Lucky number thirteen! That's where we're at today, the thirteenth random sampling of Christmas music downloaded from
The Internet Archive and shared by me. The thirteenth set, so thirteen songs, most of which were only recently archived, but I'm still on the case trying to keep the season going as long as possible. I grabbed the one shown above strictly because it is not the same Alex Paterson that's behind the ambient techno band
The Orb, but I thought it interesting that they shared a name. And the very last record below is the
second version of Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers that I've shared by The Lady in Blue, only this one doesn't specifically call her out as June Winters. Odd, that. Maybe it's not her, but it sure sounds like her. And it's definitely a different recording from the previous one. Mysteries abound in the world of old Christmas music. Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday that it was two months since I began the Christmas season around here on
the day before Thanksgiving. This has got to be a record for longevity of the seasonal celebration here at Ernie (Not Bert)! Glad you're still along for the ride. Now, on to the download!
MEGA
Update-5 Jan 2023-Added a tracklist for searchability.
1. Sonora Choristers Under The Direction Of Eugene Mott-Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful)
2. Harry Carney's Big Eight-Candy Cane
3. John Ward, Baritone-Organ Accompaniment By Dyna Jane Ford-Christmas In Your Heart
4. Sandy Williams' Big Eight-Frost On The Moon
5. Harry Noble-Here It Is Christmas
6. Lou Monte With Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra And Chorus-Italian Jingle Bells
7. Oscar Peterson Trio-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
8. Lucienne Boyer, Orchestre Dir: Frank Pourcel, Au Piano. Serge Bessière-Je Ne Crois Plus Au Père Nöel
9. Alex Paterson With Ralph Ford At The Hammond Organ-O Holy Night
10. Bobby Wayne With Orchestra Conducted By Richard Hayman-Snow, Snow, Beautiful Snow
11. Mabel Mercer With Bobby Howard At The Piano-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
12. The Lady In Blue With Hugo Peretti And His Orchestra-The Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
13. Ray Bloch, His Choir & Orchestra Featuring Bobby Doyle-Silent Night
I think I read a long time ago that Mabel Mercer introduced "The Twelve Days of Christmas," which has a folk origin, into popular music. I believe Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters did the real damage a few years after this Mercer record came out.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is the first time I've seen the Mercer 78. Thanks!
That Mabel Mercer is the longest 78 I've seen from that era. I think one side is almost 4 minutes and the other side actually went over 4:00! (I've seen longer ones from later on, but it may have been spoken word stuff.) When they recorded it at IA, they didn't turn up the levels, so there wasn't much there to work with. And the first version I grabbed seemed to start playing before the record was up to speed, so I had to go back and grab a different take. I think it came out OK for all the issues.
ReplyDeleteI shared a version by her during a Christmas in July some time ago, I need to see if it's the same...
I wonder why they didn't put it out on a 12 inch disk.
ReplyDeleteErnie, I never would have guessed there would be a reference to The Orb in one of your posts... They were a fave at the time of their initial heyday.
ReplyDeleteBuster-I don't see too many 12" 78s on minor labels. I'm sure they exist, but it must have been quite the investment for a pop song. :)
ReplyDeletePete-Yep, been a fan since the KLF-Chill Out days. Not as much anymore, but at the time, I was a big fanboy. :)
Continuing to enjoy the collections, very much appreciating the seasonal items and non-seasonal tangents, including the Orb reference. That led me down an entertaining rabbit hole for a couple of hours. Of that approximate genre, I'm more into Eno's Ambient content. "Music for Airports" has been a fave for years, and I enjoyed Hoenig's Northern Wasteland release nearly as much. That one is really great music for road trips.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I struck a chord with the Orb reference. I'll admit that even after a lot of trying, I couldn't really get into Eno. There were some things I liked, but as a whole it just put me to sleep, and not in a good way. There was some older stuff that Virgin collected up on a series of four double discs that I enjoyed very much, but the name of the series escapes me now. A Brief History of Ambient, I think that was it. :)
ReplyDelete"Ambient 1: A Brief History of Ambient," 1993. Now I gotta look for that one. Thanks (in the best possible way), Ernie. Also for all this seasonal content. MAN! Some of this stuff is really great!
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