Happier Times

Let's head further south of the border to a country that was in a much better place at the time this record came out than it is today, Venezuela. The vibrant colors of this sleeve must have attracted me to it, though I have no memory of purchasing it. I've been looking at it in the collections for a few years now, and this year I finally decided to pull it down and record it for sharing. It's all original music as often happens on these Spanish-language Christmas records. Like I've said before, I think that's a cultural thing. It's really rare in American Christmas records, but it happens an awful lot on Spanish-language albums. Give this a listen, maybe you can figure out why. This is Iván Pérez Rossi-Canciones De La Eterna Navidad (Sonografica (Venezuela) 10.330, Stereo, 1991). Enjoy!

1. Ciudad Bolívar
2. El Chirriquitico
3. Sonrie Mi Niño
4. Quiero Parrandear
5. Catalina Yánez
6. ¿Dónde Está San Nicolás?
7. El Niño Bendito
8. El Merideño
9. Yo No Bebo Mas
10. La Muñeca
11. La Virgen María
12. Cuando Yo Me Muera

MEGA

Mas Navidad

Let's continue on with some Spanish-language pop music (mostly) with this collection of popular songs and a few ringers. Ray Conniff actually shows up on here, but it turns out his is the only track that's not sung in Spanish, no matter how the track may be named on the label. Eydie Gorme shows up, with her frequent recordings partners (that are not Steve Lawrence), Trio Los Panchos. (If you haven't listened to their whole Christmas album together, go give it a listen, it's worth the trouble.) I didn't recognize any of the rest of the artists, but I'm sure they were the real meat and potatoes of this record. This is Navidad En Familia (Discos CBS International DML-10392, Stereo, 1985). Neat cover art, too, though my scanner seems to have botched the color matching on the two halves of the scan. And I didn't do much to fix it in post...

1. Eydie Gorme/Trio Los Panchos-Blanca Navidad
2. Sonora Santanera-Fiestas De Diciembre
3. Javier Solis-Lloraras En Navidad
4. Rigo Tovar-Triste Navidad
5. Jose Alfredo Jiminez-Amarga Navidad
6. Los Bondadosos-Arbol Sin Regalos
7. Luis Aguile-Ven A Mi Casa Esta Navidad
8. Ray Conniff Y Sus Coros-Rodolfo, El Reno De La Nariz Roja
9. Eydie Gorme/Trio Los Panchos-Noche De Paz
10. Javier Solis-Regaldo De Reyes
11. Carmen Rivero-Navidad Negra
12. Los Yonic's-En Esta Navidad

MEGA

Navideños!

Let's head south of the border now with some lively music en Espanol! No idea if this is actually from Mexico or from some other Spanish-speaking country out there, but it's stuff I think you'll enjoy. It's all original music as far as I can tell, or at least no Christmas standards from America or Europe. For all I know, these are customary songs of whatever country produced it, but I kind of doubt it. I've noticed over the years that many of these Spanish-language Christmas records are mostly original material, possibly because the artist wants to have a giant hit the size of White Christmas and live off the royalties for the rest of their lives. OK, maybe not, I think it's just a cultural thing. This is Pedro Padilla Y Su Conjunto, Canta: José Ortiz-Aguinaldos Navideños (Alma LP-105, Mono).

1. Aires Navideños (Aguinaldo Costanero)
2. Cojo Lo Que Venga (Aguinaldo Orocoveño)
3. De Mi Lechon El Rabito (Seis Joropo)
4. Soñando Despierto (Seis Milonga)
5. Mucho Y Del Bueno (Llanera)
6. En La Navidad (Aguinaldo Isabelino)
7. Los Tres Santos Reyes (Aguinaldo Cagueño)
8. Las Trullas Que Te Ofreci (Aguinaldo)
9. No La He Vuelto A Ver (Aguinaldo Cayellano)
10. Borracho Y Pelao (Aguinaldo Orocoveño)

MEGA

Montebello (Not Monticello)

I love to pick up these privately pressed Christmas records, especially when they have a unique cover. Too often, groups will choose to go with a stock cover offered by the company pressing the record. That's fine if you need to save a little money, but it's really a missed opportunity to differentiate yourself a little bit from the crowd, and maybe offer a talented member of your group to make a contribution beyond just singing. I'm sure that was the reason I picked up this record in the first place and the reason I grabbed it this year to record. Let's see, do we know anything about this record? The flipside is completely blank so I guess that was their one cost-cutting measure here. Montebello doesn't seem all that common, so let's see if Google can tell us anything. Well, based on the address of the record label being in Burbank, California, this is from the Montebello School District, located just outside of LA. There are other Montebello's out there, so I could be wrong, but this seems the most likely choice. I also found a reference to a Kenneth L. Cook in a yearbook from Montebello High School, so I think this is our school. That yearbook was from 1958, though I don't think this recording is quite that old, but maybe. Anybody else find anything different? This is The A Cappella Choir Of Montebello-Christmas Concert (Location Recording Service LRS 2471, Mono).

1. Carol Of The Drum
2. Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine
3. Mary's Little Boy Chile
4. While Stars Their Vigil Keep
5. Glory To God In The Highest
6. Awake, Ye Shepherds
7. O Jesu So Sweet
8. Away In A Manger
9. The Shepherds' Story
10. The Christmas Symbol
11. Come To The Manger
12. Fanfare For Christmas Day
13. Sweet Holy Child
14. Today There Is Ringing
15. Christmas Is Just For Children

MEGA

Deutsch (Not Dutch)

There's been some chit-chat in the comment sections of the blog recently about Germany back before it was reunified. That sort of reminded me of this share that I wanted to finish and post here before I wrapped things up. I have lots of half-finished projects like this in the archives, I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to finish and what I'm going to have to leave un-done before I wrap up for the year. We'll just have to wait and see. But in the meantime, maybe you'd like to give a listen to these kids from the then-West Germany as they sing Christmas songs for you. This is Student Madrigal Choir Of Muenster, West Germany-Silent Night & Other Christmas Carols (No Label CO 3353, Stereo). A quick Google search tells us that this choir is a group from the University of Muenster, founded in 1947 and still going strong. No idea when this relic was released though. Enjoy!

1. O Heiland, Reiss Die Himmel Auf
2. Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland
3. Entre Le Boeuf Et L'ane Gris
4. Je Sais, Vierge Marie
5. Maria Durch Ein Dornwald Ging
6. Pujdem Spolem Do Betlema
7. Pasli Ovce Valasi
8. Nas Pantato Rozmily
9. Birjina Maite
10. Fum, Fum, Fum
11. Señora Doña Maria
12. Mary Had A Baby; Go, Tell It On The Mountain
13. Benedicamus Domino
14. Himmel Und Erde Von Jubel Erklingen
15. Das Heil Der Welt, Ein Kleines Kind
16. Schalf, Mein Kindelein
17. Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
18. Vom Himmel Hoch, Da Komm Ich Her
19. Psalm XXXI

MEGA

Up On Cherry Hill

I've still got plenty of these church-based Christmas records to share with you, so don't think you're out of the woods just yet. For some reason, the name on this one reminds me of that old Disney move, The Lavender Hill Mob. Is that the name of it? Maybe it was The Lavender Hill Gang. I think Cloris Leachman was in it. I have vague memories of seeing it at a drive-in when I was a wee one. (I just looked it up and I am way off base in my memories. The movie it looks like I am thinking of is called The North Avenue Irregulars. How did I get the title so wrong?) Anyhow, none of that has anything to do with the share at hand, but lately I've been having a hard time coming up with anything to say about these old records, so that'll have to do as an introduction. This is The Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir And Festival Orchestra-The Boar's Head Festival (The Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church AR 3375 (Dearborn, Michigan), Stereo). Oh, looking at the cover again, I think I was under the impression this was a high school production, but it's not. I think many high schools have a madrigal concert around Christmas and The Boar's Head Carol seems to be a popular song and theme. I've been to a few of those things, sometimes they're OK, sometimes they are not. I'll let you decide what you think of this one.

1. Prelude
2. Deck The Halls
3. The Holly And The Ivy
4. Here We Come A-Wassailing
5. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
6. The Boar's Head Carol
7. I Sing Of A Maiden; Be Not Afraid; Gloria In Excelsis Deo
8. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
9. Kings To Thy Rising
10. What Child Is This
11. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence; Postlude

MEGA

Another European Christmas

Wow! Today is March 1st and I'm still sharing records from Christmas 2025. I certainly didn't set out to go this long, yet here we are. This is far and away the longest I've ever continued to share Christmas music on a daily basis in the 20 year history of the blog. One year I shared out collections of Christmas music from 78s I grabbed from the Internet Archive once a week for the entire year, but that would have totaled 52 shares and I've shared about 60 records since the beginning of 2026. And there are still a few records up my sleeve, so stay tuned. Today is a little something special in that it's popular music done by real recording artists with a focus on music from the European continent. I think I've shared out more than a handful of Christmas records by this same title, but this one is unique as far as I can tell. There's some interesting stuff on here, and some of the same sold stuff, but I think the good outweighs the boring. This is Christmas In Europe (Philips (Holland) 6300 014, Stereo). Big shoutout to Elizabeth J. Hester for buying this record all those years ago. If she hadn't done that, we wouldn't have this record to share today. I think I missing photoshopping her name out of a gift tag printed on the flip side of this sleeve. I noticed that as I was uploading this and didn't take the time to go back and fix it. I figure maybe that adds some character to this release, and gives Ms. Hester a bit of credit. The APO in here address means she was serving in the military, right? She didn't really live in NYC, that was just a mail drop for overseas soldiers, I think.

1. Wuppertaler Chor, Ltg. Franz Schneider-Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
2. Gals And Pals-När Jüldagsmorgen Glimmar
3. Wiener Sängerknaben-O Du Fröhliche
4. De Leeuweriken (Childrenchoir)-De Herdertjes Lagen Bij Nachte
5. Mozarteum Chamber Choir-Chorus Master: Ernst Hinreiner; Camerata Acadeica of The Salzburg Mozarteum, Franz Sauer: Organ; Conductor Bernard Paumgartner-Ave Verum Corpus KV 618
6. The London Symphony Choir, The London Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: Colin Davis-For Unto Us A Child Is Born (From "Messiah")
7. Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra-Il Est Né Le Divin Enfant
8. Eila Pienimäki-Helkää Pienet Tiu'ut
9. The Mike Sammes Singers-Little Drummer Boy
10. Mixed Chorus-Accorri A Betlemme
11. Ray Adams With Girls' Choir-Jeg Er Så Glad Hvér Julekveld
12. Nana Mouskouri-Christos Genate

MEGA