Ernie (Not Bert)

QR

2012-02-02T18:43:00.002-05:00

Look at me, I've got a QR code! Now, if only I had a phone fancy enough to do something with it...

45 Years Ago

2012-01-27T12:29:00.000-05:00

I just saw that today is the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire, an horrific accident that changed the focus of the US space program. The death of those three astronauts refocused the program to a more safety-conscious one, in theory saving the lives of countless other astronauts. But that's only small solace. Back in 2009, during a tour of Kennedy Space Center, I had the chance to visit the site of that launch pad. It's still there, preserved for the ages, as a monument to those who died. If you ever visit Cape Canaveral, take the History tour. I shared these same pictures back then, so I'm not posting anything new, but I thought it appropriate to remember the day somehow.

Nevermore

2012-01-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize that yesterday was the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, and the date that an anonymous person used to visit this marker and leave roses and cognac. But now they say he hasn't shown up for three years and the tradition may be over. I visited the site last year when I was in DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival, it's a cool little graveyard, some of which is actually underneath a church. Note that Poe isn't actually buried there, but used to be. I seem to remember he was originally buried in an unmarked grave, but I guess they figured out it was him later on. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, I'm afraid.

The End

2012-01-06T21:18:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the last share of the season. One of my favorite finds, a single side of a small 45 from 1954. This is Poppa John Gordy And His Dixielanders, Vocal By Clint Garvin-Santa Plays The Trombone (In the North Pole Band) (RCA Victor 7" 45 RPM 47-5902, Mono, 1954). If you don't dig this, you're probably at the wrong blog.

MediaFire

Thanks for a great season!

The Key To Her Ferrari

2012-01-06T19:04:00.000-05:00

Perhaps it's that old Thomas Dolby CD I've been listening to lately, but Larry Ferrari popped into my head, so he's going to be the last re-share of the season. I saw a bunch of kids on the news this morning jumping into the water to retrieve a cross thrown by some priest, so I think it's Epiphany, the last day of Christmas. Or something like that. So I'm wrapping it up today. I'm going to try to put up one new share after this, and I am done. This was originally shared out in 2008, and I've been searching for a stereo copy ever since, but to no avail. But I think you'll still enjoy this autographed copy of Larry Ferrari-I Wish You The Merriest (Sure Music Volume 703, Mono).

1. We Need A Little Christmas
2. Sleigh Ride
3. Medley-It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! and Reprise: It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
4. Silver Bells
5. You're All I Want For Christmas
6. Medley-Christmas Bells, I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day and Reprise: Christmas Bells
7. Winter Wonderland
8. Little Drummer Boy
9. We Wish You The Merriest
10. Medley-There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays and I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. White Christmas
12. Medley-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, Jingle Bells and Frosty The Snowman
13. The Christmas Song
14. Blue Christmas

MediaFire

More Blackwoods

2012-01-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

Nope, still not done. And hopefully you folks aren't done, either. Tonight is a second LP from The Blackwood Brothers, not nearly so good as that last one they shared with The Statesmen, but then lightning so very rarely strikes twice. This one came out almost 20 years after that other one, and I think only a few of the brothers are the same. I can even hear a little bit of a hint of a disco beat in the backing to a few of these tracks, so beware! But for the completists out there, this is Merry Christmas From The Blackwood Brothers (Voice Box VB 0779, Stereo, 1979). Each track is sung by a different brother, as shown in the list below.

1. White Christmas (Cecil)
2. The First Noel (Jimmy)
3. Oh Holy Night (James)
4. Chestnuts Roasting (John)
5. Silent Night, Holy Night (Ken)
6. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Ken)
7. Joy To The World (John)
8. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing (James)
9. Oh Come All Ye Faithful (Jimmy)
10. Away In A Manger (Cecil)

MediaFire

Maybe my biggest disappointment with this LP was the lack of those Southern Gospel harmonies. Everybody pretty much sings by themselves here. Whoever thought that was a good idea needs a quick lesson in what made these folks famous in the first place.

Eartha Baby

2012-01-03T18:47:00.000-05:00

I know it's getting late, but I just found this yesterday, and I'm trying to figure out what Eartha is holding in her right hand. Is it a pearl necklace? That's all I could figure after staring at the original for a while, then scanning it and blowing it up really big. This is the original picture sleeve for the 1953 78 RPM release of Eartha Kitt-Santa Baby. Yes, some 78s had picture sleeves, they just don't seem to have been saved for some reason. I'd never seen a 78 version, though I saw a 45 version once but couldn't afford what they were asking. I got this one for $1, and it came with the right record!

Stereo Gospel

2011-12-31T20:43:00.000-05:00

Last post before the New Year, this may or may not be familiar to you. Some years ago, I posted a mono version of one of the best Southern Gospel Christmas records ever, and tonight I'm giving you the stereo version. But it wasn't an easy find. It took me years, and what I found was actually a Camden budget reissue from 1969. So I recorded it and was all set to share it with you. Then I stumbled across an actual stereo copy of the original issue, that's what you see down at the bottom, and what you might recognize from my original share back in 2007. Both records are the same music, just with different covers. I included scans of both in the ZIP file for you. I'm sure you'll enjoy this record as much as I did growing up with it. This is James Blackwood And The Blackwood Brothers & Hovie Lister And The Statesmen-O Come, All Ye Faithful (RCA Camden CAS-2361, Stereo, 1969).

1. O Come, All Ye Faithful-The Blackwood Brothers & The Statesmen
2. Silver Bells-The Blackwood Brothers
3. Go Tell It On The Mountain-The Statesmen
4. Praises To Our King-The Blackwood Brothers
5. White Christmas-The Statesmen
6. Christmas Means Christ To Me-The Blackwood Brothers
7. Joy To The World!-The Blackwood Brothers & The Statesmen
8. Christmas Time Is Here-The Statesmen
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem-The Blackwood Brothers
10. Away In A Manger-The Statesmen
11. O Holy Night!-The Blackwood Brothers
12. Silent Night! Holy Night!-The Statesmen

MediaFire

Not Done Yet

2011-12-31T19:07:00.000-05:00

Nope, not done, not close to being done. But I am a little limited by what I've scanned already and what I haven't. I've got to spend a few hours in front of a scanner some time sooner to give me some more raw materials. But I should be good for a little while longer. When I flip through a stack of records, I'm always looking for something I haven't seen before. It's a bit impractical to listen to records in the back of a dirty thrift store, so you have to depend on covers and names to find interesting items. When I saw this one, I knew it was a cover I hadn't seen before, and a label I didn't know much about, so I took the chance and paid my dollar. It's nothing special, but I'm hoping it's something that you haven't seen or heard, either. The A side is by The Gabriel Singers and the B side is one really long medley credited only to Organ and Violin. I'm not remembering any violin Christmas music I've shared recently, so this is a little off the beaten path. Hopefully you'll enjoy Christmas Carols (Remington R-199-153, Mono).

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
2. The Holly And The Ivy
3. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
5. Joy To The World
6. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
7. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
8. On Christmas Night
9. Christmas Medley: Oh Holy Night, We Three Kings Of Orient Are, Joy To The World, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Jingle Bells

MediaFire

Wait, I think there's a violin song here.

Nash Ramblings

2011-12-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

Another request, another reshare, this time from 2008. Johnny Nash is perhaps best known in these climes for his hit I Can See Clearly Now, but he enjoyed a longer career than that. And during that career, he managed to squeeze out this virtually unknown Christmas album. It's a nice selection of songs, including some rarely-heard items, though the whole thing is too short if you ask me. But you can't look a gift horse in the mouth, can you? For the (what is it now, the sixth?) sixth day of Christmas, this is Johnny Nash-Prince Of Peace (JAD JS/1001, Stereo, 1969).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. Prince Of Peace
3. Away In A Manger
4. Mary's Little Boy Child
5. The Borning Day
6. The Christmas Song
7. Sweet Little Jesus Boy
8. Medley: Silent Night-Oh Holy Night
9. Go Tell It On The Mountain

MediaFire

A Long-Overdue 2010 Recap

2011-12-30T21:50:00.006-05:00

Here's a little recap of all the shares from Christmas 2010, a list I should have posted at the beginning of this year's sharity season instead of the end, but I've been too busy to get around to it. The vast majority of these shares are still extant, at least through the MediaFire links. I don't think any of the others are any good still.

The Canterbury Choir-While Shepherds Watched
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music
The Lundstroms-Colorado Christmas
The Lundstroms-Christmas With The Lundstroms
Dora Hall-Two Singles
Muriel Smith With The Peter Knight Orchestra And Chorus-The Glory Of Christmas
The Peter Christianson Choraleers Sing Holiday Favorites
Cantares De Navidad (Gay Songs For Christmas)
Noche Buena Bailable Cubana (Christmas Dance Date In Cuba)
Christmas In Cuba
'Twas The Night Before Christmas
Dick Leibert-Christmas At Radio City With Dick Leibert
Christmastime Stories As Written By Marie White And Told By Santa Claus Featuring The Michelle Scott Singers
John Klein With Orchestra And Chorus Arranged And Conducted By Leo Addeo-Bells In Toyland-John Klein At The Sun Life Centenary Carillon
The Holiday Bells-Ring The Bells On Christmas Day
Heidi-The Night Before Christmas
Tammy-Merry Christmas With Tammy
The Deutschmeister Band, Conducted By Julius Herrmann-Christmas Carols
Mr. Jack Daniel's Original Silver Cornet Band-Homegrown Christmas
Milton Cross-Nutcracker Suite For Children
The Voices Of Christmas With Les Brown And His Band Of Renown-Hark, The Stars Of Hollywood Sing
The Berkshire Bell Ringers-Berkshire Bell Ringers
The Klokken Ringers-I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
Ernie (Not Bert)'s The Very Best From Christmas In July 2009-Life's A Beach
Ace Cannon-Christmas Cheers From Ace Cannon, His Alto Sax And Chorus
Stories For Christmas-The Christmas Donkey b/w Peter And The Hermit
Hal Greene-Christmas ExtraORGANary With Hal Greene At The Hammond Spinet?
The Lighthouse Singers-Christmas Carols By The Lighthouse Singers
The Edward Carrington Chorale-Christmas Chorale
Songs To Sing At Christmas Time
When Christmas Comes To Our House
Virgil Fox-Christmas Carols On The Organ
Virgil Fox-The Christmas Album
Merry Christmas From The Command Family Of Recording Stars
The Story Of Jesus-The Nativity
Wally Stott, His Orchestra And Chorus-Happy Holiday-Christmas In Stereo
The Rock-Afire Explosion-Disco Christmas
Charlie Byrd-The Christmas Album
The Jack Halloran Singers-The Little Drummer Boy
The Children's Choir Of All Nations-Some Children See Him
The Gene Lowell Chorus-Caroling, Caroling
We Wish You A Merry Christmas-15 Great Christmas Favorites Sung By Warner Bros. Stars
George Greeley With The Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Ted Dale-The Twenty-Two Best Loved Christmas Piano Concertos
The Sounds Of Christmas-The Wonderful World Of The Music Box, Bells And Chimes
The Jimmy Joyce Singers With Orchestra Conducted By Billy May-A Christmas To Remember
Dr. Charles Kendall-Christmas Chimes
Dr. Norman S. Wright & Dr. Charles S. Kendall-Christmas Encore
Dr. Norman S. Wright & Dr. Charles S. Kendall-Ave Maria
Dr. Norman S. Wright & Dr. Charles S. Kendall-Christmas Organ And Chimes
José Melis And His Orchestra-Christmas With Melis
The Henry Snow Singers-The Little Drummer Boy And Other Christmas Favorites
Domenico Savino And His Orchestra-Hi-Fi Christmas Party
Kenny Baker-Carols For Christmas From Kenny Baker
The Best From Ernie (Not Bert)'s Christmas In July 2008-Because It's Hot Out There
Lynn Anderson-The Christmas Album
Westminster Choraleers-Christmas At Home-Let's All Sing Carols
Charles R. Cronham-Ring Out Christmas Bells-Hymns Of Faith, Hope And Joy
Hank Sylvern-Christmas In Hi-Fi: Chimes, Bells And Organ
Ramona Gerhard-Christmas In Hi-Fi With Ramona Gerhard On The World's Largest Theater Organ
The Joy Strings-Well Seasoned
The Going Thing-Christmas 1968 With The Going Thing
An Axe, An Apple And A Buckskin Jacket
The Norman Luboff Choir-The Night Before Christmas
The Norman Luboff Choir-Christmas Carols By The Norman Luboff Choir
Lester Lanin And His Orchestra-Christmas Dance Party
Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra-Music For A Merry Christmas
Cyril Stapleton And His Orchestra With Children's Chorus-Children's Christmas Album
Chorus And Orchestra-Christmas In America Sing-Along
Al Goodman-Christmas Sing-A-Long With Al Goodman
The Ralph Hunter Choir-Christmas Surprises From The Ralph Hunter Choir
Christmas With Grandma Moses
The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco, His Harp And Orchestra-Joy To The World-Everybody's Favorite Christmas Music
Bob Braun, Orchestra Conducted By Leroy Holmes-Christmas In Your Heart
Crash's Christmas Album To Benefit University Children's Hospital At Hermann
Christmas In Cleveland
Christmas In Detroit-A Collection Of Seasonal Music By Outstanding Detroit Choral Groups
Songs Of The Season 1960
Roger Williams With The Concert Grand Orchestra Directed by Frank Hunter & Marty Gold-Christmas Time
Christmas Music From The Stars
Eddie Layton-Organ Music For Christmas With Chimes And Brass Choir
Eddie Dunstedter-Two LPs
Owen Bradley-Organ And Chimes Played By Owen Bradley
The Ramsey Lewis Trio-More Sounds Of Christmas
Tell Me About Chanukah-Story Of Chanukah and Chanukah Melodies
The Shepherd's Children's Chorus-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Johnny Mathis-The Little Drummer Boy/Have Reindeer, Will Travel
25 Days Of Christmas
Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Nutcracker Suite
Claire Bloom With Orchestra Conducted By Jonel Perlea-Story Of The Nutcracker
Ogden Nash-Christmas With Ogden Nash
David Randolph Singers-1961-A Special Christmas Music Medley
The Don Les Harmonicats-Christmas With The Don Les Harmonicats
The Mulcays And Their Electric Harmonicas-Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year
Temple B'Nai Abraham Of Essex County School Choir-Vivienne K. Bender, Director With Dr. Joachim Prinz-Children Sing On Hanukah
Natal no Brasil
Marco Antonio Muñiz, Orquesta De Luis Cardenas-Navidad En Puerto Rico
The Absolute Best Tracks From Ernie (Not Bert)'s Christmas In July 2007 Edition
Christmas At Quito
Bruce Woodman Presents Christmas Carols With A Latin Lilt
The Madrid Concert Orchestra And Chorus-Victorino Echevarria, Arranger-Conductor-Christmas In Spain
Mimi Hines With Ray Martin's Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Moog Machine-Christmas Becomes Electric
The Fantastic Strings Of Felix Slatkin-Season's Greetings
Santa Claus (Walt Jacobs)-Santa's Own Christmas
The Medallion Orchestra And Chorus, Directed By John Paul Krance-The Sound Of Christmas-Deck The Halls
The Pete King Chorale And Orchestra-Christmas Time
Richard Keys Biggs-Christmas Bells-Cathedral Organ and Chimes Featuring Richard Keys Biggs
The Randolph Singers-David Randolph, Director-Christmas Carols Vol. 1
The Randolph Singers, David Randolph, Director-Christmas Carols-Volume 2
Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland
The World's Greatest Jazzband Of Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart-Hark The Herald Angels Swing
Vaughn Monroe And His Orchestra With The Moon Maids-A Marshmallow World b/w Snowy White Snow And Jingle Bells
Shimon & Ilana With Aviva And Shira, Featuring Sally Speer And Dave Tilman-Chanukah Songs For Children
Gary Mann-Blues For Baby Jesus
An English Country Church Choir With Organ-Christmas In England-Carol Service In A Country Church
The King Karoleers And Bob Kames-16 Traditional Christmas Carols
Bob Kames-Merry Christmas From Bob Kames And The New Hammond Organ X-66
Bob Kames-Organ And Chimes #3-Happy Holidays
Bob Kames-Organ And Chimes #2-It's Christmas Time
Bob Kames-Organ And Chimes-15 Songs Of Christmas
Ernie Berger-A Variety Of Christmas Songs
Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra And Chorus-Christmas Magic (10")
Happy Holiday With The Best Of The Mummers
Andy Williams, Orchestra Conducted By Archie Bleyer-Christmas Is A Feeling In Your Heart b/w The Wind, The Sand And The Star
Jimmy Sturr And His Orchestra With The Jimmy Sturr Singers & The Matusz Singers-Polka Christmas In My Hometown
Frankie Yankovic-Christmas Party
The Men's Choir Of St. Hedwig's-Polish Christmas Carols
Ken Stanley And The Pubsters-Christmas At The Red Lion And A Happy New Year Too...
Homer & Jethro-Seasoned Greetings
Dartmouth Glee Club-Paul R. Zeller, Director-White Christmas On The Campus
Yuletide Favorites-Barbershop Style
David Rose-Little Drummer Boy
David Rose And His Orchestra-A Merry Christmas To You From David Rose And His Orchestra
Richard Ellsasser-Michael Carr's Wintertime Suite
Pete Fountain-Candy Clarinet
Spencer Ross-Thanksgiving Day Parade, Etc
Squanto And The First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving For King
Lollipop Dragon Helps Santa/Thanksgiving In Tum Tum
Christmas Around The World
James A. Linen-Time For Christmas
Fred Waring-Twas The Night Before Christmas
Fred Waring-Christmas Time
Raymond Lefevre-Merry Christmas
Paul Mauriat-The Christmas Album
Paul Mauriat-Joyeux Noel
Les Djinns Singers-Joyeaux Noel
Mireille Mathieu-Mireille Mathieu's Christmas
The Merriest Time!
Skitch Henderson-Winter Holiday
Elliot Lawrence-Christmas Just A Minute
Holiday Greetings From The Epic, Portrait And CBS Associated Family
The Best For '89 From The Entire Capitol Family
Holiday Greetings Voice Tracks
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Songs
Fontanna-Christmas At Home
Carols Of Christmas And The Stories Behind Them
The Best Of Christmas In July 2006 From Ernie (Not Bert)
Dino Martinelli-Plays Music For Christmas
John Donnelly & Sons-Sing It Outdoors
Sammy Kaye-I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas
Sammy Kaye-Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye-Christmas Serenade
Sammy Kaye-Year 'Round Favorites
The Gregory Orchestra And Chorus-David Frost Introduces A Christmas Record For Oxfam
Sing Along With Santa's Pixie Helpers-The Animals' Christmas Song b/w The Christmas Song Cha Cha Cha?
When Singers Meet, Inc., Mass Choir-Joy To The World
Santa's Snowmen-Swing Along With Santa's Snowmen
Big Tiny Little-Christmas With Big Tiny Little

Good Grief, that's a long list! It's a wonder I got any sleep last year! No wonder it's felt like I was barely sharing anything at all this year. Some of the items on this list got replaced with remasters this year, but I didn't mark them off, sorry. Sometimes I think you could have a pretty Merry Christmas just listening to the stuff I share. OK, that might be a stretch, but maybe.

Conservative

2011-12-30T20:15:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm, why did I buy and record this one again? I don't think it was for the amateurish cover. No, it was because it's on the Fleetwood label, and the last Christmas record I found on this label was really, really great. This one, not so much. But I've got it, and I'm going to share it with you. Like it says on the cover, "Your publisher brings you Christmas carols!". This is The Conservatory Caroleers Of New England, Arranged And Conducted By Theodore Casher-Merry Christmas (Fleetwood FCLP3017, Stereo).

1. Deck The Halls
2. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
3. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
4. Christmas Is Coming
5. The First Noel
6. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
7. Joy To The World
8. Silent Night
9. Jingle Bells
10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
11. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
12. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
13. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
14. O Come All Ye Faithful

MediaFire

Whoops, found a typo in my track titles. Gotta go fix it, delete the ZIP file I just uploaded, and try it again. I try to do a good job on these things. I screw them up more than I would like, but I try...

They Ain't Heavy

2011-12-30T18:25:00.000-05:00

What can I say, I just love Christmas music! So I'm continuing to share and share and share, and I still seem to be less than halfway through the material I recorded for sharing this year. I guess that says more about the pace at which I've been sharing than it does about how much I've shared. I didn't record any more than usual, I've just been sharing it out slightly more slowly. But we're still inside the Twelve Days of Christmas, so it's cool. Tonight's share is from a group that add an interesting twist to gospel vocal sounds, nothing too out of the ordinary, but not the same thing you've heard a million times, either. Download it, and you'll see. This is The Jacobs Brothers-'Tis The Season (Hymntone HPS 7887, Stereo, 1973).

1. Winter Wonderland
2. White Christmas
3. Christmas Song
4. Silver Bells
5. I Heard The Bells
6. Birthday Of A King
7. Angels We Have Heard On High
8. The Little Drummer Boy
9. Angels From The Realms Of Glory
10. Oh Come All Ye Faithful

MediaFire

Old Westminster

2011-12-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

I just mentioned a label sampler from Westminster, and it occurred to me that it's been out of circulation for a while. This is another of those records that I first shared out waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2005, so it's badly in need of a remaster, and I suspect I recorded it in stereo even though it's in mono. Oopsie! But it's better than nothing, I suppose. I see quite a few songs on here that I've since shared from their original album, but not all of them. Gotta keep digging! This is A Christmas Sampler (Westminster WP S-2, Mono).

1. Dick Leibert-White Christmas
2. Cathedral Bellringers-Birthday Of A King
3. Collegium Musicam-Adeste Fideles
4. Ferrante & Teicher-Sleigh Ride
5. Deutschmeister Band-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
6. Robert Locksmith & Robert Owen-O Holy Night
7. Dick Leibert-What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
8. Randolph Singers-The First Noel
9. Brooklyn Museum Children's Chorus-Joy To The World
10. Randolph Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
11. Gordon Myers-O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
12. Basil Rathbone-Isaiah 40, 1-5
13. Carl Weinrich-Lord, Through Thy Goodness (Bach)
14. Vienna Akademie Kammerchor-Silent Night

MediaFire

Carillon!

2011-12-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've brought you near enough Christmas music performed on a carillon this year, and as the web's leading purveyor of such music, that just can't abide. So here's a good one that's sure to be a favorite, if for nothing more than the great cover. Dollars to donuts, you're going to see that cover used on somebody's mic CD next year. Wait and see! And if you use it, you'd better send me a copy! And it's on a great label for Christmas music, too. Westminster put out some great stuff in the early years of the LP, most of which has not seen the digital light of day. I'm doing my best to change that, but these things take time. I can think of at least two Christmas LPs on the label that I've only seen on the back of other sleeves, or sampled on label comps. So I've got my work cut out for me yet. (Now that I think of it, I've got an empty sleeve for one of them, and a record for the other with no sleeve. And no, they didn't come together like that!). Anyhow, this is Robert Locksmith & Robert Owen-Carillon For Christmas (Westminster WP 6020, Mono, 1956). What fun those recording sessions must have been. Robert, do this, Robert, you're a little flat, no, not you Robert...

1. O Holy Night
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
4. Joy To The World
5. Deck The Halls
6. Silent Night
7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
8. O Come All Ye Faithful
9. What Child Is This
10. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
11. Away In A Manger
12. The First Nowell
13. Jingle Bells
14. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
15. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
16. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

MediaFire

Shhhhh!

2011-12-28T20:21:00.000-05:00

I'm far, far away from my home computer tonight, enjoying the hospitality of a hotel room in Daytona Beach! Unfortunately, it's dark out, and cold, so I'm staying indoors. The beach will still be there when it's warm and light out. I've got a super secret share for you tonight, a little something I shouldn't share at all, but it's too nice not to share, and I've never seen another copy. This is from 1957, was recorded by someone named Tutti, and released by someone named Walt. Beyond that, I'm not going to put in anything that will let the search engines hunt me down. But you can take a look at the pictures and see for yourselves, trust me, it's worth your download time. Enjoy!

MediaFire

Snappy Dressers

2011-12-27T19:47:00.000-05:00

The season is over for the most part, but I'm trying to keep the spirit going. At least at this point, I can be pretty sure that I'm the only person who's going to be sharing this out. Of course, when it comes to this record, I was pretty sure I was going to be the only one, anyway. Anybody ever heard of The DECA Blazers? Me neither. Which of course meant I had to buy it and share it. I think it was a sort of club for young people who wanted to grow up to work in the clothing industry. I don't have the LP in front of me, and I'm too lazy to pull up my own scans and read them, but that's what I remember about this. Distributive Education Clubs of America, that's what the DECA stands for. So maybe it's geared towards future salesmen of any sort, not just clothes. Eventually, someone will stop by the blog and explain it for all of us, but until then, I know you want to download and listen to The DECA Blazers, Arranged And Conducted By Bob Lowden-Merry Christmas (Distributive Education Clubs Of America/Melrose DBX, Stereo, 1968).

1. Joy To The World
2. While By My Sheep
3. Carol Of The Bells
4. Angels We Have Heard On High
5. I Wonder As I Wander
6. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
7. What Child Is This?
8. Carol Of The Drum
9. Silent Night
10. O Come All Ye Faithful
11. The Holly And The Ivy
12. Stars Of Ice
13. Go Tell It On The Mountain
14. Carol Noel
15. O Tannenbaum
16. Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
17. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
18. First Noel

MediaFire

Mel

2011-12-26T19:50:00.000-05:00

This is a little 45 that I got for free a few months ago. I ordered it from an online record dealer, and when she went to pack it up, she refunded my money and told me it was in horrible shape, she couldn't in all sincerity sell it to me. But she threw it in the box and gave it to me for free. I was glad she did because it seems to be a unique little bit of radio history featuring Mel Tormé. He appears to have recorded a special version of his 1966 holiday song One Little Snowflake with some lyrics about Philadelphia instead of Cleveland as in the original song. The sound is horrible, but you will get the idea. There are a couple of greetings on the flip side that will sound good on your mixtapes next year, if you can get past the surface noise. This is Mel Tormé-One Little Snowflake (For WCAU)-(WCAU Radio 7" 33 RPM 37M-89821/-89822, Mono).

MediaFire

A track from this was my contribution as the very last track on the ADVENTure in Carols 2011 collection I told you about back at the beginning of December. If you've forgotten about it, you can go here to read all about it. I'm trying now to get all the tracks together and make one big download of the whole thing, but it's harder than it sounds.

I Lettered In Christmas

2011-12-26T19:39:00.002-05:00

I'm going deep into the archives again with something I recorded last year but never shared. I had planned to do a series of shares featuring records from your local military recruiters, but it never came to fruition. But I need to get some of these shares out before the season well and truly ends, so here you go. This time it's The Lettermen joining the US Navy Band for a series of Christmas songs spread out into two 15 minute shows, perfect for radio programming. Please download The US Navy Band & The Lettermen-A Bicentennial Christmas (The Recruiting Advertising Department Of The Navy Recruiting Command, Stereo, 1975).

1. Intro (Sleigh Ride)
2. Rudolph The Rednosed Reindeer
3. Carol Of The Bells
4. Christmas All Alone
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. White Christmas
7. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers/We Wish You A Merry Christmas
8. Intro (Sleigh Ride)
9. The Christmas Song
10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
11. White Christmas
12. I Sing Noel
13. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers/We Wish You A Merry Christmas

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For what it's worth, the Bicentennial in question wasn't the US, it was for the US Navy. I guess we had a Navy before we had a country.

The Vocal Bunny

2011-12-26T14:05:00.001-05:00

I told you I was going to give you a track from Buddy & Bunny that actually features Bunny singing, and here it is. That may be one of the only things about this super low-budget LP from Modern Sound. In fact, I can't think of much to say about that I didn't cover back when I first shared it in 2006. So without further ado, or talking, here is A Family Christmas Album-Something For Everybody (Halo 1007, Stereo).

1. Bobby Russell-The Christmas Song
2. The Singleton Singers-12 Days Of Christmas
3. Buddy & Bunny Burden-Christmas Card
4. J.T. Adams And The Jordanaires-It's Christmas Time
5. Bill Purcell-Silent Night
6. Bobby Russell And The Music City Boys Chorus-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
7. Prissy Reed, Margie Singleton And Ray Walker With The Jordanaires-Jingle Bells
8. Buddy & Bunny Burden-Christmas Polka
9. The Music City Choir-Deck The Halls
10. Don Les' Harmonicats-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

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The Unique Buddy & Bunny

2011-12-26T14:01:00.000-05:00

I know it's after Christmas, but that doesn't mean I get to stop just yet. This one if from the way-back-there file, 2005 to be exact, but someone brought it up, and I thought I'd throw it back up. I guess the unique part of it's sound is that even though she's billed right there on the top of the record, and there's a picture of her on the front cover, she's nowhere to be heard on this LP. That's just wrong. You've got to download another of my shares from the cheap Modern Sound label to hear a song with her vocals. I'll have to put that one up, too, I guess. In the meantime, this is Buddy & Bunny Burden-Christmas Favorites (Modern Sound Christmas Album #5, Stereo).

1. White Christmas
2. Frosty The Snowman
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. Jingle Bells Rock
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Silver Bells
7. Christmas Polka
8. The Christmas Song
9. Rudolph The Red Nose (sic) Reindeer
10. I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. Jingle Bells

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Boxing Day With Melis

2011-12-26T10:14:00.000-05:00

It may be Boxing Day, but that doesn't mean I can't share out more Christmas music. I've still got a huge folder filled with goodness that I haven't shared out yet, so I need to empty some of it out. This was a great share back in 2006, and it's still a great share today, especially in newly remastered form. I didn't rescan the artwork, though, but even a rescan won't help poor Mr. Melis look any better. Sorry... But the music is sweet, there's no doubt about that. Grab this now, or wait until next year, if you dare. Hopefully I'll still be here to share this great music with you, but you never know. This is José Melis And His Orchestra-Christmas With Melis (Seeco CELP 4230, 1958, Stereo).

1. Sleigh Bells
2. Winter Wonderland
3. The Story Of Christmas
4. Jingle Bells
5. Toy Piano
6. Merry Christmas Music
7. Silent Night
8. Adeste Fidelis
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
11. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
12. Oh! Little Town Of Bethlehem; Noel, Noel; Silent Night

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Double Disco

2011-12-24T21:20:00.000-05:00

The last disco share of the night, I promise. Last share of the night, too, I've got to go finish my Christmas doings. A single by Walter Murphy, he of 'Fifth of Beethoven" fame, among other disco classics. This one seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth, but that's the sort of thing I like to find. I'm sure I'll see this one pop up in dozens of collections next year, but remember, you got it from me. This is the Walter Murphy Orchestra-Disco Bells b/w Deck The Halls (Major 7" 45 RPM (No Number), Stereo, 1975).

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Goodnight, and Merry Christmas!

Disco Down On Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T18:30:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am as surprised as you that there are still disco Christmas albums out there that I don't have. Singles, yes, lots, but full albums, that's a shock. As usually happens with these things though, someone will do a comparison with some other disco Christmas record and determine it's been released 14 times on 13 different labels as 4 different groups. But maybe not. It's Christmas Eve, and this could be a minor Christmas miracle. Like me getting my Christmas shopping done. It could still happen. I found this in a stack of dirty records in a dirty store up in Tampa. I think they wanted $2 for it and I talked them down to $1. I'm cheap, what can I say. But no one should have to pay $2 for crummy old disco. OK, that's enough trash talk, it's really not that bad, even though it's geared towards kids. I guess that means they leave off the bump and grind noises you might get on a Giorgio Moroder song. For the kiddies, this is The Kid Stuff Repertory Company-A Disco Christmas (Kid Stuff KSD 024, Stereo, 1979).

1. Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Jingle Bells
3. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
4. Frosty The Snowman
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Jingle Bells Rock
7. White Christmas
8. The Twelve Days Of Christmas

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Better Lester

2011-12-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

How about a remaster that isn't from 2005? Here's one from 2008, which was itself a stereo re-recording of something first shared in mono back in 2006. But it's still not from 2005, so we're good. This is bandleader Lester Lanin, who was getting on up there at this point, but perhaps not so up-there as Sammy Kaye. But he still had plenty of chops, as you'll hear if you download this 2011 remaster of Lester Lanin And His Orchestra-Christmas Dance Party (Epic BN 547, Stereo, 1959).

1. Jingle Bells
2. White Christmas; I'll Be Home For Christmas; Home For The Holidays; Happy Holiday
3. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies
4. Here Comes Santa Claus; Frosty The Snowman
5. Silver Bells; Oh, Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum); We Wish You A Merry Christmas
6. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
8. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly; The Wassail Song; Good King Wenceslas
9. Christmas Night In Harlem
10. The Christmas Song; I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day; Christmas In Killarney
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Sleigh Ride
13. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; Auld Lang Syne; A Hot Time In The Old Time Tonight

MediaFire

Yes, same deal as most of my other remasters this year, new music but old artwork.

Remastered Ruth

2011-12-24T09:07:00.001-05:00

I'm on a roll here, this is the fourth remaster I've thrown up this morning! Another of my shares from that great first year here, Ruth Welcome was a welcome surprise, playing Christmas music on the somewhat exotic zither. It's very mellow, but it's nice relaxing background music. I re-recorded a nice copy this year, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had some scans I made last year after a failed remastering attempt. So I dropped the scans from last year in with the music from this year, and here you go! (That front cover image is still too dark compared to the original. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to color matching and image manipulation). This is the 2011 remastered edition of Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland (Capitol ST 1782, Stereo, 1962).

1. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear/Lo, How A Rose Is Blooming/Angels And Shepherds
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem/What Child Is This?/O Come Little Children/Away In A Manger
3. O Holy Night/Coventry Carol/Angels From The Realms Of Glory/Silent Night
4. Jingle Bells/Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. Silver Bells
7. The Christmas Song
8. Winter Wonderland
9. White Christmas

MediaFire

Those of you familiar with the old share might notice that I left the medleys in medley form this time. Six years ago I was of a different mindset, so I cut them into their individual songs. I'm more historical-minded now, and don't believe in such meddling. Unless it suites my purposes, of course, and then I don't mind so much.

Eddie's Better, Part Two

2011-12-24T08:50:00.000-05:00

Where there's smoke, there's fire. That means when I share out Eddie Dunstedter's first Bells Of Christmas LP, I've also got to share out his second. And this one has also been re-recorded and remastered for 2011!. Same old artwork, though, forgive me. This one came out not long after JFK was assassinated,so it sorta sank like a stone. I guess people just weren't in the mood for Christmas that year. I first shared this in 2005 and it's been a big favorite both for me and for all of my visitors ever since. This is Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas Chime Again (Capitol ST 1968, Stereo, 1963).

1. White Christmas
2. Silver Bells
3. Angels We Have Heard On High
4. Sweet Little Jesus Boy
5. Winter Wonderland
6. In The Clock Store
7. Ring, Christmas Bells
8. The Christmas Song
9. Beautiful Savior
10. I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. Happy Holiday

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Eddie's Better, Part One

2011-12-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

I was on a remaster kick for a little while this fall, re-recording every old share of mine I could get my hands on, instead of concentrating on new music like I should have. But some of these old shares of mine were just too poor to listen to anymore, and the music too good, so I felt it was a customer service to redo them. This one dates back to the very beginning, 2005, and it's never sounded better. So please download the 2011 remaster of Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas (Capitol ST 1264, Stereo, 1959), you'll be glad you did. Again, I didn't make any new scans, you'll have to make do with my original scans from 2005. That also means they don't include scans of the labels, because I didn't start doing that until sometime after 2005.

1. The First Noel
2. March Of The Three Kings
3. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
4. Greensleeves
5. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear-O Little Town Of Bethlehem-Away In A Manger
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
7. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are-Bring Your Torches
9. Deck The Halls-Joy To The World
10. Adeste Fideles
11. O Tannenbaum
12. The Coventry Carol-Von Himmel Hoch
13. Silent Night

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Sammy's Back

2011-12-24T08:39:00.000-05:00

This is another of the many remastered titles I'd hoped to bring you this year, but never got around to scanning the artwork. So I'm giving you the music and dropping in the old scans, I hope you don't mind too much. (My scans haven't been coming out too good this year, anyway, so you aren't missing much.) But this is some great music, and I've been sharing my old rip with you since 2006. Trust me, this sounds much better. So please download and enjoy This is Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra-Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye (Decca DL 74070, Stereo, 1960). I still don't know where that little girl is looking. Perhaps she's a young Michele Bachmann.

1. White Christmas
2. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
3. Christmas Child (Loo, Loo, Loo)
4. Medley: The First Nowell-It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. Medley: O Little Town Of Bethlehem-O Come All Ye Faithful
6. Silent Night
7. It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas
8. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
9. Silver Bells
10. Sleigh Ride
11. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
12. (Joyeux Noel, Buona Natale, Feliz Navidad) A Merry Christmas (To You)

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Three Random Singles

2011-12-23T20:05:00.000-05:00

You might think I'm running out of Christmas music just because it's the eve of Christmas Eve, but you'd be wrong. I've got enough stuff recorded to go a couple more months here, it's just a matter of getting it in some form where it's fit to share. You don't want me to upload random MP3 files with no track tags or artwork, do you? OK, some of you might, but not many. I try to provide a quality product to my readers, and I don't always succeed 100% but I like to think I come close. Tonight I grabbed three random singles I'd recorded earlier, scanned them, and I'm sharing five songs from them with you. The first one came in a sleeve, but only the A side was a Christmas song. It goes by many titles including A Merry, Merry Christmas or A Merry, Merry Christmas To You or even (Joyeux Noel, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad) A Merry, Merry Christmas. I guess they didn't know what exactly they wanted to call it. This is the full version of the song with the spoken bit both at the beginning and the end. I've heard it before without any of the spoken part, but I don't know if it was ever released that way or just edited by a DJ in a hurry to get to the good parts. This is Art Mooney And His Orchestra-A Merry, Merry Christmas (MGM 7" 45 RPM K12847 (Special Disc Jockey Record-Not For Sale), Mono, 1959).

Next up is a cute little record by Philip Fox, performing as Dennis The Menace. He's a little high-pitched, but I guess that's the way people thought Dennis The Menace should sound. Poor Mr. Wilson, this explains why he's so high strung. This is Dennis The Menace (Philip Fox)-When Christmas Comes Around Each Year b/w That's What I Want For Christmas (Golden Records FF649, Mono). There was almost certainly a picture sleeve for this, but I don't have it.

Last, and perhaps most listenable (well, you'll listen to it at least once), is a later effort from The Korn Kobblers, late enough that it's actually credited to Stanley Fritts And The Korn Kobblers. I'm not sure exactly when that happened, but this is the only record I've seen where they're listed as his sidemen. The Korn Kobblers where similar to Spike Jones in many ways, but not nearly so popular. You'll get all sorts of sounds in here, including a bit of Donald Duck. And how can you go wrong with a polka? This is Stanley Fritts And The Korn Kobblers-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer b/w Santa Claus Polka (MGM 7" 45 RPM K60005, Mono, 1950). Enjoy!

MediaFire

I'd post more singles each year, but they take almost as long to process as a whole LP! And you end up with only 3 minutes of music instead of almost half an hour. Perhaps if I planned ahead a little better. There's always next year...

PS-More Korn Kobblers on LP here or here, and more great polka here.

The Dregs

2011-12-23T18:59:00.000-05:00

I was surprised to find that I still have a handful of shares alive at RapidShare. RapidShare used to be my file host of choice, but they went downhill in a spectacular fashion in the past couple of years, so most of the files I had hosted over there went the way of the dinosaurs. But I guess a few of them got enough downloads now and then that they haven't been deleted. Looks like it's about half Christmas and half, umm, what's that other kind of music? Oh, yeah, not-Christmas. Anyhow, here's a list of what's available there. Some of it may be old versions or non-remastered versions, so take it for what it's worth.

Randy Carlos-Makin' Whoopee Cha Cha Cha
Ronnie Ogden-Hits From Hollywood
Malcolm Lockyer-We're Having A Party
Don Swan-Hot Cha Cha
Malcolm Lockyer-A Lazy Afternoon
Don Amore-Latin Holiday
Jack Say-These Foolish Things
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music (2010 Remaster)
Hill Bowen-Love On Broadway
Jocelyn McNeil-Very Hi-Fi Organ
The Littlest Angel-Lullaby Of Christmas
Hill Bowen-I Married An Angel
George Wright-Merry Christmas
Jack Say-The Girl That I Marry
The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling
Tony Osbourne-Hands Across The Table
The Pied Pipers (Et. Al.)-Favorite Christmas Carols
Marimba Chiapas-Cha Cha Cha Volume 4
Nelson Riddle-Avon Wishes You A Happy Holiday
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
Hill Bowen-I Could Have Danced All Night
The Moog Machine-Christmas Becomes Electric
Tony Osbourne-A Trip To Romance

Wow, some of those things I haven't thought about for years, especially the non-Christmas stuff. Quite a surprise to see that almost the entire Music For Hi-Fi Living series is still there. Wait, I missed one, looks like the whole set of 12 is still there. Cool! I need to reshare those someday in a new post. Anyhow, grab these things while they survive, RapidShare is sure to delete them before Christmas rolls around next year.

Christmas In Montana

2011-12-23T18:33:00.000-05:00

I had someone comment on an old share of this disco Christmas LP, so I figured I'd throw it back up here in case anyone wanted to grab it. I don't remember it being very good from when I posted it back in 2007, and I really don't feel like listening to it tonight. Heard one side-long disco medley, and you've heard most of them. But if you're trying to get the relatives to leave after the Christmas party, this might be just the ticket. Please give a listen to Montana Orchestra-Merry Christmas (MJS 3302, Stereo) .

1. Montana Christmas Medley
2. Get Down New Year's Eve
3. New Year's Eve One More Time (Reprise)

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Best Of, Finally

2011-12-22T19:18:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time coming, but here, finally, is my collection of the best tracks from Christmas in July 2010. I shared a whole lot of stuff out that year, and here are the very best of all those songs. If you don't find something in here that you like, well, you aren't trying very hard. What's in here? Let's have a look...

01. Brook Benton-Go Tell It On The Mountain
02. Dickie Goodman-Santa And The Satellite, Part 1
03. Paul Whiteman & Orchestra With Jack Teagarden & Johnny Mercer-Christmas Night In Harlem
04. The Bellwethers-Ukranian Carol Of The Bells
05. Julius La Rosa-We Need A Little Christmas
06. Hal Mooney And His Orchestra-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
07. The Bill Shepherd Singers-Christmas In Killarney
08. The Daughters Of The Cross-Mary's Little Boy Child
09. Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra-My Favorite Things
10. Richard Robinson & William Reeve-Jingles, The Christmas Clown
11. Matt Dennis-White Christmas
12. Jo Ann Castle-Skater's Boogie
13. Johnny Winter-Please Come Home For Christmas
14. The Gooding Band Organ-A Little Boy's Christmas
15. The Dunster Dunces-Winter
16. Gaylord Carter-Jingle Bells
17. Dickie Goodman-Santa And The Satellite, Part 2
18. Dimitri Tiomkin-Toy Trumpet March; Christmas Morning
19. Sammy Davis, Jr. And Carmen McRae-Baby It's Cold Outside
20. Fred Karlin-Christmas
21. Doug Setterberg & Stan Boreson-Winter Wonderland
22. The Jackie Davis Trio-The Christmas Song
23. John Klein-Hanukkah Song
24. The Kennedy Space Center Chorus-We Can't Go Wrong
25. Richard Ellsasser-Sleigh Ride
26. Teresa Brewer-Jingle Bell Rock
27. The Paul Mauriat Orchestra-The Little Drummer Boy
28. Irving Fields And His Trio-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
29. Hugo Winterhalter-A Marshmallow World
30. Frank Sinatra-White, The Young In Heart
31. Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Let Us All Sing Auld Lang Syne

There you go. Now, I've got to go back and try to link all those tracks to the day I shared them, if the post is still there. I know some of them have disappeared in the 18 months since I shared those tracks. Nope, they all seem to be there, once I fixed the typos... Anyhow, I'm pretty proud of this collection, so download it and enjoy it between now and the big day!

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Ring Those Christmas Bells

2011-12-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight's share comes from the sometimes wild, sometimes wacky, sometimes weird, sometimes, well, fairly normal world of religious label Word. This one covers all the bases quite nicely, I think, with some music that's never less than interesting, featuring organ by Del Roper and handbells by The Mason Swiss Bell Ringers. You know how I'm a sucker for the handbells, and these are some good ones. Nice selection of songs, too. I like it, and I hope you like it, too. This is Del Roper With The Mason Swiss Bell Ringers-I Heard The Bells (Word W 3067-LP, Mono, 1959).

1. Jingle Bells and White Christmas
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. Carol Of The Bells
4. We Three Kings
5. Gesu, Bambino
6. Joy To The World
7. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
8. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
9. The First Noel
10. Silent Night
11. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
12. O Come, All ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis)

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Famousness

2011-12-21T20:04:00.000-05:00

I got a couple of mentions in the press today, which led a few extra people to the old blog site. First up was a mention in The Guardian, a UK paper or magazine or website, or all three, perhaps. I was in the online edition today, and I think the article is supposed to appear in the print version tomorrow. I've gotten a few extra hits from the online mention, but I don't expect much from the print version. Very few people type in URLs from the newspaper.

Also of note, one of my recent posts was mentioned over at PCL Linkdump, which generated a few extra hits as well. I mention this mostly because it was a mention over there back in 2006 that really helped spread word of my Christmas shares around the internet and brought me to the attention of a lot of you folks who were looking for some great Christmas music. So thanks to those folks!

Hmmm, this seems somehow familiar...

2009 Redux, Part 5

2011-12-21T19:54:00.000-05:00

And, so it is, we reach the end of the Christmas In July reshares, both for 2009 and for the year, because I've basically shared out everything. All the stuff from 2010 was shared out back at the beginning of August, and 2011 is still too new to be revisiting. So download this last little bit of Christmas in July goodness while you can. I think there's even a few Chanukah tracks in there for those of you celebrating the second night.

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Non-Christmas

2011-12-20T20:12:00.000-05:00

I have long lamented the fact that the original Harmonicats did not release a Christmas album. A splinter group recorded an album well after their prime on a budget label, and I've shared that one with you before. I think there was also a single track recorded by the group in the sixties that showed up on a Goodyear Christmas LP (maybe...nope, it was a Columbia label Christmas collection). But there isn't a Christmas album in all of their classic canon. So I'm going to share this LP with a doll theme and pretend like it's a Christmas record. There are plenty of tracks here that wouldn't be out of place on a Christmas record, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch. I remember downloading a copy of this vinyl many, many years ago from a now defunct blog run by someone named Ben T. Like so many excellent blogs through the years, that one eventually went belly up and was never heard from again. I'm doing my best to keep that from happening around here, but you never know what tomorrow might bring. Anyhow, I eventually found my own copy of the vinyl, and that's what I'm bringing you tonight. This is Jerry Murad's Electronic Harmonicats-Dolls, Dolls, Dolls (Mercury SR60008, Stereo, 1959). It's good stuff!

1. Waltzing Doll (Poupee Valsante)
2. The Toy Trumpet
3. Spanish Doll (Senorita Munequita)
4. Paper Doll
5. March Of The Toys
6. Wedding Of The Painted Doll
7. Oh! You Beautiful Doll
8. Dance Of The Dutch Doll
9. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
10. Pink Dresden Doll
11. The Wooden Soldier & The China Doll
12. Doll Dance

MediaFire

This isn't the first time I've shared out a non-Christmas album during the holiday sharity season, mind you. And something tells me it won't be the last.

And what would a Harmonicats Christmas LP really sound like? Probably a lot like this EP from The Mulcays, another great, though lesser-known, harmonica group.

A Couple Kleins

2011-12-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

A third (and fourth) reshare this evening, something that a certain someone from Chili keeps bugging me about, so here you go. John Klein was a prolific and notable carillon artist in the late fifties and early sixties, releasing probably dozens of albums in his lifetime. I've shared more than a few of the Christmas ones here, but many have lapsed into unavailability. At least one of them is available on iTunes, so he's not entirely escaped the modern digital download world. The two LPs here appear to be the same music, just released at different times and with different covers, and I didn't notice until after I'd ripped and shared them out. So in the interest of completeness, here they both are. The first one was originally shared here, and is John Klein-Noel Bells (Stone Mountain SM-201, Stereo).

1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. O, Holy Night
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. Good Christian Men Rejoice
5. As Lately We Watched
6. The First Noel
7. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
8. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
9. Joy To The World
10. Away In A Manger
11. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
12. O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
13. Good King Wenceslas
14. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
15. O, Come All Ye Faithful
16. Silent Night

MediaFire
And here's the other one, John Klein-The Bells Of Christmas (Americana AR-6, Stereo). I also shared this one out in 2006 for the first time.

1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. The First Noel
5. O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. Good King Wenceslas
7. As Lately We Watched
8. O, Come All Ye Faithful
9. O Holy Night
10. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
11. Away In A Manger
12. Good Christian Men Rejoice
13. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
14. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
15. Silent Night
16. Joy To The World

MediaFire

Christmas Re-Happens

2011-12-20T19:21:00.000-05:00

Another blast from the far distant past, I first shared this in 2008, but recorded it in 2007. That year, a track from it led off the prestigious ADVENTure in Carols over at FaLaLaLaLa. I was pretty proud of that. I'm not sure why it hasn't been shared again since then, there's just never time, I guess. Sometimes I share out so much Christmas goodness, I forget what I've got up and what I've forgotten about. But this is a good one, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Please help yourself to Veo Gray And The Jodie Lyons Singers-A Christmas Happening (Alaco Records SLP-2156, Stereo).

1. Christmas Medley-O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Angels We Have Heard On High
2. Deck The Hall
3. Jingle Bells
4. O Come, All Ye Faithful
5. O Come, O Come Immanuel
6. Rest Your Head
7. Silent Night
8. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
9. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

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Return To Magnavox

2011-12-20T19:12:00.000-05:00

This is a share from back in 2007 that I don't think has been back since. The old link is long gone, and someone asked about it, so here it is again. I don't know much more about it now than I did then, but if you got one of these with you new hi-fi back in the day, perhaps you remember it. If so, then please be my guest and download Christmas Favorites Sung By The Magnificent Magnavox Chorus (Magnavox, Mono).

1. Prelude A
2. O' Come All Ye Faithful
3. Interlude A1
4. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
5. Interlude A2
6. Jesus Is Born
7. Interlude A3
8. Angels We Have Heard On High
9. Interlude A4
10. Joy To The World
11. Finale A
12. Prelude B
13. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
14. Interlude B1
15. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
16. Interlude B2
17. The First Noel
18. Interlude B3
19. Silent Night, Holy Night
20. Interlude B4
21. Carol Of The Bells
22. Interlude B5 (Good King Wenceslas)
23. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
24. Finale B

MediaFire

All regular tracks are performed by The Magnavox Chorus. Preludes, Interludes and Finales are by Virgil Fox at the organ. They weren't listed on the sleeve, and I only recognized the tune of one of them, so I couldn't give them their real names.

2009 Redux, Part 4

2011-12-20T19:02:00.000-05:00

I'm getting near the end of these reshares from my Christmas In July. Tonight, it's part four of five from 2009. Lots of great music in these, I hope you're grabbing them while you have the opportunity.

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For The Captain

2011-12-19T19:16:00.000-05:00

I'm rushing to get this up by seven this evening, and I see I'm a little late. This record was a gift from one of my online Christmas friends, CaptOT, and this evening he's hosting a Christmas program on public radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It started at 7, and I'm listening to it now. You can listen, too, if you click here. He's doing it again on Wednesday, so if you read this later, you can listen to it then. Go now! Anyhow, the record in question is by Richard Ellsasser, and the Captain sent it to me because I had shared out another LP by Ellsasser and I didn't have this one. So I recorded it and I'm sharing it with you in honor of the Captain being on the radio. Here's the download, now go listen to CaptOT. This is Richard Ellsasser-An Old-Fashioned Christmas (MGM E3475, Mono, 1956).

1. Bethlehem
2. Coventry Carol
3. I Saw Three Ships
4. Christmas Eve
5. Patapan
6. What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
7. In Dulci Jubilo
8. While Shepherds Watched
9. The Holly And The Ivy
10. Good Christian Men, Rejoice
11. Vieni, Emanuel
12. A Virgin Unspotted
13. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
14. My Dancing Day

MediaFire

Sounds good, Captain!

2009 Redux, Part 3

2011-12-19T18:20:00.002-05:00

The title says it all. Well, the title says most of it. This is the third collection of tracks from Christmas in July 2009. Get it, it's good.

MediaFire

Ireene, With Three E's

2011-12-18T20:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a neat little set of records I found just a couple of weeks ago, one of the very last things I recorded this season before I started sharing out records. These are six out of what was originally a set of eight sides by Ireene Wicker, The Singing Lady. I don't know much about her, but there's plenty of info out there on the internets. The only other Christmas release I can find by her was a 78 on Mercury that was shared out by my buddy Lee over at his place a while back. I don't know if that share is still any good, but if it's not, you might try politely asking for a repost and who knows, you might get lucky. Back to my shares, these are cute little version of Christmas classics, usually with a little bit of spoken introduction. These probably came in picture sleeves back in the day, but when I found them, all I got were three little pieces of vinyl. Well, they were vinyl, but they played at 78 RPM and I had to use my old, fat needle. Decent sound, though, for being over 60 years old. If any of this sounds the least bit interesting, please be my guest and download Ireene Wicker-The Singing Lady-Six Sides (Tots 'N' Teens/Regal Record Corp 3x7" 78 RPM, 1949).

Dicken's Christmas Carol Part 1
Dicken's Christmas Carol Part 2
Silent Night
Jingle Bells
O Come, All ye Faithful
Deck The Halls; I Saw Three Ships

MediaFire

PI

2011-12-18T18:41:00.000-05:00

Here's a politically incorrect single from 1953 just for you. If such things aggravate you, please just skip on to that last post about Dick Leibert, this is just how things were back in the day. Harry Kari was another name used by Harry Stewart for his comedy, you might be more familiar with his more popular one, Yogi Yorgesson. He is pretty funny to my ears, if a little bit insensitive. This is a rerecording of a single I first shared with you many, many years ago that's been out of the loop for a while. (Did I share both sides? I'm not sure. You're getting both sides tonight, I know that...) Anyhow, here is Harry Kari And His Six Saki Sippers-Oh! Oh! Don't Ever Go b/w The Night Before Christmas (Capitol 7" 45 RPM F2618, Mono, 1953).

MediaFire

Leibert

2011-12-18T18:12:00.000-05:00

Somebody asked about the old Dick Leibert shares, so I'm gonna put them up here. I'm a little pooped at the moment, so I'm just gonna give you the download links, and links to the old posts if you want to read all about them. I know that's the lazy way out, but sorry...

A Merry Wurlitzer Christmas (Mono)
Christmas At Radio City (Mono or Stereo)
Sing And Rejoice (Mono)
The Sound Of Christmas (Stereo)
The Happy Hits Of Christmas (Stereo)

Other than the Stereo copy of Christmas At Radio City (which is two tracks shorter than the mono version), these are all pretty old rips that probably don't sound so hot. So take 'em for what their worth.

Top 20 Countdown

2011-12-18T15:33:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd give you a little list here of the twenty most popular downloads for the past couple of years. These are based on the number of downloads showing over at MediaFire, which means it's only the stuff that's been shared out the past two years. Before that I used RapidShare and that hasn't worked out so well lately. So, let's take a look at what's most popular.

20. The Waikikis-Merry Christmas-It's interesting that things I shared out for the first time this year are already on the list. I figured things that had been up for a year would have way more downloads, but I guess that's not always the case. Part of that is due to the fact that I'm not throwing as much out there this year, and some people who come to the blog only download the most recent share, missing out completely on some of the other things.

19. George Greeley-The 22 Most Lost Christmas Piano Concertos-This one is odd because I didn't think it was that good, or that well known. Maybe I sell it well, I don't know...

18. Marco Antonio Muniz-Navidad En Puerto Rico-Wow, another one I didn't think would ever last, much less show up this high on the list. You never know what people are going to like.

17. Glenn Zottola-Christmas In Jazztime-Another brand new share this year, very nice if you like the jazzy side of Christmas. I love the tracks from the guest singer Maxine Sullivan.

16. The Jimmy Joyce Singers-A Christmas To Remember-Now here's an excellent choice for the top 20. Orchestra duties on this one are handled by Billy May, that alone is worth the price of admission.

15. The Lennon Sisters & Ruby Wright with a small handful of singles-I guess the demand for female singers at Christmas is large. Good stuff!

14. Happy Holidays With The Best Of The Mummers-I told you this was the happiest Christmas music ever!

13. Sammy Kaye-I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas-There's a good reason why Sammy was as popular as he was for as long as he was.

12. Paul Mauriat-The Christmas Album-One of my earliest and best shares, sounding even better thanks to a 2010 remaster job. Listen to this one, it speaks for itself.

11. 2010 Christmas In July ClickRepaired Bundle #4-Why is this in here? I think because it was the first share any visitors saw if they visited the blog between the end of Christmas in July and the beginning of Christmas this year. The other three parts aren't even close...

10. Christmas Music From The Stars-Good collection of early fifties singles that you just can't find anywhere else. And a couple of things I probably shouldn't be sharing out, but what are you gonna do?

9. Vaughn Monroe-A Marshmallow World 7"-A nice pair of songs from the singer of Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!. It's good, but maybe not that good. Maybe I should bundle this with a couple of his other holiday singles, see if we can go top 5 with it.

8. The Somerset Strings-Music For Christmas At Home-This is a 2011 remaster that fixed a couple f skips on my old share. The old share went nowhere, this one is hugely popular. Odd.

7. Burl Ives-Christmas At The White House-I think this one is name recognition. People associate Burl with Christmas, so they download it. And it's really good with some different Christmas songs and arrangements on it, that helps.

6. St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols-Good choral Christmas songs. I wonder if all those downloaders realize there's a second volume available? I see that I mentioned last year that this was my most popular share at the time.

5. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Christmas Surprises-For my money, this record should be number one.

4. 16 Traditional Christmas Carols-This one, I don't know. I almost didn't record it in the first place, it was just kind of a space filler to make my Bob Kames collection look bigger. I guess it has an audience. Perhaps someone posted a link out there and it's gotten out there somehow. No clue.

3. Ramsey Lewis-More Sounds Of Christmas-Why this isn't on the CD with his first Christmas collection is a mystery to me. It's great, and should be better known.

2. Warner Bros Stars-We Wish You A Merry Christmas-Nothing sells better than celebrity, so this one is no surprise. Containing a huge Christmas single doesn't hurt, either, but the less said about that, the better.

And number 1? No surprise here.

1. Fred Waring-Twas The Night Before Christmas-This was number one back on RapidShare as well, before I remastered it in 2010. Everybody loves it. From the people who grew up with it to the people who heard their great take on Rudolph in the store yesterday, no one can turn it off once it starts playing.

There you have it. Hope you enjoyed seeing the little list. Is your favorite on the list? What should be on the list? What shouldn't be on the list? Remember, these are actual downloads, not my opinion.

The Return Of The King, 2011 Style

2011-12-18T10:18:00.000-05:00

I got a request for this one to be remastered more than once, and here it is. First shared out way back in 2007 (in mono) and again in 2008 (in stereo), this is one great album. And it sounds even better this time around with the improved technology at my disposal, a little more experience and a great piece of software called ClickRepair. But don't take my word for it, download and listen to The Pete King Chorale And Orchestra-Christmas Time (Kapp KS-3214, Stereo, 1960).

1. My Favorite Things
2. Silver Bells
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-It Came Upon The Midnight Clear-Joy To The World
4. The Christmas Song (Featuring Beth Adlam)
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Adeste Fideles-Silent Night
7. The Night Before Christmas
8. The Little Drummer Boy
9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Featuring Beth Adlam)
10. Mary's Little Boy Child
11. The First Noel-Away In A Manger-Oh, Holy Night
12. White Christmas

MediaFire

OK, I cheated a little. These are still the old scans. I've just been so unhappy with my scans this year, I put the old scans in with the new music. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

2009 Redux, Part 2

2011-12-18T10:12:00.002-05:00

Another page in the 2009 Christmas in July reshares, here's the second part. Excellent stuff in here, don't miss out!

MediaFire

An Equitable Agreement

2011-12-17T21:15:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure I haven't shared enough organ and chime records with you this season. So here's a little 10 incher that was no doubt given away to insurance customers at some point in the fifties or sixties. At one time, chimes were all the rage, if the number of these records I see in the thrift shops are any indication. And that probably goes a long way towards explaining why someone invented rock and roll. Anyways...this is The Equitable Chimes-The Equitable Chimes Play Ten Of The World's Best Loved Christmas Carols (Equitable Life Insurance Company Of Iowa 10" 33 RPM CTV-84282/84283, Mono). Just pretend like you enjoy it, OK?

1. O Holy Night
2. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
3. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
4. The First Noel
5. Joy To The World
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. Away In A Manger
8. O Come All Ye Faithful
9. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
10. Silent Night

MediaFire

2009 Redux, Part 1

2011-12-17T20:26:00.000-05:00

Ever onward! I thought it was going to take forever to load the 2009 Christmas in July reshares to MediaFire, but they're finally done. Here's the first of five parts, and they are big shares! But you'll have more Christmas music than you can shake a stick at once you've downloaded them. Merry Week Before Christmas!

MediaFire

Sing With Bing

2011-12-16T20:09:00.000-05:00

A real treat for you tonight, something I'm pretty sure you've never seen before. If there's anyone who's every Christmas-related utterance has been re-issued to death, it would be Bing Crosby. You hear his voice every year at Christmas, even if you don't hear it at any other point the whole year 'round. But you've never heard this little record! I recorded this last year but never got the chance to share it, so I need to go back and refresh my memory a little bit... Ah, yes, this is actually a double album. Record one is a pair of radio shows featuring Bing in the studio, talking to you about the Army and Christmas between songs, most of which are pulled from his then-current Christmas album, A Time To Be Jolly. That album has been unfairly overlooked by time, but like most of Crosby's Christmas cannon, it's available from Amazon. But that's not why you want to hear this record, you want to hear Bing talk to you. The second record is the usual Army Chorus and Army Band stuff that you find on any number of records released by the US Army recruitment folks through the years. It's nice stuff, but nothing great. The Bing, on the other hand, is priceless. Grab this one while you can, I don't know if the RIAA will let me share it for long. This is A Bing Crosby Christmas For Today's Army/The Sounds Of Christmas With The United States Army Band And Soldiers Chorus (US Army Recruiter 2xLP, Stereo, 1973).

1. Intro
2. And The Bells Rang
3. Segment 1
4. Christmas Is Here To Stay
5. Segment 2
6. Christmas Is
7. Segment 3
8. White Christmas
9. A Time To Be Jolly
10. Segment 4
11. I Sing Noel
12. Segment 5
13. Round And Round The Christmas Tree
14. Segment 6
15. The Song Of Christmas
16. Segment 7
17. White Christmas
18. Jingle Bells
19. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
20. Winter Wonderland
21. O Tannenbaum
22. The Three Holy Kings
23. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
24. Stable Down The Road
25. Medley: White Christmas; The Christmas Song
26. Some Children See Him
27. Medley: Noel

Tracks 1-17 by Bing Crosby, 18-27 by The United States Army Band & Chorus with various soloists. Full details in the track tags.

MediaFire

Is this the first double LP I've shared here at the blog? I've shared plenty of gatefolds, but never an actual double album, unless I'm forgetting about something.

2008 Redux, Part 5

2011-12-16T19:41:00.000-05:00

The fifth and final part of my reshare of Christmas in July from 2008, including a day of Chanukah in August! How special is that? Get it while the gettin's good.

MediaFire

Really Old Ray, Continued

2011-12-15T19:54:00.000-05:00

Covering much of the same ground as the other share from Ray Charles (no, the other Ray Charles) that I just posted, this LP is a little more geared towards the Winter season instead of just Christmas. In fact, it's part of a series for the seasons, one record for each. There's even a sort of best-of I've seen, featuring a few tracks from each of the four LPs. Anything to squeeze a few more dollars out of the record buying public, I guess. I actually had a copy of this LP up on the turntable earlier this year in hopes of getting a remastered version to you this season, but the copy I had in front of me sounded pretty crummy, so I didn't see much point in giving you that. Hopefully I'll stumble across a better copy sometime in the coming year and be able to record that one. In the meantime, enjoy this one, a record that I've been touting the virtues of since 2005, The Ray Charles Singers-Winter Wonderland (MGM E3387, Mono, 1956).

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Button Up Your Overcoat
3. June In January
4. When Winter Comes
5. Snowfall
6. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
7. Winter & Theme For Indoor Sports
8. Moonlight In Vermont
9. Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow
10. When Winter Comes A Callin'
11. Jingle Bells
12. By The Fireside

MediaFire

Someday I need to rip all four albums in this series... I think I have them all, but laying my hands on them might be a problem. I need an intern!

Really Old Ray

2011-12-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

Something else from the request lines, this is a great Christmas album from the other Ray Charles, one that I've been sharing with you since 2005. It's good stuff, but this rip is badly in need of a remaster. Maybe next year... Anyhow, if you can't wait until then, and it's certainly worth hearing as-is, this is The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling (MGM E3467, Mono, 1956).

1. Here We Come A Caroling
2. Silent Night
3. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
4. The First Noel
5. O, Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
6. Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child
7. Angels We Have Heard On High
8. What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
9. I Saw Three Ships
10. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
11. Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabelle
12. Away In A Manger
13. Good King Wenceslas
14. O, Little Town Of Bethlehem
15. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
16. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
17. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
18. Rise Up, Shepherd, An' Foller
19. Joy To The World
20. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
21. Here We Come A Caroling

MediaFire

2008 Redux, Part 4

2011-12-15T18:50:00.000-05:00

The fourth and not final part of my resharing of the music from Christmas in July 2008. For those who haven't been keeping up, I share out Christmas music from non-holiday albums during July around these parts. This is a collection of all the stuff I shared out back during July of 2008, not the best of, but all of, so you get the good stuff and the stinkers. Sometimes, the stinkers are the best part, but that's just my opinion. One more package to go after this one, and the earlier ones are in the history somewhere, go hunt 'em down.

MediaFire

Christmas Hole

2011-12-15T14:35:00.000-05:00

I was in NYC back during September, and I took a picture of the spot where they put the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. It looks to be a casting with the date of the next lighting on it. That can't be cheap. I wonder who gets to keep that little memento when it's replaced for the next year? I'll take it, send it to me!

Ski 5

2011-12-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

Last of the ski albums, I promise. Well, I've actually got one more, the only other one I know of, but it's available on CD, so you aren't gonna get it here. Anyhow, this is one of the better ones I've shared because it's one of the more well-known and talented artists. Oscar Brand must have recorded 100 albums, and some of them are thrift store staples. But some of them, like this one, are fairly hard to find, so I was excited when it turned up earlier this year. It was even in nice shape, so I think I got some good sounding music out of it. Oh, before I forget, some of the songs on here were written by Ray Conrad, who's ski-themed LP I reshared earlier this evening. OK, I'm tired of posting and chatting for the night, so without further ado, this is Oscar Brand and The Ski Bums-A Snow Job For Skiers-Ribald Songs For The Stretch Pants Set (Elektra EKS-7228, Stereo, 1962). Classic cover shot on this one, too.

1. Why The Hell Do We Ski
2. Skier's Proposition
3. Ski Racks And Boot Sacks
4. Old Ski Tow
5. Ballad Of The Snow Bunny
6. Ski Instructor
7. Back To Town
8. Come Along Boys
9. Roll Your Leg Over
10. Summit Ski Meet
11. Hills Of West Virginia
12. Stretch Pants Lament
13. Skier's Daydream

MediaFire

Ski 4

2011-12-14T20:06:00.001-05:00

You knew I was building to something, right? Why else would I post 1, 2, 3 old shares that didn't have much to do with Christmas right in the middle of the Christmas Sharity season? Anyhow, I'm building to this little gem of an album, featuring famous people that you know but have never heard of. The Wegeman Brothers were Olympic skiers from a skiing family, though they do not appear to have ever brought home the gold. More to the point, Keith Wegeman (don't ask me which one he is in the cover picture, 'cause I'm not sure) performed as the Jolly Green Giant in early TV commercials! I don't think it was him going Ho, Ho, Ho (sound like anyone you know?), but it was him you saw in the background, all green with envy, err, I mean chlorophyll. So there you have it. This is really a pretty good LP, I think you'll enjoy it. It's got a couple of Christmas tracks on there, and they're more than worthy of your time. So get busy and download Gentlemen Skiers-Ski Songs By The Wegeman Brothers (Raynote RN5008, Mono, 1959). Oh, the 'orchestra', such as it is, is credited to Ray Whitaker, and there's a guitar credit to Billy Strange.

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Two Boards
3. Wacky Waxer
4. Oola
5. Here's To The Skier
6. Sven
7. Skiers Medley
8. Skiers Lament
9. Under The Take-Off
10. Sun Valley
11. Winter Song
12. Ski Heil

MediaFire

Ski 3

2011-12-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

Have I not reposted this since it first showed up in 2008? Doesn't appear so. Also appears that one of the songs skips, so I probably need to find it and see if I can do a better job with three more years of experience under my belt. But it'll have to do for tonight. Pretty good stuff on this one, especially if you liked the previous two ski albums. This is The Blazers & The Yodelin' Guides-Track! Songs Of The Skiers (Kapp 1218, Mono, 1960).

1. Ski Trails
2. Winter Song
3. There's A Tavern In The Town-Vive La Compagnie
4. S.B.B. (The Swiss Railroad Song)
5. She'll Be Skiing Down The Mountain-The Man On The New Pair Of Skiis-Wham! Went The Skier
6. The Happy Wanderer
7. Hop-Sah-Sah
8. Ski, Ski, Ski
9. We're The Gang-Give A Cheer
10. The Weggis Song (This track skips at one point. Sorry...)
11. Beer Barrel Polka
12. It Happened In Sun Valley

MediaFire

Ski 2

2011-12-14T19:24:00.000-05:00

Another in tonight's recap of some old skiing music shares. This, to me, is a much better album than that last one. This one is funny and less 70's-ish, if you get my drift. But it take different strokes to move the world (yes it does). Even if it's just for the cover, you need to download Ray Conrad-The Cotton-Pickin' Lift Tower And Other Skiing Songs (Prestige International INT 13039, Mono, 1963 perhaps). This one is much better than that previous one.

1. Round-Bottomed Bogners
2. The Cotton-Pickin' Lift Tower
3. Skiing Billy (Duet With Rosalie Sorrels)
4. In The Mountains Near Alta
5. Two Cubes With A Slug Of V.O.
6. The Ski Instructor
7. The Mineshaft Song
8. The Last Ride
9. Skier's Bible School (Duet With Rosalie Sorrels)
10. Stretch Pants Lament
11. An Ounce Of Prevention
12. The Skier's Daydream

MediaFire

Ski 1

2011-12-14T19:15:00.000-05:00

Perhaps it's time I brought back a few of these old ski-related albums. Not much Christmas-related stuff on this one, but some of them do have some holiday stuff on there. And I don't think too many people would complain if you dropped a track about snow into your holiday mix. This one dates back to 2006 here on the blog, I used to share it out the day before Thanksgiving, just as a lead-in to the big holiday sharity shindig. If you missed it back then, then please help yourself to Six Family Mountain-Takin' A Ride With The Wind (National Ski Patrol NSP-1001, Stereo).

1. Takin' A Ride With The Wind
2. Snowbird
3. A Reason For Winter
4. Wrong Mountain Blues
5. Let It Shine
6. A Nice Place To Live
7. Chumley's Bus
8. Nobody In The Canyon
9. Country Mountain Shakedown
10. Vanishing Skyline

MediaFire

2008 Redux, Part 3

2011-12-13T20:57:00.002-05:00

Long day today, long drive, too tired. Christmas music. Christmas in July from 2008. Part 3. Enjoy.

MediaFire

Christmas In Tijuana

2011-12-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

And now for something a little bit different. I've seen a lot of different Christmas LPs that claim to have that Tijuana sound, but I'd never seen this one before. I didn't see it shared out anywhere, either, although I think I found the same tunes with a different cover, so it's not entirely new, but it's close. What better place to get your Tijuana Christmas tunes than from the Canadian Arc label, the same folks who brought you last year's great Christmas record set in a pub? I don't think this one is that good, but it makes for a nice change-up on the old iPod. This is Tijuana Style-Christmas Carols (Arc AC 34, Stereo). I have no idea who actually is performing here, but since they put "Christmas Carols" in quotes on the label below, and not Tijuana Style, I'm thinking they're telling me that's the band name. Sound good? Better than nothing, I guess. Go get it!

1. The Holly And The Ivy
2. Silent Night
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. While Shepherds Watched
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. Good King Wenceslas
7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
8. Away In A Manger
9. The First Nowell
10. Christians Awake
11. Once In Royal David's City
12. O Come All Ye Faithful

MediaFire

Return Of The Harp

2011-12-12T19:49:00.000-05:00

Long a favorite around here, or at least a favorite once I got my hands on a stereo copy, I finally decided to remaster this classic LP from Bianco. This cover looks a little the worse for wear, but I think you'll find the music to be quite nice. Bianco was one of the folks who popularized the harp as a lead instrument back in the late fifties and early sixties, along with Robert Maxwell and others. This great Christmas record showcases some of his smoothest recordings, setting a great mood for your Christmas time. Go ahead, download it, you know you want to. This is The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco, His Harp And Orchestra-Joy To The World-Everybody's Favorite Christmas Music (RCA Victor Club Record CSP-104, Stereo, 1962), new and improved for 2011!

1. Medley: We Wish You A Merry Christmas Silent Night
2. White Christmas
3. Jingle Bells
4. O Holy Night
5. Medley: Away In A Manger; The First Noel
6. Medley: Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful); Joy To The World
7. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
9. Silver Bells
10. Medley: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Deck The halls
11. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
12. Medley: Sleigh Ride; We Wish You A Merry Christmas

MediaFire

2008 Redux, Part 2

2011-12-12T18:44:00.000-05:00

Time for the second part of my 2008 rehash, making available the items I shared with you back during Christmas in July 2008. Not too much I can say about it that I haven't already said, so I'll give you the link without a whole lot of yak.

MediaFire

Old Mann

2011-12-11T19:44:00.000-05:00

Here's another ancient share, from way back in 2005 (well, the mono copy was in 2005, I think I first shared the stereo version in 2006). Budget label, budget sounds, but some folks seem to like that sort of thing. This is Sy Mann At The Wurlitzer-Everybody's Christmas Favorites-Organ & Chimes (Palace STXM-901, Stereo).

1. White Christmas
2. Adeste Fideles
3. Silent Night
4. Joy To The World
5. Away In A Manger
6. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
7. Jingle Bells
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
10. Noel
11. Deck The Hall
12. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
13. Good King Wenceslas

MediaFire

18 Big Ones!

2011-12-11T15:41:00.000-05:00

How can you resist the lure of 18 Christmas songs, as sung by stars of radio and television? You're not a machine! You can't pass this up! I recorded this nicely-covered LP in response to a post from my blogger friend Lee (over at Music You Won't) last year. He'd purchased a set of two EPs by this same title comprising 2/3 of the 18 titles. I wanted to help him complete the set so I dug this out of my archives and recorded it. But it turns out that the songs on here aren't an exact match to the ones on the records he has. Mine is all the same old boring Christmas songs while his set includes some new, exciting titles like Poppy The Puppy and All Around The Christmas Tree. So I don't think this set isn't going to help him one bit. But you might enjoy it. Please download Vocals And Orchestra By Popular Radio And Television Artists-18 Christmas Songs (Broadway BR-1028, Mono).

1. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
2. Joy To The World
3. Good King Wenceslas
4. Deck The Halls With Holly
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6. Jingle Bells
7. Shepherds' Carol
8. Bring A Torch Jeanette Isabella
9. White Christmas
10. Silent Night
11. O' Come All Ye Faithful
12. The First Noel
13. O' Little Town Of Bethlehem
14. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
15. O Holy Night
16. Away In A Manger
17. Auld Lang Syne
18. O Tannenbaum

MediaFire

Return Of The Avon Lady

2011-12-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

Someone requested the return of this old Avon share, so here it is. It's been a long time since I've given it any thought, although it has been reshared more than once since it's debut here back in 2005. I hope you enjoy it. This is Avon Campaign 21 (Avon 10" 33 RPM, Mono, 1968).

1. Christmas Kickoff
2. Jingle Bells
3. Silent Night
4. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies

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The Montreal Express

2011-12-11T11:57:00.000-05:00

I'm not a betting man, but I'm willing to wager that 99.9% of you have never heard this little winter song. It appears to be a promo item for BostonGas, touting the benefits of switching to gas heat. And why do you need gas heat? To fight off the cold chill of The Montreal Express, a weather system that seems to have been blamed for all of Boston's cold weather. Those of you from Beantown will enjoy the sites they namecheck in this song. The rest of us will just nod knowingly and ignore you. It's a neat little record, with music pressed on only one side but a neat checkerboard pattern in the blank grooves on the flip. Lemme know what you think of Al Sears And His Countrymen-The Montreal Express (Blue Flame Records 1-Sided 7" 45 RPM, Stereo).

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2008 Redux, Part 1

2011-12-11T08:09:00.000-05:00

We're making progress here. I've shared out all of the Christmas in July stuff from 2006 & 2007, so now I can move on to 2008. That's a ton of Christmas music already, and even more still to come. I had to break 2008 up into five sections, it was that big! So here's the first few days, the first eight, I think.

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Christmas At The Apollo

2011-12-10T20:21:00.000-05:00

When I first spotted this record, I was sure it said Christmas At The Apollo, and I thought to myself, Wow! This is going to be great. Then I looked again and realized my mistake, but I was still pretty excited. It was something I'd never seen before and looked like exactly the sort of thing I could share out at Christmas. So here it is. The Apollo Club appears to be a group of male singers, some sort of amateur singing society, but one with great talent. There may be Apollo Clubs in a number of cites, but this particular one appears to hail from Minneapolis according to the liner notes. I couldn't find hide nor hair of this record on the internet, or at least nothing that told me anything I didn't already know from owning the LP. Is it rare? Probably. Is it valuable? No, not really. It's just a small slice of Christmas past that some of you will enjoy and others will pass by. If it looks like something you're interested in, then please download Christmas With The Internationally Famous Apollo Club (Soma MG 1216, Mono). The cover photo was taken at the premier of The Seven Wonders Of The World in Chicago in 1956, so the record probably came out in 1957 or 1958. Just a guess...

1. Shepherds, Awake
2. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
3. Mary Had A Baby
4. Carol Of The Bells
5. Silent Night
6. The Innkeeper's Carol
7. As It Fell Upon The Night
8. O Bone Jesu
9. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
10. Luther's Cradle Hymn
11. Deck The Halls

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I shared another LP on this label some years ago, but here's a link to the 2010 reshare where the download should still be good.

2007 Redux, Part 4

2011-12-10T19:44:00.000-05:00

And, finally, the last part of my 2007 revisit to Christmas in July. This covers the final quarter of the month, and includes day 32. I usually go a day or two over because 31 days just can't handle that much Christmas! On to 2008 soon...

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A Douglas Two-fer

2011-12-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

I got a request to repost my old Mike Douglas shares, so here they are. The first one, shown above, dates to 1967, but I first shared it in 2006 (in August, no less), right after he passed away. Then I found the second one, below, from 1979, much later than the first one, but I shared it out the following year, in 2007. Neither of them are something you see very often, so I'm happy to bring them back for you.

Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas (Epic BN 26322, Stereo, 1967).

1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
2. The First Noel
3. Do You Hear What I Hear?
4. O Holy Night
5. (The Story Of) The First Christmas Carol
6. White Christmas
7. Silent Night, Holy Night
8. Silver Bells
9. Ave Maria
10. Touch Hands On Christmas Morning

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The Mike Douglas Christmas Album (Word WSB-8815, Stereo, 1979).

1. Oh Holy Night
2. One Small Child
3. Do You Hear What I Hear?
4. What Child Is This?
5. Christmas Song
6. It's O.K. To Be A Kid At Christmas
7. Christmas Is Love
8. Thanks To You At Christmas
9. Special Delivery
10. Happy Birthday, Christmas

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2007 Redux, Part 3

2011-12-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

What was I about to post? Oh, yeah, today's link to old Christmas in July shares. I hope you guys are enjoying these. Today is the third part of 2007, should be days 17 through 24. Lot's of good tunes in here.

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Hawaii Via Belgium

2011-12-07T20:15:00.000-05:00

What's that? You want some Hawaiian Christmas music? But you want it to come from a bunch of Belgian studio musicians? Not a problem. I recorded this last year, but never shared it out for whatever reason, but I'm giving it to you this year because I'm tired tonight and don't want to work on something new. This has seen it's fair share of shares on the various sharity blogs out there, but this is my rip, and if you don't already have it, I think you'll enjoy it. This is The Waikikis-Merry Christmas In Hawaii (Kapp KS-3444, Stereo, 1965). Mele Kalikimaka!

01. White Christmas
02. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
03. Silver Bells
04. Snow In Hawaii
05. O Tannenbaum
06. Sleigh Ride
07. The Little Drummer Boy
08. The Christmas Song
09. Winter Wonderland
10. Waikiki Christmas
11. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
12. Silent Night

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If you want better Hawaiian Christmas music, you're going to have to pay for it. I used to share out a great one, but it's now something you can legally download.

A Couple Of Pointers

2011-12-07T19:32:00.000-05:00

In case some of you are here looking for random Christmas things to download, allow me to point you towards a couple of shares that are somewhat hard to find. I shared out two red records on Christmas And A Half this past year, that's also known as Ernie's birthday, or June 25th if you prefer. You can find those two records here and here. Nothing too exciting, but a couple more for the collection you're building. One of them is by an unknown artist, so if you can put a name to the music, I'd be very appreciative.

2007 Redux, Part 2

2011-12-07T19:28:00.000-05:00

And here's the second collection of stuff from Christmas In July 2007, days 9 through 16 if memory serves. Lots and lots of interesting stuff in these downloads, I hope you're taking advantage of them while the gettin's good.

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Stereo Mummers

2011-12-06T20:24:00.000-05:00

One of the more popular, or at least one of the more talked about shares from last year was Happy Holiday With The "Best Of The Mummers", but unfortunately, the copy I had was in mono. So I got a little excited when I saw a copy of this LP on a dealers list earlier this year, hoping it was a stereo copy. And sure enough, it was! (The cover was a little rough, with some wear and some tape across the back, but it sounds good. And I wasn't going to even try to get that original price code sticker off of there. If I had more time and more proficiency in image editing, I could probably replace that with a chunk of the mono cover, but I'm tired and lazy.) Now I get to share this with you, and I'm officially proclaiming it the happiest Christmas music I'm going to share all season. Don't believe me? Download it and listen. If you don't agree, I'll give you your money back! This is Happy Holiday With The "Best Of The Mummers" (Sure SS-Vol. 13, Stereo, 1963). Oh, I was also able to put the date of 1963 on it based on some ads I found online, either in the excellent Google index of Billboard or something similar they've done with other trade papers and newspapers. It's amazing the information that's out there if you look.

1. Quaker City String Band-Happy Holiday And White Christmas
2. Quaker City String Band-Jingle Bells
3. Greater Kensington String Band-Silver Bells
4. Greater Kensington String Band-Winter Wonderland
5. Polish-American String Band-Christmas Bells
6. Polish-American String Band-Mistletoe Polka
7. Greater Kensington String Band-I'll Be Home For Christmas
8. Greater Kensington String Band-Silent Night
9. Polish-American String Band-Christmas Time
10. Polish-American String Band-Jingle Bells Polka
11. Quaker City String Band-Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
12. Polish-American String Band-Happy New Year To You
13. Aqua String Band-Golden Slippers and Four Leaf Clover
14. Aqua String Band-Auld Lang Syne

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Happy Holidays From ...

2011-12-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

For the mix-tapers out there, here's another collection of celebrity IDs from the late Eighties. Some of these are repeats from the one I shared last year, but not many. Most of these are unique to this record, and a couple of them are actually interesting. Drop these at random spots on your compilation or radio show, and see how many people think you've actually got celebrity guests! This is Holiday Greetings From The Epic, Portrait And CBS Associated Families (Epic Portrait Associated/CBS EAS 2864, Stereo, 1987). They also make nice things to drop at random on people's iPods. If only there was a way to beam them wirelessly across the room and add them to people's playlists...

01: Greg Allman
02: Ana
03: Big Trouble
04: Bill Carter
05: Robin Zander of Cheap Trick
06: Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick
07: Cherrelle #1
08: Cherrelle #2
09: Angela Clemmons
10: Charlie Daniels
11: Mary Davis
12: Gloria Estefan And Miami Sound Machine
13: Fabulous Thunderbirds
14: David Hallyday
15: Hiroshima
16: Insiders #1
17: Insiders #2
18: Tuesday Knight
19: Krystol
20: Lion
21: Aimee Mann of 'Til Tuesday
22: Teena Marie #1
23: Teena Marie #2
24: Kathy Mathis
25: Ozzy Osbourne #1
26: Ozzy Osbourne #2
27: Ozzy Osbourne #3
28: Quiet Riot #1
29: Quiet Riot #2
30: The Radiators
31: REO Speedwagon
32: S.O.S. Band #1
33: S.O.S. Band #2
34: Dan Siegel
35: Charlie Singleton
36: Survivor
37: Robert Tepper
38: Wa Wa Nee #1
39: Wa Wa Nee #2
40: Weird Al Yankovic #1
41: Weird Al Yankovic #2
42: Weird Al Yankovic #3
43: Weird Al Yankovic #4
44: Weird Al Yankovic #5
45: Pia Zadora

Good grief, that's a long list. I hope you appreciate this. I'm not even sure who some of these people are.

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2007 Redux, Part 1

2011-12-06T18:30:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm done sharing out all the old Christmas in July things from 2006, I guess I can move on to 2007. Here's the first batch of those, including days 1-8. Don't say I never gave you anything.

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New John

2011-12-05T20:15:00.000-05:00

Lucky for me, someone requested a re-share of my old John McCarthy Christmas record. That jogged my memory about this record and makes the perfect pairing. Look close at the credits on this record from Columbia and you'll see a credit to John McCarthy conducting The Regency Choir. Sweet, eh? I'm not going to spoil the moment by blathering on and on, so if you want to listen to The Regency Choir-John McCarthy, Conductor-Three Wise Men (Columbia CS 9382, Stereo, 1966), please be my guest.

1. The Bells Of Christmas
2. Jesus Garcia
3. Silent Night
4. Pat-A-Pat-A-Pan
5. The Bells Of Bethlehem
6. Do You Hear What I Hear?
7. Three Wise Men, Wise Men Three
8. Heavenly Night
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
10. O Bambino (One Cold And Blessed Morning)
11. O Come, All Ye Faithful

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I really hate my LP covers this year. The big scanner/copier at work is getting older and older, and it's doing a worse and worse job. All those horizontal streaks you see in my cover scans aren't really there, those are artifacts from the scanning process. And I don't really have time to breath this year, much less spend a lot of time in PhotoShop (actually, I'm trying to learn Gimp this year...) fixing things. Anybody want to contribute a large flatbed scanner to the cause? I tried to do these on a little 8.5 x 11" home unit, and it just wouldn't cut it. The glass was too far recessed into the plastic housing, pushing the sleeves flat against the glass creased everything up something awful. Maybe next year I will be able to get something nice, unless, of course, someone has one they want to let go cheap. ;)

Old John

2011-12-05T19:41:00.000-05:00

I had a request to share out the record you see below. Not the one you see above, though. But there wouldn't be the one below without the one above, so you're getting both. The record up top is The John McCarthy Chorale-Merry Christmas Sing Along (RCA Victor LPM-2476, Mono, 1962, "An RCA Victor Record Club Exclusive") and I first shared it out back in 2006. The nicest thing I could say about it was that it had a great cover. It was also in mono, and I eventually found a re-released version of the music in Stereo, but it was in the cover you see below, resequenced and retitled The John McCarthy Chorale-The Greatest Songs of Christmas (RCA Music Service R114285, Stereo, 1973). Both issues were made for RCA's record club but in different decades. I've since found a stereo copy in that original cover, so they do exist. But anyhow, you can see where I'm going with this. Someone asked for it, and I'm throwing it back up here. Get the one you want, mono or stereo.

1. Joy To The World
2. Silent Night
3. I Saw Three Ships
4. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
5. Twelve Days Of Christmas
6. Wassail Song
7. Hark! The Heral Angels
8. Ding Dong (Merrily On High)
9. Oh Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
10. Angels From The Realms
11. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
12. The First Noel
13. Pat-A-Pan
14. Good King Wenceslas
15. Jingle Bells

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MediaFire-Stereo

PS-I liked that original cover so much, I stole it for one of my comps back in the day.

2006 Redux, Part 4

2011-12-05T18:51:00.000-05:00

The fourth and final collection of songs originally shared out during Christmas in July 2006, this covers days 26-31, I believe. I don't think there was a bonus day in 2006, but maybe. Sometimes it just doesn't all fit into one month. Anyhow, this is the end of 2006. Stay tuned for shares from 2007 soon.

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60 Blasts From The Past

2011-12-04T21:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a new remaster of an old favorite. Now, if I can just get the attribution right. The primary performer here is Les Djinns Singers, but every third track is by The Christmas Bell Ringers. The title of the album is 60 French Girls-Joyeaux Noël. There is no group called 60 French Girls, at least that's the way I understand it. I've also been told several times over the years of sharing this that there is no such word as joyeaux in any language, much less French, so that must have been made up by the fine folks at ABC-Paramount when they made this LP. I've been sharing this record for years (although for many years the download was titled 60 Franch Girls), and it's always been a popular download. So this year I decided to re-record it with some of the experience I've gained over the years and I think it sounds better than ever. But you should download it and be the judge, jury and executioner. Well, I hope execution won't be necessary, but you never know. This is 60 French Girls-Joyeaux Noël by Les Djinns Singers and The Christmas Bell Ringers (ABC-Paramount ABCS-397, Stereo, 1961).

01. Les Djinns Singers-Minuit, Chretriens (O, Holy Night)
02. Les Djinns Singers-Nuit Des Nuit (Silent Night)
03. Christmas Bell Ringers-Good King Wenceslas
04. Les Djinns Singers-Il Est Ne Divin Enfant (He Is Born A Divine Child)
05. Les Djinns Singers-Noël 'Trois Anges Sont Venus Ce Soir' (Christmas 'Three Angels We've Seen This Night')
06. Christmas Bell Ringers-Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
07. Les Djinns Singers-Non Beau Sapin (O Tannenbaum)
08. Les Djinns Singers-Pour Noël (For Christmas)
09. Christmas Bell Ringers-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10. Les Djinns Singers-Noël, C'est L'Amour (Christmas, This Is Love)
11. Les Djinns Singers-Noël Blanc (White Christmas)
12. Christmas Bell Ringers-O, Come All Ye Faithful

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Going back and reading my original post of this, I guess I didn't like it. Maybe it's the new transfer, or just the passage of time, but I like it a lot more now. Or perhaps the things that you knew from when you were younger just get better with age. Like broccoli. Oh, and for what it's worth, I found a single released from this LP of Pour Noël (For Christmas) & Minuit, Chretriens (O, Holy Night). It's the exact same music, only it was in mono. No picture sleeve, even. So I'm not gonna bother throwing it up here.

More Not Elvis

2011-12-04T18:46:00.001-05:00

Those of you with memories that go back more than a week might remember that I opened up the Christmas sharity season with an LP from Elvis Jr. Well, now I'm back with a couple more tracks that have a tenuous connection to The King of Rock 'N Roll. Little Michelle Cody seems to have taken the death of Elvis pretty hard back in 1977. She decided to record a little tribute song to him, or at least somebody decided to have Michelle sing a tribute song. No idea who that was, and I've also got no idea who got her to sing it twice! The version above on the Jimbo label (Jimbo 892, Stereo) sounds to me like it was recorded first, mainly because Michelle sounds like she's younger on this one. The version below, on the Safari label (Safari SA 601, Stereo, 1978), is dated 1978, so if the one above came out first, it must have been rush released right after Elvis passed away in 1977. The Safari version even sported a Christmas themed B-side, All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy. I'm not claiming that any of these songs are actually any good, but you know you need more Elvis-themed songs in your Christmas collection. I hunted around the web a bit and found some links to the Safari version of Merry Christmas Elvis, but the Jimbo version seems to be relatively unknown. I like sharing stuff like that.

1. Michele Cody-Merry Christmas Elvis (Jimbo Version)
1. Michele Cody-Merry Christmas Elvis (Safari Version)
2. Michele Cody-All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy

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For those of you who care about such things, I found both of these records at the same time at a Goodwill store right near my house. I thought they were different pressings of the same song until I looked a little closer and saw different credits on them. You've got to pay attention to such things if you want to get ahead in this business. And one of the sleeves was autographed, though I've got no idea if it's legit or not. Kathy really loved Michele when she was younger, but no so much because she later gave these records to Goodwill. Oh, well.

2006 Redux, Part 3

2011-12-04T17:12:00.000-05:00

Time for the third part of my 2006 Christmas in July reposts. As the month wears on, I usually share out more music per day, because I have a better idea of how many songs I have and what I'm going to be able to get recorded. I don't usually have very much done ahead of time, I'm a horrible procrastinator, but as the middle of the month comes and goes, I pick up steam a little bit and share out more. So this third set is only a few days, something like 21-25 or 26, but it's almost as big as some of the earlier two packages. I didn't want you to think you were getting less than your money's worth. Which reminds me, I haven't received payment from most of you. Every once in a while, click that advertisement on the right side of the screen. Every time someone does that, Google puts a few cents in my pocket. If enough of you do that, I get a little record money. It takes forever, but it's a nice little present once in a while. But enough about that, here's the download.

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New Old Waring

2011-12-03T20:24:00.000-05:00

One of the most popular shares ever around these parts is Fred Waring's Twas The Night Before Christmas, each and every year I get dozens of emails from people who are excited to be able to download and listen to it after losing touch with it over the years. I thought I was familiar with all of Fred Waring's Christmas catalog though, From their early recording of The Nutcracker Suite through the later stuff on Capitol, but I'd never seen the LP I'm sharing with you tonight. It's an ambitious recording featuring mostly music by Roy Ringwald plus a couple of Christmas standards. And I guess those Roy Ringwald pieces have some standards built in, too. I'm sure you'll really enjoy this addition to the Fred Waring canon. This is Fred Waring Presents The Pennsylvanians In The Song Of Christmas (Decca DL 8084, Mono, 1948). I think this originally came out on a set of 78s, which I've never seen, but mine is an early LP.

1. The Song Of Christmas
2. The Christmas Crib
3. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
4. White Christmas

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2006 Redux, Part 2

2011-12-03T13:29:00.000-05:00

Here's another installment of my 2006 Christmas In July reposts, covering the next ten days. For those of you who aren't familiar with what goes on around here in the middle of the hot, long summer, I post random tracks gleaned from non-holiday records, the random versions of Christmas songs that for whatever reason show up on non-Christmas records. It's quite interesting, sometimes, what you find in strange places. I think I shared a hundred or so tracks in 2006, the first year I did this. In 2011, I shared out over 400, but that number is artificially inflated because I've been rerecording some of my old favorites with better sound. Anyhow, go download part 2, and if you missed it, here's the link to part 1.

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Christmas Corp

2011-12-02T20:37:00.000-05:00

This is one of the newer yet odder things I'm going to share with you this year. It's a 12" single from a rock band I've never heard of, performing an original song, as well as a cover of a classic Wizzard tune. It came in a plain white sleeve with the sticker on it that you see above, although I'm afraid my scanner hasn't done the best job of reproducing it here. It's not a bad song, mind you, it's just...odd. This is Vibra Corporation-The Vibra Corporation Christmas Single (Passport 12" 45 RPM PSC-7910, Stereo, 1977).

1. Snow White Rock Christmas
2. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

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Taking a cue from the cryptic note on the album sticker, more info can be found under The Intergalactic Touring Band.

2006 Redux, Part 1

2011-12-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

I've resisted the urge to reshare my Christmas in July stuff for many years, but perhaps the time is right. None of the older shares are available anymore, and I've forgotten what in many of the downloads, so revisiting them is probably a good idea. I'm not going to list out what's in any of them, 'cause I'm lazy, but you can always go into the blog archives for the month of July back in ought-six and see what I was sharing. I believe this first batch is days 1-10. Enjoy!

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ADVENTure In Carols

2011-12-01T20:17:00.000-05:00

You've probably heard me mention FaLaLaLaLa.com a million times, but I want to do so one more time to tell you about a little compilation we're putting together over there. Every year the proprietor (The King of Jingaling) of said website puts together a great collection of Christmas tracks, but has chosen not to do so this year. So some of us members are trying to put together our own collection, one track at a time, each from a different member. Think of it as an Advent calendar of music from the last 70 years or so of popular music sourced from spinning analog discs. If this sounds up your alley, head on over and check it out. You don't need to be a member or anything, and it's free!

Zottola (Not Mottola)

2011-12-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

Following up on that last post featuring a bit of Tony Mottola, here's a guy you've probably never heard of called Glenn Zottola. Don't feel bad, though, I'd never heard of him, either, until I found this record. I'm the sort of guy who will buy just about any record that purports to be Christmas music if the price is right. And by right, I mean cheap. I can buy Christmas records all day long at the Goodwill, Salvation Army and other thrift stores, and at $1 each, I can get a lot more music than $0.99 for a download. So I wind up with a lot of interesting stuff, much of which I never do anything with, but sometimes I put on a record that seems a little more interesting than the others, and that's how I came to play this one. And I liked what I heard. It's pretty light jazz, at least to my ears. But several of the tracks feature vocalist Maxine Sullivan, and she's just great. I may be wrong, but I don't think she ever recorded a Christmas record of her own, so this may be the only holiday music she left behind, and I see that she passed away the year after this record was released. Everything I know about this record comes from that sticker on the front cover. It was released by radio station WYRS in Stamford, CT (though it seems to have moved since 1986). I like how the label and catalog number have been integrated into the street sign of the cover art, too, that's a nice touch. I could go on and on, but you need to download and listen to this one. If anyone knows anything more about this record, this radio station, Glenn or Maxine, please don't keep it to yourself. Please download and enjoy Glenn Zottola And His Allstars Featuring Maxine Sullivan-Christmas In Jazztime (Dreamstreet DR-110, for WYRS 96.7 FM, Stamford, CT, Stereo, 1986).

1. Let It Snow
2. Jolly Old St. Nick (with Maxine)
3. Winter Wonderland
4. White Christmas (with Maxine)
5. Silent Night
6. Jingle Bells (with Maxine)
7. Christmas Song
8. Greensleeves
9. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

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Burl

2011-11-30T19:35:00.001-05:00

First off, apologies for not posting anything at all yesterday. I was tired from working all day, and to tell the truth, I'm pretty tired tonight, too, but I've got to get something up for you guys. And what a something I have tonight. For the first time since 2007, I've found a Christmas release from Burl Ives that I don't think has seen the light of day since it's release in the early seventies. The record in question is a collection of Christmas songs claiming to the favorites of US presidents past (and at the time, some fairly present). There's nothing on here that's going to take the place of Holly Jolly Christmas in the national psyche, but for those who love a Burl Ives song at Christmas, this is a great discovery. But there is a bit of a mystery that needs to be worked out, and perhaps my readers can help. I've found mentions of this record online in a few spots, but it shows a different catalog number, and I think it mentioned narration. My record doesn't have any narration, just the music. Is it possible there were two different releases of this record? Mine's an old library copy (you can see the stamp on the label scan below, and I think there was a card taped to the back side that was pulled off causing a giant gap in the liner notes...sorry), and perhaps those were different than the versions sold to the general public? Anyone have this record or remember it? Anyone? OK, anyhow, this is Burl Ives, Music Conducted By Tony Mottola-Christmas At The White House (Caedmon TC 9102, Stereo, 1972). Listening to this as I post it, I remembered that at least one of the songs is performed to a non-traditional melody. And there are some interesting stories in the liner notes about how they decided what songs were favorites of what presidents, and how they found some of the more obscure songs. Interesting stuff to a Christmas music buff, I think you'll really enjoy this.

1. The Little Drummer Boy (Richard M/ Nixon)
2. Joy To The World (John Adams)
3. Adeste Fideles (Thomas Jefferson)
4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Zachary Taylor)
5. While Shepherds Watch'd Their Flocks By Night (George Washington)
6. Silent Night (Lyndon B. Johnson)
7. Christmas On The Sea (Theodore Roosevelt)
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are (Abraham Lincoln)
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Ulysses S. Grant)
10. Shout The Glad Tidings (Andrew Jackson)
11. Silver Bells (John F. Kennedy)
12. Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Laden (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

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PS-I forgot I shared another rare Burl Ives track back at Christmas And A Half of 2008, but I don't think the share is any good anymore. Perhaps I should repost that one sometime... Or the Monkey Joe track for that matter.

Rerun Ralph

2011-11-28T20:38:00.000-05:00

Is it possible that I didn't reshare this with you last year? Shame on me, this is one of those records that needs to be shared every five minutes until someone gets wise and re-issues it for real. I've been singing the praises of this LP since 2005, even finding a cleaner copy and re-recording it for you in 2008, which is the version I'm sharing with you again tonight. I'm not going to tell you all about it, you can go read all those other posts if you want. Just trust me when I tell you that you should have this in your collection. This is The Ralph Hunter Choir-Christmas Surprises From The Ralph Hunter Choir (RCA Victor LSP-2063, Stereo, 1959). Oh, and it was rereleased as Living Voices Sing Christmas Music (RCA Camden CAS 725, Stereo, 1962), with a different cover but it's the same music. That's why that other cover is stuck down at the bottom of this post.

1. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
2. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
3. Jingle Bells
4. Winter Wonderland
5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
6. White Christmas
7. Wassail Song
8. Carol Medley: Joy To The World; God Rest ye Merry, Gentlemen; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. The First Noel
10. Indian Christmas Carol
11. Latin Lullaby (Cancion De Cuna)
12. Silent Night

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PS. You can find more Ralph Hunter here and here.

Old Wayne

2011-11-28T20:27:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, here's a really old share from 2006 that hasn't been seen since. David Wayne narrates a couple of Christmas stories for you here, but it's been so long since I've listened to them that I can't tell you much about them. Maybe this is something you had as a child and you'll enjoy hearing it again. If you like it, leave me a note. :) This is David Wayne Narrates The Little Star Of Bethlehem & The Toy Box, John L. Eastman Conducting The Cricket Symphony (Cricket CR-X1, Mono, 1959).

1. The Little Star Of Bethlehem
2. The Toy Box

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Masterwork

2011-11-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

I knew it was going to be like this. It's hard to post anything when you don't get off work until after dark. But I'm going to try to soldier on. Tonight is a little something I thought was pretty special, for a couple different reasons. First, it's pretty rare that I see a record I've never seen before, and such was the case with this one. And when I found the sleeve, it didn't have the right record in it. I went through an entire rack of records looking for the sleeve that matched the record I found in this one, in hopes that this record was in that sleeve, and thankfully that's where I found it. Second, if you look close at the album cover, you'll see a few familiar names. David Wayne has narrated another record I've shared here before (I should probably throw that one up again, I think I remember someone asking for it). Ralph Hunter is the man behind the incredible Christmas Surprises, a favorite share every year. And Ashley Miller has an organ track on a Command LP that I've shared here as well. And Norman Vincent Peale, well, I think he wrote the story, but for the most part I think they just attached his name for the star power. This appears to be a tie-in to a book he wrote and released in 1956 that didn't prove to be quite the big deal that had been anticipated. But it makes for a nice share. This is The Coming Of The King-The Story Of The Nativity In Music And Words (Columbia Masterworks ML 5165, Mono, 1956). Side one is the story of The Nativity, narrated by David Wayne, choir conducted by Ralph Hunter and organ by Ashley Miller. The flip side is a nice selection of carols by The Columbia Carolers. All good stuff.

1. The Coming Of The King
2. Silent Night
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
5. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
6. The First Nowell
7. Deck The Hall
8. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
9. Good King Wenceslas
10. O Come All Ye Faithful
11. Joy To The World
12. The Coming Of The King

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Remastered Strings

2011-11-27T19:54:00.000-05:00

Hey, check it out, it's a remastered version of a share from 2008, and not only does it sound better, none of the tracks skip this time around! I really wanted to share this out back then because I thought it was nice and I'd only ever seen the one copy, but I was disappointed when three of the tracks skipped badly. After going three years and never seeing another copy (although I did find two EPs pulled from the LP, but they only covered two of the three skipping tracks), I took another stab at my only copy of the record using two different turntables and a few tricks I've picked up in the meantime, and I got a good rip! So be sure you grab this one and replace your old copy. This is The Somerset Strings-Music For Christmas At Home (Epic LN 3159, Mono, 1955).

1. Sleigh Ride
2. White Christmas
3. Silent Night, Holy Night
4. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
5. Good King Wenceslas
6. The First Nowell
7. Jingle Bells
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Once In Royal David's City
10. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
11. Away In A Manger
12. O Come All Ye Faithful

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A Klein Rerun-Volume One

2011-11-27T19:45:00.000-05:00

Someone all the way from Chile asked for this one to come back, along with all my other old John Klein shares. So I'm going to see what I can do here over the next few days. In the meantime, here's a record I first shared back in 2006 in mono, then I upgraded to a stereo version in 2008. This is the stereo version, oh, and it's also got a little insert in the ZIP file that I found in the original LP. Please enjoy John Klein, Orchestra And Chorus Arranged And Conducted By Henri Rene-Let's Ring The Bells All Around The Christmas Tree (RCA Victor LSP-2914, Stereo, 1964).

1. Silent Night; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. All Around The Christmas Tree
3. Sleigh Ride
4. Joy To The World; Adeste Fideles; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
5. The Little Drummer Boy
6. O Holy Night
7. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen; O Christmas Tree; Deck The Halls
8. I'll Be Home For Christmas
9. Greensleeves
10. Away In A Manger; The First Noel; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
11. The Christmas Song
12. Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod)

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Starlight, Starbright

2011-11-27T18:04:00.000-05:00

This was one of those records where as soon as I picked it up, I knew I'd be sharing it come Christmas time. It's a 10" album, usually the purview of my friend Buster, but I'm gonna share this one out anyway. Even if you don't like the choral music on this one, you've got to love that cover! This is Carols For Christmas By The Starlighters Chorus (Capitol 10" 33 RPM H9007, Mono, 1949).

1. Joy To The World
2. Deck The Halls
3. The First Noel
4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
7. O Come All Ye Faithful
8. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
9. Gather 'Round The Christmas Tree
10. Silent Night

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