Hi-Fivories

It's been all about the singles this Christmas season, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Earlier in the season I shared a stereo version of an Air Force radio show that I'd previously only shared in mono, and now I've got a super-rare 10" record that has eluded me for a long, long time. What ties these two records together? Turns out that I'd recorded both of them some years ago but never shared them. I record a lot of records throughout the year and sometimes loose track of what I've done and haven't done. Sometimes I record stuff just so I can listen to it myself. In the case of the stereo Air Force record, I think I just ran out of time as the season progressed, then forgot to revisit it later. In the case of the one I'm sharing now, I had found a copy without the sleeve, and didn't want to share an incomplete package. This season I discovered a nice copy in the sleeve, so I scanned it and I'm ready to share it now. For what it's worth, all the contents of this record were included on an earlier share, so there's really nothing new here other than the art, but what great art that is! This is the original Ferrante & Teicher Christmas album, a 10" record that came out back in 1954. Imagine for just a second that it's 1954 and you put this on the turntable expecting some nice soothing carols played on the piano. Then boom! Some of this stuff sounds like it was created on the moon (fifteen years before the moon landing!), other songs sound like a trip through exotic Africa or the South Seas. And it's all created with a piano, rather a pair of pianos, albeit specially prepared pianos that were closer to percussive instruments rather than string instruments. Synthesizers and samplers didn't exist at the time, even tape editing was in it's infancy and I doubt there's any of that going on here. It's just Christmas music played in a new and unique way that still sounds out of this world 70 years later. Please download and enjoy Arthur Ferrante And Louis Teicher, Duo-Pianists-Xmas Hi-Fivories (Westminster 10" 33 RPM WL 3044, Mono, 1954).

MEGA (FLAC)

MEGA (MP3)

1. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. White Christmas
3. Sleigh Ride
4. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
5. Silent Night
6. Jingle Bells
7. O Come All Ye Faithful
8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

PS-Wanna hear what Ferrante & Teicher sound like when they're talking and not playing? You can download a Christmas greeting from them here.