Christmas In July '24-Day 1
Good morning! Welcome to July, and the extra Christmas there-in! I wasn't sure I'd be able to have much of a celebration this year, but I've got a few records up my sleeve and I'll be sharing tracks from them with you after all. It ain't gonna be much, but it's better than nothing. At this point, I've got three tracks a day, but I think that number may go up a little bit as the month goes on. Over the past few years, I've had a harder and harder time finding a good selection of Christmas music from non-Christmas albums, which as you know has been the them to Christmas In July since 2006. Pickings this year have been especially slim, and even when I find something that I get excited about, I discover that I shared it in past years. I still record those repeats in hopes that they sound better than the first time around, but I try really hard to bring you more new music than rerun music. That may not be the case this year and I apologize. I'll try to make sure I share at least one new track each day, unless I have complete brain fart and don't realize I've already shared all the tracks. I'll have more to say as the month goes on, but for now, here are the first three tracks of the season. Enjoy!
1. Willie Dittrich-Alle Jahre Weider/O Tannenbaum/Ihr Kinderlien Kommet (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
2. Clifton Davis-O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Say Amen, 1990)
3. The Valley Troubadours, Solo-Erwin Overby, Directed By Gloria Peterson-Let There Be Peace On Earth (The Valley Troubadours Sing Their Favorites)
Yeah, I'm gonna try to do MP3 and lossless FLAC files this year. It's a pain, so we'll see how long that lasts. Grab the one you want, but they should be identical.
Hooray! So good that Christmas in July is continuing this year - it's fun even to revisit some tracks from before.
ReplyDeleteBoy, you're fast on the trigger! Thanks for the note. :)
DeleteThank you, Ernie. Tough year. This will be a nice respite on a daily basis!
ReplyDeleteWell, at the very least, it should cool you down a little from this oppressive heat! Thanks for stopping by!
Deletei don't mind repeats! Last year was hard to top for sure. You brought so many new to me Christmas songs that several of them became a part of my regular Christmas music rotation later in the year. Looking forward to whatever you could scrape up this year. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteLast year was a good year. I think it was two or three years ago where I had so few shares I did them all in two weeks. But I had a bunch of second-best comps to share then and I didn't do that this year. We'll see how many people bail on the minimal three songs a day. Thanks for stopping by here on day 1!
DeleteYou're welcome. Looking forward to this year's discoveries. I remember when the Clifton Davis album came out; right at the tail end of his run in the NBC sitcom "Amen" with Sherman Helmsley; hence the sly reference to the series in the album's title.
DeleteMy personal pickings this year in this category are pretty slim: A great version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," from Jane Morgan from her Colpix album Serenades the Victors, and a medley that included "The Hawaiian Christmas Song" on the Banjo Barons Golden Hawaiian Hits, arranged and conducted by frequent Jerry Vale arranger Marty Manning.
DeleteI had forgotten about that series! Maybe that's where I knew the name from. And Jane Morgan will make a repeat appearance this year, it's always something I have to grab when I see a good copy.
Deletegreat! looking forward to it. I also bought a copy of Charie Barnet Big Band 1967 which had one of last July's featured tracks, "Snowfall" on it.
DeleteVery different version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" with (naturally) a solid gospel flavoring. Good choice to kick off this year's July postings. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteMore gospel coming up later in the season. Stay tuned!
DeleteThere will be no bailing here. Post at the pace you want. As it should be. Thanks, as always for doing it. And a belated Happy Birthday to you, good Sir.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I'll try not to bail myself. :)
DeleteGlad to see you back, Ernie!
ReplyDeleteCover Images here:
1. https://www.discogs.com/release/10107437-Willie-Dittrich-Christmas-Music-Old-Time-Hymns
2. https://www.discogs.com/release/12721269-Clifton-Davis-Say-Amen
3. https://www.discogs.com/release/11132584-The-Valley-Troubadours-The-Valley-Troubadours-Sing-Their-Favorites
Whoa, thanks! You're going to be pretty busy trying to keep up with all these album covers. I'll have to dig deep for the ones that aren't at Discogs. :)
DeleteDude! Man! So very pleased to see your post. This browser didn't update yesterday, was trying not to worry about your ongoing whatnot, didn't see this until almost 24 hours later. Very much looking forward to this year's shares. Sincere and multitudinous thanks!
ReplyDeleteWell, when my blog sits idle for almost six months, there's no need for anything to update. But I'm glad it finally registered in all the right places for ya. Thanks for coming back around. :)
DeleteHi buddy and welcome back! It's always a pleasure to have some new posts from you, even a few at a time.
ReplyDeleteI post everything in lossless and I don't remember the last time someone asked for mp3s, so maybe you only need the FLACs?
Thanks Buster. I really wish there were more, but it's been a thin year.
DeleteWe'll see how the FLAC vs MP3 plays out, I'm sure plenty of people will chime in with their opinion as the month progresses. It's kind of a pain having to convert to two different files formats, create two folders, compress both of them independent of each other, then upload and link them. I'm sure at some point in the month I'll make a horrible mess of it and make both downloads the same or label them backwards or something. :)
Thank you, Ernie. I have been quite busy this July so far. Finally made it to the blog today :) I
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't know why it selected Anonymous... I can't use FLAC, and haven't figured out how to use them. Please continue to provide MP3 :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the party! I think a lot of software is aware of FLAC files these days, it's not as niche as it used to be. But I plan to do both when I can, and just MP3 when I can't. :)
DeleteI use iTunes, as I synchronize the music with my old iPhones... and play the music in my vehicles. The last I checked, iTunes didn't accept FLAC files, but I could be wrong. I gave up on the idea a long time ago.
DeleteThanks though, Ernie :)
I use a really old version of iTunes for a lot of things. Trying to get away from it, but it's hard...
DeleteAs usual, a very late start but better late than never! I know myself well enought that I won't catch up before the end of the month but I'm going to try and listen to a few every day, so you never know. Three great tracks! The Clifton Davis song was my favorite - very much of its time. My usual cut off is the late 80's but I'll make an exception for this one.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know he was an actor, so that was a bonus. I'm going later and later myself. 70s stuff used to seem too new...
DeleteThank you so much Ernie. Sorry I'm quite late getting to this. I was out of town, and away from my computer much of the summer. Here's a vote for the flac. Thank you very much for providing options. 😊
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, glad to have you whenever you can make it!
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