is This?)
7. Rodolfo, El Siervo De La Nariz Roja (Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer)
8. Hoy Es Navidad (Jingle Bells)
9. Angels Cantando Estań (Angels We Have Heard On High)
10. Noche De Paz (Silent Night)
11. Cosas Que Me Hacen Feliz (My Favorite Things)
12. Campanas De Navidad (Christmas Bells)

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Viola & Organ

This particular share may be the worst nightmare for many of you, so be careful.  It's a homemade organ recording on 7" vinyl with a picture sleeve.  I'm thinking it may be a vanity project by someone who may or may not be very talented.  I guess it's not too bad as such things go, but it's not very original. It sounded a little more snappy when I first played it at 45 RPM by mistake.  When I realized my error and switched it to 33 RPM, it was a lot less zippy.  Anyhow, you should still download Viola Klaiss At The Hammond Organ-A Merry Christmas By Viola Klaiss (Century Custom Records 7" 33 RPM 22649 "A VeRay Production", Mono).  The sound is iffy on this one.  Not quite sure what's going on in spots.  It may just be a poor recording or a bad pressing, but it's pretty intermittent.

1. White Christmas
2. Silver Bells
3. I Saw Momma Kissing Santa Claus
4. Silent Night, Holy Night
5. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
6. March Of The Toys
7. Winter Wonderland
8. Medley: Santa Claus Lane; Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
9. Jingle Bells

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Jazzband

Saw this one in the folder of stuff I could easily re-encode and knew it was something I needed to get back out there.  This is one of the few things in my sharity pile that could be called jazz, and was one of the very first things I shared with you back in 2005.  I liked it so much that I remastered it in 2011, and it's that same file that I re-encoded tonight to bring it back again.  I now know a little of the long history behind these two players, and realize that they're the real deal, a couple of jazz luminaries that go way back and released a ton of albums on a half dozen or more labels.  This album is a little later in their career, but it certainly doesn't suffer for it.  You need to download The World's Greatest Jazzband Of Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart-Hark The Herald Angels Swing (World Jazz WJLP 5-2, Stereo, 1972). PS-The back cover was identical to the front cover, so I didn't scan it, that's why you'll only see the one cover in the download.  Thought you might want to know.

1. Hark The Herald Angels Swing
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
4. Silent Night
5. Joy To The World
6. Jingle Bells
7. White Christmas
8. I'll Be Home For Christmas
9. The Christmas Song
10. Winter Wonderland
11. Deck The Halls

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Tijuana Christmas In Canada

From the 2011 archives, this is a set of nice Tijuana Brass-style Christmas music that I'm told has been released under a lot of different names over the years.  On this particular record, there really wasn't an artist name, so I split the title in half and came up with Tijuana Style.  If you don't agree with that, feel free to put any artist name in there that you like.  My version is on the Canadian Arc label who also brought us the Christmas In A Pub album that I love to roll out each and every year.  This one is a little peppier than that one, and it doesn't feature drunk people singing.  This is Tijuana Style-Christmas Carols (Arc AC 34, Stereo). Oh, keep forgetting to mention it, but this one has been re-encoded for your listening pleasure.

1. The Holly And The Ivy
2. Silent Night
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. While Shepherds Watched
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. Good King Wenceslas
7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
8. Away In A Manger
9. The First Nowell
10. Christians Awake
11. Once In Royal David's City
12. O Come All Ye Faithful

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More Germany!

Every time I think I'm done with the world-wide Christmas shares, I find something else I forgot about.  Well, I didn't actually forget about this one, but I did sweep it under the rug for a good long while because the cover was in such bad shape.  I knew it was repairable, but it was going to take so long to do it that I tried to ignore it.  But I found the time to get it done today, and here are the results for you tonight.  I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself.  Of course, you can't see what it looked like before I spent five hours on it...  Anyhow, for our second share of German Christmas music this season, this is The Santa Claus Orchestra With Choir And Bells-O Tannenbaum-The Most Beautiful German Christmas Carols (Polydor (Germany) 46030 LPHM, Mono, 1965). I frankly didn't know the big guy had his own orchestra, but here's the proof!

1. O Tannenbaum
2. Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night)
3. Kommet, Ihr Hirten (Come Ye Shepherds)
4. Süsser Die Glocken Nie Klingen (Sweeter The Bells Have Never Rung)
5. Leise Rieselt Der Schnee (Quietly Falls The Snow)
6. Von Himmel Hoch (From Heaven Above To Earth I Come)
7. O Du Fröhliche, O Du Selige (O Thou Joyful, O Thou Holy)
8. Es Ist Ein Ros' Entspungen (The Noble Stem Of Jesse)
9. Am Weihnachtsbaum (By The Christmas Tree)
10. Alle Jahre Wieder (Every Year Anew)
11. Ihr Kinderlein Kommet (Come Hither Ye Children)
12. Kling, Glöckchen (Ring Little Bell)

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RIP Edwin

Making it's first appearance back at the blog since it's debut here in 2012, this is a Christmas album from Edwin Hawkins, one that came a few years after his big gospel-pop hit Oh Happy Day.  I see where Hawkins passed away earlier this year, so this is a small tribute to him and the joy he brought so many with his music. Please enjoy this re-encoded version of Edwin Hawkins-The Edwin Hawkins Christmas Album (Birthright LS 5904, Stereo, 1985).  Looks like there's a different Christmas album of his at Amazon that came out later then this one...

1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
2. Night Medley: Away In A Manger; Silent Night; O Holy Night
3. The First Noel
4. White Christmas
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. Follow The Star
7. Joy To The World
8. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
9. The Christmas Song
10. O Come All Ye Faithful
11. Emanuel

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Update-13 Sep 24-I'm gonna pull this one down because it's been re-released digitally through Amazon. If the link doesn't work, you might have to do a search.

Random Westminsters

You might remember how much I love the Christmas music put out in the early days of the Westminster label.  One of the things that introduced me to that music was this label sampler from 1956.  One or two tracks from each of those early releases showed up here and gave a really good introduction to the label.  It's taken me years, but I think I finally have all of the records sampled here. (I don't think I've shared them all because some things are better left unshared, if you know what I mean... Plus I can't find what I did with a couple of them.) I first shared this record out in 2005, remastered it in 2012, and I've re-encoded it for you just last night.  This is A Christmas Sampler-Selections From Outstanding Westminster Christmas Releases (Westminster WP S-2, Mono, 1956).

1. Dick Leibert-White Christmas
2. Cathedral Bellringers-Birthday Of A King
3. Collegium Musicam-Adeste Fideles
4. Ferrante & Teicher-Sleigh Ride
5. Deutschmeister Band-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
6. Robert Locksmith & Robert Owen-O Holy Night
7. Dick Leibert-What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
8. Randolph Singers-The First Noel
9. Brooklyn Museum Children's Chorus-Joy To The World
10. Randolph Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
11. Gordon Myers-O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
12. Basil Rathbone-Isaiah 40, 1-5
13. Carl Weinrich-Lord, Through Thy Goodness (Bach)
14. Vienna Akademie Kammerchor-Silent Night

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One And A Half Ferraris

Here's a remaster of a good organ record I brought to you way back in 2008 that I figured I'd bring you today. I know not all of you are fans of the big organ, but it's well after Christmas at this point and I don't have a lot of stuff left in my sack. Larry Ferrari was a TV institution in Philly for many, many years, playing that organ every chance he got. During that time, I know of two Christmas records he made, and a whole bunch of non-Christmas stuff that's not nearly so interesting.  For the curious, this is Larry Ferrari-I Wish You The Merriest (Sure Music Volume 703, Mono).

1. We Need A Little Christmas
2. Sleigh Ride
3. Medley-It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! and Reprise: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
4. Silver Bells
5. You're All I Want For Christmas
6. Medley-Christmas Bells, I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day and Reprise: Christmas Bells
7. Winter Wonderland
8. Little Drummer Boy
9. We Wish You The Merriest
10. Medley-There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays and I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. White Christmas
12. Medley-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, Jingle Bells and Frosty The Snowman
13. The Christmas Song
14. Blue Christmas

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For the curious among you, here's part of a Christmas album recorded by Larry one year before the one shown above, and this one's in stereo.  However, one of the tracks just would not cooperate, and I couldn't get a decent file out of it no matter what I tried.  So it's only a partial share, sort of a place holder until I get a better copy.  And it's taken an awful long time to find this one, so don't hold your breath.  The one up top was something I shared in 2008, and I've not seen another copy since that time, so his records don't show up here in Florida very much.  I was in Philadelphia for a day earlier this year but didn't have any time to visit a Goodwill store between the Liberty Bell and the museums, so I don't know if perhaps they're more common up there.  Maybe next year...  Anyhow, here is a partial copy of Larry Ferrari-Merry Christmas Carols (Sure SS Volume 701, Stereo, 1965).

1. Deck The Halls; Good King Wenceslas
2. What Child Is This?; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
3. Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; Away In A Manger (This track ain't there, it skipped badly)
5. O Holy Night
6. Joy To The World; Little Town Of Bethlehem; Joy To The World
7. Hark The Herald Angels Sing; Silent Night
8. O Tannenbaum; We Three Kings; The First Noel

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Bob's Back!

Another oldie by a local celebrity, well, local in Cincinnati, if not anywhere near you.  This is Bob Braun, hand picked successor to Ruth Lyons, though he doesn't seem to have achieved quite the notoriety that she accumulated in her life. If you didn't hear this one the first time I shared it in 2008, or when I remastered it in 2012, here is your chance to listen to a re-encode of that 2012 rip in full 320 sound.  This is Bob Braun-Orchestra Conducted By LeRoy Holmes-Christmas In Your Heart (United Artists UAS 6664, Stereo, 1968). There may or may not be a bonus rip of a single he made five years later in the download.  It may not have any artwork with it though, because I can't find what I did with my copy of the single...  :(

1. Christmas In Your Heart
2. Everywhere The Bells Are Ringing
3. Do You Hear What I Hear
4. A Marshmellow (sic) World
5. A Child's First Christmas
6. Let's Light The Christmas Tree
7. Christmas Lullaby
8. Winter Wonderland
9. That's What Christmas Means To Me
10. I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. Christmas Medley

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Speaking of LeRoy Holmes, don't forget about his seasonal LP I shared out earlier in the season, it's good stuff!

A Little Bit Of Soap

An interesting re-encoded LP for you tonight, one made by a bunch of then-current soap opera stars back in 1982. The only one of them that I recognize is Lori Loughlin, but one guy looks like Scott Biao's friend on Charles In Charge.  Don't know for sure if it his him or not, and I'm too lazy to look it up, but you never know.  I do remember getting lots of comments over the years telling me who's who and where they are at today.  So if you recognize anyone, please fill us in.  There's also an insert with this featuring remarks from Johnny Marks, author of more than one Christmas song you might recognize.  I can't let this history disappear, I have to keep it in circulation! This is Soap Opera Christmas (Pink Wings Productions PW-101, Stereo, 1982).  This was originally shared out in 2012, though I re-encoded it for you just this minute!

1. Candice Earley-Oh Holy Night/Oh Happy Day
2. Allen Fawcett-Christmas Is You
3. Randy Hamilton-Merry Christmas Darling
4. Lori Loughlin-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
5. John McCafferty-Jingle Bell Rock
6. Mary Gordon Murray-Blue Christmas
7. Tom Nielsen-Winter Wonderland
8. Frank Runyeon-White Christmas
9. John Wesley Shipp-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10. Darnell Williams-The Christmas Song

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A New Christmas Carol

An interesting little 7" record, and not only because it spins at 78 RPM.  It's a Christmas song written by noted film composer Dimitri Tiomkin and originally gifted (or sold) to readers of Woman's Home Companion, a magazine that would only survive another four years.  I had two copies of the record, neither of which was in great shape.  I was surprised when I looked it up at Discogs to find that it originally came with a card-like sleeve.  Wish I had all that to share with you, but you can look at it over there.  All you can do here is listen to Jill Corey, Orchestra And Chorus Under The Direction Of Jimmy Carroll-The First Christmas b/w Silent Night (Women's Home Companion 7" 78 RPM Microgroove Z P 49863/4, Mono, 1953). I think that's fair.  This kind of reminded me of that promo record for Country Living magazine I shared last year with Bing Crosby and The Lennon Sisters. There should be a good link for that one in the comments if you're interested.

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Paul 2

The second Paul Mickelson share of the day, again from the 2012 season (though it appears in the archives that I recorded this is 2011). I think I like this one a little better than the earlier one, but they both have their merits.  This is Paul Mickelson Orchestra And Choir-The Best Of Christmas (RCA Victor LPM-1517, Mono, 1957).

1. Festival Of Carols: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; The First Noel; Carol Of The Bells; It Came Upon The Midnight Clear; Joy To The World
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. We Three Kings
4. Christmas Candle
5. Gloria In Excelsis Deo (Angels We Have Heard On High)
6. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
7. Fantasy Of The Sleigh Bells: Jingle Bells; Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer; Sleigh Ride
8. Away In A Manger
9. Deck The Halls
10. White Christmas
11. Silent Night
12. O Come, All Ye Faithful

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Paul 1

From the land of shares that never got any comments, this went up in 2012 and then disappeared without a trace.  I suppose some records just don't find their audience, but I believe you should keep trying.  Of course sharing something out after Christmas is hardly the way to draw attention to a Christmas record, but I don't want to wait another 11 months.  This is Paul Mickelson Playing The Symphonic Carillon And Vibraharp-Christmas Bells (RCA Victor LPM-1115, Mono, 1955). Nice cover shot though.

1.  I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
2. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
3. Jesu, Bambino
4. Joy To The World
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
7. Good King Wenceslas
8. I Wonder As I Wander
9. Away In A Manger
10. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
11. The First Noel
12. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
13. Silent Night
14. As With Gladness Men Of Old
15. There's A Song In The Air
16. O Christmas Tree
17. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
18. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
19. Deck The Halls
20. Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne
21. Angels, From The Realms Of Glory
22. O Come, All Ye Faithful
23. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
24. Gloria In Excelsis Deo
25. O Holy Night

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Those Wacky Wise Men

2011 still stands out to me as the year of the lousy scans. At the time, I had to use the big copier-scanner at work, and it must have needed some calibration when I scanned my album covers that year.  I couldn't exactly call the copier company and say I need them to come out and do some work because my cover scans looked streaky, could I?  But I got through it all right, and now I have a nice large-format scanner of my very own right here beside my desk.  I still can't scan album covers in a single pass, but I can do it in two, and that's much easier than scanning it in four passes.  But you don't care about that, you just want the music.  Here's a re-encode of The Regency Choir-John McCarthy, Conductor-Three Wise Men (Columbia CS 9382, Stereo, 1966). Enjoy!

1. The Bells Of Christmas
2. Jesus Garcia
3. Silent Night
4. Pat-A-Pat-A-Pan
5. The Bells Of Bethlehem
6. Do You Hear What I Hear?
7. Three Wise Men, Wise Men Three
8. Heavenly Night
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
10. O Bambino (One Cold And Blessed Morning)
11. O Come, All Ye Faithful

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A Home Christmas

A very recent find that I wasn't sure I'd be able to get up on the blog for you this year, this is a 7", single sided record that spins at 33.33 RPM and features a message from the president of the Home Insured Company of New York.  That much you might know from the label.  What you don't know until you play the vinyl is that there are a few carols sung by the Home Glee Club on there as well.  So that was a nice surprise.  Wish I could find more little rarities like this.  This is Home Glee Club with President Washburn-President's Christmas Message 1969 (Home Insured New York 7" 33 RPM One-Sided DR 5325, Mono, 1969).

1. President's Message Over Silent Night
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. We Three Kings
4. Angels We Have Heard On High

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Ho Ho Ho (Not Santa)

A rare non-Christmas album around these parts, but I think you'll give me a pass once you give it a listen.  This is for the most part a skiing album, but there are a few winter tunes thrown in for good measure.  I posted this way back in 2011 and it hasn't been back before now.  I re-encoded it for sharing this year, I think it sounds really good.  Over the years I've gotten a few good comments about this one, so be sure you go back and read the comments at that original post. Just for the record, one of these guys went on to perform as The Jolly Green Giant in TV commercials.  I wish I could tell you which one he is, but I notice that two comments call out two different guys as Keith Wegeman, so I'm not sure what to tell you. Interesting stuff here either way.  This is The Wegeman Brothers With The Ray Whitaker Orchestra-Gentlemen Skiers-Ski Songs By The Wegeman Brothers (Raynote RN5008, Mono, 1959).

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Two Boards
3. Wacky Waxer
4. Oola
5. Here's To The Skier
6. Sven
7. Skiers Medley
8. Skiers Lament
9. Under The Take-Off
10. Sun Valley
11. Winter Song
12. Ski Heil

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Disco?

Here's an interesting share that hasn't been seen around these parts since I shared it with you back in 2012.  And I've corrected a few things from that share back then. Tracks 9 and 10 were reversed, so I got those properly labelled.  I appear to have left out a scan of the album cover for you, so that's in there now.  Lastly, I re-encoded everything at a full 320 bitrate.  There are some interesting tracks here, I wouldn't just dismiss it as a religious LP without listening first.  If you don't like it after giving it a listen, than please toss it in the bin.  Still like that Jingle Bells!  This is Joel Gentry And The Skylarks-Christmas Joy-Instrumentals (Skylite SLP 6195, Stereo, 1978).

1. White Christmas
2. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. Silver Bells
4. Away In A Manger
5. Jingle Bells
6. Rudolf, The Disco Reindeer
7. The Christmas Song
8. Little Drummer Boy
9. Silent Night
10. Oh Come All Ye Faithful

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Just For The Cover

I'm afraid there's no share here for this record.  Even if I had found it with a record in the sleeve, it's the sort of stuff you can find easily enough anywhere fine music is sold.  It didn't come with a record though, but I love the collection of cars and cuties on the cover.  And, most interestingly to Christmas collectors, that Santa shot in the lower right, the only one without a car, was used the following year on a double album collection of Jackie Gleason's Christmas music.  If you look close, I believe the same model is featured in a few of the other pictures.  Anybody want to put a name to the face?  I couldn't find any attributions on the sleeve.  Collections like this were sent out monthly by Capitol Records for years and years as a way for DJs to be introduced to new records that either just came out or would be out soon.  Some of them, like this one, just featured songs, while others featured entire radio shows with songs and interviews.  (I shared out one last year with Tennessee Ernie Ford and Roger Wagner on it.  Cool stuff.) Anyhow, back to this one.  It was in horrible shape and I had to clone a lot of tape off the front and back cover.  You can still see some traces of it in the lettering on the back, but I think I did a pretty good job.  Now I need to go into the archives and see if I can rebuild this collection from my own vinyl.  This is The Capitol Disc Jockey Album-December 1968 (Capitol SPRO 4656/4657, Stereo, 1968).

Not Westworld

You thought the fun was over after the holiday, but that's just not the case here at Ernie (Not Bert).  I've still got a few presents left in the sleigh for you, and you can't even imagine how many things I still have that I can re-share with you. Tonight is a new one though, a budget recording that doesn't even list a real artist.  I couldn't leave the field blank, so I used the label name, Westerfield.  Still not bad, for budget stuff.  This is Westerfield Choir And Orchestra-The Magnificent Music Of Christmas (Westerfield 1006, Stereo). I do kind of like that cover, with the stained glass effect.

1. White Christmas
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. Away In A Manger
4. Deck The Halls
5. Angels We Have Heard On High
6. What Child Is This
7. O, Come All Ye Faithful
8. Silent Night
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
10. Carol Of The Bells
11. Joy To The World
12. Jingle Bells

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Bargain Basement

I am not nearly as big a connoisseur of budget Christmas releases as my friend Lee.  But that doesn't mean I don't record the occasional record who's provenance is a little shady. Take this record, for instance.  Nice cover, but no real credits.  If you aren't going to do right by whoever made this music, that's a big red flag. And I know you can't hold the sleeve in your hand, but trust me, it's flimsy.  Designed to fall apart before you have a chance to listen again next year.  Why?  So you have to buy it again, probably in a slightly different jacket with a different look so you think you might be getting something different.  But no, it'll be the same songs in a different order.  Enough complaining, it is what it is.  I first shared this with you in 2011, but I've re-encoded it at a higher bitrate just for fun.  This is Vocals And Orchestra By Popular Radio And Television Artists-18 Christmas Songs (Broadway BR-1028, Mono).

1. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
2. Joy To The World
3. Good King Wenceslas
4. Deck The Halls With Holly
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6. Jingle Bells
7. Shepherds' Carol
8. Bring A Torch Jeanette Isabella
9. White Christmas
10. Silent Night
11. O' Come All Ye Faithful
12. The First Noel
13. O' Little Town Of Bethlehem
14. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
15. O Holy Night
16. Away In A Manger
17. Auld Lang Syne
18. O Tannenbaum

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Robert & Robert

I think you need this record if only for that great cover!  And if you happen to be exposed to a little music from the carillon by accident, so be it.  Who knows, you might like it!  This is a share from 2011, part of my attempt to get the whole Christmas output of the early Westminster label years out in the open again.  I've still got a ways to go on that, but I'm closer than I was back then.  I've re-encoded it at a higher bitrate for you this year, so there is that to entice you a bit more.  This is Robert Locksmith & Robert Owen-Carillon For Christmas (Westminster WP 6020, Mono, 1956).

1. O Holy Night
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
4. Joy To The World
5. Deck The Halls
6. Silent Night
7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
8. O Come All Ye Faithful
9. What Child Is This
10. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
11. Away In A Manger
12. The First Nowell
13. Jingle Bells
14. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
15. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
16. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

MEGA

Tonawandas!

Maybe I should have shared this out during the Christmas season proper, but I shied away from sharing 7" records during the season for some reason.  They're all so short and I didn't want to skimp on giving you Christmas music to listen to.  This one features fifteen tracks though, so you would have had plenty to listen to.  Each one is only few seconds long however, so maybe it was a good idea to save it for the post-season.  Anyhow, this is an interesting corporate piece that came in a little folded sleeve.  Cute.  Please give a listen to The Children's Chorus Of The Tonawandas, Conducted By Mrs. Lillian Sandbloom Wilder-Seasons Greetings From National Gypsum Company (National Gypsum Company 7" 33 RPM ZTV 81074/75, Mono, 1961).

1. Greeting By Melvin H. Baker
2. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (1)
3. Deck The Halls
4. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
5. Christmas Bells
6. Jingle Bells
7. Tell Them On The Mountain
8. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (2)
9. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (3)
10. Here We Come A Caroling
11. O Holy Night
12. The Birthday Of A King
13. Joy To The World
14. Silent Night
15. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (4)

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