Green Greetings

Tonight's remaster is a 7" 45 RPM of greetings from Columbia Records artists.  I shared this one out in 2010 with you from a very scratchy copy that I spent a lot of time working with to eliminate all the skips.  But this much cleaner version is ripped from a nice new copy I found in the famous Ameoba Records in Hollywood, CA, during a visit this past January.  There's lots of stuff to see and do in LA, but one of my first stops was this great record store, and it did not disappoint.  Even three weeks after Christmas, I was still able to find a nice selection of Christmas music and brought it all home with me on the plane.  Now if I could make it during the holiday season when they have a really nice selection.  I'll add that to my life goals.  In the meantime, this is Holiday Greetings Voice Tracks (Columbia 7" 45 RPM JZSP 111921/2 Green Vinyl Promo).

1. Jimmy Dean
2-3. Jerry Vale
4. Andy Williams
5-6. Patti Page
6-8. Percy Faith
9-12. Ray Conniff

MEGA

Gospel Greetings

While it's still early in the Christmas season, I want to push out some of these recorded Christmas greetings that I've found here and there.  This is the only full album I've got for you, and I'm afraid most of the names aren't going to mean much to you if you aren't a fan of the gospel music from the late 60's or early 70's.  However, there is one group on here that later went on to greater fame in the country music genre, as well as a few pop crossover hits in the 80's.  That group is the Oak Ridge Boys, and I believe they are still releasing Christmas music (and other types as well) to this very day.  So add some spice to your mixtapes and drop some of these in there at random.  You never know who might want to get a Merry Christmas with from a Singing Rambo.  This is Heart Warming/Impact Christmas "Promos" (Heart Warming/Impact No Number, Stereo, 1970).

1-4. The Oak Ridge Boys
5-6. Reba Rambo
7-10. The Downings
11-13. Henry And Hazel Slaughter
14-17. Doug Oldham
18-20. The Bill Gaither Trio
21-24. The Singing Rambos
25-26. Gene Cotton
27-30. The Singing Deweys
31-36. The Speer Family

I think all the backing music is performed by Charities Children, but there isn't anything on the sleeve that says so.  They're just thanked by a few of the artists, so that's the only reason I can imagine they're being thanked.

MEGA

Turkey Tonight

This is an odd little record I hadn't thought of in a long time, but over at Music You Won't, Lee just shared out a whole stack of singles from the great series of Christmas songs from a company called Line Material. And it reminded me of this record that was also released as part of that series, though this particular copy isn't marked as such.  Mine seems to have come courtesy of the Turkish Information Office, a fun place for the kids to hang out after school, I'm sure.  So since I was thinking about it, I figured I'd throw it up here for anyone that may be interested.  It's an old share, first put up here in 2009.  And I have a 2010 version that's marker Remaster, but I don't appear to have ever shared it.  How very odd. Maybe I just ran it through ClickRepair at some point and forgot about it. Anyhow, this is the version that I have labeled 2010 Remaster, see how it sounds. Have a go at Season's Greetings From Turkey (Turkish Information Office 7"45 RPM TIO-1/2, Mono, c. 1964).

1. The Story Of Santa Claus
2. Turkey, The Bible Land

MEGA

Back To Muzak 2-The Continuance

Here's another remastered album of Christmas music from Muzak for your enjoyment.  As far as I am aware, they only ever released three of these to the public.  I gave you one in remastered form yesterday, and the third one I shared with you back in 2016 (the download link in the comments should still be good). So if you download this one, you can have the whole set. Took a long time to track down all three of those, and I can't tell you which one is the best.  They all have their high points, so you really need the whole set.  And with this one tonight, you can have the whole set in my best sound ever.  So grab 'em all!  This is Muzak-Stimulus Progression Number Three-Christmas (Muzak S-2563, Stereo).  No year on this one that I know of.  Anybody got a definitive source that says when this came out?

1. O, Holy Night
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. O Come, O Come, Emanuel
4. As With Gladness, Men Of Old; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
5. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
6. Joy To The World
7. O, Come, All Ye Faithful
8. Silent Night
9. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
10. Once In Royal David's City; Watchmen, Tell Us Of The Night
11. The First Noel
12. Angels We Have Heard On High; Good Christian Men Rejoice

Whoops, this one is on Spotify. Gotta take it down.  I'll find something else to put up, promise.  :)

Music, Music, Music

How about some more music from 3M? You might remember the last time I shared some of their music, it was from a service they offered that was similar to Muzak. This time, it's a corporate chorus, making some noise and putting it on vinyl.  Certainly not a bad album as these things go, I'm sure you'll get some excellent mileage out of it. This is The 3M Music Makers-Do You Hear What I Hear? (3M MM2-73, Stereo). Actually, this is a very interesting track list.  Plenty of Alfred Burt carols (Though not credited anywhere on the release), and the big hit from Walter Schumann & Jester Hairston that you don't see covered.

1. Do You Hear What I Hear?
2. Go Tell It On The Mountain
3. Christmas Song
4. Let The Bright Red Berries Glow
5. The Bells
6. Ring Those Christmas Bells
7. Christmas Gift
8. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
9. Oh Sleep Fair Child
10. Bring A Torch Jeannette, Isabella
11. Gift Carol
12. An Indian Carol
13. Caroling, Caroling
14. Bright, Bright The Holly Berries
15. The Star Carol

MEGA

Back To Muzak

I think the plan this season is to share out a new record each day, and then a new remaster as well.  I've been doing this sharity thing since 2005, and there are a lot of records that I shared out at the beginning that I need to revisit. Whether I have a cleaner new copy, or I can use my new software tricks to make it sound a little better, I want to go back to some of those old shares and do something a little better. And I'm going to start that for this year with this old share from year one, a great record from the fine folks at Muzak. People like to make fun of Muzak, and they've certainly been guilty of making a lot of really bad music over the years, but I'm a fan of their Christmas music, a few albums of which have been released over the years. This one actually came with the names of the musicians attached, a rarity in the world of Muzak. Please have a go at Muzak Christmas (Muzak AA 36, Stereo, 1980)!

1. Fanfare Orchestra-Hurry Home For Christmas
2. Jerry Laning-The Christmas Song
3. Philip Green-White Christmas
4. Jerry Laning-Winter Wonderland
5. Fanfare Orchestra-Christmas Is Coming (All Over The World)
6. Jerry Laning-Jingle Bell Rock
7. Chartsound Orchestra-Holly Time
8. Chartsound Orchestra-Merry Gentlemen
9. Chartsound Orchestra-Yuletide
10. Chartsound Orchestra-Christmas Morn
11. Chartsound Orchestra-Caroltime
12. Chartsound Orchestra-Three Kings

MEGA

Seventeen For A Penny

As usual, I agonized over what to share first for the season.  It doesn't matter much, but I always make a big deal about it and worry too much.  So I finally decided on this rare release from the Columbia Record Club.  It's part of a much larger series that seems to have come out in a couple of different versions, yet this is the first and only copy I've ever seen.  The characters seem to span the whole series, so if you really like this, you might want to seek out the other parts from the series, though I think this is the only seasonal edition.  If not, let me know and I'll hunt it down for next year. This record was something I found at a great record store in Clearwater, Florida, recently. Most of my music comes from thrift stores and junk stores and little hole in wall places that most people wouldn't even think to frequent, but that's the kind of place that has the kind of stuff I'm looking for.  Cheap and forgotten, that's the music for me.  But this was at an actual record store, and it's rare that I find stuff in a record store I've not seen before.  When I saw this, I knew it needed to go in my collection.  I think I recorded it just a day or two later, which is also rare. Some things have been in my collection for a decade or more before I get around to recording it. And this record didn't disappoint.  It's a lot of fun and I know you'll enjoy it.  It even features some off-brand Chipmunks here and there to add into the fun. There's a different date on the cover than on the vinyl.  I'm thinking maybe the vinyl was in a set before it got put into it's own sleeve for single release.  Just a theory, but I'm running with it. Anybody have this one as a kid?  This is Christmas At Dr. Fun's Funhouse (Columbia Record Club D-228, Stereo, 1966).

1. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
2. A Holly Jolly Christmas
3. Love Is The Meaning Of Christmas
4. Jingle Bells
5. A Christmas Medley
6. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. The Santa Claus Parade
8. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
9. Little Greenie
10. A Christmas Medley

MEGA

Merry 2019 Christmas!!!

Hello, and welcome back to the Christmas roulette that is Ernie (Not Bert) this time of year! I've got a lot of stuff to share with you this year, about half of it new and about half of it remasters of old shares from the 14 years I've been doing this crazy thing. I don't have a lot to say this early in the season, other than I hope you find something fun to listen to among the shares here. Don't forget that there are three years worth of shares in the archives, most of which have good download links.  Some of the older things will have the link in the comments, so don't forget to look in there. And while you're there, don't forget to leave me a comment or two.  Blogs run on comments, and if I don't get comments on a share, I have no way of knowing if anyone is paying attention.  In the old days, I could see how many times something was being downloaded, but not anymore. So if I don't get any comments, I assume no one cares. (I think the record for comments on a post was 30 on an old intro like this one, so let's see if we can beat that, OK?) Also of interest to you might be Christmas in July from this past year.  A whole month with two posts a day of Christmas music from albums that aren't considered Christmas related.  Over 800 tracks of random stuff, there's bound to be something in there for everyone. If you aren't familiar with how the downloads work, just leave a comment and myself or one of my friendly little elves will help you out.  It's a pretty simple process. I think, but then I've been doing this a long time, and I thought torrents were easy, so there you go.  Anyhow, the Christmas shares will start soon, and run through Christmas (or maybe Epiphany, depending on how I'm feeling), so come back often.  And if you put my songs on your Christmas comp, send me a copy, I love to see how people enjoy my music.  Well, it's not really my music, I just find it in the deep dark recesses of the thrift stores and try to bring it back to life.  You won't find anything on here that's available on Amazon or iTunes or Spotify or on CD, at least not if I can help it.  I try to share the stuff that's been forgotten or lost or was never known to begin with. A lot of this stuff has made it's way to the streaming world in the past few years, and I think that's a great thing.  The more folks hear this stuff, the more interesting the world becomes.  And as that's happened, I've broadened my horizons to independent releases, local stuff, things that aren't brought to you by a major label.  It's all good, give it a listen and see.  Thanks for visiting! Feliz Navidad!

PS-Bonus points if you know where the Christmas tree above is from, and double points if you can ID the original artist. :)

Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

In what may be a first, I actually found a full Thanksgiving album this year that I can share with you. I suspect there are plenty of things like this out there, but this is the first one I've found. Oscar Brand was kind of a folky performer who released a bunch of LPs in the Sixties on Audio Fidelty that you've probably seen at the thrift stores and not paid much attention to.  Then he switched to Elektra for another long series of albums that turn up occasionally, but not as often.  After that, he shows up in a lot of weird places. I didn't know until this year that one of those places was Caedmon, a label usually known for their spoken-word stuff.  This record features a lot of talking between the songs, but there is still plenty of music here.  I also discovered that he did a Christmas album either right before or right after this one, but I've never seen it.  If anyone has a copy they want you send me, drop me a line, I'd love to hear it!  This is Oscar Brand With Jacqui And Bridie, Eric And Anthony-Oscar Brand Celebrates The First Thanksgiving In Story And Song (Caedmon TC 1513, Stereo, 1978). This was a library copy, so please excuse the tears on the front cover and the stickers on the label.  Sometimes you have to be happy with what you find.

1. Oh, Give Thanks
2. Bold Robin
3. Listen To The Bells
4. Listen To The Bells-Reprise
5. The Sails Are Set
6. Malbroek-Marlborough
7. Three Young Maidens
8. I'm Going For A Journey
9. The Sails Are Set
10. Henry Martin
11. Thanks To The Lord
12. The Little Mohee
13. Indian War Song
14. This Great World
15. Three Merchants
16. Green Broom
17. The Jolly Huntsmen
18. The Shucking Of The Corn
19. Indian Thanksgiving
20. Oh, Give Thanks-Reprise

MEGA

Traditional Thanksgiving

Good morning! As I have done for many years now off and on, I like to start out the holiday sharity season with this old chestnut of a single. I first shared this with you all back in 2005, and I appear to have re-recorded it in 2010, but I think it's due for another go-round at this point.  Problem is, I haven't seen the single for a while, and haven't been able to find it to have another go at it.  So this is a fairly low bitrate version, I don't know if it's the best thing you'll hear this year, but it's a great song. If you haven't downloaded it before, please be my guest.  It's good stuff.  And as they say in the funny papers, always check the comments!  This is Thanksgiving Day Parade by Spencer Ross (Columbia 4-41532 7" 45 RPM single, Mono, 1960)

MEGA