July The Twenty Third

Well, well, well, what do we have here?  Looks like a brand new compilation featuring the very best of Christmas in July from 2020!  And it's been less than a year since I stopped sharing stuff out last season, so this has to be some sort of new record. The tracklist is another great sampling of all the stuff I shared during the season. I've been listening to it for a month or more now, and there are some real great tracks here. This was a season when I recorded a lot of demo albums for school band music publishers, and that's where a lot of the unknown artist tracks came from.  Some of those are also short and truncated, but they were some good songs I felt were worth sharing.

1. Dick Marx, Piano, And Johnny Frigo, Bass…Sleigh Ride

2. John McGee…Christmastime In Florida

3. Dennis Farnon And His Orchestra…Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year

4. Kraft & Alexander…March

5. Dave Harris And The Powerhouse Five…Siberian Sleigh Ride

6. Kokee Band…My Favorite Things

7. The Metro Strings (AKA MGM Studio Orchestra)…Christmas

8. Unknown Artist…Santa's Coming

9. Frances Lai…The Christmas Trees

10. Jimmy James…All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)

11. Marni Nixon…Funny Little Snowman

12. Unknown Artist…Snowtime

13. West York Area High School Percussion Ensemble…Holiday For Percussion

14. John Ylvisaker…Joseph

15. Charlie Fox And The Ring Of Sound…Greensleeves

16. Frankford High School A Cappella Choir…You Better Watch Out-Edit

17. Lenny Seidel-Pianist…Angels We Have Heard On High

18. The Östlund Family…The Christmas Story

19. The RCA Electronic Music Synthesizer…Oh, Holy Night

20. The Gabriel Sisters-Mary Lou, Connie Joe, Colleen…Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers

21. Lloyd Reese And The Solid Rock Chorus…Sweet Little Lord Jesus

22. The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir…Jingle Bells

23. Reid Nibley…The Shepherds And The Star

24. Ekseption-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra…Ave Maria

25. Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra…White Christmas

26. The Babes…Disco Toyland

27. Unknown Artist…The Nutcracker

28. Lutheran High School West Brass Ensemble…God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

29. King Curtis…Swingin' Shepherd Blues

30. David Webb…The Marvelous Toy

31. The Handbell Choir Of St. James Methodist Church…Westminster Carol

32. John McCutcheon…Christmas In The Trenches

33. Air University Band Maxwellaires…Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

34. Liv Ullmann & Rock Hudson…Baby It's Cold Outside

35. Anita Bryant…X Has No Word For These Bible Stories

36. Long Island Banjo Society…Bells Of St. Mary's

37. Bob Johnson And The Lonesome Travelers…Auld Lang Syne

 MEGA

If that cover image looks familiar, there's a reason for that. I took the picture during the 2019 Christmas season when I happened to find myself in NYC and insisted on multiple trips to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. I would have gone back more, but I got sick and spent the last couple days in bed before I had to catch a flight home. But why is the picture familiar? Because it's been featured on multiple Christmas album covers over the years, including a couple I've shared around here. Cool to see that they still have very similar angels to those shown on this 1956 cover!  (Are all those albums by Dick Leibert? I guess they are.  He was long the organist at Radio City, right around the corner from this display, so I guess that's why he chose to use it so frequently.)

PS-All the Christmas in July shares from 2020 should still be posted if you feel like downloading them. I believe you can start here and work your way through all of them.  And there are a lot of them! Enjoy!

July The Twenty First

Here's the next edition of the somewhat annual Best Of Ernie (Not Bert) compilations.  This is the latest version to have been shared out, coming out in 2020 and chronicling the 2019 Christmas In July season.  It's another great batch of Christmas music from non-Christmas albums, and sure to become another favorite in your collection. It's a pretty long one, probably wouldn't fit on a CD, but who burns CDs anymore? Hope you enjoy it!

01. Unknown Artist...Let's Go Get Our Christmas Tree (01:31)
02. The Harmonaires...The Song Of The Snow (01:36)
03. Tom Glazer...Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (02:58)
04. Esther Williams And Ricardo Montalban...Baby, It's Cold Outside (02:31)
05. George Hamilton IV...Song For A Winter's Night (02:54)
06. Children From New York Public School 24...I Believe In Santa Claus (03:00)
07. J & K...Troika (00:28)
08. Walter Gieseking...Children's Corner Suite No. 4: Snow Is Dancing (02:04)
09. Vera Lynn...The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot (02:55)
10. Bobby Bond...Snow Balls In July (02:07)
11. Bethany College Choir...Nu Ar Dei Jul Igen (01:23)
12. Jack De Mello And His Orchestra...Dance Of The Menehunes (02:37)
13. Eileen Donaghy...Christmas Time In Ireland (02:48)
14. New York Percussion Trio...Sleigh Bells (02:00)
15. Mahlon Merrick And His Orchestra...Snow Flurries (02:48)
16. The New Swing Sextet...My Favorite Things (03:38)
17. Redlands High School Concert Choir...Carol Of The Bells (Ukranian Carol) (01:19)
18. Jimmy Jenson...Jingle Bell Rock (02:05)
19. The Irish Rovers...The Marvelous Toy (02:34)
20. The Modern Folk Quartet...Riu Chiu (01:44)
21. Ella Jenkins...Winter (01:15)
22. Unknown Artist...Joy To The World/Good King Wenceslas/We Wish You A Merry Christmas (02:19)
23. Sally Niven, David Cryer & The Women...My Holiday (02:53)
24. Ithaca College Band...Holiday Parade (02:20)
25. The Lutheran Church Of The Good Shepherd...A Joyous Glad Noel (02:17)
26. Crescent Temple String Band...Toyland (01:40)
27. Paul Bley Trio...Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (03:36)
28. Little Johnny Everything And His Sister Judy...The Story Of Christmas (01:41)
29. Robert Q. Lewis And The Star-Time Kids Chorus...Jingle Bells (00:39)
30. Wheaton College Men's Glee Club...The Sleigh (01:03)
31. National Lampoon (Christopher Guest, David Hurdon, Gilda Radner)...Kung Fu Christmas (03:52)
32. Jack Kane And His Orchestra...Ski Trail (02:24)
33. Wonderland Chorus...Winter Wonderland (02:12)
34. Mojo Nixon...Transylvanian Xmas (00:37)
35. Jamall Badry...Some Children See Him (03:16)
36. Guitar Magic...Jingle Bells (01:40)
37. Poplar Hill Development School...See The Flakes Of Fleecy Snow (02:06)
38. Dolf Van Der Linden Und Sein Metropol-Orchester...Holiday In Hollywood (02:49)
39. The Harlequins...A Winter Romance (04:00)
40. Gayle Moran...Christmas Song (01:19)
41. Unknown Artist...Be A Santa (02:42)
42. Sister Jean, P.M. With Orchestra...My Favorite (03:03)
43. The Salvation Army Band...The Spirit Of Christmas (Christmas Carol) (02:41)
44. Mel Tormé With The Page Cavanaugh Trio...What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? (03:03)

MEGA

July The Nineteenth

What year am I up to? I forget where I'm at. Oh, 2018, says it right there below the TV.  Should have looked there in the first place. Another year, another great compilation, but one that really runs together in my mind with the previous one, since I put both of them together at the same time. I posted both of them just a few days apart back in 2020, so most likely had all the tracks burned onto a single CDR in MP3 format, and listened to them in the car on constant repeat. Many of the songs are seared into my brain from that long listen, but I left it in the player because it was such a good selection of songs. You should download it an give it a listen, I'm sure you'll agree.

1) Dr. Buzzard's Savannah Band--Christmas In N.Y.
2) Homer Dennison And The "Night Strings"--Swiss Holiday
3) C. W. McCall--Sing Silent Night
4) Roger Blackburn--Winter Wonderland
5) Reno & Smiley And The Tennessee Cutups--Christmas Time's A Coming
6) Trombones Unlimited Featuring Mike Barone & Frank Rosolino--Holiday For Trombones
7) Bob Hannon With Jerry Sears And His Orchestra--In The Good Old Winter Time
8) First United Methodist Church, Cullman, Alabama-Bell Choir--Silent Night
9) Johnny Otis Orchestra With Little Esther And Mel Walker--Faraway Christmas Blues
10) The High Society--The Secret Of Christmas
11) Bobby Goldsboro--Look Around You, It's Christmas Time
12) Cliff De Young And Group--Winter
13) Brave Combo--O Holy Night Cha Cha Cha
14) Melanie--Merry Christmas
15) Betty Garrett--Yuletide, Park Avenue
16) Ray Rasch And The Pipers 10--Sugar Plum Cha Cha
17) Joe Berl-Music Direction: Joseph Berlingeri--We Need A Little Christmas
18) John Fahey--Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel
19) Merle Travis--Merry Christmas, Pretty Baby
20) The Ringing Bells-Rachael Kuivinen, Director--Yuletide Is Here Again
21) Willie Dittrich--Jingle Bells/Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
22) The Ventures--Nutty
23) Asa Duncan And Frank Sullivan-Sung By All The Kids--Have A Merry Christmas Day
24) Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra--That Man Over There
25) The McLain Family Band--Christmas On The Farm
26) Sleepless Nites--Children Go Where I Send You
27) Shari Lewis With Lambchop And Charley Horse--Sleigh Ride
28) Skitch Henderson, His Piano And The Stereosonic Strings--Snowflakes
29) June Christy-Orchestra Conducted By Pete Rugolo--Love Turns Winter To Spring
30) Six Fat Dutchmen--Jolly Sleigh Ride
31) The Impressions--Long, Long Winter
32) Tedd Smith, Piano--Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring/The First Noël
33) Pedro Vargas-Henri Rene Y Su Orquesta--Blanca Navidad
34) Unknown Artist--Bells
35) Naval Academy Drum And Bugle Corps--Auld Lang Syne
36) Chris Connor And Maynard Ferguson--Happy New Year

MEGA

A bit of a rarity here in that I've got two songs right there together at the end for New Year's. I usually try to stick to just one, but I must have had two really good ones this year.  Enjoy!