Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Downhill

I have a soft spot for songs about skiing. I don't know why, but in my head they get lumped together with the records about Winter, and those records get lumped in with Christmas. You probably don't share this strange association, so I decided to wait until after Christmas to share out this skiing record from the great Vaughn Monroe. Monroe recorded a few Christmas singles in his career, and had a hit with Let It Snow, but he never made a whole Christmas album, and there aren't quite enough of those singles to make one. But if you throw in these ski songs, you can get a whole lot closer. I don't know the impetus behind this record, but I wonder if it might have been a favor by Monroe for Charles Grean, the conductor of both sides and writer of one side. Monroe cut a few novelties in his career, and this is certainly in that category. It's interesting stuff though. Download and give a listen to Vaughn Monroe-Orchestra Conducted By Charles Grean-The Song Of The Skier (In This White World) b/w Learn To Ski By Mail (In Ten Easy Lessons) (MGM 7" 45 RPM K12968, Mono, 1960).

MEGA

Posted by Ernie at 12/28/2021 03:00:00 PM

5 comments:

  1. SarahTuesday, December 28, 2021 3:42:00 PM

    Thank you! I just discovered Vaughn Monroe this year (shocking, I know) & am *loving* his music so I'm delighted to have yet another one by him.

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  2. ErnieWednesday, December 29, 2021 7:15:00 AM

    There's not much Christmas stuff by him out there, but the stuff he did record is good.

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  3. humanebeanWednesday, December 29, 2021 8:38:00 AM

    Thanks, Ernie! LOVE this man's voice. Always great to discover a previously unknown song by such an artist, and an Xmas-adjacent one at that.

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  4. Lee HartsfeldThursday, December 30, 2021 2:34:00 PM

    Grean, of course, was the producer (and/or writer or arranger) behind some of the coolest novelties of all time, including Merv Griffin's "Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" and "House of Horrors" and Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy's "Crazy Mixed Up Song." He's an unsung novelty-record hero, maybe better known as an early manager of Eddy Arnold. "Learn to Ski" sounds like Grean going back to his country roots--very Phil Harris in style. In fact, Grean wrote (or borrowed from folk sources) the Harris mega-hit "The Thing." Frankly, I find this single's vocal side stranger than the flip... Amazing find--thanks!

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  5. ErnieMonday, January 03, 2022 7:22:00 AM

    Oh, wow, thanks Lee, for the Charles Grean story. I didn't recognize the name, and I love The Thing! I've got 20 different versions around here somewhere that I grabbed from the Internet Archive, even one or two in French.

    And thanks for the comment, Humane. I love the Christmas adjacent stuff, too! :)

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