Christmas In July 2019-Part 6

Only the third day of July and I'm already having a hard time keeping up.  But I have the next four days off from work, so I'm hoping to be able to get ahead a little bit.  We'll see how I do, or if I get lazy and just stay even.  Wish me luck.  Here are tonight's shares...

1. The Hi-Lo's With Frank Comstock And His Orchestra-April Snow from Hi-Lo's On Hand (Starlite ST 7008, Mono, 1956).  That's some nice harmony right there!

2. Herbie Koch, Official Carillonneur, State Of Georgia-Ave Maria from Sacred Bells Of Stone Mountain (No Label 7775-6946, Mono, 1970).  I visited this carillon once.  It appeared to need some maintenance work.  Hopefully they've done some things to keep it up and running since I was there, otherwise, I fear for it's future.

3. Roger Williams With Orchestras Directed By Martin Gold And Hal Kanner-The Bells Of St. Mary's from Songs Of The Fabulous Forties (Kapp 2xLP KXL-5003, Mono, 1957).  The records in this series are thrift store staples, but I don't remember noticing this track before.

4. Hal Kemp And His Orchestra-Christmas Night In Harlem from Hal Kemp And His Orchestra 1934 (Circle CLP-25, originally recorded 1934, Mono, 1982).  Probably taken from a radio transcription disc, but I'm glad that it was rescued from obscurity.

5. The Manhattan Piano Quartet-Lawrence Krueger, William Blankfort, Alexander Dickstein, Marga Richter-Dream Pantomime From "Hansel And Gretel" from Concert Favorites Transcribed For Four Pianos (MGM E3130, Mono, 1954).  Probably not Christmas related at all, but I've seen it on more than one classical-skewing Christmas album.  That's all the excuse I need!

6. The Lighthouse Keeper-Greensleeves from Piano Interpretations (Island Musical Products PLM 1003 (Oak Bluffs, Mass. Martha's Vineyard Island), Mono, 1957).  Probably some homebrew album, but I love 'em to be rare and obscure.

7. Earl Grant-The Snows Of Kilimanjaro from Yes Sirree! (Decca DL 4405, Mono, 1963).  Not sure why I bothered with a mono version of this track.  Probably because I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed the LP.  Some days, I get so excited to find a clutch of Christmas tracks that I just start grabbing without thinking.  Such days are rare, but they're nice when they happen.  Bringing home 10-12 albums, each of which features a Christmas track or two is just awesome in my book.  I'm old and dull that way, I suppose.

8. Conducted By Michael Sweeney-Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella from Hal Leonard Concert Band 1989-1990 (Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation 2xLP 85060087, Stereo, 1989).  Today's demo track.  Nothing special about this one, I'm afraid. I thought for a second I should get excited about the arranger being Vincent Lopez, but I was thinking of Victor Lopez...

9. Charles Chilton And The Members Of The Cast-Heilige Nacht from Oh What A Lovely War (London OS 25906, Stereo, 1963).  Turns out, I collected two different recordings from two different soundtracks to this film.  Or maybe one of them was a stage production.  It's been a while since I ripped them.  That's a big drawback to recording so much ahead of time, the details start to blur out.

10. Lou Carter-Orchestra Under The Direction Of Frank De Vol-I Wish That I Could Love You In December from How Deep Is Which Ocean? The Answers (To Musical Questions) (Columbia CL 1503, Mono, 1960).  I finally managed to dig up all three of Lou Carter's albums this year, thgouh I still lack stereo copies of any of them, if memory serves.  Some of this stuff is pretty funny, but I'll admit that it's an acquired taste.

That's all ten for tonight.  Have a go at the download, and let me know what you think.