For whatever reason, this LP is sitting at the top of a stack of Christmas records right at the top of my stairs so I see it pretty much every day and think that I need to share it out again. So today I finally got my act together and here it is in a brand new re-encode. It's not all Christmas, but there are some good Christmas songs on here that I don't think you're going to find anywhere else. This was something that I was excited to find and share with you back in
2012 and I'm bringing it back six years later. This is
Cricket On The Hearth (RCA Victor LSO-1140, Stereo, 1967). Anybody seen the special? Not one of the more familiar Rankin-Bass holiday specials, but they can't all be winners.
1.
Danny Thomas-The First Christmas
2.
Ed Ames-Don't Give Your Love Away
3.
Abbe Lane-Fish 'N' Chips
4.
Maury Laws Orchestra-A Waltz For Christmas
5.
Danny Thomas-Through My Eyes
6.
Marlo Thomas-That Was Yesterday
7.
Danny Thomas & The Norman Luboff Choir-Cricket On The Hearth
8.
Marlo Thomas-Smiles Go With Tears
9.
Maury Laws Orchestra-Parade Of The Toys
10.
Ed Ames-Through My Eyes
11.
The Norman Luboff Choir-The First Christmas
MEGA
Just watched this special the other day. It's not the best of the Rankin/Bass, but there are some decent parts.
ReplyDeleteWow, Ernie -- thanks! This LP never shows up at the thrifts.
ReplyDeleteSure it does, I'm sure that's where I got mine. :) It just didn't sell very well back in the day, I guess, so there aren't many copies out there.
ReplyDeleteMy brother remembers this as his second-favorite Christmas special, right behind Mr. Magoo. That said, I don't think he's seen it since he was five. They stopped playing it regularly before I was old enough to really remember it. I saw it a few years ago and it wasn't awful, but I'm sure he hasn't seen it recently so I figured I'd let him live with his fond memories of it. In a similar and very slightly related vein, I watched "It Happened One Christmas" the other night, the Mary Bailey-centered remake/reimagining of "It's a Wonderful Life" with Marlo Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Orson Welles and Cloris Leachman. I remembered liking it as a kid. I should have stuck with my memories because it's beyond horrible.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Rankin/Bass fiend, and watching their specials is a huge part of the Christmas season for me. CRICKET ON THE HEARTH is not one of their best offerings. That being said, it's still better than any that have been made in the past few decades. I'll probably listen to "Fish and Chips" first when I download this... A song sung by a burlesque cat in a bar while 2 seedy animals (a dog and a fox or something?) plan to get rid of that pesky Cricket from the hearth. lol
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI posted a photo of this LP on my FB page yesterday, and one of my FB friends shared this link: http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/a-birthday-salute-to-rankin-bass-music-maestro-maury-laws/
ReplyDeleteCool! It's a small world after all!
ReplyDeleteSo great to find some new-to-me Ed Ames on this soundtrack album! Both songs on this album are excellent. "Through My Eyes" is classic Ed, very much in the style of his albums of the period. like Time Time and When The Snow Is On the Roses". "Don't Give Your Love Away" sounds like it was recorded during the same session that he recorded "When the Snow Is On the Roses." It musically sounds very silmilar. Also, if you noticed, some of the music in "Through Your Eyes" has what sounds like a little reference to "My Cup Runneth Over", his biggest hit. Will most definitely be on the lookout for this album for sure--did not know these songs existed until I checked out this old blog entry today. Will eventually get around to listening to the rest of this album. Too bad Real Gone Music didn't put these cuts on their CD reissue of Ed's two Christmas albums as bonus tracks!
ReplyDeleteYou're really digging deep in the archives here. There's a non-LP b-side that Danny Thomas released on the flipside of his song from this record, if you're curious. https://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2020/01/make-room-for-danny.html
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