An Equitable Agreement

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

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2009 Redux, Part 1

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!

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Sing With Bing

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

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.

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Really Old Ray, Continued

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

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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

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

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2008 Redux, Part 4

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.

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Christmas Hole

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

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

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Ski 4

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

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Ski 3

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

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Ski 2

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

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Ski 1

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

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2008 Redux, Part 3

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

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Christmas In Tijuana

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

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Return Of The Harp

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


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2008 Redux, Part 2

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.

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Old Mann

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

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18 Big Ones!

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

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Return Of The Avon Lady

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

MediaFire

The Montreal Express

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

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

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

MediaFire

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

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

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

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

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

MediaFire

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

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

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

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 ...

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

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

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

Zippyshare

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

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

MediaFire-Mono
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

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

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

MediaFire

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

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

MediaFire

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

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

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

MediaFire

2006 Redux, Part 2

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

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

MediaFire

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

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

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)

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

MediaFire