This is, without a doubt, the best cover of any of the Christmas albums I have shared with you this year. I went a little loopy when I found this at a Goodwill in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, just last month. I didn't care what was on the record, or even if it had a record. That cover was worth the quarter I paid for it. It wasn't until I got it home and did a little research that I realized exactly what it was. It turns out to be a high school chorus from
Ed White High School in western Jacksonville, so it was pretty local to where I found it. Well, one side of it was the chorus, the other side was, I believe, the director of that chorus and his lounge act. You need to listen to this. Unfortunately, it's not all Christmas, but it's all good. I didn't recognize the name of the high school at first, but it turns out
Ed White was one of the three astronauts killed in the then-recent Apollo 1 fire. I was recently at Cape Kennedy and there are many memorials there to White and his fellow astronauts killed in that fire. His namesake school was evidently a model of late-sixties educational theory, though many of the advances were rolled back once they realized they didn't actually work. Anyhow, the music is great! This is
A Merry Christmas With The Ed White Singing Commanders And Gene White (Conductor Records SSN 2196 (Ed White High School, Jacksonville, Florida), Stereo, 1973). I love this cover, but don't you think they could have at least changed the marquee on that Holiday Inn sign to be something appropriate, like Merry Christmas, or Good Luck Commanders?
1. White Christmas
2. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
3. If I Had A Hammer
4. The Christmas Song
5. Gee Whiz, It's Christmas
6. Oh Happy Day
7. And The Glory Of The Lord
8. For Unto Us A Child Is Born
9. Hallelujah!
Tracks 1-4 by
The Gene White Combo, tracks 5-9 by
The Ed White Singing Commanders With Mrs. Rosalind McEnulty, Organ, And Angie Epting, Piano.
MEGA
OK, but you don't answer the important question - why is a high school choir parked in front of a Holiday Inn?
ReplyDeleteTwo possibilities:
- The motel doubled as a high school.
- The choir director's lounge act was in residence at the place, and he got a kickback from featuring the Holiday Inn sign on the cover.
Whatever - it's a great cover, no question.
Yeah, I think the director was performing there. :) When did Holiday Inn get rid of these great signs? And why aren't they performing the whole soundtrack from Holiday Inn?
ReplyDeleteThat little girl where Mr White is kneeling down by is Me!!
ReplyDeleteI'm the 5th girl over from Mr. White on the right
DeleteAwesome! I was hoping we'd hear from someone involved with this album. Anything more you can tell us about it? Like why the Holiday Inn? :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteThis Holiday Inn was located at I95 and Golfair Blvd. And yes, this is where the director and his combo were resident at. The director is still alive and well. He pastors a church off North Main Street. And yes...can still play the organ with that same vibrancy.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, thanks for sharing some info! Tell him we said hi, and appreciate the music.
ReplyDeleteas of last year Mr White was still alive as well as the chorus had a reunion at the High School and he was there. The record was recorded at St. Peters Episcopal Church in Jacksonville accompanied by the pipe organ in the church. It was a beautiful experience performing the songs for this album. We performed the entire Handel's Messiah at many locations that year.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the info and for chiming in! Always great to hear from the people on some of these old albums. And good to know that Gene White is still with us after all these years.
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