Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Who's Dennis James?

Time for another quick visit back to 1955 when the world was new, or at least it must have seemed that way. WW2 was becoming a distant memory, the US economy was booming and life was good. It was also a great year for Christmas music. Here's a little-known record from that year and the new Kapp label, a record that I was not familiar with prior to finding a copy this summer. (Of course I later discovered a second copy already in the collection that I don't remember buying. That happens a lot...) Dennis James appears to be a TV host, credited with hosting the first TV game show in 1946. I suppose they'd existed on radio before that, but TV was the thing that's stuck to today. He doesn't sing on this record, he just tells stories and narrates in rhyme. It's quite cute, I think you'll like it. There's also a chorus that does much of the heavy lifting, apparently assembled just for this recording. A banjo group called The Happy Harts shows up a few times, organist John Gart handles the orchestra, and the chorus is directed by Hal Kanner, who I'm not at all familiar with. It's a good listen, and deserves to be a little more well-known. This is Dennis James With The James Boys And Girls With The Happy Harts-Orchestra Directed By John Gart-Chorus Directed By Hal Kanner-Let's All Sing A Song For Christmas (Kapp KL-1009, Mono, 1955). I'm not going to list out all 34 tracks here, I'm much too lazy for that. Just download and listen, OK?

MEGA

Posted by Ernie at 12/22/2021 03:00:00 PM

13 comments:

  1. StubbyWednesday, December 22, 2021 4:20:00 PM

    I remember Dennis James. Damn, I'm old as dirt.

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  2. BusterWednesday, December 22, 2021 5:14:00 PM

    Yeah, Dennis James was all over TV when I was young and for some time thereafter. Game show host and commercial pitchman. I thought he was a little creepy. The record's a nice find, though!

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  3. TupeloBrianWednesday, December 22, 2021 8:56:00 PM

    I remember he hosted the syndicated version of the "new" price is right revival that Bob Barker hosted on Daytime tv.

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  4. John WellsWednesday, December 22, 2021 9:38:00 PM

    He was known as "The Dean of Game Show Hosts". He hosted countless game shows, including "The Price is Right", "PDQ" and "Name That Tune". His career started on WNEW radio in 1938. In the very early days of TV, he served as a commentator for wrestling matches on the Dumont network. When explaining the finer points of wrestling rules, he would use the term "Mother", stating that the predominantly male audience would not take offense if he were explaining to the fairer sex. James also hosted the United Cerebral Palsy Telethon in NYC for fifty years.

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  5. rev.bWednesday, December 22, 2021 11:59:00 PM

    Oh, you ALL know who Dennis James was. He was always there, the quintessential host. He was kind of creepy. The idea of the "James Boys and Girls"only heightens the disturbing aspect. Hope this one won't haunt me at night...

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  6. GeordieThursday, December 23, 2021 12:17:00 AM

    I don't remember Dennis James, but this is an enjoyable listen. Thanks!

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  7. ErnieThursday, December 23, 2021 8:36:00 AM

    I'm glad you guys recognize him, because I had no idea. This record must not have sold very well and he went back to TV.

    I meant to mention this in the post but forgot. There's a Spike Jones single from Kapp that has a version of the title song here by The Happy Harts, who also feature here. I'm wondering if it's a new version of the song, or just a track from this LP, or maybe an instrumental version... The Happy Harts were a banjo group, and I'm not sure how they wound up on the back of an unknown Spike Jones Christmas 45. Anybody got it?

    https://www.discogs.com/release/10389466-Spike-Jones-And-The-Band-That-Plays-For-Fun-Spike-Jones-Christmas-Special

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  8. jelawmoThursday, December 23, 2021 8:46:00 AM

    I totally remember Dennis James. I think I can close my eyes and remember exactly what his voice sounded like. I agree, he really was everywhere on TV/Radio when I was a kid.

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  9. StubbyThursday, December 23, 2021 3:17:00 PM

    There was a common practice, in the old days, of record companies using the same backing track behind different vocalists recording the same song...or even buying a "stock" backing track for the same purpose. I'd have to hear both versions to know if that's the case here, but you could probably determine that yourself if you had both versions.

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  10. SarahSaturday, December 25, 2021 3:54:00 PM

    I've never heard of Dennis James, but then we didn't have a TV until I was seven (I thought Captain Kangaroo *was* one - imagine my disappointment that he wasn't!) so I'm going to ignore the comments about his creepy vibe & just enjoy the album free of said vibes! Thank you for the download!

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  11. ErnieWednesday, December 29, 2021 7:33:00 AM

    I really enjoyed this record, I think it was one of my favorite finds this season.

    Thanks for all the comments!

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  12. 12vjoeThursday, December 22, 2022 7:33:00 AM

    Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. ErnieThursday, December 22, 2022 7:46:00 AM

      I think I finally got the single from this one that I was after sometime in the past couple of days. Hope to share it next year, though it's probably not anything different from the album version. Not the Spike Jones single, unfortunately, but a different one.

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