Time to pay a short visit to the ancient culture that is Greece. All the glory that is Christmas occurred long after the heyday of the Ancient Greek empire, but that doesn't mean modern-day Greece hasn't embraced the spirit of the season. This short but sweet collection came out as part of the
Capitol Of The World series, but a decade or so later than the original entries in the series. It's got a nice selection of local favorites and no sign of the usual Western carols that sometimes sneak into these collections from other cultures. Note that this is not the first time we've touched on the Greek celebration of Christmas, there was at least
one other share that featured songs from that country, though I'm not sure how authentic that one was. This one was recorded in-country, and I think you'll really enjoy it. This is
The Eusebia Choir-
A Greek Christmas (Capitol SM-10489, Mono (from a Duophonic fake stereo record), 1968). Enjoy! Two different covers for this one. I think the one above is the original, but I'm not 100% sure.
1. Christmas
2. The Christ Is Born
3. Star Of The Dawn
4. Come To Our Manger
5. Christmas Night
6. Glory In The Highest
7. Winter
8. New Year's Day
9. Welcome
10. Children's Prayer
11. One Precious Heart
MEGA
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That top cover is interesting. Looks like a small cover inset in a bigger cover.
ReplyDeleteIt's a weird one for sure. I can't explain it, but I think it's clear why there was a different cover created at some point.
DeleteI think what must be going on here is Capitol recorded this album in 1957 (pre-stereo), along with that first group of 8 mono-only LPs (Sweden, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, England, France), but did not release it at the time. Otherwise, there's no explanation why a recording made in 1968 would be released in fake stereo (certainly not by Capitol). I see no evidence that the album was released in 1957, so perhaps Capitol created the artwork before they withdrew it -- and maybe that's what the small inset cover is.
ReplyDeleteYet another Xmas LP mystery!
I suppose it's possible that they recorded this earlier, but I kind of doubt it. All of the releases in this Capitol of the World-Christmas series that I've been able to track down were recorded in the country of origin and just licensed by Capitol later on. I'm guessing that the recording industry in Greece circa '68 might not have been fully switched over to stereo like in the US, so I wasn't very shocked to not be able to find a stereo release. Just a theory, but it's mine and I'm sticking to it. :) I couldn't find a true mono release, either, which probably isn't surprising for a 1968 US release. As to the origin of the cover, I have no idea, unless we can dig up other entries in the Capitol of the World series from 1968 to see if there's a series of similar covers. Anybody want to look into that for me? :)
DeleteThis is interesting, as I've always loved "Greek" music, and I enjoyed the series... that you shared before :)
ReplyDeleteI dunno how Greek it sounds. The other one I shared a while ago sounds more Greek to me, but they may be hamming it up.
DeleteWell Ernie, I will go ahead an capture this, not sure why.
ReplyDeleteEither cover is a real turn off for me, if I was thinking of buying this off the rack. I would have passed it over.
The top looks like a cheap travel brochure cover, and the second looks more like a non-christian denominational photo.
I hope, when I do get around to listening to it, it lives up higher in quality than my current expectaions are of these covers.
And yes, in some cases Europe is a step behind in somethings than the USA are. On other things, Europe is more advanced then the USA. For one thing, food safty standards are very high here. Rarely, have I ever heard of food item recalls, and we have higher ingredient standards.
You can never judge a book by it's cover. :)
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