Saturday, December 22, 2007

How Much Is That?


A lot of the records I share out come with the plastic shrinkwrap still on them. They aren't often sealed, but the original owner just slit open the thin plastic enough to get the vinyl out, and left the plastic on the sleeve. I even find gatefolds like that, which means they never actually got to see whatever was inside the gatefold. Odd, but whatever. Sometimes the original price tag is stuck to the plastic, and I've been trying to save those as I pull off the plastic when I go to scan the covers. I don't know how exciting all of these are, but I wanted to make some sort of record of them. Clicking the picture will open up a larger version, and you can actually read what it says on some of the smaller ones. One of those little ones is from Grant's, and was stuck to one of their infamous Christmas collections. The Hi-Fi one may not have come from a Christmas record, now that I think of it... The pink one was stapled to a record, which may explain why you sometimes find older albums with a staple in one of the top corners. I can think of easier ways to attach a price tag, but they liked their stapler, I guess. Can you tell how much I like bargain records?

Used Music-Track Twenty Seven


If I don't hurry up and post some additions to my Used Music collection, I'm not going to average out to one a day before Christmas. I missed too many days in the middle there, I'm afraid. I need to put more thought into these collections before I start, I suppose. But I've got a good track for you now, a little slow, but good. Please go download Les Paul And Mary Ford-The Christmas Song from We Wish You The Merriest (Harmony (Columbia) HS 11351). A little research tells me that this is an abridged reissue of another Columbia collection with a similar title, from which I shared tracks here and here. I also shared out another Les Paul Christmas tune last year on my 25 Days Of Christmas collection.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Jerry Colonna-Too Fat For The Chimney
Tex Ritter-Ole Tex Kringle

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXXI-Christmas 2007


I recently stumbled across an LP copy of Lena Horne's Merry From Lena (United Artists UAS 6546, 1966), one that had eluded me for many years. I suspect it finally popped up because of a quality CD re-release this year. I'd had it on a budget CD for some years, but I'm always excited about getting stuff on the original vinyl. Unfortunately, I have to keep looking, because this isn't quite the original vinyl. Check out the doodle above. Now compare it to this one and this one. Notice how those are very similar and from records on the same label, yet they are in color. I've got later re-issues of those other LPs, and sure enough, the doodles have turned to B&W. So I need to keep looking.

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 23


Please don't hate me. Here is today's track for 26 Days Of Christmas. At least I didn't subject you to the flipside, Don'tcha Try to Tell Me There Ain't No Santa Claus, which I haven't had the guts to actually listen to yet. Go download Lisa And The Lollipops-Stumpy (Sing Me Records SM-45-18, 1977). This may be the reason that Elvis passed away. It's from 1977 and there is a Tennessee address on the label...

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World
Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Claus Blues
Dora Hall-Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Burl Ives-It's Gonna Be A Mixed Up Xmas

Used Music-Track Twenty Six


We're heading out West for the Used Music track tonight. Not all the way to the Pacific, though, just far enough to reach the Lone Star State. Please get your spurs out and download Tex Ritter-Ole Tex Kringle from An All-Star Country Christmas (Capitol STBB-248). This is a great track that I'm sure you're going to love. Remember this great share when you listen to the next thing I share out tonight. Did you know that Tex Ritter is the father of John Ritter? Oh, well, if you already knew that, why didn't you say so earlier? Oh, this track appears to have originally been released in 1954. The comp I pulled it from looks like it came out in the seventies sometime.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Jerry Colonna-Too Fat For The Chimney

Still Winter


The final piece of the Winterhalter puzzle for you tonight is this great single from sometime during the Cha Cha craze of the late fifties/early sixties. If these two arrangements don't get you out on the floor and cha-cha-ing around the Christmas tree, then nothing will. Please download Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra-The Christmas Song Cha Cha b/w Rudolph The Red-Nose Cha Cha (RCA Victor 7" 45 RPM 47-7397). I found a version of the Rudolph track sometime last year on an Italian pressing of Hugo Winterhalter Goes...Latin and shared it out during Christmas In July here. I think the track came from this single originally, so I'm sharing it out here again. Funny story about this single... It appears to be pressed off-center. When the stylus is in the groove, the tonearm sways back and forth as the record rotates. And it moves so much that the pitch of the music goes up and down. Don't worry, I came up with a solution to that problem before I recorded the record, but I found it sort of odd. I wound up playing the record without an adapter in the middle like you'd normally use when you play a 45. Then I put some weight in the center of the record to hold it in place as it spun. Through a lot of trial and error, I was able to get the record to lie in the center of the groove spiral when it played, or at least close enough that I can't hear any problems in the playback. Loads of fun. Wanna hear what it sounded like before I went to all that trouble? Download this, but don't say I didn't warn you!

Winter Returns


This is the second bonus track I offer up for your added listening enjoyment of Hugo Winterhalter. Stuck in the middle of Wish You Were Here (RCA Victor LSP-1904, 1959) is a great version of Sleigh Ride. I'd previously shared this track with you in mono, then I snuck the stereo version in during Christmas In July, but posted on the 1st of August. This is the first time I'm posting it complete with that great artwork. There's even a doodle on the back that you can see here, along with an RCA Tag at upper right. This album is just full of good stuff!

Winter Is Back

I mentioned that I didn't think Hugo Winterhalter's Christmas record was long enough, and this is the first thing I have to add to it, both sides of a single where he plays Blue and White Christmas. I think one of these is on the previously shared album, but the other is not. I don't remember right now which one is which, but you get both of them in the download. Please go get Hugo Winterhalter-Blue Christmas b/w White Christmas (RCA Victor 7" 45 rpm 47-3937). And I'm not done yet, so come right back when the download finishes, or when Rapidshare lets you download more stuff.

Winter Is Here


One of my favorite releases of years' past (2005 & 2006) is this great album by Hugo Winterhalter. The only problem I have with it is that it's too short. But I have a plan for that. Go download Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra And Chorus-Christmas Magic (RCA Camden CAL-449, 1958) and then come back for more. Oh, this record appears to have first been released as a 10", Christmas Magic (RCA Victor LPM 3132), shown below, then later expanded with two not-very-Christmassy tracks to the 12" I've shared above.

Friday, December 21, 2007

The 700 Club

Congratulations to me on post number 700 of the year! That's the biggest year yet, which I guess isn't saying much since I've been doing this for less than 3 years. But it still feels like a pretty big accomplishment. Thanks to all of you for your support. I've got four days left to post Christmas stuff, and then I can take a break for a while. Boy, won't that be nice!

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 22


If I've done my math correctly, this posting gets me all caught up on my 26 Days Of Christmas collection. Four tracks left and four days to Christmas. Yep, that sounds right. And what a track this is! Only a few people can claim to be part of the mythology of Christmas. Well, real people that is. I suspect Bing Crosby tops the list, and then perhaps Gene Autry. But fighting it out with Gene Autry might be Burl Ives, whose Holly Jolly Christmas is a classic, and whose animated visage adorns TVs every Christmas. I managed to dig up a single from him that I've never heard of before. It appears to have been recorded many years ago, and later developed into an animated special. Or maybe it was going to be animated, as I can't find much evidence that it ever was. Googling this single yields a claim at Amazon that there was a CD at one time, but that's about the only evidence of said CD. Lots of sites list the same 7" single I have, but nobody talks about an animated special or a CD. So I think this track is pretty special, and I'm sure you will think so too. Please download Burl Ives-It's Gonna Be A Mixed Up Xmas (Monkey Joe 7" MJ-1, 1978). The song is cute, and I think it stands alone pretty well. It might make a little more sense if you could hear the 11 minute tale of Monkey Joe on the flip side, but that's going to have to wait for another day.

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World
Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Claus Blues
Dora Hall-Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 21


Sometimes I have no idea what it is I have in my hand. I found two copies of this single sometime during the past year at a place called Thrift City USA in Pinellas Park. I almost didn't buy it, but then I remembered what a nut I am for Christmas, and bought both copies. It sat there for a long time, me not paying any attention to it, until tonight. I picked it up, set it on the turntable and typed the name Dora Hall into Google. Turns out that this woman was the wife of the president of Solo Cups. And she wanted to be a star. So she released dozens of records funded by her husband and in many cases distributed with plastic Solo cups. She even had her own TV special in the early seventies for no good reason. I knew I had to share this from the very first shouted "ROCK" on this single. Please hurry and download Dora Hall-Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (Calamo PR-1024/1025).

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World
Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song
Jimmy Boyd-Santa Claus Blues

Harkin' And Swingin'


Here is another great record from the archives, one I shared in 2005 and again in 2006 with you. I didn't think it would be much when I first picked it up, I just liked the cover with those guys in the snow. The front and the back covers are the same, and that's usually the sign of a really poor album. But I was really wrong on this one. How this hasn't made it to the world of CD, I'll never know. Go download The World's Greatest Jazzband Of Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart-Hark The Herald Angels Swing (World Jazz WJLP 5-2, 1972) now! You'll be glad you did.

Used Music-Track Twenty Five

Someone asked me if I had a version of Too Fat For The Chimney, so I pointed them to my share of Gisele MacKenzie, but then I remembered another version. I thought I had shared this out before, but I can't find it if I did. So here is the great Jerry Colonna doing Too Fat For The Chimney from One Hundred Great Songs Of Christmas (MCA Special Markets SR 8726 DXS 504). I think I put a couple of different tracks from this collection on my CD last year, but one more won't hurt. The recordings from this record all sound a bit tinny to my ears, probably because they tried to cram 100 songs onto four records. But it's still listenable. I don't think you'll see this massive collection in the thrift stores very much, but you never can tell. I'm pretty sure it didn't come from a tire store though.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas
The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

Used Music-Track Twenty Four


I can't believe that I made it this far into the compilation without including a version of Rudolph. I'm going to remedy that situation tonight with The Lennon Sisters-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. I tried to share out a Lennon Sisters LP last year, only to discover that their Christmas stuff is available from their website on CD. I hope they'll forgive me for sharing this single track with you. You should go buy one of their Christmas CDs if you really like this one track. I grabbed this from Two Sides Of Christmas (Dot for The E.F. McDonald Company DPR 5054, 1966). I think this was a promotional thing that companies would buy in bulk from E.F. MacDonald, then pass out to their customers or clients. There are several albums out there that say E.F. MacDonald on the back of them. This is also a pretty rare label to see a compilation from. I don't think I've seen any others at all, and I certainly haven't shared a track from any others.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas

Christmas Vacation


Are you cold enough for you yet this winter? It's in the high 70's here in Florida, and we're lovin' it! If you need a little bit of tropical Christmas cheer, go The Surfers-Christmas From Hawaii (HiFi R410, 1959). They're guaranteed to warm you right up and make you feel like you're relaxing on a beach with a pina colada in one hand and a pink Christmas tree in the other. Or something like that... This is a rerun from 2005 and 2006, so you may have it already. But if not, don't miss it!

Update (13 Oct 08): This one is now available as a legal download! So go get it! Here's a link to Amazon, but it's also available elsewhere.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 20


Another real treat for you tonight on 26 Days Of Christmas. Everybody knows the name Jimmy Boyd, but I've got a great track that most of you have never heard. It was the flip side of a song that some of you may have heard (but not many), I Saw Mommy Do The Mambo (With You Know Who), which is really a great track, but I wanted something a little more obscure. This song is a sort of cross between white-boy blues and a public service announcement. You'll see what I mean when you download Jimmy Boyd With Mitch Miller And His Orchestra-Santa Claus Blues (Columbia 4-40365). There's a copy of this on a 10" 78 with a picture sleeve up on eBay right now, but it's a little expensive. Great cover art, though! Why hasn't anyone put together a CD of Jimmy's Christmas sides? There look to be more than enough for a decent collection. Oh, this jukebox title strip fell out of the sleeve when I went to scan the record. I don't think it's original, but I thought it was kinda cool.


Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World
Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song

Christmas Disco Revenge


You folks are so, so lucky. You don't know how close you came to getting this as the next track on 26 Days Of Christmas. But I got the thinking about it, imagining that you might actually want to listen to that collection once in a while, and this just wouldn't fit in at all. I mean, it's filled with happy Christmas songs from days gone by, and then I drop in a 5 minute thumping disco track. Yeah, that would go over like a lead balloon. So I decided to just throw this one up all by itself. It's not too bad, really, for disco. I guess because it's early disco, not the later stuff. Go grab a copy of Moonlion-The Little Drummer Boy-Disco Version (Pickwick International Productions 7" 45 RPM PDJ-6513, 1975). Now go shake your groove thang.

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 19


A short blast of cool, cool kiddie music tonight for 26 Days Of Christmas. I don't know what attracted me to this one. Maybe it was a song title I didn't recognize, I don't know. Anyhow, it's a nice little song, even if it is short. Please download tonight's installment, well, actually the installment you should have gotten several days ago, Cricketone Chorus & Orchestra-The Snowflake Song (Cricket CX-19). Dig it!

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells
The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World

Good And Bad


Which record would you rather have in your collection? The one above or the one below? If you're like me, and you make the mistake of judging a record by it's cover, you'd buy the one below 99 out of 100 times. Well, last year I bought the one below, and I was disappointed. Not only was the music bland and boring, the record was work out and I got terrible sound off of it. I shared it out last year, but I promised a newer, cleaner, stereo-er copy, and today I make good on that promise. But you are going to have to live with the uglier cover, because that's the way it comes. You can still download the version from the great cover, but it comes with poor music. The ugly cover is better sounding versions of the same music, but that cover... OK, I'll shut up now. Just go download The John McCarthy Chorale-The Greatest Songs of Christmas (RCA Music Service R114285, 1973). They re-sequenced it, too. This seems to have been a record that was only marketed through RCA's record club, so they are pretty few and far between. It's hard to believe that this is the same John McCarthy who was responsible for so many of those great Line Material titles. I guess you never can tell.

Used Music-Track Twenty Three


When needle first hit groove on tonight's track, I thought I was playing the wrong record. Where did those trumpets come from, and what were they doing on a Christmas record? But they turned out to be just another part of this track. This is perhaps the most interesting arrangement of this song I've ever heard. Perhaps I'm just still stunned from those horns, but I can't think of any other version that's this different. Well, maybe it's not that out there, but it's out there. I don't know who the orchestra is here, as they weren't credited on the LP, but I'm guessing maybe Sid Ramin, since he's backed them elsewhere. (Yep, his name is listed on the CD reissue of the original Ames Brothers LP.) Enough talk, go download the Ames Brothers-Good King Wenceslas from The Joy Of Christmas, Volume II (RCA Victor for ACME Markets PRM-230-A, 1966). I shared a doodle form this LP back in July, if you want to have a look-see.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest
Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Santa, Martians, Etc


Just in case Christmas isn't surreal enough, what with flying reindeer, talking snowmen, and various ghosts, here's a little something to push it right over the edge. This is the audio version of the great movie Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. It's something that you need to hear to believe. And here is your chance. Go download Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (Golden Records SLP 170). It's not just the talk, either. You get the great theme song by Milton DeLugg here, too. That alone is worth the price of admission. For more info about this record, you can read my posts from 2005 and 2006, too.

Avon Calls Twice

I almost forgot about this other Avon share from last year. No random corporate-speak here, though. But you do get some great music conducted by the great Nelson Riddle! So give a listen to Nelson Riddle Orchestra And Chorus-Avon Wishes You A Happy Holiday And A Joyous New Year (Avon AV 10170, 1970). Enjoy!

UPDATE: It would appear you can download this music from iTunes now, so no more share. There's been some discussion that my rip is what iTunes has for download, but more on that later...

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Avon Calling!


What? You still need some more corporate Christmas music? I've already brought you GM, Snap-On, Ford, Kenyon-Eckhardt, Donnelly Outdoor, and who knows what else... OK, here's a rerun from 2005 and 2006, a little 10" record from Avon that features one side of generic Christmas music, and a second side that gives you all sorts of tips on how to increase your sales during the holiday season. And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown! Go download Avon Campaign 21 (Avon, 1968).

All The Way From Australia


I think perhaps I've been remiss in not re-sharing this one with you before now. This is one of my favorite shares every year. Not only does it have great music, it has a great story. The scan you see above is of an Australian pressing of the album that somehow made it to the USA. I found it and recorded it. Later I was told that it's the same music as the Living Voices LP shown below. So I could have gotten this all along, but didn't. Would I have paid a lot of attention to the LP below if I didn't know the connection the one above? Probably not. But I should. I should pay attention to every Christmas record I find, because you never know what's in those grooves. But I'm blathering. If you don't already have it, go download Christmas Surprises From The Ralph Hunter Choir (RCA of Australia SL10911, 1959) or, if you prefer, Living Voices Sing Christmas Music (RCA Camden CAS 725, 1962). Both of those links go to the same place, so don't think you're going to get two recordings here. That's my whole point, they are the same thing! For more info, go read my posts from 2005 and 2006. And don't forget to read the comments, that's where the real interesting info shows up.

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 18


Less than one week until Christmas! Can you believe it? I can't. There is so much more I wanted to share here on the blog this year, but I'm just not going to make it. Not just music, but pictures and covers and what-not. Well, I suppose there is always next year. Tonight you get a track that I originally rejected for the 26 Days Of Christmas collection, but when it popped up earlier on random play, I decided maybe I liked it after all. There's some interesting interplay between the organ and the piano. If you don't like it at first, give it another listen and see if it grows on you. It might help if you sing the lyrics about a pumpkinhead, that makes it better when I hear it. This is The Roy-Cliffs-Marshmallow World (Gateway 164).

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus
The William Dawson Chorus-Merry Are The Bells

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXX-Christmas 2007


I stumbled across this great doodle on the back of Chicago Symphony Orchestra-Fritz Reiner, Conductor-Tchaikovsky-Excerpts From The Nutcracker, Op. 71 (RCA Victor Red Seal LM-2328, 1960). I don't often find doodles on the back of classical releases, so it's rare that I even look. But this one has a great cover, which I may share with you someday, so I picked it up. And there was this great doodle of the Sugarplum Fairy herself. Bonus!

Double Flexible Christmas


This the third flexi-disc I've brought to you this year, and it's more interesting than the last. This one is clear, and double sided! I don't know that I've seen many two sided flexi-discs. They packed 13 minutes of music onto this baby, which is pretty meaty for one of these. I'm picturing a bunch of UAW members being plucked off the assembly line to sing in this chorus, but that's probably not the case. Not enough basso-profundo for that. Please download and give a listen to Songs Of Christmas By The General Motors Chorus (Eva-Tone 7" 33 RPM Clear Flexi Disc). I love how the track titles for the songs on side two are printed in reverse. Oh, and how the word employees is spelled 'employes'. That's why Quality was job 1 over at Ford. There was a similar flexi shared out in the forums over at FaLaLaLaLa.com last year, but it's long gone and I can't find my copy. This one may be different because it has 9 tracks, and that one was described as having 10. I won't know for sure until I can find my download of that from last year.

Flexible Christmas


This is the second Christmas flexi-disc I've shared with you this season. I didn't have this one when I shared the first, or I would have saved them up and posted them together. This one came to you as "A Holiday Wish From Pizza Hut And Your Favorite Radio Station". The singer sounds a little like John Denver, but isn't. See if you can eat a whole large deep-dish meat lover's and download Walt Woodward-A Children's Christmas (Eva-Tone Red 6" 33 RPM Flexidisc 1120785XS, 1978). Just the one track on there, I'm afraid, but what do you expect for free? Google is surprisingly quiet on this one. Anybody remember this from '78?

See The Light


Sometime last year, I shared an EP of songs from The Lighthouse Singers. It was four nice songs, sung by a chorus of students with occasional piano accompaniment. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across the full LP at a thrift store in Holly Hill, Florida! It's on the Vik subsidiary of RCA Victor, and those LPs seem to be rare as hen's teeth for some reason. So 2/5 of this share is a rerun from last year, but 60% of it is new. I'm sure you will enjoy Christmas Carols By The Lighthouse Singers (Vik SPV-2).

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Thermonuclear Family

I don't know what that post title is supposed to mean. I couldn't come up with something cute in a hurry, and I got hung up on the nuclear family idea, and out popped thermonuclear. Which is now making me think of Weird Al's Christmas At Ground Zero. And that is about as far removed from the music on this record as you're going to get without involving Trent Reznor somehow. OK, I'm rambling. Let me just throw this share from last year up again, and tell you that it's got it's high points and it's low points. OK? Go download Henri Rene-Home For Christmas, A Joyous Evening Of Yuletide Songs (RCA Victor CSP-109, 1964). I need to get more sleep... (And what's the deal with RCA giving this a Columbia-style catalog number? That's only a little confusing.)

101 Covers


The first rerun for tonight is the record from inside the great cover shown above. The music has been released umpteen times, the three covers I'm showing here are just a representation of the different ones that have been found over the years. I'm sure that 101 in the title refers to the number of releases, not the actual number of strings involved in the recording. And 101 isn't divisible by six, so how did they add up to 101 strings? I suppose some instruments don't have six strings, so my logic is flawed, but you get my point. Just ignore me and go download 101 Strings-Christmas Moods (Somerset SF-71000, 1964). It's the sort of thing you'll either love or hate. There is no middle ground here. For more info, you can read my witty comments from either 2005 or 2006 on this one.

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 17


It's not all pop music or kiddie tracks here on the 26 Days of Christmas. I need to throw in a little bit of choral stuff to keep you on your toes, and for the fourth or fifth time this season, I'm sharing something from an album called Sound(s) Of Christmas. I'm not sure what the story behind this 7" EP is, but I bought it a couple of weeks ago at Bananas. I think SESAC was some sort of music library, providing music for various uses, and this was a sample of their Christmas repertoire. I could be way off, but I'm hoping it's something close to that. Wait, looks like maybe they're analogous to ASCAP or BMI. Anyhow, I chose this track just for the name, and it turned out to be pretty good. Please download and enjoy The William Dawson Chorale-Merry Are The Bells from Sounds Of Christmas (SESAC Recordings AD-84).

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions
Molly Bee-Willy Claus

Go USA-Part Seven


I've finally got the long-awaited part seven of my military tribute I started last Sunday. Took me a while to get this last LP ready to go. I wanted to cut side 2 into tracks, but they run together too much for me to get clean edit points in there. So you're going to have to listen to Ray Conniff, His Orchestra And Chorus, in one long, 25 minute chunk. I hope you don't mind. I was able to cut side one into songs and chatter bits, so you can pick out your favorite Connie Smith, Sonny James and Jordanaire songs. All this great music comes to you courtesy of The United States Air Force and their LP An Old Fashioned Christmas (USAF, 1973). I really enjoyed this one, but then I've liked all of them. Oh, there're some big Nashville session names on side one, including Lightnin' Chance and Charlie McCoy. I don't know what to make of the credit to Staff Sergeant Les Paul as Technical Assistant. Couldn't be...

Used Music-Track Twenty Two


You knew that sooner or later I had to pull a track from the greatest series of compilations ever made (maybe...). That's right, here's a track from Great Songs Of Christmas, the long-running series that many families would make a special trip each year to their Goodyear tire dealer to purchase. I've seen websites where folks actually sell copies of these records, often charging exorbitant amounts for copies of the entire series. Many of the tracks are actually available on CD now, so I'm afraid I can't share the series with you. But tonight you get one of my favorite tracks from Volume Five. Please download and enjoy Maurice Chevalier-Jolly Old St. Nicholas from Great Songs Of Christmas-Volume Five (Columbia Special Products For Goodyear CSP 238S, 1965).

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Les Brown-We Wish You The Merriest

Not Missing Any More


The album cover you see above was headed for my Missing Music file until I happened to check Cheerful Earful this morning, a new sharity site run by friend-of-the-blog Inkydog. There was a beautifully restored image of this record, accompanied by a download link where you could get the whole thing. So now I get to hear a record that I've been looking for for a while now. I was to the point that I was ripping Hugo & Luigi tracks off of RCA compilations I've got, just to see if I could put the whole album together, and now I don't have to do that. So head on over there and get your copy of Hugo & Luigi With Their Children's Chorus-The Sound Of Children At Christmas (RCA Victor LSP-2254, 1960). I started out my Christmas In July celebration with the RCA tag from this album last year, in case you're wondering where you've seen that bit of the record before...

Sunset-18 Dec 07


Did anybody else notice the sunset this evening? Just curious...

Monday, December 17, 2007

A Jewish Christmas?


No, I'm not sure what a Jewish Christmas is either. But I found this promotional EP that came from the album recently, and I decided to scan it and point you to FaLaLaLaLa.com where you can download the whole album Have A Jewish Christmas? (Tower ST-5081). I guess they try to push anything and everything in the record business, so it really shouldn't come as any surprise that someone tried to get this stuff played on the radio. They've even marked the A-side loud and clear so you don't go and play the wrong cut on the radio. How nice. For the search engines, this is Tower PRO 4443 and PRO 4444. Now go get it!

Used Music-Track Twenty One

A great track for Used Music this evening from an LP that also spawned a great track on last year's collection. There are a few versions of this song floating around, but this has always been my favorite. Please download Les Brown And His Band Of Renown-We Wish You The Merriest from A Very Merry Christmas To All (Columbia Special Products for Acme Markets CSP 159, 1964). Good stuff, good stuff.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Ed Kinney-The Twelve Days Of Christmas