One of my favorite types of Christmas record to find is the corporate Christmas collections. Not so much in this day and age, but back in the day, groups of company employees would get together to sing, either informally or occasionally as a professional group that would stage shows or even small tours. And sometimes they would release records. Even more rarely, they'd put out a Christmas record. In the past I've brought you collections of Christmas songs from groups representing
Snap On,
Anheuser-Busch,
Nationwide, and others that I can't think of at the moment. Today I've got a small record that features songs contributed by the worldwide divisions of the
Garcia Corporation, the fine folks who make fishing gear. You just never know what sort of company is going to put together and press these Christmas collections. I think you'll dig it. This is
Merry Christmas (Garcia 7" 33 RPM GRC 7701, Mono). The audio editing is a bit rough on this one, and it's like that in the grooves. I think the splices were done in a hurry or by someone with out a lot of experience back when this was put together, but that's part of the charm on these sorts of releases.
1. Garcia Glee Club-Silent Night
2. French Mitchell Chorus-Noel
3. Tony Baly-Forever Christmas
4. Swedish Abu Chorus-The Star Over Eastern Land
5. Swedish Abu Chorus-Christmas Is Here Again
6. German By Plate Chorus-Silent Night
MEGA
That's an unusual one, for sure. The label dates it to 1962.
ReplyDeleteI love these things myself. One of my favorite Christmas memories is hearing a local bank chorus performing every year in their spectacular banking hall (now repurposed as the city's swankiest restaurant).
I think I had the date in there, but forgot to post it. Sorry. I just wish the production values for this one had been a little higher. I'm sure their fishing gear is much higher quality than their record.
ReplyDeleteHow fun - I love local (& national) business albums, even if they're rough. thank you!
ReplyDelete