Hilarious

When I first spotted this record on the shelf, I thought perhaps I had mis-filed it. Didn't look much like a Christmas record. But a quick scan of the contents told me I was wrong and it was indeed a Christmas record. I guess I should have known that because it does say Christmas right there on the front cover. I think this is another vestige of my abandoned project to share a Christmas record from every state in the union, representing Alabama in this case. I have no explanation for the title, other than it appears to be an annual thing with the University Of Alabama music department. This is University Of Alabama Singers & Jazz Ensemble-Hilaritas (Boutwell Recording Studios for Hilaritas, Music Department, The University Of Alabama, NR14998/NR14898, Stereo, 1983). Enjoy!

1. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year; Have Yourself A Merry Christmas; I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas; Do You Hear What I Hear
2. Little Jack Frost Get Lost; I'll Be Home For Christmas; Let It Snow
3. O Come All Ye Faithful
4. Sing We Now Of Christmas; Away In A Manger; I Wonder As I Wander; Lullay; Shepherd's Carol; Hark, The Herald Angels Sing; How Far Is't To Bethlehem; Jingle Bells
5. The First Noel
6. Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire; Deck The Hall; Angels We Have Heard On High; We Wish You A Merry Christmas

MEGA

Pop Music

Been a while now since I've shared a Christmas album full of actual pop music with you, so here's the closest thing I still have in my pile of Christmas goodies. Not sure if you want to count George Beverly Shea and The Korean Children's Choir as popular music, but at least it's not another church choir. There are some bigger names here that I'm sure you'll enjoy, like Tennessee Ernie Ford, Lawrence Welk and Pat Boone, but even those might not fall under the head of pop. What attracted me to this album was the possibility that some of these tracks were exclusive to this disc. I'm not sure all of these artists released full albums on Word Records, who put this collection together for Guideposts in 1977, and there are no note on the back of the LP about how tracks were licensed elsewhere. I didn't dig much deeper than that, but maybe one of my loyal visitors will be able to clue me in on what's what here. Please have a go at The Guideposts Treasury Of Christmas Hymns (Word GPR 002, Stereo, 1977). Some of these artists have been shared here at the blog from full albums of their own. You might be rewarded richly if you do a few searches.

1. Tennessee Ernie Ford-O Little Town Of Bethlehem
2. Lawrence Welk-O Come All Ye Faithful & Away In A Manger
3. The King Family-It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. Pat Boone-Hark The Herald Angels Sing
5. George Beverly Shea-O Holy Night
6. Evie-Mary's Little Boy Child
7. Richard & Patti Roberts-Go Tell It On The Mountains
8. Ralph Carmichael-Little Drummer Boy
9. Korean Children's Choir-Silent Night
10. Jim Roberts & Norma Zimmer-Silver Bells

MEGA

Saint Who?

Time for another album from a group you've never heard of from a church you've never heard of named after a saint you've likely never heard of. I tried to do a little research on the church and found that it had closed back in 2008, the congregation being folded into another church so close that the parishioners walked down the street to symbolically join the other church. I'm not sure who the group singing on the record is, could be the church choir or maybe some other group affiliated with the church. And lastly, I looked to see who St. Casimir was, turns out he was linked to Poland and Lithuania, which makes sense because the church in questions appears to have been founded by Lithuanian immigrants in Pittston, PA in 1890. So as I've said before, some of these records can really lead you down a deep rabbit hole of history if you're interested in such things. And there's also some music if you're interested. This is Saint Casimir-Listen To A Christmas At Saint Casimir's (Studio 'V' 1171095, Stereo, 1970). Well, it's not really by St. Casimir, since he passed away in 1484, but I didn't know what else to call the performers here. Enjoy!

1. Gloria In Excelsis
2. O Hearken Ye
3. Rejoice And Sing
4. Do You Hear What I Hear
5. Bekite Ziurekit
6. Gloria In Excelsis Gieda Angelai
7. As With Gladness
8. My Shepherd Is The Lord
9. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
10. A Christmas Amen
11. An Acclamation For A Christmas Gospel
12. The Miraculous Star
13. Now Let Us All Praise God And Sing
14. The Heavens Declare
15. Marija, Marija
16. O Come, All Ye Faithful
17. Sveikas Jesau Maziausis
18. Sheep May Safely Graze
19. A Great Amen

MEGA

Tiny Dancer

I feel like today is the day where I break the record for longest Christmas season. I've really drug it out this year but you've got to strike while the iron is hot. I've got all these records ripped and mostly ready to go, so I may as well post them. I'm not sure if I've broken a record for the most days total since Thanksgiving was so late last year, but I'm too lazy to go back and count. Suffice it to say, we're in uncharted territory here.  And in the interest of really dragging it out, here's another record you likely don't need. This is Lynn Stanford-Christmas Music For Ballet Class Volume Two (Bodarc BOD 89-15, Stereo, 1989). This is volume two, and yes I have volume one somewhere. I appear to have recorded it a few years ago, but never scanned the artwork for it. Hopefully I'll come across the record sometime soon and I'll be able to finish up the package.

1. Plie: Away In A Manger
2. Tendu: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
3. Degage: Masters In This Hall
4. Rond De Jambe A Terre: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
5. Frappe: Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
6. Fondu: I Saw Three Ships
7. Rond De Jambe En L'Air: I Wonder As I Wander
8. Developpe: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
9. Petite Battement: Here We Come A - Wassailing
10. Grand Battement: Oh Christmas Tree
11. Stretch: O Holy Night
12. Tendu: Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
13. Slow Pirouette: Blue Christmas
14. Waltz Pirouette: I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
15. Adagio: Ave Maria
16. Allegro: French Christmas Carol
17. Pique: Do You Hear What I Hear?
18. Grand Allegro: Good Christian Men, Rejoice
19. Reverence: Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire

MEGA

Again With The Lutherans

Today's share is a recording from a small Lutheran-linked college in Minnesota. But beside that, being from Minnesota, it's a small reminder of the situation in Minneapolis. This is not a political blog, but the killing of US citizens by masked government agents is unacceptable. That's all I'm going to say about that. This is an interesting choir recording that is possibly the most recent recording I've ever shared on the Delta label, known for pressing records of school and civic group performances across the country. I always assumed they had called it quits by the 80's, but here's something from 1983 that appears to show they were still going strong. Note that the date comes from the catalog number. I've cross referenced a few dozen of these releases and the date (when available) on the release always matches the last two digits in the first half of the catalog number on the label. They didn't always do that, but at some point they started and it makes dating these things a little easier. This is The Gustavus Choir-Christmas (Delta DRS83-3028, Stereo, 1983). There was a concert program from a performance this group did in 1985 inside the sleeve. I went ahead and scanned that in for you as well even though it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the performance captured on this vinyl.

1. Joy To The World
2. I Wonder As I Wander
3. Now We Sing Of Christmas
4. Away In A Manger
5. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
6. Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light
7. O Come All Ye Faithful
8. A Christmas Carol
9. In Dulci Jubilo
10. Coventry Carol
11. Once In Royal David's City
12. In The Bleak Midwinter
13. Wake, Awake

MEGA

Water Under The Bridge

I've been holding onto this record for a long time now because I'm not sure of what exactly it is. I like to think it's a Christmas record, but it's not really. There are too many songs that don't seem to have anything to do with Christmas on it. But on the other hand, there seems to be too many Christmas songs here to throw it in to the Christmas In July category and only record part of it. So I've decided to give you the whole thing and let you decide. Be sure to share your opinion of this oddity in the comments after you give it a listen. This is The Watersons-Frost And Fire (Topic Records (UK) 12T136, Mono, 1965). Enjoy!

1. Here We Come A-Wassailing
2. The Derby Ram
3. Jolly Old Hawk
4. Pace-Egging Song
5. Seven Virgins Or The Leaves Of Life
6. The Holly Bears A Berry
7. Hal-An-Tow
8. Earsdon Sword Dance Song
9. John Barleycorn
10. Harvest Song: We Gets Up In The Morn
11. Souling Song
12. Christmas Is Now Drawing Near At Hand
13. Herod And The Cock
14. Wassail Song

MEGA

Io-way

Here's another state that I don't think I've visited this season, or maybe ever. Nope, I'm wrong on both counts. Looks like we already visited Iowa here at this post very recently, and in the past we've enjoyed some chimes from a big bank headquartered in the state. So much for my memory and thank goodness for the search feature. I guess I'm not as excited about this post as I was before I realized I had already done Iowa, so I'll shut up and give you the share. This is Iowa State University-Jubilate-Christmas Festival Of Music 1967 (Recorded Publications Company JZB-04171/04172, Stereo, 1967). Enjoy!

1. Festival Chorus-Our Father
2. Festival Chorus & Iowa State Symphony-Behold A Star From Jacob Shining
3. Festival Chorus-Hodie Christus Natus Est
4. Oratorio Chorus-O Wondrous Night
5. Oratorio Chorus-Mexican Christmas Procession
6. Oratorio Chorus-Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming
7. Festival Chorus-The Blessed Son Of God
8. Festival Chorus-Ideo Gloria In Excelsis Deo
9. Iowa State Symphony-Canzonetta
10. Iowa State Singers, Oratorio Chorus And Iowa State Symphony-Thus The Word Was Made As Flesh
11. Men's Glee Club-Make We Joy Now In This Fest
12. Iowa State Singers-Guiding Star Carol
13. Iowa State Singers-Auf Dem Berge
14. Iowa State Singers-Wondrous Love

MEGA

Down South Somewhere

I guess I was mistaken when I said I was done with the Latin American posts for the season. I found this one in the pile that I somehow missed before. I'm not sure where this one is from actually, it's a US release but the music is from elsewhere. Could be Puerto Rico, which is technically the US and not Latin America, but I don't know for sure. Could be music from any number of countries and I don't want to make any incorrect assumptions. Maybe someone out there will recognize some of these artists or their songs and they can chime in and tell us where this music comes from. But first, you need to download it and give it a virtual spin. This is Bailables De Navidad Y Año Nuevo En Quisqueya (Kubaney K-31007, 1981). Hmm, maybe it's safe to say this is Caribbean music? I think I'm gonna go with that.

1. Cuco Valoy Y Los Virtuosos-Cosas De Navidad
2. Cheche Abreu-Extravio
3. L. Paniagua-Dime Si Vendras Esta Navidad
4. Frances Santana-El Vironay
5. Felito Cruz-Flores De Amistad
6. Johnny Ventura-La Noche Bueno Llego
7. Negrito Truman-Van Llegando
8. Tipica Dominicana-La Negra Pola
9. Los Ahijados-Que Viva La Noche Buena
10. Los Virtuosos-La Biblia

MEGA

Down Mexico Way

One last share in Spanish and I'll move back into the church choirs and school choruses. If you haven't enjoyed any of the previous shares from Latin America, I think this one might be more up your alley. It's composed almost entirely of popular American carols, all played with a Latin lilt that I'm sure you'll really enjoy. This was issued in the US as part of the popular Capitol Of The World series but I'm pretty sure it was originally recorded and issued in Mexico for the local market. That seemed to be the way Capitol did their releases like this, just license an existing recording of interest and issue it for American audiences. Don't make the same mistake as me and assume that Hermanos Zavala is a person. Hermanos is Spanish for brothers (or so I am told, I don't speak the language), so this is a group effort. And it's not just brothers, I think the wives get in on the act too. It's great stuff. Big shout out to my friend The King Of Jingaling who asked me for something off this record earlier this season. That prompted me to record it real quick and I enjoyed it so much I finished it up and am sharing with you folks. This is Hermanos Zavala-Arranged And Conducted By José Antonio Zavala-Christmas In Mexico (En Navidad) (Capitol Of The World ST 10488, Stereo, 1968). As often happens around here, I found a second cover for this one. You can see it down at the bottom of this post and I included it in the download file. Note that there was another Christmas entry from Mexico in the Capitol of the World series besides this one. I didn't realize they visited any countries more than once in the series. I need to try and run the series at some point but I know there are some I'm still missing. Anyone got a copy of Christmas In Australia they want to give me? And China, too.

1. Cancion De Navidad (The Christmas Song)
2. Paseo En Trineo (Sleigh Ride)
3. Adeste Fideles
4. Rudolfo El Reno De La Nariz Roja (Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer)
5. Campanitas De Plata (Silver Bells)
6. Ave Maria (By Schubert)
7. Blanca Navidad (White Christmas)
8. Bendito Sea Dios (God Be Praised)
9. Estrella De Navidad (Christmas Star)
10. Cascabel (Jingle Bells)
11. Virgen De Guadalupe (The Virgin Of Guadalupe)
12. Noche De Paz (Silent Night)

MEGA

Up, Up And Away

February the third and time for yet another Spanish-language share. Don't worry, they're not all going to be in Spanish from here on out, I've just got a little stash of these that I've been hoarding for a while. This one is just out there, featuring a great cover and two side-long medleys that I think you'll enjoy. This is Pequeña Compañía-Nuestra Navidad (IEMPSA (Peru) 30.15.1456, Stereo, 1986). You can't say I don't travel pretty far to bring you the best in Christmas music!

1. Din-Don; Navidades Blancas; Campana Sobre Campana; La Canción Del Tamborilero; Santa Claus Nos Viene A Visitar; Los Peces En Río; Jingle Bells (Navidad, Navidad); Ande, Ande Ande
2. Noche De Paz; Ya Vienen Los Reyes; Alegría, Alegría; Rin-Rin; Dime Niño...; En El Portal De Belén; Nuestra Navidad

MEGA