It's late at night, so time for our daily remaster. Remasters are records that I've shared in the past, but I've decided to revisit them for some reason. I've gotten better at recording things over the years, so I like to think the new remasters sound better. Sometimes they're new rips from the same record I had all those years ago, sometimes they are from new copies that may sound a little cleaner. And sometimes they're in a better MP3 bitrate. Point is, I've been at this a long time and sometimes I want to go back and redo something again. Anyhoo, the record of the moment is something first shared back in
2012 and I'm bringing it back tonight. I see that my scanning is not as good as it used to be. Everything I do seems too yellow, especially on a different monitor than where I did the work. I guess I need to get these things calibrated. You'll the the picture though. This is
Midnight String Quartet-
Christmas Rhapsodies For Young Lovers (Viva V36010, Stereo, 1967). Enjoy!
1. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
2. Silent Night
3. White Christmas
4. The Little Drummer Boy
5. Oh, Holy Night
6. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
7. Sleigh Ride
8. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
9. Blue Christmas
10. First Noel
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Christmas Rhapsody
MEGA
I suspect this is a better record than the cover portends - although the models are attractive.
ReplyDeleteI love that little caricature of Snuff Garrett. Makes him look like a demented Eddie Cantor.
It makes him look super creepy and you shouldn't let your kids under age 26 anywhere near him! And the models are wearing clothes from the future, or at least the girl is. Or maybe guys still wear sweaters in the future. We're living in the future now, and guys still wear sweaters.
DeleteThis is actually one of my all-time favorite Christmas records since I found my first copy at a rummage sale in 2000. It was THE record that introduced me to this group, and I wanted more. Their version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" is probably my all-time favorite cut from this disc; the almost acapella sound of the strings, followed by the harpsichord (which could be either Snuff Garrett or Leon Russell) segues into a great baroque-Pop version of the Meet Me in St. Louis classic.
ReplyDeleteOther favorites on this album include the great version of "Sleigh Ride", the mid-tempo take on "White Christmas", the reverential take on "Silent Night", the mid-tempo "Little Drummer Boy", and the unofficial title track, "Christmas Rhapsody." Al Capps did a great job with the arrangements on this disc, really capturing the kind of sound fans of the group were hoping for when their first Rhapsodies For Young Lovers album came out a year prior. It has a very unique sound that at times brings to mind Dot-era Lawrence Welk (Mr. Garrett was producing the Lennon Sisters at the time this record came out), yet it has a very distinctive Baroque-era Victorian Pop sound. A solid three out of five stars from me.
ReplyDeleteFunny that you should mention the Dot-era Lawrence Welk. I love his Christmas stuff, but that Dot Christmas record is just sad. Maybe if Welk hadn't released such Great Christmas music in the previous decade I wouldn't have such a poor opinion of it, but it pales in comparison. Doesn't even sound like the same artist to me.
DeleteBuster--By the '70's, that Garrett caricture would be very familiar to buyers of Cher's big hits, being that it is pictured on her Kapp 45s, plus Vicki Lawrence's Bell 45 of "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia."
ReplyDeleteStill creepy!
DeleteRecently found out that Springboard used at least six of the backing tracks on this album when they were putting together the Christmas with the 50 Guitars album in 1977; the remaining selections used backing tracks from Bobby Helms' Jingle Bell Rock album, which he recorded for Little Darlin' Records in 1967 but was released on Mistletoe/Springboard a decade later. The 50 Guitars album is on YouTube if you want to compare the similarities and check it out.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I have that one somewhere, but have mostly ignored it. Not surprised to find out that it's made from items previously released elsewhere. :(
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