Christmas In July 2026-Part 8

We're moving into the second week of Christmas in July and we've still got a long way to go. I felt like I had a lot of music to share back in April when we finally wrapped up Christmas at Christmastime sharity, but then the finds just started coming out of the woodwork. Sometimes I go months without finding a single record I can plunder, but for a while there I was coming home with ten songs in a week. Then one day I went to the huge book store up in Largo (an hour away!) and came home with 44 new records to grab tracks from. On average, I get two tracks from each record, so that added almost 90 songs to the pile. So what was recently planned to be an average year is now going to be our biggest season in maybe the last five or six. I love finding this stuff and sharing it with you folks is just icing on the cake.

1. The Harry Simeone Chorale-One Little Candle (The Harry Simeone Chorale, 1966)

Harry really kept trying to have another big Christmas hit after stealing The Little Drummer Boy out from under Katherine Davis and Jack Halloran. This is probably not one of those attempts, but I thought it was worth sharing and mentioning. Little Drummer Boy was a great song and a great arrangement, but he shouldn't have taken the lion's share of the credit like he did. Rant mode off...

2. Flip Phillips And His Orchestra-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (Flip Wails, 1956)

I shared this song with you before during my Christmas celebration of all things 45 a couple years ago, but I found it recently on this LP with a great cover painting, so you're getting it again.

3. Gooding Amusement's German Organ-White Christmas (Christmas With The Gooding Band Organ, 1984)

A week in and I feel like I've given you a track off this LP every day. But they're good tracks, I hope you're enjoying them. Records like this with lots of tracks I can share are good for my morale. They make me feel like I'm sharing enough music to make the days interesting. When I'm only sharing three tracks a day, I feel like it's not really worth the effort. But ten a day is a good number.

4. The Concordia College Choir-Victor Hildner, Director-Christmas Comes Again (The Concordia College Choir, 1956)

Another record with lots and lots of tracks to share. Not as good as the band organ stuff, but still worth a listen.

5. Bob Bradburn-Count Your Blessings (Happy Holiday With CHQT Radio's Bob Bradburn And The Jasper Place High School Stage Band)

This is not the song that you think it is. Bob Bradburn claims the writing credit for it, but based on some of the other things on this album that he claims to have written, he's not to be trusted. Anybody heard this one before by someone else?

6. Called By Dick Kraus, Music By The Berkshire Mountain Boys-Jingle Bells (Square Dance Country Style, 1961)

This may be the only square dance I have to share with you this July, so enjoy!

7. Hope Publishing Company, Somerset Press, Agape-A Christmas Antiphonal (The Very Best Sacred Choral Music, 1979)

Isn't this a great arrangement? Would you like to purchase the sheet music? I can hook you up, just let me know.

8. Charter Wind Ensemble Under The Direction Of Caesar Giovannini And Bill Holcombe-We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Charter Sound Series Volume 5-Concert Band, 1973)

This one, too. I can get it for you wholesale!

9. Jenson Publications-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Jenson Publications Presents...Warner Bros. Finest For Concert Band, 1983)

You want more sheet music? No problem!

10. Joan Cushing & Ensemble-Prepare Ye The Way Of The Snowplow (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Shoreham, 1990)

Now this is interesting. It's a comedy song and dance show out of DC from the late 80's-early 90's. There's lots of humor here that may go over your head if you weren't around at the time. I'm sure I'm missing most of the references, but I did know about Mayor Marion Berry and his cocaine habit. I had a good chuckle on one of my visits to DC when I saw his name on the big elaborate gate in Chinatown. I'm sure there aren't many copies of this thing floating around out in the world, except maybe in the basement corner of Joan Cushing's house. 

MEGA