Christmas In The Time Of Covid 19, Part 7

I didn't think I had anything to post for Easter a little while ago, but I guess I didn't dig hard enough.  I'll make up for that today with a new addition to the Christmas collection of animal helpers for Santa, Herbie (Christmas Rabbit)!  I kid you not, it's a rabbit, and he helps Santa, but he doesn't seem to do much. I couldn't find heads nor little fluffy tails of this one on the internet, so if you know any more about it, please let me know. I'm leaning towards either song poem or religious singing group family for this one. If you've got a strong stomach for Christmas characters, please download and enjoy Kim Lovering-Herbie (Christmas Rabbit) b/w Ken & Bonnie Allen-Christmas Time Is Here (Gio 7" 45 RPM UR 1601, Stereo, 1979), both sides featuring Ken Masters Band, so I gave them the main artist credit here.

MEGA

Christmas In The Time Of Covid 19, Part 6

Three days in a row, woo-hoo!  How do I do this at Christmas time, posting something new and exciting every day for more than a month?  Lots more preparation, I suppose, plus I have to psych myself up for it all year long.  This little project is a much more ad hoc affair, thrown together at the last minute and pieced together from whatever records I can find nearby. And I'm doing it in very near real time! I recorded this music less than ten minutes ago, although if I check the clock I'll probably find that and hour or two has passed. It feels like ten minutes though, and that means the music must be good.  Tonight's share is from the somewhat famous De Castro Sisters, a sister group that released a fairly large discography in the late fifties and sixties, but they're fairly unheard today. I found this single at the big Ameoba in Hollywood last year and thought I really had something. It's OK, I guess, but it's from much, much, much later in their career, and it's probably just their voices over some 80's sounding production from an anonymous Svengali looking for a hit. I couldn't find a date on it, and the label appears to be a custom one with only this release, so if you know any more about this one, please share.  Cute stuff, though, and relatively unheard.  This is De Castro Sisters-Feliz Navidad b/w Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Boha 7" 45 RPM 1001, Stereo).  For my money, side 2 is the better track, there certainly seems to be more going on than just repeating the title ad infinitum.

MEGA

For the sake of comparison, here's a link to a 1955 Christmas single from the same girls that I recorded many years ago. I don't know if I ever shared it or not. I kind of doubt it because there is no artwork with it, and I try not to share things without artwork if I can help it. Anyhow, feel free to compare and contrast, you'll see what a difference 30-some odd years can make.

MEGA

Christmas In The Time Of Covid 19, Part 5

Many years from now, people will ask what it was like to live through the pandemic, and perhaps they'll research what people had to say on the internet, and they'll find this blog and read what I had to say at the time.  I'm what you'd call a contemporary source, I'm actually writing at the same time the event is happening.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good take on it.  I want to compare it to the days and weeks after 9/11, when you knew that something terrible was happening somewhere, but your home was about the same as usual with only small changes affecting you directly.  I'm lucky in that I'm able to go to work every day and make money, and I know a lot of people aren't able to do that right now, so I'm very thankful for that. I don't know anyone directly that has come down with the virus, but there are some friends-of-friends out there that have it, and I hope that for the time being it stays far away from my doorstep. Even though I know that somewhere out there the world is burning, I still want to do my little bit to bring a small light of joy into anyone's life that I can.  So here's another Christmas single, something with a little country flavor that you most likely have never seen before (unless your name is Stubby).  Heaven knows where I dug it up, or how long I've had it laying around, but it was at the top of the pile when I went looking for something to share this evening.  Give it a listen and see what you think.  This is Juanita Miller-Everyday Is Like Christmas b/w Let It Snow, Let It Snow (NRS Records 7" 45 RPM NRS 558, Mono, 1970).

MEGA

Christmas In The Time Of Covid 19, Part 4

Been a couple of weeks, but I'm still here.  And I'm still working, so that's a good thing.  I try to stay home on the weekends, not leaving the house for 60 hours or so, and it's tough. I don't know how some of you are doing it out there, staying home all the time, except for occasional trips to the grocery. I guess we've all got to do what we can to get through this pandemic.  It's the sort of thing you figure won't happen in your lifetime, but then up it pops. But we'll get through it, I have no doubt about that.  Here's another record in my short series of Christmas records to make the isolation a little easier to bear.  I wish I could do more, or at least do something a little more frequently, but it's hard to gain any traction here.  The record tonight is something I've seen shared out plenty of times before, but I recently found a copy of it and thought I'd take a stab at it. I've also included the rarely-if-ever seen B-side, a non Christmas comedy song that owes a little more than it's fair share to Ray Stevens.  It's been 40 years since this record (and a whole host of similar ones for other teams) came out, and Cleveland isn't any closer to a Superbowl title. This is Elliott, Walter & Bennett-The Twelve Days Of A Cleveland Brown Christmas b/w It (Paid 7" 45 RPM PAD-COB 9, Mono, 1980).

MEGA