Christmas In The Time Of Covid19, Part 1

If you're like me, you're probably sitting around right now, doing whatever it is you usually do on a Saturday, but thinking about how your life is changing or has already changed from the threat of Covid 19. It's not necessarily a dangerous disease to most of the people of the world, but the fact that it's new and nobody has any immunity to it is somewhat worrisome.  And there are members of the population for whom it might be deadly, and because of that we are trying to prevent it's spread, or at least slow it down to manageable levels.  For that reason, large parts of the work force have been furloughed, many businesses have been shut down, and somehow no one can buy any toilet paper. It's not just the United states, but the entire world (save for Antarctica, have they had any cases there yet?) that is fighting this thing.  I recently started seeing a few news reports about people trying to boost their spirits in these trying times by putting up their Christmas lights.  Not just inside, but outside as well, for all the world to see.  Maybe they're onto something.  Something small that we can all do, just to make things a little brighter in what could rapidly spiral into dark times.  So far, I have not been personally affected by a lot of the turmoil that others have seen.  I still have a job, I can still pay my bills.  The grocery store next door to me is fully stocked with all the food I think I could ever need. My 401k has taken a huge hit, but retirement is still far enough off that I'm not too concerned. (I lived through both 9/11 and the 2008 market crash, so I know that things go up and down.) The biggest effect on me so far has been the closure of restaurant dining rooms. While I can still get Steak N Shake, their takeout is not nearly the same as the diner experience. I thought that maybe I could do a little bit on my own to bring some Christmas spirit back into our daily lives, so I'm going to share out some Christmas music with you, like I normally do in December and July.  It's not going to be much, but a thing or two here and there, just to keep spirits up and help you realize that even though it may be darker now, things will get better.

A couple of hours ago, I grabbed a shellac 78 RPM record off the shelf and put it down on the turntable. These things take forever to properly record and restore, but I think it's worth the trouble sometimes, and this is a good one that I really doubt you've ever heard before. Tennessee was a label from the early 50's that never really saw much success. Biggest name I saw in their discography was Del Wood, who went on to make quite a few honky tonk organ albums for RCA later into the fifties and early sixties.  I couldn't find much about The Dinning Bros., so if you know something, please feel free to share.  On this record, they sound a whole lot like The Mills Brothers.  For your off-season listening pleasure, this is The Dinning Bros.-Give Me You For Christmas b/w Winter Wonderland (Tennessee 10" 78 RPM 807, Mono, 1951).

MEGA