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

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