Until We Meet Again

I normally leave the last post of the season up until Christmas in July begins, but I wanted to do something slightly different this year and leave you with some pictures of what's coming. Stay tuned and you'll get a chance to see what all these records have in common. The records above seem to be chosen at random, and the ones below appear to be Christmas records, but nothing here is what it seems. Stay tuned for Christmas in July!

And So It Goes

I hate to say it, but I've got to wrap this season up. It's been a long, long trip, but a good one. I'm getting more and more tired of trying to keep up, and the coffers are just about empty anyway, so I'm going to end it with one more installment of one of my favorite series of the season, The Salvation Army 'Army of Stars'. Sometime before Christmas I entered a bid at an eBay auction for what I believe is the very last entry in the original series of LPs, and I won. The record was delivered to my mailbox while we were celebrating Christmas in Santa Fe, so I didn't get it until after our return. A few weeks later I was able to rip it, then a few weeks after that I cut it into tracks and put the artwork together. I've held onto it since then because I knew I wanted to end the season with it. The guest star on this edition is Vincent Price, someone who previously appeared on the 1963 edition of the record, albeit extremely briefly. (If you want to hear more Vincent Price, check out his narration of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas on one of my Christmas in July best-of collections, it's awesome!) He's got a lot more bits on this record, I'm happy to say, but that's about all this edition has going for it. After a few listens and a bit of research, I discovered that much of the music here is recycled from an earlier Ralph Carmichael project, something we shared with you here back in 2023. If you don't believe me, download both records and compare. The Lennon Sisters rate a credit right there on the rear label, but you have to hunt bit before you'll find Doc Severinsen's name on the sleeve. Turns out he's mentioned in the thank you section down at the bottom in the fine print, but his name shows up in the credits on the label in reasonable sized letters. His trumpet in Sleigh Ride is unmistakable though, so I knew he was there from the get-go and that's what led me to that earlier appearance. Dunno what possessed Ralph Carmichael to forego the making of new music for this record, but I suspect there was a lot going on with The Salvation Army over the course of the last few records in the set. You could sort of sense that corners were being cut as often as possible (they skipped 1984 entirely) and I'm not surprised the series ended after this installment. (I've seen a few records and CDs after this one that mention Army Of Stars, but they seem to be callbacks to this series, not actual annual installments. If I'm wrong, then please show me the documentation, I'd love to try and find more records and extend the series, but I really think this is the end.) Anyhow, this is The Family At Christmas (The Salvation Army Army Of Stars No Number, Stereo, 1986).

1. General Eva Burrows-Christmas Greetings
2. The Ralph Carmichael Chorus-We'll Dress This House
3. Vincent Price-Christmas
4. The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra-Inspirational World Of Music
5. Vincent Price-Army
6. Lennon Sisters With The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra-What Child Is This
7. Vincent Price And Sunshine And Snowflakes Childrens Choir-Children; Over In Bethlehem
8. Vincent Price And The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra-Angels; Angels We Have Heard On High
9. Vincent Price And Sunshine And Snowflakes Childrens Choir-Tinsel; Where's Christmas
10. The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra And Chorus-Wonderful World Of Christmas Medley
11. The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra And Chorus-Winter Medley: White Christmas; Winter Wonderland; Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; Let It Snow, Let It Snow; The Christmas Song; Jingle Bells
12. Sunshine And Snowflakes Childrens Choir-Happy Birthday Baby Jesus
13. The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra And Chorus-Soloist: Doc Severinsen-Sleigh Ride
14. Vincent Price And The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra-Bethlehem; Away In A Manger
15. Vincent Price And The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra And Chorus-Youth; Some Children See Him
16. Vincent Price-Oddities
17. The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra And Chorus-Little Drummer Boy
18. General Eva Burrows With The Ralph Carmichael Orchestra-The Family At Christmas

I thought this record was edited pretty tightly, so I've prepared a version of the record with the two sides presented as single tracks. I know some people like to listen to the show as it might have been played on the air while others like to be able to listen to individual songs. You can download it either way from the following links.

MEGA (Cut)

MEGA (Uncut)

In case you missed it earlier in the season, I shared out all the other entries in the Army of Stars series that I had in my collection, the first that I know of to appear on a vinyl LP in 1963, up through the one that came out right before this current share in 1985. There were quite a few that came out as radio station transcription discs before this, and my friend Buster was nice enough to share one of those giant 16" diameter record sets over at his blog that coincided with my posting here. Here's the whole list of what we shared, along with links if you missed all these postings.

1949 (At Buster's place)

1963

1964

1965 (this is the only year I'm missing, anyone want to make a contribution?)

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976 and 1976 (there appears to be a radio version of this collection, but I don't have it)

1977 and 1977 (they released a home version and a radio version of the collection this year)

1978

1979

1980

1981 and 1981 (believe it or not, they released two different collections this year)

1982

1983

1984 (there doesn't seem to be a 1984 release, but I'd loved to be proven wrong if you can find one)

1985

1986 (whoops, got carried away there, 1986 is the post you're reading here)

There, now that that's out of the way, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has supported me this long Christmas season. I had no intention of dragging it out this long, but it's been a lot of fun. I knew that if I left all these recent shares incomplete in the folder without sharing them, they might never see the light of day. I'm only leaving about a dozen or so records in the folders untouched, most of those are more recent things that have been reissued on CD or are available for download somewhere. I just recorded them because I wanted to listen to them. I may never finish chopping them up because I've already started recording albums for sharing at Christmas this coming season. We'll see what happens. Christmas in July is not all that far away now so I hope to see you guys again real soon. Thanks again for your support!

Veo Returns

If the cover on this share looks familiar, it's because I shared a record with the exact same stock cover yesterday. Funny how that happens sometimes. If any of it sounds familiar, it's because I shared a record by the music director of this church with you many years ago, a much more professional studio production, though still very much a religious record. Going back and re-reading what I wrote about that record, I see that I mentioned already having this album. That was almost seven years ago, so I've had this record in the stacks for a long time without actually getting to it. That's typical. Sometimes I bring stuff home from the store and record it right away, other times it sits in a pile for a very long time before I pay it any attention. That's just the way it goes. The tracks here are as they were presented on the vinyl, sort of long blocks of different groups doing a few songs each. I didn't try to cut it into actual individual songs, I hope you don't mind too much. I was having a little trouble finding time to get to this one and it was just easier that way. Not sure if I hear any of the magic that made that other album by Veo Gray so interesting, but give it a listen and see what you think. This is Christmas...Around The World (Century 25800, Mono, 1966). There was a program for a live performance of this material in the sleeve of the album, I scanned that for you as well. Love to find little bits of history like that to make the record feel more personal.

1. Cherub Choir-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-Mrs. Joe B, Crace, Piano-O Come Let Us Sing Unto The Lord; The Donkey; Away In A Manger; Jesus Was Born In Bethlehem
2. Sunshine Choir-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-Mrs. Lloyd Williamson, Piano-Shepherds Went To Bethlehem; Where Was Jesus Born That Night; Lovely Christmas Tree; Little Baby Jesus
3. Carol Choir-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-Renee Millard, Piano-Ronald Doyle, Flute-As Lately We Watched; March Of The 3 Kings
4. Jr High Choir-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-Renee Millard, Piano-Silent Night; Calypso Noel; Christmas Thanksgiving
5. Chapel Belles-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-What Child Is This; Carol Of The Bells
6. Chapel Choir-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-Mrs. L.L. Batts, Piano-Ring Silver Bells; Carol Of The Shepherds; Rise Up Shepherds And Foller; Sing Gloria
7. Church Choir-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-Mrs. Batts, Organ-Mrs. Veo Gray, Piano-Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella; Good Christian Men, Rejoice; Do You Hear What I Hear?
8. Multiple Choirs-First Baptist Church, Ocala, Florida-Veo Gray, Director-Mrs. Batts & Mrs. Gray, Piano-O Holy Night

MEGA

Ed Town

Time to get back into the junior high school musicals with this release from a school near Niagara Falls in New York state. Not sure how important that is in the scheme of things, but I like to know where a record came from. I'm sure the reason I picked this one up is the stock photo on the front cover, something we've seen more than once, though I doubt I can point to too many examples. Hard to search for shares based on a cover image. Don't have too much to say about the music here, other than I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you like this sort of thing. This is Edward Town Junior High School Music Department-Prelude To Christmas (Century 32773, Stereo).

1. Go Where I Send Thee
2. Pablo, The Reindeer
3. Jingle Bells
4. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
5. Fum, Fum, Fum
6. Fruit Cake
7. O Holy Night
8. Do You Hear What I Hear?
9. Silver Bells
10. Let There Be Peace On Earth
11. Wintry Scene
12. Prelude To Christmas
13. Beguine For Flutes
14. Christmas Song
15. Three Songs For Christmas
16. The Toy Shop

MEGA

Third Time's A Charm

Following up on those last two shares today, this is yet another release of what I believe is the same material (plus a few tracks of similar origin, one of which doesn't have anything to do with Christmas), though with no artist attribution whatsoever. You can probably figure out who's who on here based on those last two records and the known contributions from Enoch Light, as well as connections to his many labels. But I'm too lazy for all of that, I'm just going to throw it up here and let you worry about all figuring out the details. This is Unknown Artists-Sounds Of Christmas (AKA The Sound Of Christmas) (Brigade) (Brigade P-1301-M (Reissue of material on the Waldorf label), Mono). It might help to know that the Brigade label reissued quite a few items that originally came out of the Waldorf Music Hall/Grand Award labels. I'm sure it had something to do with out buddy Enoch Light, but I don't know what the connection was. Note also that is says Stereo on the cover, but these tracks are certainly mono.

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
2. The Christmas Song
3. White Christmas
4. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
6. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
7. Frosty The Snowman
8. Sleigh Ride
9. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
10. Jingle Bells
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Jolly Old St. Nicholas
13. The Place Where I Worship
14. When Christmas Comes To Our House
15. Adeste Fidelis
16. O Christmas Tree
17. Christmas Has Come Again
18. All Around The Christmas Tree

MEGA

Songs To Sing

Someone pointed out that I had shared out that last record before, only in a different guise, and they were correct. I had even gone ahead and re-recorded that version for sharing this year and it had slipped my mind. So here, without much ado, is Songs To Sing At Christmas Time (AKA Christmas Comes To Our House) (Grand Award G.A. 33-348, Mono). You'd think I could have come up with a better cover to scan than this one, but I'm afraid this is all I could find in the archives. Not to say I don't have a better one somewhere, but who knows where it is. For the record, I shared this out back in 2006 for the first time.

1. Enoch Light Orchestra & Chorus-Sleigh Ride
2. Artie Malvin-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
3. Artie Malvin-The Night Before Christmas
4. Artie Malvin-Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
5. Lois Winter & Loren Becker-Winter Wonderland
6. Enoch Light Orchestra & Chorus-When Christmas Comes To Our House
7. Mike Stewart-Frosty, The Snowman
8. Enoch Light Orchestra & Chorus-Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
9. Enoch Light Orchestra & Chorus-White Christmas
10. Mike Stewart-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
11. Enoch Light Orchestra & Chorus-Christmas Has Come Again
12. Enoch Light Orchestra & Chorus-Jingle Bells

MEGA

Easter Enoch

I've never had the opportunity to post a Christmas record on Easter before. It sort of bookends the two seasons, we started with the birth of Jesus, and we're still going on the day he came back from the dead. Well, we actually started on Thanksgiving, but that's too many holidays to try to bring together. My offering today is a record that I promised I'd share with you in a post of a 10" version of this record back on December 10th. Sorry I've not gotten to it until now, it's just not been at the forefront of my attention for some reason. It's an early recording that Enoch Light had a big hand in before he started his audiophile Command label. The music here really sounds like Christmas in the 1950's to me. The songs just sound like I imagine that time period to sound like. It's tough to explain, but give it a listen and maybe you'll understand what I mean. I don't know if it's the instrumentation, the recording techniques, the song selection, the vocal technique or a combination of all of the above and more, but it really makes me imagine I'm there in that time. These songs and these versions have really been through the wringer over the years, with many straight reissues coming out as well as many anonymous reissues where the names of these folks are deemed unimportant. Other than Enoch Light, these performers disappeared from our consciousness over the years, and that's a shame. There are lots of talented people at work here, and they made some good music. If you get a chance today, please download and give a listen to Christmas Holiday (Waldorf Music Hall MHK 33-1231, Mono).

1. Artie Malvin-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
2. Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus-White Christmas
3. Artie Malvin-T'was The Night Before Christmas
4. Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus-When Christmas Comes To Our House
5. Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus-Adeste Fideles
6. Mike Stewart-Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
7. Artie Malvin-Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
8. Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
9. Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus-Sleigh Ride
10. Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus-Christmas Has Come Again
11. Mike Stewart-Frosty, The Snow Man
12. Enoch Light Orchestra And Chorus-Jingle Bells

MEGA

Men & Boys

Up next is a rare album that features singing from both men and boys. I actually don't know how rare that is but it struck me as funny. Don't know why, it just did. I have a strange sense of humor sometimes. I had to check just now to see if this was by chance a Lutheran church, but it appears to be Anglican, about whom I know nothing. Let's go look that up. First thing it says is that they are in-between Catholics and Protestants, and in some countries they are called Episcopalians. Well, that I've heard of, so now we know. You didn't expect to learn anything at the blog today, did you? We can all learn a little something, it's not painful. This is The Men And Boys Of The Choir Of St. Matthias' Church-This Day (No Label (Canada), MS-10783, Stereo), enjoy! (It looks like I got the name of the singers wrong here. The cover actually calls them The Boys And Men Of St. Matthias' Church, so I got the men and boys backwards. And it's also just listed as The Choir Of St. Matthias' Church on the labels, so there's that...)

1. Good King Wenceslas
2. A Spotless Rose
3. The Sussex Carol
4. In The Bleak Midwinter
5. The Holly And The Ivy
6. Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
7. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
8. I Saw Three Ships
9. There Is No Rose
10. Sir Christemas
11. Coventry Carol
12. Shepherd's Pipe Carol
13. Adan Lay Ybounden
14. The Twelve Days Of Christmas

MEGA

A Little Hubris

Been holding back this LP for a long time now because I wasn't happy with the images I had of the inside of the gatefold, but I'll go ahead and share it with you now because I'm tired of worrying about it. The reason I had to photograph it instead of scanning it was because it's a rare pop-up gatefold Christmas LP! We've seen a few of these before, but I can't think of any off the top that I've been able to share because they're usually collections of the same old songs performed by the same old artists you can download at any legit streaming service, but this one is a little different. It's all in Spanish and this particular copy was made for the Peruvian market. Not every day you come across a (second) record from Peru, but leave it to me to find something. I think there's a little something disturbing about the imagery inside the popup though, but you tell me what you think. The band has decided to add themselves into a nice little tableau of the Nativity. Not sure I would have approved of that design decision, but here we are. What do you think, is that appropriate? Either way, this is Parchis-Villancicos (Discos America (Peru) ELD-02.10.1028, Stereo, 1980). Enjoy!

01. Campana Sobre Campana
02. Los Peces En El Rio
03. Navidades Blancas (White Christmas)
04. Rin, Rin
05. Dime Ñiño, ¿De Quién Eres?
06. Arre, Borriquito
07. Noche De Paz
08. ¡Ay! Del Chiquirritín
09. Ande, Ande, Ande
10. Jingle Bells
11. El Pequeño Tambolillero
12. Canta, Rie Y Bebe

MEGA

Opa!

Time to pay a short visit to the ancient culture that is Greece. All the glory that is Christmas occurred long after the heyday of the Ancient Greek empire, but that doesn't mean modern-day Greece hasn't embraced the spirit of the season. This short but sweet collection came out as part of the Capitol Of The World series, but a decade or so later than the original entries in the series. It's got a nice selection of local favorites and no sign of the usual Western carols that sometimes sneak into these collections from other cultures. Note that this is not the first time we've touched on the Greek celebration of Christmas, there was at least one other share that featured songs from that country, though I'm not sure how authentic that one was. This one was recorded in-country, and I think you'll really enjoy it. This is The Eusebia Choir-A Greek Christmas (Capitol SM-10489, Mono (from a Duophonic fake stereo record), 1968). Enjoy! Two different covers for this one. I think the one above is the original, but I'm not 100% sure.

1. Christmas
2. The Christ Is Born
3. Star Of The Dawn
4. Come To Our Manger
5. Christmas Night
6. Glory In The Highest
7. Winter
8. New Year's Day
9. Welcome
10. Children's Prayer
11. One Precious Heart

MEGA

April Fools!

Today marks another milestone as we head into the month of April and the shares are still flowing! I never imagined I could keep it going this long, but here we are. I keep saying that the coffers are almost empty and it's true, but I keep scraping the sides of the barrel and something always seems to fall out. I can count the number of unfinished files on my hard drive on my fingers now, so the end is near (Repent!). But I'm not stopping yet. Today is a pretty yellow & brown marbled record from the budget label king, Tops. This music was probably reissued a dozen or more times throughout the sixties (usually without White Christmas so they wouldn't have to pay anyone any songwriting royalties), but this appears to be it's first issue. It's a sister album to a couple of records I recorded and shared out early in the season over at my pal Buster's excellent blog. (Go get 'em if you don't have 'em yet.) It's simple choral stuff but it has a sound that really takes you back to that period in history. This is The Fireside Carolers-Let's All Sing Our Christmas Favorites (Tops/Mayfair 9676S, Stereo, 1959). Enjoy!

1. O, Come All Ye Faithful
2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
5. Jingle Bells
6. The First Noel
7. Silent Night
8. White Christmas
9. Deck The Halls; Joy To The World
10. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

MEGA

Life Words

From one college group to the next, that's been the story of the blog this season. If it's not college groups or high school groups, middle schools or elementaries, it's churches or civic groups. I usually avoid such things but I feel like I need to work my way though the hundreds of these records in my collection. There's usually something of interest on each one of them, at least worth one listen. Occasionally there's something you'll want to hear again, but if you're like me, you can't remember what it was. This is The Word Of Life Collegians-The Sights & Sounds Of Christmas (Word Of Life Fellowship 8511, Stereo, 1985). Just in case you're curious, Word Of Life Bible Institute, the people behind this album, do not appear to be associated with the Lutherans, or any other denomination. They have a campus here in Florida just a couple counties north of me (as well as one in New York state). That would explain how this album came to me, it didn't have to travel very far. Sometimes the forensics of album dispersion are easy, other times they are hard.

1. Here We Come A-Caroling
2. Jingle Bells
3. O Holy Night
4. Silent Night! Holy Night!
5. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
6. White Christmas
7. Ring The Bells
8. The Best Gift I Ever Got For Christmas
9. Toyland
10. Frosty, The Snowman
11. They Need Love
12. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
13. While By My Sheep
14. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
15. Angels We Have Heard On High

MEGA