Christmas In July 2017-Day 8

Whew, long day!  I've been out trying to find more Christmas tracks to share with you this month, and I must have flipped through ten thousand albums.  I could have done half again more but it was so hot in the warehouse I was digging that I couldn't stand it after about the first third.  That was my last stop, but it had the most records.  I was pretty lucky, I stopped at maybe 8 places and came away with records at 7.  Not always something to share but certainly something to listen to.  The one Goodwill I stopped at ticked me off when they told me the records were now $2.18 each!  I nearly put them all back, but I didn't.  I'll just keep that in mind the next time I stop and only buy really, really good stuff if they have it.  Most of the other places were much cheaper, so it all balanced out.  Now, onto the tracks for tonight.

1. Christmas Carol Sing-A-Long by Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra-Julius Rudel, Musical Director, from Christmas In Concert And More... (Allentown Record Co. For Buffalo Savings Bank, No Number, Stereo, 1979).  Looks like I shared this one out with you before, but I have no memory of it.  Side one is all Christmas tunes and side two is random non-Christmas.  Reading the liner notes, they've been holding seasonal concerts in the grand lobby of this Buffalo bank for almost twenty years, but this was the first time somebody got the bright idea to record it.  But, reading the liner notes even more carefully, this is the recording of a rehearsal in a local hall, months before the actual event, so you get really good sound, not something live in front of an audience.  Anyhow, you can look forward to a couple more tracks from this one through the month.

2. Moonlight in Vermont by Leslie Uggams With Mitch Miller And The Sing Along Gang from the LP Leslie (Columbia CS 9936, Stereo, 1970).  Not sure that I put this song squarely in the Christmas category, but I wanted something from Leslie and this is what I found.  Just roll with it, something better will come up, I'm sure.

3. Winter Blues Bossa Nova by Bent Fabric from his album Operation Lovebirds (Atco 33-202, Mono, 1967).  Because we needed some bossa nova around here.  And because he always has such great animal-themed album covers.

4. March Of The Toys ("Babes In Toyland") by Camarata Conducting The Kingsway Symphony Orchestra, taken from the LP The Great Victor Herbert (Phase 4 London SPC21143, Stereo, 1975).  Is that a Moog I hear in there, or just a garden variety synth?

5. The Holly And The Ivy, another track by The Dixie High School Concert Choir and their album The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, OH, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  Hey, at least it's a genuine, bonafide Christmas song!

6. Season's Greetings by Mabel Mercer from the double LP with Bobby Short, At Town Hall (Atlantic 2xLP SD 2-604, Stereo, 1969).  No, it's not really Christmas, but at least she mentions the holiday in there.

7. Greensleeves by George Greeley, His Piano And Orchestra from his LP Piano Rhapsodies Of Love (Reprise R9-6092, Stereo, 1961).  Somewhere in the past, I remember sharing out a whole LP of Christmas piano from Mr. Greeley.  But I don't remember much about it so it must not have made much of an impression.  Now what were we talking about?

That's it, lots of tracks tonight, I'm feeling good about the number of tracks I've already recorded and how many records I still have in the pile to go.  Wish me luck, we've still got a long way to go until August.  And remember, if you like what you've found here, tell your friends.  They need to come visit now.  Once these shares disappear, they're unlikely to ever come back.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 7

Day seven, one week in, still going strong!  Feels good to be posting again, and I've been digging up some good stuff at the junk stores.  Sometimes this job is easy, sometimes it's tough.  Let's see what I've got in the old share folder tonight for ya'll...

1. Winter Scene-Waltz Of The Snowflakes by the Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, from their LP Khatchaturian-Masquerade/Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1029, Mono, Circa 1953).  I hunted around for a good date on this one for a while, and I couldn't quite put all the pieces together.  I did establish that it combines two earlier sets that had come out originally on a couple of 78 albums.  The Tchaikovsky one was DM-1164 and I believe it was issued in 1946.  I found an early ad from 1953 advertising a tour by Fiedler & The Boston Pops, and this was listed as one of their records that was available, but it was a long list, so I can't tell you if it was new then or not.  The cover for the 78 set is really nice.  There's a small version of it on the cover to this early LP.

2. Snowfall, the Claude Thornhill chestnut, by Living Strings Plus Two Pianos-Arranged And Conducted By Hill Bowen from the LP My Silent Love (RCA Camden CAL-754, Mono, 1963).  You might recognize the name Hill Bowen from some of the Hi-Fi Living LPs I've been resharing this year.  RCA seemed to put that Living Strings label on any band they could find with recordings to sell...

3. Greensleeves by Living Marimbas-Arranged And Conducted By Leo Addeo, from the album Love Is Blue (RCA Camden CAS-2253, Stereo, 1968).  How about that, two Living releases in a row?  It's almost a theme!  Leo Addeo in my mind is much more associated with his releases featuring the music of Hawaii, but I guess he wasn't just a one-trick pony.

4. The Virgin Mary, a rerun by The Chad Mitchell Trio from the album Reflecting (Mercury SR 60891, Stereo, 1964).  I think I shared this out a long time ago in mono, so this stereo copy might sound a little better to your ears.  Maybe.  The vinyl wasn't the cleanest...  I did pull a cover of a Shel Silverstein song from this one while I was recording.  Someday I hope to put together a collection of his songs that goes a little deeper than A Boy Named Sue or Cover Of The Rolling Stone.

5. The Skater's Waltz by Joe Reisman & His Orchestra, pulled from the LP Great American Waltzes (Forum SF 9061 (Originally Roulette SR-25089), Stereo, 1959).  1959 is the date for the original Roulette release of this LP, I couldn't find a reissue date.  Billboard is great, but it's not comprehensive.

6. March Of The Toys by George Melachrino And His Orchestra from the LP The Music Of Victor Herbert (RCA Victor LPM-2129, Mono, 1960).  Not sure why I ripped this one, I think I've shared a nice stereo copy with you in the past.  Just going for quantity over quality as it were.

That's it, another six tracks in the pile.  Here's the linky-link.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 6

Good news, good news!  I found a whole other box of records marked CiJ (for Christmas in July) that I packed away last year!  The bad news is that only about half the records in the box fit the description, but that's still half a box more than I had before.  Pretty sure there's some good stuff in there, but I forced myself to wait until tomorrow to start pulling records out of it to record.  Still plenty of stuff in the old pile I need to work on.  The records I've already recorded this year don't quite fill up a box, so I've got a long way to go...  Now, onto the records...

1. The Toy Trumpet by The Peter London Orchestra-Arranged And Conducted By Art Harris, from the LP The Sound Of Top Brass (Kapp ML-7500, Mono, 1960).  The first of three tracks I pulled from this album, which featured three different conductors, but oddly enough, all three tracks I pulled were conducted by Art Harris.  This LP appears to have been an entry in their Medallion series of stereo spectaculars, but somehow I wound up with a mono copy and in a re-issue sleeve.  Oh well...

2. Coventry Carol by The Dixie High School Concert Choir, another selection from their album The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, OH, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  Nice to be able to throw in an actual Christmas song once in a while...

3. June In January (From The Paramount Picture "Here Is My Heart") by the world's premier duo-pianists Ferrante & Teicher, taken from the LP The Incomparable Piano Stylings Of Ferrante & Teicher (Sunset SUS-5235, Stereo, 1968).  Always good to hear a little something from these guys.

4. Nativity From King Of Kings by Miklos Rozsa from the clumsily-titled Miklos Rozsa Conducts His Great Themes From Ben-Hur, El Cid, Quo Vadis And King Of Kings (Capitol T 2837, Mono, 1967).  Maybe it sounds better when you're watching the movie, but I didn't really get a feeling of the Nativity from this one.

5. Jingle Bells-Instructions by Ed Durlacher & 6. Jingle Bells-Calls And Music by The Top Hands With Don Durlacher, both from Holiday Dances (Honor Your Partner Records (Educational Activities) 2xLP HYR-20, Mono, 1975).  Because you need to do a little square dancing on your Christmas day!

Another day, another fine batch of music.  Hope you enjoy it!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 5

G'day, and welcome to the fifth day of Christmas In July!  All of the songs in today's share were recorded last year for a July that never happened.  There's some good stuff in here, so let's get to it.

1. Be A Santa by Percy Faith And His Orchestra, from his LP featuring interpretations of songs from the musical Subways Are For Sleeping (Columbia CS 5833, Stereo, 1961).  I don't know why, but this was a hard LP to find.  You see lots of Percy Faith in the thrift store bins, but never this one for some reason.

2. Santa Claus Is Flat Gonna Come To Town by The Four Freshman from their second live LP The Four Freshmen In Person Volume 2 (Capitol ST 1860, Stereo, 1963).  This was one of my favorite finds from back in the day.  Some people find it too cheeky but I love it.  This is the sort of track I love to find and share with you here.

3. November "Troika" (Sleigh-Ride) by Morton Gould At The Piano And Conducting His Orchestra from his album Tchaikovsky: The Months, Op. 37a (Columbia Masterworks ML 4487, Mono, 1950).  This is the first of several holiday related tracks on this one.  I was pretty surprised when this turned up because it's the sort of record I'm always looking for but rarely find.

4. Swingin' Them Jingle Bells-Instrumental by Fats Waller from the compilation The Complete Fats Waller Volume IV (RCA 2xLP 5905-1-RB (Originally Recorded in Chicago, 29 November 1936), Mono, 1987).  Until I saw this LP, I didn't realize Fats had recorded an instrumental of his great Christmas song.  These days, I suppose this would be called the karaoke version.

5. When Winter Comes (From The 20th Century Fox Film "Second Fiddle") By Joanie Sommers from Sommers' Seasons (Warner Bros WS1504, Stereo, 1963).  Again, the sort of LP, I search for.  If they're singing about the seasons, there's a pretty good chance you'll get a few winter songs in there.

That's it.  Some new, some reruns, but all good stuff.  Enjoy!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 04

Gonna try and get something up a little bit earlier today.  Can't be up all night since I have to go to work in the morning, unlike the past four days in a row.  And with all that time off, I was able to get more than 80 tracks ripped and put in the pile for future Christmas in July sharing!  Hooray!  Still having a hard time finding new stuff that I haven't shared before, but I've got a few things that I don't think you've heard before.  And I hope the old stuff sounds better than the previous time I shared it.  Now, on with the show.

1. Oshogatsu-Yuki (Snow And New Year) by 101 Strings, Conducted By Richard Müller-Lampertz, Koto Solos By Shinichi Yuize from Songs Of The Seasons In Japan (Alshire S-5019, Stereo, 1964).  I've shared this one before, but it's always nice to share something that doesn't sound the same as everything else, and a bit of foreign flavor helps in that regard.

2. A Partridge In A Pear Tree (The Twelve Days Of Christmas) by Baja Marimba Band from the album For Animals Only (A&M SP4113, Stereo, 1965).  If I haven't shared this one before, then shame on me.  This was one of the first tracks I ever noticed in the middle of a non-Christmas album and wondered what it was doing there.  It also features on the A&M Christmas LP from the period, Something Festive.

3. December by Count Basie And The Mills Brothers from The Board Of Directors (Dot DLP 25838, Stereo, 1968).  One of the all-time great tracks that would have never found without all these July searches!  This is what it's all about!

4. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by Ethel Smith, the second track shared from Ethel Smith's Toy Parade (Decca 10" 33 RPM DL 5283, Mono, 1951).  Good stuff.

5. Excerpts From The Nutcracker-Scene And March by Antal Dorati And The London Symphony Orchestra from Curtain Up! Holidays Around The World (Mercury SR90361 For Broadcast Only-Not For Sale, Stereo, 1963).  At least this one, I think, is new to the blog.  At least I have no memory of having recorded it before, I didn't do an exhaustive search.

And that's it, five more tracks.  Hope you're having a great Fourth of July!  I wish they'd had the fireworks last night, then I could have stayed up late and watched them.  As it is, I'm sure every yokel in the neighborhood is going to be setting off explosions until tomorrow morning sometime.  I'm so old.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 3

I was shocked today to discover a folder full of Christmas in July songs I ripped last year but never shared out.  So that means I've got plenty more songs in the can to share with you than I first thought!  Gonna be a good month as long as I can find new stuff and not just a bunch of repeats.  So, what have I got for tonight?  Let's see...

1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by The Dixie High School Madrigal Singers from Dayton, Ohio, the first of several tracks from their LP The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, Ohio, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  I see a lot of these old LPs from high schools, junior highs, elementary schools, church groups, civic organizations, etc.  I guess back before the days of video cameras and cell phones, this was your best option of creating a lasting memory of some special event.  I just wish they were a little more interesting to listen to, but to someone on the record, it's priceless.

2. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring, by that other, less-well-known piano duo, Whittemore And Lowe, from the late-career LP The Personal Touch Of Whittemore And Lowe (Mega M51-5009, Stereo, 1972).  I've got another LP on this same label by Phil Harris.  I guess their specialty was grabbing popular artists that were past their prime and hoping for some magic.  Not a bad idea.  The date on the LP cover didn't match the date on the LP, so I went with the earlier one of 1972 instead of the later one of 1973.  Some days I wonder about quality control.

3. Toyland by Carmen Dragon Conducting The Capitol Symphony Orchestra from the album Nightfall (Capitol P 8575, Mono, 1961).  Anything by the father of The Captain is going to be good!

4. Christmas Morn Hymn 23 by Kenny Baker from Mary Baker Eddy Hymns (Published By The Trustees Under The Will Of Mary Baker Eddy 10" 33 RPM TV 15580/15581 (Manufactured By Columbia Records Inc), Mono).  I've shared out some other Christmas music by Kenny baker before, including an entire LP, so I was excited when I came across this.  I also recently found an entire double LP of Christmas music written by Mary Baker Eddy.  Not sure if I can work my way through that much of her music, but maybe.  Check back around Christmas time.

5. The Bell's Of St. Mary's by Gordon MacRae-Arranged And Conducted By Van Alexander from Songs For An Evening At Home (Capitol ST-1251, Stereo, 1959).  An oldie but a goodie.  This album featured some songs that Gordon sang with members of his family, and even an instrumental by Van Alexander.  This particular song is pretty much straight Gordon though.

And there you have it, five more tracks for the third day.  Enjoy!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 2

Another day, another 20 songs recorded and ready to share for Christmas in July!  If I can keep this rate up for a while, I should be OK through the end of the month.  But you know what happens to the best laid plans...  Anyhow, I've got five good ones for you tonight, so let's jump in.

1. Ethel Smith-Wedding Of The Painted Doll from Ethel Smith's Toy Parade (Decca 10" 33 RPM DL 5283, Mono, 1951).  I think I've shared this before, but not from an LP this old.  She was a very gifted organist, that's for sure.

2. Carmen Cavallaro-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm from 12 Easy Lessons In Love (Decca DL 8747, Mono, 1958).  I think this one's new around here, but I could be wrong.  I want to make a joke about where in the world is Carmen Cavallaro, but it's late and I'm tired.  Maybe tomorrow.

3. Sleigh Ride by Richard Ellsasser from Leroy Anderson Favorites (MGM E3174, Mono, 1955).  Now this one I know I've shared before, along with two entire LPs from him of Christmas and winter music.

4. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Adele Addison And The Jubilee Singers from Little David Play On Your Harp And The Great Spirituals (Kapp K-1109-S, Stereo, 1959).  I pretty much have to check every LP I see that mentions spirituals to see if this is on there.  It turns up more often than not and always makes a fine addition to Christmas In July.

5. The Little Toy Shop by The Kermit Leslie Orchestra from "Middlebrow" Music For The Hi-Fi Fan With The Kermit Leslie Orchestra (Epic 10" 33 RPM LG 1019, Mono, 1954).  While looking this one up, I saw it mentioned as a lost space-age classic.  While I didn't think it was the best thing ever, it was good enough that I need to go back and listen to the rest of the tracks.  Not really a Christmas song, I think it's one of those things you could slide into a playlist and no one would be the wiser.

There you go, another five tracks for you.  The typos are coming fast and furious tonight, so I hope what I wrote makes sense.  I need to redo the share, too, since I found a few typos in the track names while I was typing them in here.  Long day.

Zippyshare