Coro Dos

Time for another LP full of singing kids. And not just singing, but singing in Spanish! I know you've been waiting a long time to hear more of that. Well, since yesterday at least. This is Coro Y Rondalla Alegria-Villanicos Tradicionales (Alhambra (Spain/Columbia) CPS 9021, Stereo, 1968). How do records from Columbia wind up in my collection? That's a question I can't answer, I'm afraid. I hunt for Christmas records a lot, and these things just find me sometimes. Enjoy!

1. Campana Sobre Campana
2. En El Portal De Belen
3. Dime Niño ¿De Quien Eres?
4. En Un Borriquillo
5. Pastores De Belen
6. Al Son De Los Panderos
7. A Belen Pastorcitos
8. Esta Noche Es Nochebuena
9. Los Peces En El Rio
10. Alegria Alegria
11. Fun-Fun-Fun
12. Zumba, Zumbale Al Pandero
13. Ande, Ande, Ande
14. Bamba Gitana

MEGA

Coro Uno

What have I got left in the pile here as I slowly run out of shares? How about some kids singing in Spanish? I'm sure I've shared plenty of that already with you this year, but there's always one or two more in the pile to finish up and share out. This is Coro Parroquial Del Sufragio-Cantemos ¡Villancicos! (De Oro (Columbia) LDD-50000, Mono). Sometimes I find these South American records that have a permanently attached plastic wrap that covers both the inside and the outside of the sleeve. The cardboard printed bits are permanently sealed inside of it and I didn't want to cut it apart for my own selfish purposes. That's why the scan doesn't look the best, I'm trying to scan through the plastic sleeve. Hope you're still able to enjoy the music.

PS-Today marks three months since Christmas! I never imagined I would still be sharing Christmas music with you this long after the holiday. This has to be some sort of record.

1. Anton
2. Vamos Pastores
3. Cantad, Cantad
4. Ha Nacido Dios
5. Duerme Niño
6. A La Nanita Nana
7. Venid, Venid, Venid
8. Al Niño Divino
9. Pastores Venid
10. Viva Jesus

MEGA

Presidential

Almost ran out of Christmas shares there for a bit. I got busy this past weekend and didn't create any new posts like I meant to. I'm typing this with nothing in the queue for tomorrow, something that hasn't happened in quite a while now. Nearly all the posts this season have been in the can days, weeks or even months ahead of their actual posting time and date. That makes it a lot easier for me to manage sometimes, but it's hard to respond to things by sharing a topical post once in a while. Anyhow, that's just me blathering on about something you don't need to know. Up next is what I think the only post I've ever made from a school named after a US president. Closest thing I can think of is the Burl Ives record where he plays the favorite Christmas songs of the presidents. I was pretty proud of that one, even digging up a special educational version with spoken word bits between the songs! The record today isn't quite that exciting, but it's a nice catch nonetheless. This is Woodrow Wilson High School-Carol Fantasy (Location Recording Service LRS-1263-2081 (Long Beach, California), Mono, 1963). I like that cover, it's certainly something a little out of the ordinary for these types of releases. Certainly not a stock photo. The label notes that this is the seventh Christmas album from these guys, I suspect I'm not going to be able to complete this series anytime soon, if ever.

1. Processional Hodie
2. Caroling, Caroling
3. We'll Dress The House
4. Nigh Bethlehem
5. Come Dear Children
6. Carol Festival
7. Hodie Christus Natus Est
8. Christ Of The Snow
9. Il Est Ne (He Is Born)
10. Yuletide Overture
11. O Jesu Sweet
12. Holly Berries
13. The Star Carol
14. Carol Of The Bells
15. Angels O'er The Fields
16. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring

MEGA

What's Opera, Doc?

I'll tell you what's opera, this record is opera. I like to listen to and bring you all different kinds of Christmas music, but I think opera is the hardest for me to get into. I've barely listened to this one so I hope it sounds OK. It's just not my bag at all. Hopefully someone out there will be able to enjoy and appreciate it. This is Chelsea Opera Group Orchestra And Chorus-Frank Bridge "The Christmas Rose" (Pavilion/Pearl (England) SHE 582, Stereo, 1983). I've scanned a few of the bonus items I found in this record, too. There's a flyer from the record company advertising other releases and a hand-written summary of the performance as well. You just never know what you'll find in the sleeves of old records.

1. Introduction
2. Scene I
3. Scene II
4. Scene III

MEGA

High Times

A quickie for you today, I'm tired and too lazy to write anything up. This is High Point Regional High School-Christmas Concert Dec. 1972 (Trutone Records LP 520346, Stereo, 1972). The High Point in question here appears to be in New Jersey. I was hoping it was in North Carolina, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Enjoy!

1. As With Gladness Men Of Old
2. A Child Is Born In Bethlehem
3. In Dulci Jubilo
4. O Bambino
5. A Carol For Children
6. Christ Came To Bethlehem
7. Do You Hear What I Hear?
8. African Noel
9. Variations On An Echo Carol
10. Christmas Medley: Let It Snow; I'll Be Home For Christmas; Home For The Holidays
11. Now Is The Caroling Season
12. Love Came Down At Christmas
13. Sing We Noel
14. Caroling, Caroling
15. Rock-A-My-Baby
16. The Christmas Song
17. The Christmas Waltz

MEGA

Who's Walther?

I'm a little confused by the name of this next group. La Porte is the name of the city in Indiana where the group hails from, but what does Walther League mean? Hmmm, a quick Google search tells me that the Walther League was a youth group associated with, you guessed it, the Lutherans. Time and time again this season, these religious group records have been somehow tied back to the Lutheran church. They must be a denomination that loves to sing. I see where the Walther League was disbanded as an entity in 1968, so this record must predate that. This cover was super glossy, and features an image I haven't seen on other Delta pressings. Perhaps it's a custom image created just for this record. Anybody else ever seen this one? Don't be afraid to pipe up if this one is familiar to you. While you're leaving that comment, give it listen! This is La Porte Walther League Chorus-The Shepherds Story (Delta XCTV 97247/97248 (La Porte, Indiana), Mono, c. 1964).

1. Wake, Awake, For Night Is Flying
2. All Glory, Laud, And Honor
3. God Of Our Fathers
4. I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked
5. By Babylon's Wave
6. Abide With Me
7. Gloria In Excelsis
8. My Soul Doth Magnify The Lord
9. Christmas Day
10. Carol Of The Bells
11. Away In A Manger
12. The Shepherd's Story

MEGA

Lovely Rita

Here's another church choir for you, something that seems to be a staple of the blog this season. There's not a huge amount of commercial Christmas music left out there that I can share without fear of stepping on someone's toes, but there are a ton of these privately produced records that I share with you and hopefully breathe some life back into them. I do wish they were a little more creative with the covers, though. I feel like there are only so many stock image covers and I've shared one or more example of each of them with you this season. Have we seen this one before, I'm not sure at this point. And why are so many of these records from Ohio? Well, that one's fairly easy. When it's time to retire in Ohio, you just drive straight down I-75 and stop when you get to a nice spot in Florida. It's like the new mother road. This is St. Rita Choir-Sing Noel (Dick Wooley 22810 (St. Rita Roman Catholic Church-Solon, Ohio), Stereo). Enjoy!

1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
2. The First Noel
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. O Come All Ye Faithful
5. What Child Is This?
6. Silent Night
7. Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light (From "Christmas Oratorio")
8. Tell Us, Shepherd Maids (Based On French Canadian "D'ou Viens-Tu, Bergere")
9. Lo' How A Rose 'Ere Blooming
10. The Snow Lay All Around
11. What Shall We Give?
12. Ave Maria (From "Convent Mass In C")
13. Panis Angelicus

MEGA

That Was Easy

I'm trying to figure out if this high school was really named after Staples, the office supply chain store. Seems unlikely since they didn't come up with corporate sponsorship until some time well after this album was released, especially for primary education schools. I'm sure there were business schools named after big donors at the time, and certainly athletic fields or stadiums. But high schools? There has to be another reason behind that odd name. Looks like this Staples is in Minnesota, where the thought of a corporate sponsorship is even more unlikely than in a major coastal city. OK, Wikipedia to the rescue. I see this high school is in the city of Staples, formerly Staples Mills, and was named for two prominent lumbermen in the area with the surname Staples. Unusual name, but at least there's a good reason for it. If you wanna hear what Christmas in Staples, Minnesota sounds like, please download Staples High School Chamber Choir-Ye Olde Christmas (Encore Productions E-159 (Staples, Minnesota), Stereo).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. Lirum Lirum
3. Ave Verum Corpus
4. Ave Maria
5. Why Weeps, Alas! My Lady-Love
6. Os Justi Meditabitur Sapientiam
7. I Have Longed For Thy Saving Health
8. Fum, Fum, Fum
9. The Holly And The Ivy
10. Christmas Love
11. What Child Is This?
12. Adeste Fideles
13. Deck The Hall
14. Silent Night
15. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

MEGA

Tannenbaum Three

The final entry in our short celebration of The Living Christmas Tree is this entry from spring break capitol of the world, Daytona Beach! Well, former capitol, I guess it's not as popular a spot as it once was when I was of the age when I cared about such things. I think I went once during that time of year, and it was truly crazy. Most of the rest of the year it's a sleepy little village on the water with a lot of old hotels and a million nearly-deserted bars. I guess it gets busy during bike week, and when there's a race in town, but it's strangely sleepy the rest of the time. I guess it's busy enough to support a church or two though, and one of them produced this Christmas record with a fair number of unique tracks for us to enjoy. Please download and give a listen to The Voice Of Victory Choir And Orchestra-The Living Christmas Tree (No Label, No Number (First Baptist Church, Daytona Beach, Florida), Stereo, 1984).

1. The Living Christmas Tree
2. Christmas Is A Time For Children
3. Come
4. Ring Christmas Bells
5. Let There Be Joy
6. O For A Thousand Voices
7. He Shall Feed His Flock
8. Hosanna
9. How Should A King Come
10. The Splendor Of Christmas Lights

MEGA

Tannenbaum Two

Time for part two of our Living Christmas Tree extravaganza, this time hailing from the home of Disneyland, Anaheim, California! I don't think Anaheim is all that large of a city, so I'm sure this band put in an appearance or two at Disneyland over the years, likely performing some of the material from this LP during the holiday season. I will also award this album the best Christmas tree cover of the batch (even though you haven't seen all of them just yet). The colors and the quality of the photo really stand out in my mind, someone worked really hard to make this image come to fruition. I hope you find the music as pleasing as I find the cover image. This is Western High School A Cappella Choir-The Singing Christmas Tree (National Custom Recording NCR12-671 (Anaheim, California), Stereo).

1. Echo, Noel
2. Sing Gloria
3. O Come, Emmanuel
4. Emitte Spiritum Tuum
5. Carol Of The New Prince
6. Behold That Star
7. Carol Of The Bells
8. O Holy Night
9. Carol Of The Drum
10. A Joyous Christmas Song
11. Silent Night
12. Hallelujah Chorus-"Messiah"

MEGA