No, Not R2-D2

So, back during Christmas in July, I shared a track by Kenny Baker, making some joke about R2-D2 made a Christmas record (or at least one that didn't feature Meco).  Well, then earlier this season, I shared a collection that had a Christmas song by Mr. Baker, probably dating from some time in the early to mid-50s.  Well, now I've got a whole album of Christmas music sung by Mr. Baker, and I'm sharing it with you.  When I found this earlier this year, I thought I'd found two Christmas LPs by Kenny, but upon close examination, they were different releases of the same music.  The one down there at the bottom of this post seems to be something he reissued on his own private label sometime after the one up top.  I don't have any dates on the second one, so if you have any idea, lemme know.  Turns out one of the sleeves had the wrong record in it, anyway, so it's a good thing they both featured the same tunes.  This is Kenny Baker-Carols For Christmas From Kenny Baker (International Records LP 5125 (AKA Christmas Carols From Kenny Baker-Kenart LP KA-6), Mono, 1958).

1. O Holy Night
2. Joy To The World
3. Medley-It Came Upon A Midnight Clear and Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
4. Angels We Have Heard On High
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. The First Noel
7. Good King Wenceslas
8. Silent Night
9. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night
10. Medley-Away In A Manger and O Come All Ye Faithful
11. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
12. White Christmas
13. Deck The Halls and Carol Of The Shepherds
14. Jingle Bells

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July 2008

Here's yet another compilation made from the best of the Christmas in July shares, this time from 2008.  There's some great stuff on here, if I do say so myself.  This is about the only compilation I put together anymore, since I really prefer to share out entire albums, but it's still a lot of fun.  If you haven't downloaded this in years past, you really should get it now.  This is The Best From Ernie (Not Bert)'s Christmas In July 2008-Because It's Hot Out There (Ernie(Not Bert), 2008).  The links will take you to the day when I originally shared out the track, and many of them can still be downloaded there.  Links to the actual collection are down at the bottom.

01. Sauter-Finegan & Their Orchestra-Sleighride
02. Homer & Jethro With June Carter-Baby, It’s Cold Outside
03. Ted Heath & His Music-Alpine Boogie
04. The Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra-Blue Christmas
05. The Real Thing Steel Band-Hallelujah Chorus
06. Brass Of The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra-Deck The Hall
07. Ray Conniff & The Singers-I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing
08. The San Sebastian Strings With Rod McKuen & Anita Kerr-And Everyday Was Christmas
09. Erwin Halletz & His Orchestra-Hungarian Sleigh Ride
10. Greg & Steve-Jingle Bell Rock
11. Pearl Bailey-Jingle Bells Cha Cha Cha
12. Joe Cain & His Orchestra-I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm Cha Cha Cha
13. Ken Griffin-Kringle’s Jingle
14. David Whitehall & His Orchestra-Holiday Parade
15. The Sun Tones-The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot
16. The Four Rascals-I’ll Be Home For Christmas
17. The Pipes And Drums Of The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards-The Little Drummer Boy
18. John Graas-Land Of Broken Toys
19. Jack Fina-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
20. Edmundo Ros & His Orchestra-The Skater’s Waltz
21. The Johnny Mann Singers-Snow
22. The Gene Lowell Chorus-Winter Song
23. Ahmad Jamal-Snow Fall
24. Georgia Gibbs-Looks Like A Cold Cold Winter
25. Joe “Fingers” Carr-Snow Deer Rag
26. Walter Carlos-Three Dances From Nutcracker Suite
27. Tomita-Snowflakes Are Dancing
28. The Modern Jazz Quartet-Variations On A Christmas Theme
29. The Chad Mitchell Trio-The Virgin Mary
30. Jack Conner-What Child Is This
31. Dennis Farnon & His Orchestra-Winter Wonderland
32. Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra-Auld Lang Syne

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Lynn Returns

Pretty much every year since 2005, I share out my Lynn Anderson Christmas record right after I share my Buck Owens and Susan Raye Christmas record, and this year is no different.  However, this year I have a newly remastered copy of the Lynn Anderson record, so I'm sure you're going to enjoy that.  It sounds really nice, and even the cover scan looks better.  So don't delay, go download a copy of Lynn Anderson-The Christmas Album (Columbia C 30957, 1971, Stereo).

1. Ding-A-Ling The Christmas Bell
2. Jingle Bell Rock
3. The Spirit Of Christmas
4. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Soon It Will Be Christmas Day
6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
7. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
8. Mr. Mistletoe
9. A Whistle And A Whisker Away
10. Frosty The Snowman
11. Don't Wish Me Merry Christmas

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Owens & Raye, Inc

A sadly overlooked album in the Buck Owens catalog, this was his third Christmas LP, this time featuring Susan Raye instead of the Buckaroos.  I think this is made up entirely of songs that were already found on his two earlier Christmas records, but at least they are new versions featuring his discovery, Susan Raye.  I don't know the whole story of Buck and Susan, but there's got to be some interesting stuff in there.  I've been sharing this since 2005, waiting each year for it to see the light of CD, but to no avail.  So that means you're still allowed to download Buck Owens & Susan Raye-Merry Christmas From Buck Owens & Susan Raye (Capitol ST-837, Stereo, 1971).

1. One Of Everything You Got
2. Home On Christmas Day
3. All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy
4. A Very Merry Christmas
5. It's Not What You Give
6. Good Old Fashioned Country Christmas
7. Christmas Isn't Christmas Without You
8. Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy
9. Santa's Gonna Come In A Stagecoach
10. Tomorrow Is Christmas Day

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Water Damaged Westminster

If you enjoyed my recent share of the Randolph Singers, I think you'll enjoy this record by the unknown Westminster Choraleers.  I'd never heard of them, but I'll pick up just about any Christmas record and give it a listen, especially on certain labels, Westminster included.  I was not disappointed, and I don't think you will be either.  Unfortunately, this record suffered some water damage at some point in the past 54 years.  The music didn't suffer to my ears, but you'll see the back and one of the labels are pretty rough looking.  Like I said, I'll buy just about any Christmas record, but this one was a hard call.  But you'll find it was worth it.  Please download Westminster Choraleers-Christmas At Home-Let's All Sing Carols (Westminster WP 6027, Mono, 1956).

1. Silent Night
2. Deck The Hall
3. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
5. Angels We Have Heard On High
6. Good King Wenceslas
7. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
8. O Christmas Tree
9. In Dulci Jubilo
10. Adeste Fideles
11. Away In A Manger
12. Joy To The World!
13. The First Nowell
14. O Sanctissima
15. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
16. The Holly And The Ivy
17. This Day Is Born Emmanuel
18. Good Christian Men, Rejoice

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Ol' Baldy

I spotted one of my local bald eagles on the cell tower across the street from work today. I'd been seeing him fly around for the past couple of days, often only a few feet above my head, but I never had my camera handy. Today, I saw him perched up high on this tower, so I had time to grab the camera and squeeze off a few shots. It's not much of a picture, but at least I got him.

The Clanging Chimes Of Doom

Some more organ and chimes for you here, probably more than you really want.  Only half of this record is actually Christmas music, the other side being non-seasonal hymns.  Seems that this LP was created by combining two earlier 10" LPs.  I guess that was pretty common practice at Mercury in the early days.  Fans of organ Christmas will enjoy this, I'm sure, but the rest of you, not so much.   It's not going to hurt you if you download it, though.  Trust me, I've got plenty of it, and I haven't died yet.  This is Charles R. Cronham-Ring Out Christmas Bells-Hymns Of Faith, Hope And Joy (Mercury MG 20001, Mono, 1951).

1. Joy To The World-It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
2. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. Hark The Herald Angels Sing-Away In A Manger
4. Oh, Come All Ye Faithful
5. White Christmas
6. Silent Night
7. The Church's One Foundation
8. Faith Of Our Fathers
9. Abide With Me
10. Onward Christian Soldiers
11. Fairest Lord Jesus
12. Rock Of Ages
13. In The Hour Of Trial
14. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
15. My Faith Looks Up To Thee
16. I Love To Tell The Story
17. I Need Thee Every Hour
18. All Hail The Power Of Jesus

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(Even though it shows Ring Out Christmas Bells on the label, it wasn't there. I looked twice.  And there was some discrepancy about A and B sides.  The jacket had the tracks in one order, and the vinyl labels said something else.  I think I went with the sleeve.)

More Hi-Fi

Here's another old share that promises the Christmas tunes are in Hi-Fi.  You'll have to download it and see just how hi the fi is on this one, I'm not going to tell you.  So go get Hank Sylvern-Christmas In Hi-Fi: Chimes, Bells And Organ (ABC-Paramount ABC-146, Mono, 1956).

1. Joy To The World
2. Away In A Manger
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. The First Noel
5. Deck The Hall
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
9. Jingle Bells
10. The Cherry Tree Carol
11. O Come, All Ye Faithful
12. Silent Night

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Hi-Fi Is In The Ear Of The Beholder

This is one that hasn't been in circulation on the blog since I first shared it back in 2007.  I'm just a sucker for anything that includes Hi-Fi in the name, so naturally, I had to share out this one. Now that I'm looking at it and thinking, I seem to remember finding another cover for it at some point in the past three years, but I have no idea what I did with it.  Usually I set stuff like that aside, so I can scan it and share it later on, but I don't know what I did with this one.  Oh, well, it's not important.  What is important is that you download and give a listen to Ramona Gerhard-Christmas In Hi-Fi With Ramona Gerhard On The World's Largest Theater Organ (Soma MG1202).


1. Medley: Silent Night, O Tannenbaum, We Three Kings, Deck The Halls With Holly
2. Ave Maria
3. Christmas Song
4. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
5. Medley: O' Little Town Of Bethlehem, Jolly Old St. Nicholas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, We Wish You A Merry Christmas
6. White Christmas
7. Sleigh Ride
8. Noel, Noel

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Strike Up The Band

This was the other half of my 2007 opening salvo of shares.  You only get half an album, but what a half.  The Salvation Army put this band together in 1967, and they became much more popular than one might imagine.  I think this was their only US release, although they put out more LPs and singles in the UK and Australia.  Heaven knows how I stumbled across a copy, but I did, and I'm sharing it with you.  Please download yourself a copy of the A side of  The Joy Strings-Well Seasoned (Epic BN 26321, Stereo, 1967)

1. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
2. Silent Night, Holy Night
3. The Little King Jesus
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
5. Away In A Manger
6. Mary's Little Boy Child
7. Do You Hear What I Hear?
8. The Holly And The Ivy

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Going, Going

One half of my opening sharity day in 2007, this is a curious promotional record from Ford.  You've heard of the pre-fab four, AKA The Monkees,  well, they were Peter, Paul And Mary compared to this group.  I guess Ford sent them around the country singing the praises of new Mustangs and Rancheros and what not.  They released a couple of promo albums, including this one Christmas release.  It's very much a piece of it's time, and if 1968 is your thing, then this might be for you.  Please enjoy The Going Thing-Christmas 1968 With The Going Thing (Private Pressing for Ford XCSV-141473, One-sided, Stereo, 1968).

1. Introduction by John Naughton
2. The Christmas Song
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
4. My Christmas Tree
5. Silent Night
6. The Christmas Waltz

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Body Spray?

I seem to be running dangerously low on new shares. I've still got plenty of stuff to go, I just need to work to get the scans mated up with the MP3s, then package them up into sharable ZIP files.  Good thing the weekend is fast approaching.  Thankfully, I'm not out yet.  This record is a nice little Christmas story about a kid who dreams big for Christmas.  I first heard the story as told by Bing Crosby, even recorded it one year to share, only to discover it's on CD.  So when I found this one, I was excited.  It looks to have once been paired with a book, but the book is long gone.  Other than that, I couldn't find much information about it at all on the internet.  Perhaps one of you will know something about it, if so, please leave me a comment.  For your downloading pleasure tonight, I present An Axe, An Apple And A Buckskin Jacket (Columbia Book & Record Library CC 24508, Stereo).

1. The Carillon Singers-How Lovely Is Christmas
2. Frank Luther-An Axe, An Apple, And A Buckskin Jacket-Part 1
3. Frank Luther With Darrell Sandeen, Tom Spiro, Eric Carlson And The Carillon Singers-An Axe, An Apple, And A Buckskin Jacket
4. Frank Luther-An Axe, An Apple, And A Buckskin Jacket-Part 2
5. Frank Luther-An Axe, An Apple, And A Buckskin Jacket-Part 3
6. Frank Luther With Darrell Sandeen, Tom Spiro, Eric Carlson And The Carillon Singers-Johnny Appleseed
7. Frank Luther-An Axe, An Apple, And A Buckskin Jacket-Part 4
8. Frank Luther With Darrell Sandeen, Tom Spiro, Eric Carlson And The Carillon Singers-Incident At Roger's Creek
9. Frank Luther-An Axe, An Apple, And A Buckskin Jacket-Part 5
10. Frank Luther With Darrell Sandeen, Tom Spiro, Eric Carlson And The Carillon Singers-How Lovely Is Christmas (Reprise)

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The Other Luboff

As I mentioned a couple hours ago, there's another Luboff LP that hasn't been on CD yet.  It's the soundtrack to a 1968 TV special.  You can read all about it on my original post from 2007, or you can just download it and give it a listen.  This is The Norman Luboff Choir-The Night Before Christmas (Elba Productions, Stereo, 1968).

1. Savory Serenade
2. Wintertime
3. Lullaby Time
4. The Night Before Christmas
5. The Morning Of Christmas

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This is a sticker that was on the plastic wrap before I opened the LP. I didn't want to lose it forever, so I made sure to scan it. Future scholars will thank me.

10" Of Norman

How can you not love The Norman Luboff Choir?  With some of the best voices in the business, they ruled the choir singing portion of the recording business in the late fifties and early sixties.  And I have here for you tonight their earliest Christmas recording, a 10" dating back to 1953.  As near as I can tell, they've never put this out on CD, although they did put some of the tracks on a later 10" in 1955.  Sometime after that, they recorded an all-new collection for a 12" release, also on Columbia, then another 12" on RCA, and eventually a soundtrack that you can also find around here somewhere...  So if you want a choir in your Christmas, this is a good choice.  Please be my guest and download The Norman Luboff Choir-Christmas Carols By The Norman Luboff Choir (Columbia 10" CL 6272, Mono, 1953).

1. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
2. Joy To The World
3. O Come Little Children
4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
5. The Wassail Song
6. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
7. Good King Wenceslas
8. Angels We Have Heard On High
9. Silent Night, Holy Night
10. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
11. The First Nowell
12. I Saw Three Ships
13. Away In A Manger
14. Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep
15. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
16. Wassail, Wassail All Over The Town
17. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
18. O Come, All Ye Faithful

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Les (Not Paul)

Somebody left a nice comment recently on my original mono post of this LP from 2006, asking about possibly resharing it.  Well, I'm not gonna reshare that old mono copy, but I'm happy to bring you this stereo one that I started sharing sometime between then and now.  It's a nice album, full of all sorts of things you don't expect when you think of Lester Lanin.  At least I don't think of Lester Lanin that way, you may have a different impression of him... Anyhow, this is a really great LP, more than worth the time it takes to download.  So hop to it and get Lester Lanin And His Orchestra-Christmas Dance Party (Epic BN 547, Stereo, 1959).

1. Jingle Bells
2. White Christmas; I'll Be Home For Christmas; Home For The Holidays; Happy Holiday
3. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies
4. Here Comes Santa Claus; Frosty The Snowman
5. Silver Bells; Oh, Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum); We Wish You A Merry Christmas
6. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
8. Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly; The Wassail Song; Good King Wenceslas
9. Christmas Night In Harlem
10. The Christmas Song; I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day; Christmas In Killarney
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Sleigh Ride
13. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; Auld Lang Syne; A Hot Time In The Old Time Tonight

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Richmond III

This is the third in today's collection of Christmas releases from the Richmond subsidiary of the London record label.  I think I like this one the best of the three I've shared, but they all have their merits.  Let's see, I first shared a mono copy of this one with you in 2006, following up later with this stereo copy.  I think the change to stereo really improved the sound of this record.  Please download Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra-Music For A Merry Christmas (Richmond S 30056, 1959).

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
2. Silent Night
3. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
4. Once In Royal David's City
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Alpine Sleigh-Ride
7. Good Christian Men Rejoice
8. Away In A Manger
9. The First Nowell
10. Greensleeves
11. White Christmas
12. The Skater's Waltz

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Richmond II

I'm gonna go ahead and share out some more stuff from the Richmond division of London records now.  I think I first brought you this in 2005, strictly on the strength of that great cover.  Turned out the music wasn't too bad, so I was glad that I recorded it.  I think you'll enjoy it, too.  This is Cyril Stapleton And His Orchestra With Children's Chorus-Children's Christmas Album (Richmond S 30057, Stereo).

1. Christmas Alphabet
2. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
3. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
4. Christmas Island
5. White Christmas
6. I Saw Three Ships
7. Once In Royal David's City
8. Greensleeves
9. The Holly And They Ivy
10. Silent Night

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America?

I don't normally like to share out records credited solely to Chorus & Orchestra.  Those guys put out so many records that no one much cares about them anymore.  But with a great cover like this, how could I resist?  I first shared a picture of that great Santa Claus with you back in July of 2005, not many months after the blog had started, and well before I ever shared out my first Christmas record.  I don't think I had a stereo copy of the record at the time, and I doubt if I gave much thought to ever sharing it.  But this year, it caught my eye at some point, and I got it ripped for you, and I've giving it to you tonight.  I hope you get as big a kick out of it as I did.  The title is Christmas In America Sing-Along, but listen to the accent in those voices.  They are clearly not Americans singing.  Is it German?  Something from Northern Europe, perhaps?  It's not Boston or New York or even California, I can assure you of that.  So give this a listen and tell me where you think it's from.  Surely this is repackaged or licensed from somewhere else, London had many places to pull these recordings from, I just don't know why they would put such a title on it.  Anyhow, please download and give a listen to Chorus And Orchestra-Christmas In America Sing-Along (Richmond (London) S 30104, Stereo, 1961).

1. Joy To The World
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
4. The First Noel
5. Silent Night
6. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
7. The Little Drummer Boy
8. Jingle Bells
9. I'll Be Home For Christmas
10. Winter Wonderland
11. White Christmas
12. Silver Bells

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Good Man

I need to get at least one new share up today, and I think it's going to be this budget label effort by Al Goodman.  I think I was attracted to this record by the photo of Santa there, and maybe the great Stereophonic Record banner across the top.  Who couldn't resist that?  Anyhow, this is probably not the worst record I will bring you this month, but neither is it the worst.  Just go ahead and give it a listen, it won't hurt.  This is Al Goodman-Christmas Sing-A-Long With Al Goodman (Pirouette FM-39, Stereo).

1. Deck The Hall
2. The First Noel
3. Jingle Bells
4. White Christmas
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6. Go Tell It On The Mountain
7. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
8. Joy To The World
9. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
10. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
11. O Come All Ye Faithful
12. Good King Wenceslas
13. O Christmas Tree
14. I Saw Three Ships
15. The Christmas Hymn (Echo Song)
16. Hail To Christmas

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Another New Lens

I broke down and bought another new lens last week. It showed up yesterday, but today was the first chance I had to shoot some pictures through it. These are the Christmas lights strung up in front of a desk at work. It's a long macro lens, so it lets me really get in tight on an object, and it throws everything behind the focal point out of focus and you get those wonderful diffuse colors in the background. I think that's called bokeh, but don't me how to pronounce it. I shot these in about five minutes after work tonight, just goofing around, and I didn't even crop them any. I love being able to shoot something so closely.  Imagine what I can do once I learn the ins and outs of this lens!

Ralph, Again

Well, I guess it's high time I got back to posting some Christmas music around here.  I'm sure you all downloaded and enjoyed that Grandma Moses Christmas record from last night by now, but the fact that my hits have gone down precipitously since this time yesterday tell me that I need to get busy.  That Grandma Moses featured some tracks from The Ralph Hunter Choir, but nothing that comes from this album, so you can download this without fear.  There may be a couple of the same songs, but they're different recordings.  This one is in stereo, and it's some of the best choir recordings I share out on this blog.  No lie.  I've been sharing it since that magical year of 2005, but I've remastered it at least once since then when I found a nicer US issue than the original Australian copy I shared out the first time around.  If you've never heard this, you absolutely have to download The Ralph Hunter Choir-Christmas Surprises From The Ralph Hunter Choir (RCA Victor LSP-2063, Stereo, 1959).  Somebody at RCA must have loved this so much, they decided to re-issue it a few years later as a completely different group, so you may know this as Living Voices-Living Voices Sing Christmas Music (RCA Camden CAS 725, Stereo, 1962), that's the cover you can see way down at the bottom.  Actually, the story goes that there was a falling out between Ralph Hunter and RCA, and after he left the label, they released his music under the generic Living Voices name.  Too bad.  This is good stuff.

1. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
2. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
3. Jingle Bells
4. Winter Wonderland
5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
6. White Christmas
7. Wassail Song
8. Carol Medley: Joy To The World; God Rest ye Merry, Gentlemen; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. The First Noel
10. Indian Christmas Carol
11. Latin Lullaby (Cancion De Cuna)
12. Silent Night

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Christmas With Granny

What you're looking at here is one of the things I'm most proud to be bringing you this year.  It's been really tough to find.  I've never seen it in a thrift store or a record store.  I watched eBay for a while, watching copies of it go for more than I wanted to spend.  Then, two years ago, two copies showed up on eBay, one by itself, one in a small lot of records.  I put in a small bid on both.  And somehow, I wound up with both.  I had it recorded but never got the chance to scan the covers in 2008.  2009 came and I lost my recording in the HD crash.  This year I decided the time had come, so I recorded it, cut it into tracks, scanned the whole thing, including all the pages inside the gatefold, and here it is.  Turns out that the actual bits featuring Grandma Moses herself are quite short, and the music that makes up the remainder of the recording is not too memorable itself.  But it's one of those things that's never been on CD, and as near as I can tell, was only shared out on the internet once for a short period of time before they pulled it.  So I'm very proud to give you something that I bet very few of you have heard before.  This is Christmas With Grandma Moses (RCA Victor LOP-1009, Mono, 1958).  Enjoy!

1. Alec Templeton's Music Boxes-One-Horse Open Sleigh
2. Grandma Moses-One-Horse Open Sleigh
3. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Jingle Bells
4. Grandma Moses-Carolers
5. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Angels We Have Heard On High
6. The Ralph Hunter Choir-I Saw Three Ships
7. The Ralph Hunter Choir-We Wish You A Merry Christmas
8. Alec Templeton's Music Boxes-Sweetest Story Ever Told
9. Grandma Moses-Father's Violin
10. Skitch Henderson, Hausmusik-Blue Tail Fly; Pop Goes The Weasel; Stephen Foster Melody
11. Grandma Moses-Early Songs
12. Skitch Henderson-John Brown;s Body; Darling Nellie Gray
13. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Good Christian Men Rejoice
14. The Ralph Hunter Choir-The First Noel
15. The Ralph Hunter Choir-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
16. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Oh! Little Town Of Bethlehem
17. Alec Templeton's Music Boxes-White Wings
18. Grandma Moses-On Painting Snow Scenes
19. Skitch Henderson, Hausmusik-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; Lovely Evening; Over The Hills To Grandmother's House
20. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Over The Hills To Grandmother's House
21. Grandma Moses & Alec Templeton's Music Boxes-Silent Night
22. The Ralph Hunter Choir-Silent Night
23. Grandma Moses & Alec Templeton's Music Boxes-Silent Night (Reprise)

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Couple notes-I cut this up into tracks as I felt best. The LP itself is only divided up into a few tracks, everything kind of runs together. In a couple places, there was no good place to cut it, but I always tried to give priority to Grandma Moses. Probably the best way to listen to this is to cue it all up in order and play it through. The Ralph Hunter Choir stuff seems to have been recorded specifically for this LP, it's not on their Christmas LP. The Skitch Henderson stuff seems unique, too. (His Christmas album came out on Columbia, not RCA.) I have no idea what the Hausmusik they've attached to his name means. I think the Alec Templeton Music Box stuff is from an earlier LP, but I couldn't locate one by that name. The LP credits someone named William Meyhoefer, Boy Soprano, but I couldn't hear anything on here that sounded like a boy soprano, so I didn't put his credit on any of the tracks. I don't think he's mentioned at all on the labels. Anybody got this in stereo? An LSP version is mentioned in the credits, and I may have seen one on eBay once, but if it really exists, it's got to be really rare. I'm going to leave this one up as the current post for a while, I don't want to bury it behind a whole gaggle of reshares. I think it's too great for people to miss it because I didn't highlight it enough. I hope you all enjoy it.  Grandma Moses was 98 when this record came out, and she died in 1961, three years later at the age of 101.

Christmas On The Harp

Thought I'd bring back another of my all-time biggest downloads.  Don't ask me why, but you folks have really downloaded this LP a lot since I fist shared a mono copy back in 2005. But this is the stereo version, and I've got to say it sounds a whole lot better.  I've found myself really enjoying it when it comes up in iTunes on random play.  I have to click over to it to see who's playing, and it turns out to be Bianco.  This was available only to members of RCA's record club back in 1962, but now it's available to anyone with an internet connection.  Please grab yourself a copy of  The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco, His Harp And Orchestra-Joy To The World-Everybody's Favorite Christmas Music (RCA Victor CSP-104, 1962, Stereo).

1. Medley: We Wish You A Merry Christmas Silent Night
2. White Christmas
3. Jingle Bells
4. O Holy Night
5. Medley: Away In A Manger; The First Noel
6. Medley: Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful); Joy To The World
7. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
9. Silver Bells
10. Medley: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Deck The halls
11. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
12. Medley: Sleigh Ride; We Wish You A Merry Christmas

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Christmas In Cincinatti

This is the closest I can come to posting those old Ruth Lyons records I have.  People keep talking about putting them out on CD complete, and years pass but nothing happens.  Maybe someday.  But in the meantime, you can enjoy this record from Bob Braun, Ruth Lyons' sidekick on TV for all those years.  I have never seen the show myself, but I've heard stories, and the records are nice, so I'll play along. First shared out around these parts in 2008, this is Bob Braun, Orchestra Conducted By Leroy Holmes-Christmas In Your Heart (United Artists UAS 6664, Stereo, 1968).

1. Christmas In Your Heart
2. Everywhere The Bells Are Ringing
3. Do You Hear What I Hear
4. A Marshmellow (sic) World
5. A Child's First Christmas
6. Let's Light The Christmas Tree
7. Christmas Lullaby
8. Winter Wonderland
9. That's What Christmas Means To Me
10. I'll Be Home For Christmas
11. Christmas Medley

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Christmas In Houston

Continuing on with the Christmas shares from various cities around the US, this one is from Houston, Texas, and comes about 20 years after the other ones I've posted.  I think both KRBE and the University Children's Hospital At Hermann are both still going concerns, but I doubt if either of them have thought about this fund-raising record in years.  So I'm bringing it back.  There's some interesting stuff on here, especially if you're a baseball fan with a long memory.  This is Crash's Christmas Album To Benefit University Children's Hospital At Hermann (CCA Records 1-1986  (Houston, TX), Stereo, 1986).

1. Crash-The Christmas Song
2. Dave Ward-I Saw Mommie Kissing Santa Claus
3. Sir Shaun Rabb-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. The Concert Chorale Of Houston-Carol Of The Bells
5. Paul Christy-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
6. Jim Westmoreland-Frosty The Snowman
7. Milo Hamilton-A Visit From St Nicholas
8. Dave Ward, Pat Hunt & Tommy Lee Bradley-O' Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Matt Alan-Jingle Bell Rock
10. Kevin Bass-O' Come All Ye Faithful
11. Marvin Zindler And The Miracle Minstrels-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
12. The Concert Chorale Of Houston-Coventry Carol
13 George Grenias-Silver Bells
14. The Concert Chorale Of Houston-Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
15. Crash-White Christmas

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Cleveland Christmas

While I'm sharing out Christmas music from various cities, I should throw up this collection I first shared back in 2006 from Cleveland.  Lots and lots of local color here.  I've been in the spot where that cover photo was taken, too, but there was no cross on Terminal Tower at the time.  Take a trip back in time and download  Christmas In Cleveland (Delta Records Of Ohio, Processed and Pressed by Columbia, XCTV-84680/1, Mono).

1. Bay High School Choir-Joyous Christmas Song
2. Bedford High School A Cappella Choir-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
3. Berea High School Choir-Hallelujah (The Mount Of Olives)
4. Cathedral Latin High School Glee Club-Carol Of The Drum
5. Cleveland Heights High School Choir-O Holy Night
6. East High School Choral Club-Traditional Medley-The First Noel-Silent Night
7. Glenville High School Choral Club-16th Century Church Music-Gloria Parti-Palestrina
8. Holy Name High School Choir-Ring Christmas Bells
9. John Marshall High School Choir-Christmas Was Meant For Children
10. Lakewood High School Choir-Now Is The Carolling Season
11. Lutheran High School West Choir-Jesous Ahatonhia
12. Magnificat High School Senior Choir-Adeste Fidelis
13. Notre Dame Academy Choral Club-To The Manger
14. Our Lady Of Lourdes High School A Cappella Choir-The Sleigh (a la Russe)
15. Parma Senior High School Concert Choir-Away In A Manger
16. West High School Choral Club-Heavenly Light

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Detroit Rock City

Moving on from Chicago, here's a collection of local Detroit music, circa early sixties.  There are some big names on here, unfortunately, none of them were big in the music world.  Ford, General Motors, Detroit-Edison, you get all the local biggies.  (No Chrysler?  I guess they're outside of Detroit proper, if I remember correctly.)  This is the sort of thing that you'll either really enjoy, or you won't give a hill of beans about.  If this is your sort of thing, then please download Christmas In Detroit-A Collection Of Seasonal Music By Outstanding Detroit Choral Groups (Dedicated To The Tuberculosis And Health Society, Produced By Special Recordings, Inc., Pressed By Columbia Records, Mono, 1962).

1. Varsity Glee Club-Wayne State University-Deck The Halls
2. Varsity Glee Club-Wayne State University-Good King Wenceslas
3. Duns Scotus College Choir-Jesu Redemptor
4. Duns Scotus College Choir-Viva Viva
5. Duns Scotus College Choir-Sleep Well
6. University Of Detroit Chorus-Gloria Patri
7. The Ford Chorus-Ford Motor Company-Silver Bells
8. The Ford Chorus-Ford Motor Company-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
9. Civic Center Chorus-The Star Carol
10. Civic Center Chorus-Ave Maria
11. St. Paul's Cathedral's Choir-Silent Night
12. Anonymous Announcer-Thank You
13. Lutheran Choralaires-Oh, Come All Ye Faithful
14. Lutheran Choralaires-Oh Emanuel
15. The ACappels-We Three Kings
16. Edison Glee Club-The Detroit Edison Company-I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas
17. Edison Glee Club-The Detroit Edison Company-Carol Of The Bells
18. Orpheus Club Of Detroit-Go Tell It On The Mountain
19. General Motors Chorus-General Motors Corporation-Jingle Bells
20. General Motors Chorus-General Motors Corporation-Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
21. Shamrock Chorus-Catholic Central High School-Mary Had A Baby
22. Shamrock Chorus-Catholic Central High School-Silent Night

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The Last Of Chanukah

My last Chanukah share of the season isn't even a full share.  Only one track on this collection is about Chanukah, but it's a nice one, so I'm calling this a Chanukah share.  I found this 10" along with another 10" on the same day at the same store, and I wound up recording both of them.  (The other is on CD, so don't look for it to be shared around here anywhere.)  Most of my shopping days should be that easy.  I like collections like this that give you a picture of a certain community at a certain period of time, especially when they went to the trouble to make a nice cover and nice production.  If you enjoy such things, too, please download Songs Of The Season 1960 (First Federal Savings And Loan Association Of East Chicago, Indiana  10" 4628/4629, Mono, 1960).

1. Standard Oil Torchlighters-Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light
2. St. Luke's Lutheran Adult Choir-The First Noel
3. St. Luke's Lutheran Adult Choir-Silent Night
4. St. Stanislaus Boys' Choir-Wesola Nowine Brachia Sluchajcie (Polish Carol)
5. St. Stanislaus Boys' Choir-Tryumfy Krola Niebieskiego (Polish Carol)
6. Rabbi Ulrich Steur, Narrator-Mrs. Walter Hathaway, Organist-Richard Lewke, Soloist-Hanukkah Explanation-Jewish Traditional Selection-Rock Of Ages
7. St. Thomas More Girls Choir-O Come, O Come Immanuel
8. St. Thomas More Girls Choir-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
9. St. Thomas More Adult Choir-Gloria From The Midnight Mass
10. Purdue University (Cal. Ext.) Mixed Choir-Oh Holy Night
11. Purdue University (Cal. Ext.) Mixed Choir-Carol Of The Bells
12. First Christian Reformed Church Choir Of Munster-Good Christian Men Rejoice
13. Standard Oil Torchlighters-Angels We Have Heard On High

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