This record is a much later Christmas effort by a big star of her day. She was a singer with Jimmy Dorsey in the Forties, a co-host of The Today Show in it's early incarnation and a wife to Frank DeVol. She cut this LP for religious label Singchord in 1975, and it's probably not her best work. But it is an interesting relic of it's time. This is
Helen O'Connell-
Christmas With Helen O'Connell (Singcord ZLP 775, Stereo, 1975).
1. Sleep Holy Child
2. Silent Night
3. Rock-A-Bye
4. Away In A Manger
5. Little Drummer Boy
6. No Room
7. What Child Is This
8. Gentle Shepherd
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
10. Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
MEGA
Great!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it. :)
DeleteI didn't know she was married to Frank DeVol!
ReplyDeleteWikipedia is a font of wonderful knowledge that may or may not be true. :)
DeleteSo excited to plow into the rest of this album! I found out about this record--and heard 3 of the cuts from it--on YouTube a few years ago, and is now in my personal list of most wanted Christmas albums that I want to add to my collection. She is outstanding on "No Room" and "The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy" is one of my favorites to play every season. She tends to get a bad rap from some historians for her vocal stylings, yet she did have some great style and verve to her singing. Two more notable later albums from her worth seeking out are An Era Reborn on Cameo-Parkway and A Beautiful Friendship on the Longines Symphonette, which contains great versions of "Going Out of My Head" and "Didn't We." This is going to be great! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it. I just don't think it's representative of her best work, but there's some good stuff in there.
DeleteI am adding "Sleep Holy Child", "Silent Night" and "O Little Town of Bethehem" to the favorites list. Quite a few unique arrangements sprinkled throughout this album.
ReplyDeleteI hope that list is getting much longer this year. :)
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