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

Maria et Maria

Moving on into February, here's another Spanish-language share for you. This one is a bit older than the previous one, or at least the music is even if the LP is of a similar vintage. I believe this album collects up older tracks and reissues them. Not super familiar with the artist, either, but the notes on the LP seem to imply that she released some or all of the tracks under a different name. Both Maria Esther Robles and Maria D'Attili show up on the sleeve, but they appear to be the same person. Maybe I'm mistaken about that, but that's my understanding. As usual, if you know anything that would help to clear up the situation here, please leave me a comment and straighten me out. This is Maria Esther Robles (Maria D'Attili)-Navidad Con Maria Esther Robles (Fragoso ALP 13, Mono).  Found this one with two different covers in the archives, they're both in the download. Enjoy!

1. Las Reyes Magos
2. Pastorcillos
3. Villancico Yaucano
4. Pastores A Belén
5. Lirios Blancos
6. Alegría, Alegría, Alegría
7. Amanecer
8. Alma Criolla: Noche De Navidad
9. Venid Pastores
10. Belén A Medianoche
11. Aleluya
12. La Trulla

MEGA

February!

Wow, it's February and I'm still posting stuff. Most years I stop on or around the twelfth day of Christmas, but this year I just had too much stuff in the can to stop. I told myself I'd finish up by the end of January but the stuff just kept piling up. I'm not sure how much further I can go but there are still records in the pile that need to be shared. I think 2020 holds the record for the longest I kept going. That was the year that I shared out refurbished 78s from the Internet Archive and I called it on February 7th of 2021, so I'm going to see if I can beat that. Ya'll keep coming around and I'll keep posting until I can't post anymore. Today's share is a bit of a mystery that I'm hoping someone out there can explain to me. I can't find any mention of this record out there on the internet. I can find one with a similar name and likely the same music, but it's got a different cover and the title includes a different year.  It's all in Spanish so I can't understand what they're singing or what info the sleeve may have for me. Someone out there is bound to know what's going on here and hopefully they can clue us all in. I'm not even one hundred percent certain that this is a Christmas record, though the song titles tend to make me think it is. I thought the graphics were pretty cool too. For the super curious, this is La Rondalla Brugal-Acompana: Rafael Solano Y Su Conjunto-Navidad 1974 (Brugal (Dominican Republic) No Number, Stereo, 1974).

1. Feliz Navidad
2. Si No Me Dan De Beber
3. Ya Vienen Las Navidades
4. Blanca Navidad
5. Jingle Bells
6. Candela
7. El Niño Pobre
8. Navidad Triste
9. Navidad
10. Adeste Fideles-25 De Diciembre

MEGA

Simple Saturday Bonus

To wrap up the month, I've got a special share of a record that I brought back with me from my trip to Santa Fe. This was the record that I was most excited about finding during my trip. It's part of a series of records I shared with you back on December 27th, all created by an outfit out of Dallas and all released by local radio stations across the country. Many of the records had a track or two produced locally, but this one was (almost) entirely performed by studio musicians (and is in fact exactly the same music as the version put out closest to me, one that I shared out here, so you're not really getting any new music with this one). But even if there's nothing new here, I was excited to find it and bring it home. This is The KOKE Choraleers-A KOKE Christmas (FairWest Studios FS-KOKE-84, Stereo, 1984). Couple things to note here. There is no band name on the album, though there is a long list of performers and soloists. For the sake of ID, I gave it a group name of The KOKE Choraleers, similar to what was found on one of the other entries in the series. There's also a different artist on track four, but there's no mention of them on the sleeve of this record. The credit is only found on the original issue from KVIL. That's a little confusing, but it's true. And as usual on these records, the final track features the call letters sung at the end of the song as a little reminder of who you got the record from. Oh, one last thing, KOKE is in Austin, Texas, so who knows how this record migrated to a Goodwill store in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

1. The Christmas Waltz
2. Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
3. I'll Be Home For Christmas; White Christmas
4. The South Texas State University Brass Choir-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming; I Saw Three Ships
5. Medley: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence; Away In A Manger; Good Christian Men Rejoice; Adeste Fidelis
6. Medley: Joy To The World!; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; Angels We Have Heard On High; Silent Night
7. Johnny, Bring The Pine Tree In
8. Winter Wonderland; Let It Snow!
9. Do You Hear What I Hear?
10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
11. We Wish You A Merry Christmas [KOKE]

MEGA

Loma (Not Yorba)

Here's another college choir for you, this time from Loma Linda University. I'm not even sure where that is at, I need to go look it up. Oh, OK, the Google tells me this is a Seventh-Day Adventist affiliated university in California. Now I know. Learn something every day. Maybe that's news to you, maybe you already new it, but I bet you don't have a copy of this album. But now you do! This is University Church Choir-Christmas Music From Loma Linda University (Chapel Records LP 5-129, Mono). I think this is one of those records I just grabbed for the cover, I think it's pretty interesting. No idea when it came out though, hopefully one of my faithful readers can suss out the details for me.

1. Excerpts From A Ceremony Of Carols: Wolcum Yole!
2. Excerpts From A Ceremony Of Carols: As Dew In Aprille
3. Excerpts From A Ceremony Of Carols: This Little Babe
4. Excerpts From A Ceremony Of Carols: Deo Gracias
5. Still, Still, Still
6. What Strangers Are These?
7. Three Little Carols: How Very Still; A Christmas Wish; Love Came Down
8. Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head
9. A Cradle Carol
10. Sing Ye, Sing Noel
11. Three Kings Have Journeyed
12. The Virgin's Slumber Song
13. What Is This Perfume So Appealing

MEGA

Wittenberg (Not Gutenberg)

I don't think I've been to the school choir well in a while, so here's an LP from a small college in Springfield, Ohio. Don't know much about the college or this recording, but I thought it had some interesting song choices. Give it a listen and see what you think. This is The Wittenberg University Choir-Christmas Sounds On Campus (No Label XTV 91909/91910, Mono).

1. Christmas Day
2. Mexican Christmas Procession
3. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
4. Brazilian Psalm
5. Uns Ist Ein Kind Geboren
6. O Come, All Ye Faithful-Adeste Fideles
7. The Shepherd's Carol
8. Angels, From The Realms Of Glory
9. Wake, Awake
10. Fanfare For Christmas Day
11. A Joyous Christmas Song
12. Listen Lordlings
13. Joy To The World

MEGA

A Free Festival

I had meant to get this post up some weeks ago because it shares a choir director with an earlier share, but I wasn't able to get it prepped in time to get both posts up together. I'm throwing it up now because I needed something to share on this Wednesday, and it was just lying there collecting dust. I think Elmer Iseler was a popular vocal director up in Canada during the 60's when this record likely came out. I've even found a couple of CD's of choirs he directed singing Christmas carols, so he seems to have had a long and fruitful career. There also appears to be a choir carrying his name that still performs today! But from the vinyl past, this is The Festival Singers Conducted By Elmer Iseler-A Festival Of Christmas Music (Hallmark (Canada) ChS-4, Mono).

1. Deck The Halls
2. Wassail Song
3. Welcome Yule
4. Away In A Manger
5. D'ou Viens Tu, Bergere?
6. The Rocking Carol
7. The Holly And The Ivy
8. God Rest You Merry
9. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
10. Hodie Christus Natus Est
11. The First Nowell
12. Christmas Song Of The 14th Century
13. Hymn To The Virgin
14. Lo, How A Rose
15. All My Heart
16. In Dulci Jubilo
17. O Come, All Ye Faithful

MEGA

Stars Of Deutschland

Been a while now since we've heard from any German stars, so here's a Christmas record filled with them. Lots of big names on this one including the recently discussed Heino. I think there are a few other artists on here that have been blessed (?) with full albums shared here at the blog, but I'm too lazy to link to any of them. A quick search should tell you all you need to know. Think of this is a teaser for all those other records waiting to be discovered. This is Stars Wünschen Frohe Weihnacht (Ariola (Germany) 206556-570, Stereo, 1984).

1. Der Tölzer Knabenchor-Ltg.: Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden-Ihr Kinderlein Kommet
2. Andrea Jürgens-O Tannenbaum
3. Tony Marshall-Laßt Uns Froh Und Munter Sein
4. Mary Roos-Kling Glöckchen, Klingelingeling
5. Heino-Weiße Weihnacht (White Christmas)
6. Der Bielefelder Kinderchor-Ltg.: Friedrich Oberschelp-Ehre Sei Gott
7. Günter Noris-Petersburger Schlittenfahrt
8. Julia Migenes Mit Tochter Martina Und Dem Münchner Studioorchester-Ltg.: Peter Stamm-Aba Heidschi-Bumbeidschi
9. Mireille Mathieu-Süßer Die Glocken Nie Klingen
10. Udo Jürgens Orchester Robert Opratko-Wünsche Zur Weihnachtszeit
11. Nini Rosso, Solotrompete-Leise Rieselt Der Schnee
12. Roland Kaiser-Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen
13. Rias Kinderchor-Alle Jahre Wieder Kommt Das Christuskind
14. Rex Gildo-Still, Still, Still
15. Dresdner Kreuzchor-Ltg.: Rudolf Mauersberger-Vom Himmel Hoch
16. Rudolf Schock-Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
17. Unknown Artist-Glockengeläut

MEGA