As is tradition, I've got some Chanukah music for you after all of the Christmas music from July. Unfortunately, I've only got one track, and it's a new copy of something I've shared before, but at least it's something. For all of our Jewish friends, enjoy!
1. Unknown Artist-Eight Nights Of Hanukah (Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 09)
Greetings, and welcome to the last day of Christmas in July for 2024! It's been a long slow trip to get to the end here, but I think it was worth the trouble. We've found some good Christmas music that I think you otherwise wouldn't be aware of and had a lot of fun doing it. As is the custom around here, the end of the month is when we celebrate New Year's Eve, so I've got a double handful of songs about the end of the year for you today. We start out with something a bit classical, veer off to some surprising late 80's music, a rerun for the kiddies, the inevitable Mrs. Mills, then we finish with a short song from one of that endless stream of JFK-related comedy records that didn't seem so funny after the assassination. You've got to love the variety of stuff around here. Enjoy!
1. Golden Age Singers-Dennis Nesbitt, Continuo-A New Year's Song (Locke-The Music Of Matthew Locke For Voices And Viols, 1973)
2. God's Little Monkeys-New Year's Honours (New Maps Of Hell, 1989)
3. Jerry Bock With Nancy, Debbie, Cathy, Ginnie, Robert, Gary, Seth, David And George-Happy Old Year (Songs About Animals, 1962)
4. Mrs. Mills With The Jubilee Singers Directed By Mike Sammes-Auld Lang Syne (Mrs Mills Jubilee Party, 1977)
5. Christopher Weeks-Auld Lang Syne Off (My Son, The President, 1962)
Day the thirtieth! I was starting to think this month might go on forever. I know you thought I was going to bump it up to eight tracks today, but I couldn't get that one last track. The record was just so scratched up, I couldn't get it to play without multiple skips and the sections without skips still sounded pretty bad. So I'll keep an eye out for another copy of that record and hopefully share it with you some other year. It's pretty rare that I come across a record that I can't get something out of, I've surprised myself with some of the things I've been able to recover, but this one just resisted everything I tried to do. Forwards, backwards, different needles, different speeds, different weights on the needle, I tried all my tricks, but no joy. Not important, I guess, but I needed something to talk about today. What's in the pile on the next-to-the-last day of CiJ? Meh, I'm tired of trying to think up things to say about what's in the share, it is what it is. I'll tell you the best track here is Bingle Jells by The Nutty Squirrels, I was really excited to finally dig up a copy of that one. It's in mono though, so I'd still like to find a stereo copy, but at least I know it's worth finding now. Download and enjoy!
1. Joseph Gershenson-Christmas Holly (Inter: Love Theme From "Madame X" and My Heart Still Hears The Music) (Madame X, 1966)
2. Unknown Artist-Winter (Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 09)
3. Don Mitchell-The Winter Of My Storm (The Ballad Of Lucy Lum And Other Delights!, 1977)
4. Madeira Beach Junior High School Concert Band-Paul T. Nicholson, Conductor-Themes From The Nutcracker Suite (Madeira Beach Junior High School Concert Band, 1969)
5. Jim Curnow-Christmas Concert March (Studio P/R In Concert-New Concert Band Music for 1978-79, 1978)
6. Sascha Burland And Don Elliot With The Nutty Squirrels-Arranged And Conducted By Billy Mure-Bingle Jells (A Hard Day's Night And Other Smashes, 1964)
7. Ray Heatherton And Orchestra-Created, Produced And Directed By Hal Gross-Winter Song (All About Days, Months And Seasons Of The Year, 1968)
Day 29, and I'm finally going to bump you up to seven shares in a day. I wish I'd been able to share that much with you every day this month, but it just wasn't in the cards. I think that no matter how much I had to share, I'd always wish I had just a little bit more. Probably a bit of a character fault there, but so be it. Anyhow, with so many tracks, you get a good variety of stuff here. First track is probably the funkiest thing here, in a very seventies, white-bread, trying too hard way. You'll dig it. Some soundtrack music, a sweetly swinging White Christmas, more Christmas for the kiddies, a Nutcracker tune, the second version of the same song from the Belles of Saint Mary's (not their real name unfortunately) and bringing up the rear is a short snippet of a sampler track. I noticed recently that the music software I've been using this year (MediaMonkey) has been dropping in the year as 2024 if I don't have a year entered. Not sure I like that, I'll have to dig into the settings to see if I can tell it to leave it blank if there's no data there. Sorry if that's been messing up your discographical information. This is the first time in many, many years I've not used my old copy of iTunes to do all the final exporting of shares. That's why I was able to give you FLAC files this year in addition to the MP3s. Dunno know if it's worth the trouble, but hopefully some of you appreciate it. Anyhow, I'll stop blathering now, enjoy the music!
1. Mary Macgregor, Steve Brainard And The Edith Norberg Children Singers-Arranged And Conducted By David Karr-The Birth (He Lived The Good Life, 1973)
2. Composed And Conducted By David Amram-Mountain Snow (The Arrangement, 1969)
3. Earle Warren And The Countsmen-White Christmas (Earle Warren And The Countsmen, 1985)
4. Unknown Artist-I Saw Three Ships (Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 10 From Book 3)
5. The Cleveland Orchestra, Lorin Maazel Conducting-Dance Of The Mirlitons (From The Nutcracker Suite) (Digital Delights, 1986)
6. Saint Mary's College Women's Choir-Rick Sibley, Director-Vicki Bloome, Accompanist-The Bells Of Saint Mary's (A Saint Mary's Song)
7. Unknown Artist-Night Of Wonder (Choral Sampler For The Music Educator, 1980)
Day 28, almost to the end here. And surprise, surprise, I've got six tracks in the pile for you today. That's double what I've been sharing each day all month, so it's like two days in one. Another real mixed bag here, but some interesting stuff. Some more kiddie music, some seventies laid-back rock, some solo stuff from the guy behind The New Christy Minstrels, some near classical stuff, a really old Ave Maria and some Eighties music. Where else are you going to find a mix like that? Enjoy!
1. Unknown Artist-O Come, Little Children (Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 10 From Book 3)
2. Wilderness Road-Long Winter (Sold For Prevention Of Disease Only, 1973)
3. Randy Sparks & The Back Porch Majority-First Snow Of Winter (RS & The BPM-Initial Album, 1971)
4. The Gregg Smith Singers-Gregg Smith, Conductor-Boston (Christmas Anthem) (The Continental Harmony-Music Of William Billings, 1969)
5. Gracie Fields-Ave Maria (The World Of Gracie Fields Vol. 2, 1975)
6. Tracy Moore-Silent Night (Skypiece, 1983)
Another day closer to the end, and another day where I can share more tracks with you. We've gone most of the month with three tracks per day, yesterday was four tracks and today is five! How great is that? Wish I could have done that many all month, but it's just getting harder and harder to find these Christmas songs on non-Christmas records to share with you. They still turn up, but not like they used to. I guess part of that is because I don't spend the time hunting records like I used to. First the pandemic made me stay home for the better part of a year and then my GF moved in with me and there wasn't time or space to accumulate so many records. But I've still got a few for you and that's better than nothing. Let's see what's in Santa's sack for you today. I think the first track is a rerun. I remember being very excited when I found a nearly complete set of 10" records in a box that included a few Christmas tracks, but I realized while recording them that I'd gotten all the tracks years ago, likely from finding the records one at a time. Next up is a private press from Texas followed by a record that I can't remember a single thing about. Next up is the other Nutcracker Suite track by Gene Krupa that I found recently. Dunno why I've been sitting on that one so long, but I don't want to top-load the first part of the month with all the best music. Gotta save something for the end. Last is a song about the resurrection of Christ that has become a common Christmas song for whatever reason. And that's it, five more songs that get you a little closer to the complete collection. Enjoy!
1. Unknown Artist-Carol Of The Birds (Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 10 From Book 3)
2. Bel Canto Singers Of Boles Home, Quinlan, Texas-Directed By Dan Parkerson-Larry Davis, Soloist-What Child Is This (Count Your Blessings-Songs Of The Bel Canto Singers, Album 4)
3. Ray Repp-In The Month Of December (The Time Has Not Come True, 1969)
4. Gene Krupa-Arranged And Coducted By George Williams-March (From "The Nutcracker Suite") (Classics In Percussion!, 1961)
5. Sanctuary Choir And Sanctuary Orchestra Of The Music Ministry Of First Baptist Church Atlanta-Hallelujah (The Atlanta Passion Play, 1982)
I've finally gotten all the tracks from vinyl that I'm going to be able to share this season, and I've counted everything out from here to the end of the month. That means I can share four tracks with you today instead of the usual three! Isn't that exciting? Not that it's a big change since one of them is a sampler track that's incomplete and another is pretty short as such things go. Another track is by a girl's choir at a school named after St. Mary. Shouldn't they be called The Belles of St. Mary's? I dunno, it's a conundrum. The last track is another goodie by Cleo Laine, so enjoy!
1. Saint Mary's College Women's Choir-Rick Sibley, Director-Vicki Bloome, Accompanist-The Bells Of Saint Mary's (A Saint Mary's Song)
2. Unknown Artist-Tambourine Noel (Choral Sampler For The Music Educator, 1980)
3. Unknown Artist-Bells (Now And Long Ago-Silver Burdett Songs From Music For Living-Album 09)
4. Cleo Laine Featuring The Music Of John Dankworth-Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind (As You Like It) (This Is...Cleo Laine: Shakespeare-And All That Jazz, 1964)
Day 25! I can see the end from here! What's the theme of the day? Well, I've already shared tracks from all these artists and albums, so if you liked their earlier shares, you'll also like these new tracks. At least I hope you do. I just noticed that the first two tracks have a similar credit for Sanctuary Choir And Orchestra, but they're for different churches. Still in the South, but pretty far apart. The last track is from up north in that mistake by the lake, though I don't think anyone calls Cleveland that anymore. Last time I checked, the Cuyahoga River was nice and clean and no longer flammable. Anyhow, that's what's in the download today for you. Enjoy!
1. Sanctuary Choir And Sanctuary Orchestra Of The Music Ministry Of First Baptist Church Atlanta-What Did You Say Was The Baby's Name? (The Atlanta Passion Play, 1982)
2. Willa Dorsey And The Sanctuary Choir And Orchestra Of First Baptist Church, Dallas Texas, Directed By Gary Moore-Go Tell It On The Mountain (Spirituals For All Seasons, 1977)
3. The Cleveland Orchestra, Lorin Maazel Conducting-Waltz Of The Flowers (From The Nutcracker Suite) (Digital Delights, 1986)
1. Bobby Lester & The Moonglows-Hey Santa Claus-Live
2. Charlie Barnet And His Orchestra-Piano Solo: Jack Wilson, Jr.-Muted Trumpet Solo: Conte Candoli-Snowfall
3. United States Air Force Academy Symphonic Band-Conducted By Major Herman Vincent-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
4. Shorty Rogers-Andre Previn Orchestra-40° Below
5. Pasadena Roof Orchestra-Savoy Christmas Medley
6. Elaine Stritch-Orchestra Under The Direction Of Deane Kincaide-Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
7. Rick Dees And The Cast Of Idiots-Merry Christmas (Wherever You Are)
8. Eddie Bond-Christmas In Heaven
9. Lord Buckley-Scrooge
10. All-City Choir-Susan Van Dyck, Chairman-Nancy Ferguson, Coordinator-Fat Jolly Man
11. Alice Day-Medley: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
12. The Newport Youth Band Under The Direction Of Marshall Brown-Lemon Drop
13. Diane Leslie-Christmas Song
14. Marni Nixon-Orchestral Accompaniments By Ed Jurey-Christmas Tree Angel
15. MacLean & MacLean-Nine Days Of Christmas
16. Buddy Tate, His Tenor Sax And Orchestra-Snowy White Christmas
17. The Rave-Ups-The Night Before Christmas (Hey Baby)
18. Barbara E. Leigh & The Everlov'ins-I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus (AKA I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause)
19. Allen Keller And Trombones-Kai Winding-Urbie Green-Nick Travis-Paul Falise-Christmas Road
20. Silver Burdett Company-Cowboys' Christmas Ball
21. Chris Rea-Joys Of Christmas
22. Original Salty Dogs Jazz Band-Santa Claus Blues
23. Wini Beatty With Rhett Fink And The Folkniks-Christmas Medley
24. The Munich Symphony Orchestra-Christmas Morning
25. George Jones-New Baby For Christmas
26. Steve Addiss & Bill Crofut-12 Days With Khrushchev
27. The University Of Texas Longhorn Band-Glenn A. Richter, Director-My Favorite Things
28. Marlene VerPlanck-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
29. Cecile Frenette-Soon It Will Be Christmas
30. Paul Belanger-Old Fashioned Christmas
31. Conducted By Joseph Brooks-Christmas Song (Montage)
32. Lulu Belle & Scotty-The Empty Christmas Stocking
33. The Kings-This Christmas
Don't miss the 2022 Best-Of that I shared earlier this season, and then there was 2021, a 2020, a 2019, a 2018, a 2017, no 2016, a 2015, but no 2014, and no 2013. There's a 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and a 2006. If that's not enough goody for you, I did a series of ten (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten) second-best collections that I think are just as good as the stuff that made the main collections. And if that's not enough for you, just poke around, I'm sure you'll find something somewhere here at the blog that will placate you.
(I think Google just recently made a change to how you upload images for the blog. They haven't changed anything in ages, but the upload interface was different today. Interesting...)
Getting a little hectic around here. First I post yesterday's share late in the day and then I almost forgot to create a post for today. I've got to get things whipped into shape before the end of the month gets here. In the pot today is another short sample track for you, a newish thing that doesn't sound Christmas at all even though it's right there in the title, and another track from Rose. Enjoy!
1. Unknown Artist-Swingin' Jingle Bells (Choral Sampler For The Music Educator, 1980)
2. The Popular Front-A Puppy For Christmas (A Heartbeat Of Laughing, 1986)
3. Rose Maddox-Willies Winter Love (Reckless Love & Bold Adventure, 1977)
Day 23! And another small collection of all new songs for you! Track one is from the soundtrack for a passion play in Atlanta, track two is another gospel number from Willa Dorsey and track three is a half-Christmas medley from the best-named group ever! Enjoy!
1. Sanctuary Choir And Sanctuary Orchestra Of The Music Ministry Of First Baptist Church Atlanta-Overture/Festival Of Christmas Hymns (The Atlanta Passion Play, 1982)
2. Willa Dorsey And The Sanctuary Choir And Orchestra Of First Baptist Church, Dallas Texas, Directed By Gary Moore-Bethlehem, Tiny Town (Spirituals For All Seasons, 1977)
3. The Wintersauce Chorale-George Guilbault, Director-Brian Marble, Associate Conductor & Accompanist-Remember Radio: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; I'm Old Fashioned (Winters Are Warmer)
If my calculations are correct, all three songs today are new to the blog and being shared here for the first time ever! I could be wrong, but I'm not going to dig too deep to prove myself wrong. So what's in the download? Track one is a sort-of Christmas-adjacent song from the great Jackie DeShannon. She wants you to keep her warm during the cold, cold winter. Track two is a bunch of kiddies singing about snowflakes. And bringing up the rear is some Russians with their balalaika's ringing. Enjoy!
1. Jackie DeShannon-Keep Me Warm (Songs, 1971)
2. 6th Level Students, Hayfield Secondary School, Fairfax, Virginia-Dr. Rhonda Fleming, Conductor-Fran Tompkins, Accompanist-Winter Snowflakes (The 1983 Fairfax County Elementary Choral Festival, 1983)
3. The Osipov Balalaika Orchestra Conducted By Vitaly Gnutov & Viktor Dubrovsky With Valentina Levko-Over The Fields, Open Fields (The World Of The Balalaika, 1971)
Lucky number 21, this month is finally old enough to drink. I've got the usual three tracks for you today, two new ones and a repeat from just last year. Not sure I wound up with a new copy of something I just shared last year, but that's the way these things work. The George Shearing track is an instrumental from an LP that features vocals from Mel Torme. I was a bit disappointed to find he didn't sing on this track, but I was still excited to find a Christmas song. Not the best take, I'm afraid, but you get what you get. Track two is a classical bit of fluff, written by someone who's billed as America's first great composer. And lastly the repeat track is a soundtrack cut that's kind of interesting. Enjoy!
1. George Shearing-Away In The Manger (Top Drawer, 1983)
2. The Gregg Smith Singers-Gregg Smith, Conductor-The Shepherd's Carol (The Continental Harmony-Music Of William Billings, 1969)
3. Conducted By Joseph Brooks-Christmas Song (Montage) (If Ever I See You Again, 1978)
It's day 20 and that means we are almost two-thirds of the way through the month. Seems like just yesterday we were on day 19 (brought to you by Amazon Prime, home of Alexa and Jeremy Clarkson!) and now here we are. Time flies when you're having fun. I hope all these Christmassy wintertime songs are helping you cool off in this hot, hot summer. I know many spots here in the US are seeing record-high temperatures that make your shoes melt as you walk from your car to your destination. I hope things are better down in the Southern hemisphere, though you might be having a record cold winter for all I know. What I do know is that I've got three songs for you today. Nothing too noteworthy, except that the zither track is the last one I have to share from that album so I hope you've enjoyed those. The others are a short sample piece of track, and a medley that's only sort of Christmas-adjacent. Enjoy!
1. Unknown Artist-It's Christmas (Choral Sampler For The Music Educator, 1980)
2. St. Joseph's Church-Folk Group-Directors: Doreen DiFiore and Sue Tozzi-Love Is The Answer and Let There Be Peace On Earth (Alleluia! Sing To The Lord)
3. Willie Dittrich-Stille Nacht (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
Day 19 is brought to you by Amazon Prime, where every day is a prime chance to separate you from your money. Not a whole lot of Christmas in today's share I'm afraid, but plenty of holiday-adjacent tracks. End of December is probably more of a New Year's song, but he mentions Christmas a couple of times so I left it in the Christmas pile. Feel free to retag it if you'd like. The we listen to our repeat track of the day featuring the always interesting Oscar Brand. Lastly we get the irrepressible Mrs. Mills doing a Christmas-via-commercial song for you. Anything that features Mike Sammes can't be bad, right? And I recently saw two mentions of Mrs. Mills' piano which I guess is more famous these days than she is. Paul McCartney pointed it out and played a bit in a documentary on Abbey Road Studios, and then it got a mention from Dr. Who in an episode where they traveled back in time to visit Abbey Road and meet The Beatles. Odd coincidence there, but that's the way it goes. Give 'em a listen and see what you think. Enjoy!
1. Randy Edelman-End Of December (The Laughter And The Tears, 1972)
2. Oscar Brand-The Frozen Logger (Paul Bunyan In Story And Song, 1969)
3. Mrs. Mills With The Jubilee Singers Directed By Mike Sammes-I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (Mrs Mills Jubilee Party, 1977)
Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'W'! (For those of you that haven't seen it, go watch the Jim Henson documentary "Idea Man" on Disney+, it's great.) I've got three tracks today from artists whose names begin with the letter 'W', and only one of them is a rerun from a past year. Let's see what's in the pile. Up first is our favorite new group name of the year, The Wintersauce Chorale. Then there's a long dronefest from The Wind Harp, an actual aeolian harp that plays music as the wind blows across the strings. You'll either like it or you won't. Bringing up the rear is a rerun from The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir. Interesting selection today, I'll give it that. Enjoy!
1. The Wintersauce Chorale-George Guilbault, Director-Brian Marble, Associate Conductor & Accompanist-Ave Maria (Winters Are Warmer)
2. The Wind Harp-Winterwhite (Song From The Hill, 1972)
3. The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir Directed By Soo Chul Chang With Ralph Carmichael And His Orchestra-Jingle Bells (The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir, 1962)
Day 17, a rare prime number day. I'm sure Amazon will try to co-opt that somehow, but for now, we'll just try to enjoy it for what it is. And what it is is another collection of three Christmas songs from non-Christmas albums. The first is a surprisingly funky take on Shakespeare from Cleo Laine, the second is Silver Bells on a zither, and the third is another sample track from a music publisher. This one is a complete track, so that's nice compared to the others that are just one minute samples. All good stuff, I'm sure you'll enjoy.
1. Cleo Laine Featuring The Music Of John Dankworth-Winter (Love's Labour's Lost) (This Is...Cleo Laine: Shakespeare-And All That Jazz, 1964)
2. Willie Dittrich-Silver Bells (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
3. Al Cobine-Trilogy Of European Carols (Come All Ye Shepherds (Czech); Joseph Lieber, Joseph Mein (German); The March Of The Kings (Old French)) (Studio P/R In Concert-New Concert Band Music for 1978-79, 1978)
Day 16! A little over halfway through the month. Hope everyone is having a great time! A couple spoken word tracks for you today, and one that's only partly spoken word. We start with a rerun of a winter tale as told by Ed Begley, Jr.'s father, then we move on to a Spanish-language track that begins with a long spoken word bit before the song proper begins. No idea what they're saying, but I know Navidad means Christmas. Lastly is a weird spoken word piece that claims to be a song, but it's not. Might not be everyone's cup of tea. Give it a listen and see what you think. Enjoy!
1. Ed Begley-The Winter Of The Blue Snow (Paul Bunyan In Story And Song, 1969)
2. Grupo Coral Exodo, Director: Jesús Porras Ruiz-Navidad (Grupo Coral Exodo, 1977)
3. Charles John Quarto-Christmas Song (Charles John Quarto, 1971)
Wait, hold on a sec, I've forgotten what day it is again. Oh, the 15th, really close to the halfway point. I get lost around here sometimes. What's on tap today? We start out with some music performed on the balalaika, then some fine concert Tchaikovsky and bringing up the rear is some fine percussion work on a Christmas standard. Nice selections today, I think you'll have a good listen. Enjoy!
1. The Osipov Balalaika Orchestra Conducted By Vitaly Gnutov & Viktor Dubrovsky With Ludmila Zykina-Oh, Snow, Light Snow (The World Of The Balalaika, 1971)
2. The Cleveland Orchestra, Lorin Maazel Conducting-March (From The Nutcracker Suite) (Digital Delights, 1986)
3. The New York Percussion Trio-Jingle Bells Samba (Holidays For Percussion, 1959)
Almost halfway through the month, I should check and see how my supply of music is holding out. I know there aren't too many records left in the pile to record, so that's either a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective. I know there's not too much work left to do on that end of things, so that's the good thing. Unfortunately it means there aren't going to be a huge number of shares for the end of the month, though I think there may be a few days with four tracks instead of three. So at least there's that. Today's first track is a church choir with no date on the record. This song was written in 1962, so the date of release has to be sometime after that. Second is some more zither music for you, and lastly is a sample track (which means it's too short). Enjoy!
1. St. Joseph's Church-Folk Group-Directors: Doreen DiFiore and Sue Tozzi-Do You Hear What I Hear (Alleluia! Sing To The Lord)
2. Willie Dittrich-Suser Die Glocken Nie Klingen (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
3. Unknown Artist-A Merry Christmas Polka (Choral Sampler For The Music Educator, 1980)
My job is a lot easier when I stay ahead of the game. This year I'm sharing out the share of the day on the corresponding day, but that's not always been the case. I'd miss a day or two, and suddenly I'm trying to share day eight on day twelve, and it just complicates things. I know, I know, you don't care about such minutia, but that's the way this game works behind the scenes. So what have I got for you today? Let's see, there's a winter-themed track, the first of a big double handful of tracks from one of those sampler albums they sent to music educators to try and entice a sale of the sheet music and bringing up the rear is a rerun of a soundtrack song that's interesting. Download and enjoy!
1. Skywalk-First Snow (Silent Witness, 1984)
2. Unknown Artist-Come Christmas Morning (Choral Sampler For The Music Educator, 1980)
3. Conducted By Joseph Brooks-Christmas Song (Version 2) (If Ever I See You Again, 1978)
On the twelfth day of Christmas in July, Ernie gave to you, three more tracks of non-Christmas album origin. I'm not to sure my version of the song is going to catch on, but perhaps you'll like one of my three selections o' the day better. We've got two new ones, featuring some more Wintersauce and another from St. Joseph's Church. The rerun today is yet another zither-based tune. Not the best day, to be honest, but probably not the worst. (The worst day is yet to come, I promise. Ever hear of an Aeolian harp? You will, but you may not like it.)
1. The Wintersauce Chorale-George Guilbault, Director-Brian Marble, Associate Conductor & Accompanist-Sing We And Chant It (Winters Are Warmer)
2. St. Joseph's Church-Adult Choir-Director: Bill Ryan-Hallelujah Choir (Alleluia! Sing To The Lord)
3. Willie Dittrich-Away In A Manger/O Little Town Of Bethlehem (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
Day number eleven. What can I say about 11? Well, it's a prime number, and it means we're more than a third of the way done. Beyond that, I got nothing. I do, however, have three brand spanking new tracks for you today, never before shared at the blog. I guess I was feeling generous when I made today's selections, I hope I don't regret it later. First up is track featuring the balalaika as requested last Christmas season. Not actually Christmas, but the title is close. Second is the nicely named Wintersauce Chorale doing a musical version of the Robert Frost poem. Third is a long waltz that doesn't strike me as too wintry, but your mileage may vary. Enjoy!
1. The Osipov Balalaika Orchestra Conducted By Vitaly Gnutov & Viktor Dubrovsky With Valentina Levko-Jingle Bell (The World Of The Balalaika, 1971)
2. The Wintersauce Chorale-George Guilbault, Director-Brian Marble, Associate Conductor & Accompanist-Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening (Winters Are Warmer, 2024)
3. Václav Neumann-The Czech Philharmonic-Winter Storms Waltz (Entry Of The Gladiators-The Beautiful Music Of Julius Fučik, 1976)
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1. Kay Lande-The Man With The Merry Ho-Ho-Ho-Edit
2. Frank Hunter And His Orchestra-Christmas In The Valley
3. Joanne Mackell-Christmas Day
4. Patti Page-Pretty Snowflakes
5. Dear Mr. President-Who Killed Santa Claus?
6. Bobby Troup-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
7. Mac Davis-Christmas Carol
8. Red Nichols And The Augmented Pennies-Cool Tango
9. The Calvin Handbell Ringers-Robert Ivey, Director-Fum, Fum, Fum
10. Trendsetter-Deck The Halls (Logo)
11. Pinkard & Bowden-Let's Put The 'X' Back In Christmas
12. Hagood Hardy-Wintertime
13. Donna McKechnie, Margo Sappington, Baayork Lee-Turkey Lurkey Time
14. Meiko Miyazawa, Piano-Christmas-Day Secrets
15. Dennis Farnon And His Orchestra-Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year
16. Unknown Harpist-Greensleeves
17. The Sun Valley Trio-Sleigh Ride
18. Armando Trovajoli-Christmas Night
19. Ferron-Snowin' In Brooklyn
20. The Sandals-Ski Bum
21. The Buddy Weed Quartet-Snow Mountains
22. Classroom Materials Company-Jingle Bells
23. Mickey Katz-Grandma's Draidel
24. Dr. John-Xmas In New Orleans (Vocal)
25. Walt Brown With Bill Collins-The Marvelous Toy
26. Tyree Glenn-Conductor: Sy Oliver-Cold Winter Nights
27. Willie Rodriguez With Chuck Sagle And His Orchestra-Moonlight In Vermont
28. The Production Garden-Looking Great/Christmas
29. Hugh Downs Accompanied By Mundell Lowe And His Friends-I Wonder As I Wander
30. Harpers Bizarre-Snow
31. Warren Covington And His Marching Band-Winter Sports
32. Joe & Eddie-Go Tell It On The Mountain
33. The International Staff Band Of The Salvation Army-Conducted By Colonel Bernard Adams-The Message Of Christmas
34. Montreal Lithuanian Choir-Linksmų Kalėdų/Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noël
35. Wally Whyton-When Winter Comes
36. Airforce Broadcast Services-We're The Center Of Everything This Christmas-Vocal
37. Buddy Hackett-Dear Santa Claus
38. Trendsetter-Snowfall Magic
39. Billy Rowland And His Thumbtack Piano-Button Up Your Overcoat
40. The Arcadia Choir-Barth Dowling, Director-Introit: Fanfare For Christmas Day
41. The Meddiebempsters-Winter Wonderland
42. Trendsetter-Orchestrated Pattern (Christmas) (Joy To The World)
43. William B. Tanner Company-Auld Lang Syne
Today marks approximately one third of the way through the season, but it's still far from over. I need to get in there and count how many tracks I have left, then do some math to see if I can start sharing four a day instead of three, but for today, I'm sticking to three. Got some interesting stuff in the pile of three though, starting with our unofficial theme song, Sleigh Ride In July. That's a new version for you, and I think the Chilly Scenes of Winter is new as well (not _the_ Robin Williams I'm afraid. Wouldn't that be nice!). Lazy Holiday is our only repeat of the day, but I love that percussion sound! Give 'em all a download and enjoy!
1. Robin & Linda Williams-Chilly Scenes Of Winter (Harmony, 1981)
2. Jackie & Roy-Sleigh Ride In July (Full Circle, 1988)
3. The New York Percussion Trio-Lazy Holiday (Holidays For Percussion, 1959)
Nothing special about day 9 so I'll jump right in. A new gospel track that I think it pretty good for you today, a repeat track featuring the zither, and a possible repeat from some Korean orphans. I'm still not certain if those tracks were repeated on the two Christmas albums they released (and that I shared with you last Christmas), or if they are unique. I'm also not sure if I've shared them with you from this specific LP before. Apparently, I'm not too sure about a lot of things. I've been doing this for too long... Anyhow, here's three songs for you to download and enjoy!
1. Willa Dorsey And The Sanctuary Choir And Orchestra Of First Baptist Church, Dallas Texas, Directed By Gary Moore-Wasn't That A Mighty Day (Spirituals For All Seasons, 1977)
2. Willie Dittrich-Jingle Bells/Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
3. The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir Directed By Soo Chul Chang With Ralph Carmichael And His Orchestra-Silent Night (The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir, 1962)
Good morning! Welcome to week two of our Christmas In July spectacular! I've got three more tracks for you today, three tracks of Christmas music that come from non-Christmas albums. I think there are two new tracks today (but the rerun is really, really great!). The first one is a church group, but the second one is 70's superstar (and Muppet co-worker) John Denver with a sort of hidden Christmas track. The title doesn't clue you in very well, but the next line in the song is "don't get drunk this Christmas", so you can imagine where it goes from there. Enjoy!
1. St. Joseph's Church-Adult Choir-Director: Bill Ryan-Silent Night, Holy Night and The Christmas Story (Alleluia! Sing To The Lord)
2. John Denver-Please, Daddy (Farewell Andromeda, 1973)
3. The New York Percussion Trio-Sleigh Ride (Holidays For Percussion, 1959)
Day seven, and so ends the first week of Christmas in July sharity. The new track today is a winter song by the Rose from country group The Maddox Brothers And Rose. It's a Hoyt Axton song that as near as I can tell doesn't have anything to do with the movie of the same name. The other tracks are really good, too, but they've been shared here before (though these are new rips of new vinyl). Enjoy!
1. Neal Hefti And His Orchestra-Waltz Of The Flowers (From "The Nutcracker Suite") (Concert Miniatures, 1957)
2. Rose Maddox-Lion In The Winter (Reckless Love & Bold Adventure, 1977)
3. The Editors Of Popular Photography-Christmas Time (Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree/Jingle Bells) (Popular Photography's Sound For A Picture Evening, 1965)
Day six already, time sure flies when you're having fun! I don't know how I used to do this when I was sharing out a dozen tracks a day, and went into the month with no music already recorded. Well, I was single and had few obligations out in the real world, so I was able to spend all my time finding, recording and sharing the music. But life has changed a bit for me, but I've still got music to share with you. Today's new track is a winter-themed song from Kinks guitarist Dave Davies. His brother Ray seems to have been the powerhouse behind The Kinks success, but Dave had a hand in it as well. It's certainly a change of pace from the other two songs. Enjoy!
1. The New York Percussion Trio-Drummer's Holiday (Holidays For Percussion, 1959)
2. Jane Morgan-Arranged And Conducted By Charles Albertine-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Jane Morgan Serenades The Victors, 1963)
3. Dave Davies-Cold Winter (Chosen People, 1983)
PS-Did you know there are still a lot of Christmas in July shares available to download from earlier years? In the past the shares used to expire after a few months of disuse, but at this point they seem to hang around for a bit. You can go back to 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 if you want a lot more good music to listen to. I've just linked to the first day of sharing, but from there you can walk your way through the entire month (or more) of goodies. And there are a lot of best-of and second-best-of collections to be found in there, too. Looks like there may be a few Thanksgiving and Chanukah shares sprinkled in there as well. You could be busy for a while.
I don't know about all you folks, but I had to go back to work today after getting yesterday off. No fun to come back to work for one day. I guess I should have taken the day off, but I burned all my vacation days late last year for a trip to England, Italy and Switzerland, and they haven't reset yet. So I work and work and work, even when it doesn't make any sense. Speaking of working, here are three more Christmas songs from non-Christmas albums that I recorded just for you. I think only one of these is an entirely new share from me, but the other two are still worthy of your time. I won't tell you which is which though, maybe that way you'll enjoy them all. Thanks for stopping by today, come back tomorrow for more.
1. Joe Cain And His Orchestra-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm Cha Cha Cha (Irving Berlin Goes Latin, 1959)
2. Buck Owens' Buckaroos-Fiddle Solo By Don Rich-Greensleeves (Anywhere, U.S.A., 1969)
3. The Gregg Smith Singers-Gregg Smith, Conductor-A Virgin Unspotted (Judea) (The Continental Harmony-Music Of William Billings, 1969)
Happy Fourth of July to all, especially those of us in the USofA who get a day off of work in the middle of the week. Not sure how I'm supposed to go out and enjoy the fireworks tonight when I have to be at work at 6:30 tomorrow morning, but we'll make do somehow. For some Christmastime fireworks, download these next three tracks and turn 'em up loud when you play 'em. The new track today is a great one that first came to my attention via my friend Buster's excellent blog where he shared the whole record. I eventually tracked down a copy for myself and now I get to share this song for you as sung by one of the original composers. Enjoy!
1. Ralph Blane Accompanied By Ralph Burns' Orchestra-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Martin & Blane Sing Martin And Blane, 1956)
2. Willie Dittrich-I'll Be Home For Christmas (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
3. Richard Hayman And His Orchestra-Winter Wonderland (Serenade For Love, 1956)
Up next, day three of the Christmas In July sharity. I know I'm not giving you very much each day, but it's all I've got. In the past, I think there have been years when I've shared out over twenty tracks in a day, or where the season has gone through to the end of August because I had so much I wanted to share out. I wish I could say that I'm sharing less because it's better stuff, but that's not necessarily true. I've still got the school choirs and the local church groups, just not as much of it. But there's always something to enjoy. Here are the latest three tracks for your listening pleasure. Enjoy! (Is the Korean Choir music reprised on one of their full Christmas albums? I meant to check that out, but didn't.)
1. Gracie Fields-Out In The Cold, Cold Snow (The World Of Gracie Fields Vol. 2, 1975)
2. Capers & Carson-Cold And Wintery Soul (Capers & Carson, 1973)
3. The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir Directed By Soo Chul Chang With Ralph Carmichael And His Orchestra-O Come All Ye Faithful (The World Vision Korean Orphan Choir, 1962)
Welcome to day two of our annual Christmas in July celebration! Hard to believe that I've been doing this annually since 2006! Well, except for those two years I took off because I was in a relationship with a lady who didn't understand my addiction to vinyl (thankfully my soon-to-be-wife is a lot more understanding about such things even if she doesn't understand why I get excited about many of these records). Anyhow, for those of you who may not have been around for all those years, the premise here is simple. I look for ordinary records that happen to have a Christmas (or seasonal) song in the middle of an otherwise non-Christmas album. They're not super common, but they're also not that rare. I figure songs like that need to have a little more visibility to the Christmas music-loving community, so I collect them up and share them here. You're almost guaranteed to hear something that you've never heard before, and I hope you'll love it as much as I do. Here's the tracklist for today, and I'll have a few more for you tomorrow. Enjoy!
1. Neal Hefti And His Orchestra-The Bells Of St. Mary's (Concert Miniatures, 1957)
2. Gene Krupa-Arranged And Coducted By George Williams-Arab Dance (From "The Nutcracker Suite") (Classics In Percussion!, 1961)
3. The New York Percussion Trio-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers (Holidays For Percussion, 1959)
Three really good tracks today, though only the Gene Krupa is new to the blog. The other two are new copies and new rips, so maybe they sound better than the old shares. I was pretty excited when I found that Gene Krupa album just last week, I didn't even care that it was a retitled reissue, I was just happy to have some Christmas tracks from the drummer man.
Good morning! Welcome to July, and the extra Christmas there-in! I wasn't sure I'd be able to have much of a celebration this year, but I've got a few records up my sleeve and I'll be sharing tracks from them with you after all. It ain't gonna be much, but it's better than nothing. At this point, I've got three tracks a day, but I think that number may go up a little bit as the month goes on. Over the past few years, I've had a harder and harder time finding a good selection of Christmas music from non-Christmas albums, which as you know has been the them to Christmas In July since 2006. Pickings this year have been especially slim, and even when I find something that I get excited about, I discover that I shared it in past years. I still record those repeats in hopes that they sound better than the first time around, but I try really hard to bring you more new music than rerun music. That may not be the case this year and I apologize. I'll try to make sure I share at least one new track each day, unless I have complete brain fart and don't realize I've already shared all the tracks. I'll have more to say as the month goes on, but for now, here are the first three tracks of the season. Enjoy!
1. Willie Dittrich-Alle Jahre Weider/O Tannenbaum/Ihr Kinderlien Kommet (The Singing Zither-Christmas Music & Old Time Hymns, 1969)
2. Clifton Davis-O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Say Amen, 1990)
3. The Valley Troubadours, Solo-Erwin Overby, Directed By Gloria Peterson-Let There Be Peace On Earth (The Valley Troubadours Sing Their Favorites)
Yeah, I'm gonna try to do MP3 and lossless FLAC files this year. It's a pain, so we'll see how long that lasts. Grab the one you want, but they should be identical.
1. Jingle Bells
2. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. The First Noel
4. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6. White Christmas
7. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
8. Deck The Halls
9. Joy To The World
10. Silent Night
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I think I said I was done with the lists at Discogs last week, but I thought of a good new one and finished populating it yesterday. I searched through and found all the records that feature either a song or voice greeting for the Marine Corp Toys For Tots promotion. I'm sure you remember hearing these songs as bonus tracks on the Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails CDs, as well as comps by Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee. But there are also versions of the song out there by Red Simpson, Vic Damone, Nancy Wilson & Tennessee Ernie Ford. And the great Buck Owens wrote a different song with the same title that he recorded as well. (Actually, I don't know if the Red Simpson song is the same as the others above, the Buck version, or something entirely different...) All those songs came out on the Capitol label and many of the records also feature voice greetings from different artists. Later on, Warner Brothers started releasing large collections of voice greetings, though as near as I can tell, the only music they contained was a version of the standard theme as performed by a Marine band. I'd love to get my hands on all of these records, but they're pretty rare and the ones that are available on Discogs are pretty pricey. If you've got some you wanna share, drop me a line. I've also added a single with the same title that I don't think has anything to do with the program, but I haven't heard it. And I linked to a Beach Boys bootleg that has some radio spots on it. I couldn't find an actual record from back in the day that featured that, so who knows where those came from. Anyhow, give the list a look and let me know what I need to add.
1. Sleigh Ride
2. The Christmas Song
3. Little Donkey
4. Let's Have A Merry, Merry Christmas
5. The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot
6. White Christmas
7. Do You Hear What I Hear
8. Winter Wonderland
9. The Little Drummer Boy
10. Mary's Boy Child
11. A Christmas Wish From Me To You
12. Silent Night
Whoops, this one seems to be pretty easy to stream, and there was a CD out as well with a different title. I'd better take it down. Go support this great artist at the usual outlets.
