Christmas In July 2026-Part 1

Hello! Welcome to the 2026 edition of Christmas in July! It's the time of year when I share out Christmas music that comes from albums you don't normally think of as Christmas records. Well, today is a bit different as I'm throwing a few Thanksgiving songs into the pile for you. I figure the Christmas season usually starts with Thanksgiving, so why not start out Christmas in July the same way? (Fair warning, there will also be New Year's songs at the end, so don't be surprised.) If you've joined us before for the month-long celebration, it's likely to be business as usual around here, I don't think I'm doing anything different this year than last year. But if this is your first time around these parts, just grab hold of something and try to keep up. You're going to get a batch of holiday music every day, much of which you've never heard before. Well, that's not entirely true. Some of the tracks will be repeats of things I've shared in the past because I happened to find new copies of the records sometime in the past twelve months. When I find a new copy (and it's cheap enough), I'll buy it and record the song again. Sometimes it comes out better the second time, sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes I'm not still sharing the old versions and there's always someone who wants those old recordings. I don't generally share out old posts again, so this may be your only chance to get those songs. Anyhow, just stay tuned and come back each and every day of the month, you'll figure it out quickly enough. All the songs here were recorded from my vinyl here within the past month, none of it is stolen from anywhere else. The pictures of the albums are my copies and as you'll see, they're frequently in dodgy shape. I don't take a lot of time for the images in July, unlike December when I scan front, back and labels, then Photoshop them to remove defects as best I can. These are quick photos that tend to show warts and all. But they're a nice little guide to give you something to look at while you listen. I've gone on long enough, let's get into the songs. 

 1. Al Gregory Conducts The 1967-68 Meadowland Junior High School Band-Trombone Toboggan (Sounds Of The Lancers, 1968)

We start out with a typical record for around these parts, a local high school recording of a song that sort of made me think of winter. So in my mind that counts as a Christmas song. You'll get used to that as the month goes on.

2. Poldi Zeitlin, Pianist-The New Doll (Tchaikovsky 24 Pieces For The Piano-Masterwork Series For The Young Musician, 1952)

Up next is another Christmas-adjacent song, it's about a doll and it was written by noted Christmas composer Tchaikovsky. This record had a lot of tracks on it that I felt appropriate, so you'll be seeing this name again and again this season.

3. The Merrill Stanton Voices-The Big Clown Balloons (Meredith Willson's Here's Love, 1963)

This is the track from the LP shown up at the top of the post. I've shared tracks out from it many times, frequently in stereo, so don't get too excited about this mono copy. It's the first of the Thanksgiving tracks I'm giving you today. Doesn't look like a Thanksgiving track, does it? Well, the play it's from is a version of the movie Miracle On 34th Street, a Christmas movie if there ever was one. And those balloons they're singing about are in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. So there you go!

4. Eddie Layton At The Hammond Organ-Button Up Your Overcoat (Skatin' With Layton, 1960)

Another song that's been featured here over and over again, but a good one. I couldn't pass up a nice stereo copy of the LP.

5. Lynn Roberts, Carmen Baron & Juda Campbell-The Turkey Wobble (Holiday Songs For All Occasions, 1978)

Another Thanksgiving track, and one I think has been shared here before. You should enjoy it anyway.

6. Stuttgart Festival Band-William Harrison, Conductor-Prayer Of Thanksgiving (Have Band Will Travel-Music Minus One Trombone)

A new Thanksgiving song from an LP designed to help new trombone players learn to play. Odd place to find a Thanksgiving (or Christmas) song, but they turn up all over the place, you just never know.

7. Unknown Artist-Five Fat Turkeys (Mockingbird Flight, 1975)

A new-to-the-blog Thanksgiving song from a six-record set I found at the Salvation Army store last month. I'm serious when I say you never know what you're going to find. It takes me forever to go through the crates sometimes because I want to pick up every unfamiliar record and scan through the contents to see if there's something I can use. And I always get excited when I find something good. People look at me funny sometimes.

8. Hope Publishing Company, Somerset Press, Agape-I Saw Three Ships (The Very Best Sacred Choral Music, 1979)

Last but not least is a Christmas song from a publishers demo recording. I share a lot of these lately, since it kind of helps to pad out the volume of what I can put out there. It's hard to find new stuff sometimes, and if I can find a few of these records I feel a little better about the quantity of stuff I'm sharing. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're not. Give it a listen and see what you think! 

MEGA