Christmas Logistics

I've lamented that I didn't have much military Christmas music to share with you this season. But that's not the same as having none.  Here's an LP I ripped but didn't finish the artwork until earlier today.  It's a little later than most of the stuff I share around here, but it's still pretty old, and I don't think anyone is going to take offense at me sharing it, especially since it was given away in the first place. Lots of good stuff on here, I think you'll enjoy it. This is The Logistics Command Band Of Flight-An Air Force Logistics Command Christmas Sampler (AF Logistics Command MC20776, Stereo, 1986). I had two copies of this one in the archive, and they both had the same price tag on them. I suspect I bought one once upon a time, then forgot about it and bought the other copy from the same place at a later date. I need a better system of organizing what I have and don't have, I think.

1. Alleluia! Laudamus Te
2. Ave Maria
3. Jingle Bells
4. Country Christmas
5. White Christmas
6. Christmas Suite-Medley
7. Away In A Manger
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Gesu Bambino
10. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

MEGA

Glazed Ham

I've got a bunch of singles in the pile that I haven't even started sharing yet this year. This record comes from the 2015 pile though, something that I didn't get around to sharing that year, but I stumbled across it again this year and decided to go ahead and finish it up for sharing.  My collection is full of things I wanted to share, but never did, since my eyes are often bigger than my blog. I suppose I could go for quite a few seasons without ever recording anything new, but where's the excitement in that?  To me, it's all about finding something that's old, yet new to me and hopefully to you.  The name Tom Glazer should be familiar to some of you who've been paying attention, especially during Christmas In July. His name has shown up there several times, though I don't believe he ever recorded a full Christmas album.  The two sides of this 78 are things he recorded for the Children's Record Guild in 1952. To the best of my knowledge, most of their recordings have never been reissued.  This morning I'm doing a small part to remedy that situation.  This is Tom Glazer With The Gene Lowell Chorus-We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Round And Round The Christmas Tree (The Children's Record Guild 10" 78 RPM (Microgroove) 226, Mono, 1952).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. Round And Round The Christmas Tree

MEGA

Vienna Calling

Time for yet another installment of Capitol Of The World's Christmas around the world.  This time it's from Austria, and a recording from a group that would go on to become stalwarts of the Christmas landscape.  Everyone nowadays has heard of the Vienna Boys Choir, but on this record, that name is in parentheses, and they go by their local name, Wiener Sängerknaben.  This is in my experience one of the easier to find entries of the series, so I almost didn't bring it to you, but I happened to stumble across both this album and a later re-issue at the same time, so I figured why not. I'm not sure my pressing is original, as it has the rainbow swirl label that was used around the time of The Beatles. I suspect an original would have a bluish-purple label, but this will have to do for the time being. But enough blather, you don't care about pressing and re-issues, you just want to hear some Christmas music. This is Wiener Sängerknaben (The Vienna Boys Choir), Directed By Xaver Meyer, Organ By Alois Forer-Christmas In Austria (Capitol T10164, Mono, 1958). The re-issue cover I mentioned is in the download and you can see it down at the bottom of this post. Not sure why they thought this was an improvement.

1. O Tannenbaum (The Christmas Tree)
2. Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen (A Rose Sprang Forth)
3. Glocken Des Stiftes St. Florian (Bells Of St. Florian)-This one is actually performed by The Famous Chimes Of Vienna's St. Florian Church, but you'd figure that out when you listen to it.
4. O Du Fröhliche, O Du Selige (Joyful Yuletide)
5. O Jesulein Süss (Sweet Little Jesus)
6. Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night)
7. Ihr Kinderlein Kommet (Come Little Children)
8. Es Wird Schon Glei Dumpa (Soon It Will Knock)
9. Kommet Ihr Hirten (Come You Shepherds)
10. Still, Still (Quiet, Quiet)
11. Es Hat Sich Halt Eröffnet (It Became Wide Open)
12. Adeste Fideles

MEGA

Pokey!

Here's yet another album I should have gotten out during the height of the Christmas season. I'm afraid I don't know too much about the provenance of this album, it just kinda showed up one day.  The jacket is completely blank on the back, and there are no credits on side 1 of the label. Side 2 is credited to Jack Parker, so I put that name on the big long story on side 1 as well. Poking around the internet doesn't yield any results for this album, but there does appear to have been a Christmas special on the radio from 1957 by the same name. Digging deeper and adding the Jack Parker name yields a copyright entry from 1949 to a radio drama by the same name. I'm guessing this is a recording of that radio play, maybe not the original, but something perhaps recorded by Mr. Parker in later years. I could be way off base, but I'm guessing he pressed up some copies of his old radio show, added some more modern stuff he recorded, and then gave out copies to friends and family for Christmas.  Or maybe he tried to sell the shows somewhere.  I'm hoping someone out there knows a little something about this and they'll stumble across this post one day.  If you're reading this and you know the story behind the story, please leave a comment.  In the meantime, give a listen to Jack Parker-Pokey The Christmas Elf (Northpole Records 148, Mono). My sleeve looked like some of the ink was smeared as it rolled through the printing press, but I cleaned it up as best I could.  Not much chance of finding another copy of this one.

1. The Story Of Pokey, The Christmas Elf
2. The Miniature Manger
3. The Christmas Tree
4. The Christmas Gift
5. The Story Of Hanukka
6. Christmas Around The World
7. Christmas Candles
8. Christmas Pageant
9. The Day After Christmas

MEGA

Canadian Noël

Time for a little more organ music, this time from our friends to the North. I was excited to find this double album sometime in the past year, but I was a little less excited when I discovered I had already shared out one of the two albums they combined to make this double pack. Well, they didn't include the whole album, only ten of the twelve tracks made the cut. I suspect they omitted two tracks from the other album they used as well, so I need to keep an eye out for that one.  But this is a good overview of the organ style of Mr. Hétu if you aren't familiar with his work. It's pretty good stuff, as these things go.  Not the best, not the worst, but firmly in the middle. And there are plenty of holiday classics here that don't often get a nice workout on the organ.  Download this and give it a listen, maybe save it for next year if your Christmas is over already.  This is Lucien Hétu-20 Succès Souvenir De Noël Avec Lucien Hétu (RCA Gala (Canada) 2xLP KTL2-7026, Stereo, 1974).

1. Minuit Chrétiens
2. Jésus De Nazareth
3. Symphonie De Noël
4. Adeste Fideles
5. Miracles De Noël
6. L'Enfant Au Tambour (Little Drummer Boy)
7. Le Père Noël S'En Vient (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)
8. Valse Des Patieurs (Skaters Waltz)
9. Quand Il Neige (Let It Snow)
10. Il Est Minuit (Le Noel Des Petits Oiseaux)
11. Dans L'Temps Du Jour De L'An
12. Tour De Cariole
13. Katia (Il Peut Neiger)
14. Mets Tes Petits Souliers
15. Nos Vieilles Maisons
16. Le P'Tit Renne Au Nez Rouge (Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer)
17. Noël Blanc
18. Promenade En Traineau (Sleigh Ride)
19. Vive Le Vent (Jingle Bells)
20. J'Ai Vu Maman Et Le Père Noël (I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)

MEGA

Boxing Day Blues

Happy Boxing Day to all of you out there who celebrate it, and happy go back to work day for those who don't.  I'm in the second category, I'm afraid, so back to work I go. But I'm not ready to stop sharing just yet, so here's another great share that you should download and save for next year.  This is the story of Jeminie the Christmas Tree, and a handful of songs that fill up the back side of the album.  There are a couple of songs in the story as well, so I clipped those out as best I could and appended them to the end as bonus tracks.  According to Discogs, there was a single that featured these bonus tracks as well, though I've no idea if my clipped versions are close to what was on the single.  If anyone has a copy, I'd love to hear it.  This story and these songs are all quite good, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  I found this record right at the end of last season, and have been looking forward to sharing it all year long. Yet I couldn't seem to find time to finish it until here, after Christmas.  Sometimes that's just the way these things work out.  This is Wendell Watts-Jiminie The Christmas Tree (Solar Glo Records SG 1271, Stereo, 1971).

1. Jiminie The Christmas Tree
2. Just One Gift For Christmas
3. Happy Little ChristmasTree
4. Christmas In The City
5. Hush-A-Bye
6. Why Can't Every Day Be Christmas Day?
7. Christmas Is A Time For Love
8. Jiminie The Christmas Tree (Bonus)
9. The Little Christmas Tree (Bonus)
10. Jiminie The Christmas Tree-Reprise (Bonus)

MEGA

Boring Organ

I kept thinking all season that I had shared this album out before with a different cover, but I don't see it anywhere in the archive except in a folder labelled "Not Shared". So I guess I meant to share it, but never actually finished it up. I suspect it wasn't all that exciting of a record, so I never felt the need to finish. It's still not that exciting of a record, but at least here I have what I think is the original cover, and not the much more common later re-issue. If you need more of the old-fashioned organ and chime Christmas music, this is your record. Please enjoy Charles R. Cronham-Christmas Carols (AKA Christmas Carols With Organ And Chimes) (Mercury MG 20040, Mono, 1953).

1. The First Noel
2. God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen
3. Here A Torch, Jeanette Isabella
4. Sleep, Little Dove
5. Shepherds! Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep
6. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
7. Good King Wenceslas
8. O Sanctissima
9. Good Christian Men, Rejoice
10. What Child Is This
11. Angels We Have Heard On High
12. Deck The Halls
13. Come, All Ye Shepherds
14. The Sleep Of The Child Jesus
15. Come, Ye Lofty, Come, Ye Lowly
16. Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming
17. At Solemn Midnight

MEGA

Merry Christmas!

The big day is finally here!  Seems like only yesterday it was early November and I was wondering what in the world I was going to be able to share with you this season.  But here we are, a month later and still going strong.  Nothing too special for the big day, but I do have a nice little record from the cadets at West Point, home of the United States Military Academy. Not a whole lot to say about this one, but I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas today, wherever you are!  This is Merry Christmas From West Point (West Point-United States Military Academy WPS 8301, Stereo, 1983).

1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
2. Mary, Mary
3. O Come, All Ye Faithful
4. Carol Of The Bells
5. Noel In G
6. Christmas Day
7. Alleluia
8. Lord Today
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. Go Tell It On The Mountain
11. White Christmas
12. Winter Wonderland
13. Feliz Navidad
14. Improvisation On "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

MEGA

Doggett All!

I've saved a little bit of the best here for Christmas Eve.  It's a classic album from organ maestro Bill Doggett, something much different than all the organ albums I've shared with you all season. Some people call this the first R&B Christmas record, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. It certainly does swing a lot, and it's got a certain level of hip that no organ demo LP will ever equal.  It's a pretty hard album to find, but some of the tracks have turned up on CD here and there, so I hope I don't get in too much trouble for sharing it here.  This is Bill Doggett And His Combo-12 Songs Of Christmas (AKA Christmas Songs) (King 600, Mono, 1955).  I hope you all have a very merry Christmas Eve!

1. The Christmas Song
2. Jingle Bells
3. White Christmas
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Silent Night
6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
7. I'll Be Home For Christmas
8. What Child Is This
9. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
10. Joy To The World
11. Blue Christmas
12. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

MEGA

Way Up In Utica

We're getting down to the wire around here, and I've got so much more that I wanted to share out this year. We'll see how that pans out because I don't have a whole lot of time this year, and with so few days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's just no time. This morning I've got yet another local choir for you, this time from Utica, NY. I don't know much about this one, I just grabbed it because I liked the cover.  Nice picture, don't you think? This is The Utica Chorale-The Songs Of Christmas (The Savings Bank Of Utica AHS 1000, Stereo, 1968).

1. Fanfare For Christmas
2. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
3. Carol Of The Bells
4. The First Noel
5. Deck The Halls
6. Still, Still, Still
7. Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light
8. Thee With Tender Care I'll Cherish
9. The Little Drummer Boy
10. Bring A Torch, Jeannette
11. Hush-A-Roon Carol
12. Patapan
13. Silent Night
14. Glory To God
15. For Unto Us A Child Is Born
16. Mary Had A Baby
17. God Rest You  Merry, Gentlemen
18. The Christmas Song
19. Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming
20. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

MEGA

Christmas With The Local Boys

I'm thinking this is the only record I'm going to share with you this year that I know for a fact has skips in it. I tried and tried and tried to get a clean rip, but I just couldn't do it. So don't listen too closely to the long songs on side two, OK? This is a record from St. Petersburg, a community just north of me across a long tall bridge across the mouth of Tampa Bay, and a great place to go record hunting.  It's historically been a retirement community, but it's turned into hipster central in the past decade or so. But all those retirees have lots of records, and whether they're selling them to the record stores or passing them along to relatives who don't want them after they die, there are a lot of great records to be found up there. I'm not sure if I actually found this record in St. Pete, but I have seen copies of it up there, and for some reason it's always got a high price tag on it. Not sure why that is, I guess because the stores hope some local will pay that to hear their parents or grandparents sing. I didn't pay much for it, and unfortunately, that shows in the quality of the record. Lots of clicks and pops in addition to the skips, and the back cover is completely blank. I don't know if it came from the factory that way or it got torn off in the 49 years or so since it was pressed, but even the blank cover is beat up. So don't go into this one expecting an audio delight.  But do let me know if your parents or grandparents are on here.  This is St. Petersburg Boychoir-Donald R. Mathis, Musical Director-Christmas With The Boys Of 1970 (Mark MC 2993, Stereo, 1970).

1. Carol Of The Bells
2. Jingle Bells
3. Before The Paling Of The Stars
4. Gesu Bambino
5. Ave Maria
6. Fulgebut Justi
7. Night Before Christmas
8. March Of The Three Kings
9. Little Jesus, Sweetly Sleep
10. Portions Of The Messiah (Skips)
11. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas (Skips)

MEGA

God On TV 2 Part 2

Just when you thought I was done, here's a second album from Rex Humbard and his Cathedral of Tomorrow gang. Not nearly so long as the first one, this was actually the one I recorded first and didn't realize it was part 2 until I was tagging the tracks. Of course then I had to go track down the first one, but found the Robert Schuller in the meantime, so that's how we wound up with this little set of TV preachers this year. Always a story behind how these things happen, even if it's just random chance.  Not much of a story, I suppose, but a story. More music on this one, and less spoken word, so if that's your preference, this record is for you.  This is Rex Humbard And The Cathedral Of Tomorrow Staff-Rex Humbard's Christmas Album Volume II (Rex Humbard A4RS-4550/4551, Stereo).  Just like the other two, this one comes in a mailing envelope. This particular copy was mailed to an address in Canada as you'll see in the scan. I go to great lengths for the records I share around here! It looks like there is a little confusion about the title. I maybe should have changed it to match the first one, but I didn't. Oh well...

1. Introduction
2. O Come All Ye Faithful
3. Away In A Manger
4. The First Noel
5. Christmas
6. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
7. In A Manger Long Ago
8. O Holy Night
9. Joy To The World
10. Christmas Message Part 1
11. Seeking For Me
12. Christmas Message Part 2
13. The Prince Of Peace
14. Christmas Message Part 3
15. Do You Know The Prince Of Peace

MEGA

This Year's Not Christmas

Seems like each year I stumble across something I want to share that doesn't really relate to the season at hand. At least this year it's a little more appropriate than train noises or random music with Christmas in the title.  This is the soundtrack to a film that was made in the Soviet Union, then brought to the US where it was dubbed into English and released onto the market in 1959. this soundtrack is not just the songs and dialog from the movie, it also includes narration to explain what's going on, possibly making it one of the first records to do so. It also features a couple of straight songs from Sandra Dee, at least one of which was released as a single. It's early in the morning as I'm typing this, and I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Anyhow, I was really excited when I found this beautiful gatefold record, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  This is Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen (Decca DL 78977, Stereo, 1959). In addition to Sandra Dee, you get the voice talents of Tommy Kirk, Patty McCormack & Paul Frees, with music from Joseph Gershenson conducting the Universal-International Studio Orchestra.

MEGA

Happy Chanukah!

I wanted to say Happy Chanukah to all our Jewish visitors out there, and apologize for no new Chanukah content. I didn't turn up a singe new piece of content for the festival of lights this year, so I have nothing to share with you. But maybe you missed all the content from last year. If so, start here and work your way back through the posts.  You should find nine great posts that cover all eight nights. Oh, and here's a link to the Chanukah in August from earlier this year, just as a little icing on the latke.  Enjoy!

God On TV 2

Up next in our little featurette of TV preachers is this one from Rex Humbard. I don't remember too much about old Rex, and I have no cute stories about him to relate here. I do know that I saw this record a bunch on the thrift stores, so it must have gotten some good distribution back in the day.  And it's always in a mailing envelope, so they must have been via mail order only.  Maybe it was a premium if you donated so much money, or just sold outright and shipped this way.  I don't know, but it's a nice listen.  Again, there's the story of The Nativity interspersed with Christmas carols.  It's certainly not the worst thing I've shared with you this season.  This is Rex Humbard And The Cathedral Of Tomorrow Staff-Season's Greetings From Rex Humbard And The Cathedral Of Tomorrow Staff (No Label, No Number, Stereo).

1. Joy To The World
2. Silent Night
3. Christmas Story Part 1
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
5. Christmas Story Part 2
6. In A Manger Long Ago
7. Christmas Story Part 3
8. The First Noel
9. Christmas Story Part 4
10. Angels We Have Heard On High
11. Christmas Story Part 5
12. Lullabye
13. Christmas Story Part 6
14. Away In A Manger
15. O Come All Ye Faithful
16. Christmas Story Part 7
17. What Child Is This
18. Christmas Story Part 8
19. We Three Kings
20. Christmas Story Part 9
21. CHRISTMAS
22. Christmas Message
23. Joy To The World

MEGA