In my Christmas record hunting experience, Alaska is the hardest state to find a record from. So imagine my surprise when I found this one in a box at the record store about a month ago. It was in horrible shape with tape on the cover and areas where tape had been pulled. The vinyl was scratched and had a bad warp on one edge that caused me to loose a minute or two from the first song on each side. But I still paid my $10 (a big sum for me, especially for something in rough shape) and brought it home. The music is a bit dodgy, sounding like someone recorded an old band organ with a small microphone held too close to the sound source, but the story is nice and that's the heart of the record.
Ben Zeller appears to be an author these days, and he shows up in a few other articles online as an actor and in set construction for the film industry. Quite the life he's led, but here's a little relic from his early days homesteading in Alaska. This is
Ben Zeller-
A Visit With Santa Claus (Chord/Variety Recording Company CH-50, Mono).
1. Santa's Helpers Toyland Band-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Edit
2. Ben Zeller, Lee Salisbury, Leslie Salisbury & Sound Effects By Georgia Zeller-A Visit With Santa Claus
3. Santa's Helpers Toyland Band-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Reprise
4. Santa's Helpers Toyland Band-Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer
5. Santa's Helpers Big Brass Band-Christmas March-Edit
6. Santa's Helpers Big Brass Band-Childhood Days
MEGA
Wow! And that cover art!
ReplyDeleteThe cover art is nice. There's a Christmas in Florida that make a big deal about it, too. And Santa Claus, Indiana. :)
DeleteThis is an odd one. Thanks for the background on it!
ReplyDeleteI love it! :)
DeleteHi Ernie, this sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI have only listened to a few seconds of several of the tracks, but...
About 10 years ago, I purchased from the UK a complete Laural and Hardy DVD collection of all their Films and Short subjects. The set contains both B/W and Colorized versions.
The songs on this album remind me of those Hal Roach Studio productions. Plus, I love stories.
Thank you, Ernie, for sharing this album.
DeleteI now can send you my top 3? favorites of your sharing season. This album sits at number 3. I wish it had a second story, but for all its simplicity and old world sound, at least to me, I enjoyed it.
It does sound a little bit like that old type music. And glad it made the top 3 of your list, it was also one of the top finds for me this season. :)
DeleteOh, a late awesome find for me this season. Thank you so much Ernie!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was pretty great. :)
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