Christmas In July 2019-Part 56
Good morning! Time to go back to work for the week, gotta get stuff done. Before you get started with your day, here are ten more Christmas in July songs for you to add to your collection. You can read the list below, or you can just go all the way to the bottom for the download link and listen for yourself. I don't mind either way.
1. Leopold Stokowski And His Symphony Orchestra-Lucile Lawrence, Harp Solo-Waltz Of The Flowers from The Heart Of The Ballet (RCA Victor Red Seal LM (x) 1083, Mono, 1950). I think that (x) in the catalog number makes this a reissue, but I'm not positive. Doesn't matter, really, it's a nice straightforward version of the Tchaikovsky chestnut.
2. Bedford High School-Go Tell It On The Mountain from Bedford High School, Temperance, Michigan (API ARIS 8022, Stereo). Lots of good high school choirs this year. Or maybe I should just say lots of high school choirs this year. Your mileage may vary. This seems to be a non-Christmas version, but you get the idea.
3. The Northern Illinois University Wind Ensemble-Stephen Squires, Conductor-Medley Christmas from Alfred Concert Band Music (Alfred Publishing No Number, Stereo, 1988). A creatively named demo track.
4. The Yale Glee Club-Fenno Heath, Director-Tennor Soloists: Laz Ekwueme, Grad., Daniel G. Wright, '67-O Mary, Dear Mother (Nigerian Carol) from The Yale Glee Club In Concert (Yale University LP-321, Stereo, 1967). I'm telling you, everyone gets their own carol this year. Every one!
5. Jamall Badry-Some Children See Him from Listen To The Children (Triangle Records TR 111, Stereo, 1977). I was excited to find an Alfred Burt carol! They're sorta few and far between.
6. Jimmy Jenson-That Old Christmas Goose (Snowbird) (aka Christmas Goose) from The Swingin' Swede (aka This Is Jimmy Jenson...The Country Swingin' Swede!) (Jay Records LP-1001, Stereo). It's Jimmy Jenson doing a version of a Stan & Doug parody of the Anne Murray song. And she probably didn't originate the song, but I'm too lazy to look it up.
7. Neville Marriner-Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields-Toy Symphony: III. Allegro Moderato from A Little Night Music (Angel S-37443, Stereo, 1977). I think this is finally the conclusion of this piece. Though I could be mistaken...
8. E. Power Biggs Playing The Organ At St. George's Church, New York City-Variations On A Noél (Moderato-Larghetto-Poco Animato-Cantabile-Vif-Vivace-Plus Modéré-Vivace-Cantabile-Animé-Fugato-Presto) from A Festival Of French Organ Music (Columbia Masterworks MS 6307, Stereo, 1961). A long piece with lots of interesting little parts.
9. Madison Senior Choir-Mr. David Alan Ayers, Director-We Wish You The Merriest from The Joy Of Christmas And Greats From America Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow (Mark Custom Records MC 2868 (on Sleeve) UMC 2868 (on Label), Stereo). A Les Brown song you don't hear often enough, especially in non-Les Brown versions.
10. Gli Accademici Di Milano-Renato Biffoli, Violin-The Winter-Concerto No. 4 in F Minor from Vivaldi-The Four Seasons-Les Quatre Saisons (Vox STPL 511-480, Stereo, 1959). I've been trying to throw in some more classical-leaning selections this year, so you get Vivaldi and his four seasons. Enjoy!
There you have it, another ten tracks. I know you think I'll run out eventually, but we aren't even close. Trust me, it's a deep well this year for some reason. Here's the download link, see you soon.
Anne Murray's version of "Snowbird" was probably the first, recorded in 1969. But it wasn't released as a single until (IIRC) the summer of 1970 and, by then, I had already heard the Lynn Anderson version. As is often the case, the first version of a song you hear is the one that sticks with you, so I always associate the song with Lynn, not Anne. There's a Bing Crosby version out there, too (from a year or two later). Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a very big fan of the song, so I'm not going to go very far in hunting any versions down. I think I may have bought one yesterday by Loretta Lynn, actually, but not sure if I'll get it recorded for this season. Thanks for the history lesson. :)
ReplyDeleteBoy, this Jimmy Jenson guy is really making me laugh. Being from Canada, I heard a lot of Anne Murray growing up and this take on Snowbird was really funny.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the Alfred Burt entry as well as the Les Brown song. I would've preferred better interpretations of both, but I'm not complaining.
The version of Snowbird is originally by Stan & Doug. If you haven't heard of them, then you should certainly check them out. They also ripped off a lot of Harry Stewart stuff, but some of their stuff was original parody. I shared it out at one time, but since I found it's on CD, it's not sharable any longer.
ReplyDelete