Sammy Kaye Day, Part Three

I know it's hard to believe, but there is more Sammy Kaye to be had here. (There's also more Sammy Kaye to be had out there. I know there are some singles floating around, so if anybody feels like contributing to the cause here, drop me a line...) This is the final bit of Sammy Kaye Christmas I have in the archives. A three record set of 45s with a seasonal theme, this little gem came my way a few months ago. One record has White Christmas on one side and Winter Wonderland on the other, so that's what you're going to get in the download. To tell you the truth, I didn't even record the rest of the set. Hope you don't mind too terribly bad. You'll have to go to some other blog for the rest of the year. So, to finish out our Sammy Kaye collection, here is Year 'Round Favorites With Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra (RCA Victor WP 184, 3x7", 1949). Wow, that's old! And why are all three of these releases on different labels?

Sammy Kaye Day, Part Two

Remember, I said more to come, and here's some more. This is a set of four 7" 45 rpm singles in a little box, which I guess used to be a competing format for the 12" LP. Sounds like the same old competing technology war you thought was a modern invention. But that's beside the point. We're interested in the music. This recording takes us all the way back to 1951, which to tell you the truth is long, long before I was ever around. But I can still enjoy it. What I don't enjoy is the way there's an announcer on nearly every track telling you who's singing. It's all Sammy's orchestra, but he has different vocal groups, including the Three Kaydets & The Kaye Choir. Trust me, it gets old fast. But you'll have to download it and see for your self. Here are those jolly snowmen, Sammy Kaye-Christmas Serenade (Columbia B-285, 4-7", 1951).

Sammy Kaye Day, Part One

It's time for our first theme day around these parts, or at least our first well-themed day. Most days I like to post in free-form, train of thought ways, and you never know where that's going to take you, but today I have a well-thought out plan. Yes, it's Sammy Kaye Day! (No, not Danny Kaye. If you want him, go here.) This first selection is the most recent, and also the only one in stereo, allowing you to use both ears at the same time. You really should listen to this while you're putting up your Christmas tree. And can anyone tell me what has that little girl on the cover so fixated? She's not paying any attention to her stuffed poodle, or Mom and Dad for that matter. There's something very interesting at the other end of that couch. I'm guessing a new PS3. Or perhaps not. Anyhow, please download and enjoy Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra-Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye (Decca DL 74070, 1960). More to come...

Christmas Talk

Another performer that we lost in 2006 was Mike Douglas. Mike recorded two Christmas LPs in his lifetime, this one, and a second on the Word label, which I have yet to find. I shared this out back in August not long after his death, and I offer it to you again now. Please download and enjoy Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas (Epic BN 26322, 1967).

You know, the catalog number on this one is pretty close to the number on the Eddie Layton one I shared with you earlier. So that Layton is probably from the same year, or maybe a year earlier. That sounds about right.

Dee-lirious Holi-Dee

Speaking of Lenny Dee, you owe it to yourself to go get this LP. Don't be scared off by the toy poodles or the cheap Santa suit, this record is Dee-licious. The artist is Lenny Dee, the instrument is the organ, the album is Happy Holi-Dee (Decca DL 74146, 1961). Oh, and the vocals on three tracks are handled by The Anita Kerr Singers. This is an album I would have loved to bring to you, but someone beat me to it. You can go download this over at Check The Cool Wax, along with plenty of other holiday goodies. Go get it now! I'll still be here when you get back.

Sadly, Lenny Dee passed away earlier this year. He died here in Florida at the age of 83.

Better Layton Than Ever

I promised myself I wouldn't do it, but I did anyway. I just found this record today, so I rushed home, ripped it, scanned it, converted it, uploaded it and now I'm posting it. I should let these things sink in more, but I got caught up in the moment. One of the tracks I shared out during Christmas In July was a wiz-bang version of Winter Wonderland by Eddie Layton, so I was quite excited to find a whole Christmas LP from him today. It's somewhat later than his other, more out-there stuff on Mercury, but it still has its moments. No, it's not Lenny Dee or Earl Grant, but you'll still enjoy it. I don't have a date on this one, but I'm guessing around mid-60s. The liner notes mention that this is his first LP for Epic, so it's a little surprising that they decided to start with a Christmas record. There were no listings for this record on GEMM, so maybe it's pretty rare. (They do list a 4-song holiday EP on Columbia that I need to dig up, though). So please download and enjoy Eddie Layton-Organ Music For Christmas With Chimes And Brass Choir (Epic BN 26118).

Christmas With Billy

One of my goals this year is to share with you as much old, crusty, out-of-print and forgotten Christmas music as possible. So, to maximize that, I'm going to point you towards some other sharity sites with Christmas records available for download that I think you might like. Whenever I have the record they're sharing, I'll scan it in and throw it up here, otherwise, I'll just give you the link. The record I want to point you to now is Billy Vaughn-Christmas Carols (Dot DLP 25148, 1958). Well, I think the date is 1958. This LP was released with a couple of different covers, this being one that came out later, I think. Also, it's stereo, and 1958 is really early for stereo, so sometimes you get a rerecording from a later date on these stereo releases. But enough semantics. You can get this LP over at The Tuna Melt, so have at it.

Just in case that isn't enough Billy Vaughn for you, he was featured twice back during the Christmas in July celebration here at Ernie (Not Bert). Check the archives and you can download Billy performing Winter World Of Love and The Chipmunk Song. (His version of The Chipmunk Song actually made the Christmas In July Best-Of disc!)

David Wayne (Not Bruce)

Good morning everybody! Welcome to a new day of Christmas music magic. Today is Black Friday, which means I am going to try not to leave the house all day, 'cause anywhere I may try to go is just going to be a mess of people trying to find bargains. Well, I might try to go to Steak N Shake for lunch, but that's no big surprise. But enough about me, you're here for the music, right? The album of the moment is a pair of well-presented stories on the Cricket label. I think the Cricket label is a few steps above the usual kiddie record garbage that comes out on Pickwick or Premiere, even though it does appear to be a subsidiary of Pickwick. I really enjoyed the two stories on here. I'm afraid I have little info on the featured narrator, David Wayne, though. There is an IMDB entry on a David Wayne (from The Andromeda Strain!), but I have no way to confirm if it's the same guy or not. In fact, they list five David Waynes. Either way, this certainly isn't Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. But enough of the babbling, here is David Wayne Narrates The Little Star Of Bethlehem & The Toy Box, John L. Eastman Conducting The Cricket Symphony (Cricket CR-X1). The back cover of this is just ads for other records in "The Grand Prix Series", so I didn't scan it in. Oh, and there is some bad surface noise at the beginning of side two, but it goes away pretty quick, so try not to let it annoy you too badly.

Stereo Candy

Here's another of the things I shared out last year that I wanted to remind you of. The great Pete Fountain released Candy Clarinet (Coral 57487, 1967) long before he had to fight off Hurricane Katrina. If you really, really want to, you can download my copy, but why would you want to when you can get the Stereo version over at my buddy's place, christmasyuleblog.blogspot.com? You'll be glad you did. (Thanks for the stereo rip, Cap'n!)

Little Hawk

I mentioned that I shot two birds today on Thanksgiving, so here is the other. Yep, it's the same American Kestrel (or it's mate) that I shot a couple of months ago. Evidently, they love the field behind my parent's house. Unfortunately, they are also very skittish. I couldn't get within a few hundred yards of this guy. I actually hopped a fence this time, trying to get closer, fighting my way through weeds that were quite literally up to my neck. But the closer I got, the more he fidgeted, until he finally flew off and didn't return. A couple of times he flew off, circled around, then came back to rest on a different branch of the same tree. During on of those orbits, I got the shot below of the little guy on the wing. My camera has a real hard time focusing on such a small object that's so far away and in motion. I even had a monopod to try and steady the shot, but it's still quite fuzzy. You can also see the grain in the picture from the high ISO I used. But I saw the kestrel again, and that's the important part!

Little Wing

It's not all about the Christmas music just yet. I'm still trying to get out and take some pictures between the recording sessions. Today I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving, and happened to catch a couple of interesting birds. This is the first one, but I'm afraid I have no idea what it is. It's hard to shoot these little guys since they are rarely out of the bushes, and they are so small. Again, I need a longer lens. But this one came out pretty well, with lots of color.

Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum

Somebody help me, I can't stop with the segues! In my last post, I mentioned Harry Simeone, and his famous arrangement of Carol Of The Drum, which he smartly renamed The Little Drummer Boy, and thus collected royalties for ever and ever. But that's neither here nor there. What is here is the cover of the 45 RPM 7" release of that track, which I had never seen before until I stumbled across this copy the other day. The track is incredibly easy to come by, so there's no download here, I just wanted to share the picture sleeve with you. By the way, the flip side on the record inside is Die Lorelei, From the 20th Century-Fox Picture "Fraulein" by The Voices Of The Junior Chorale. I don't think that's a Christmas tune... Oh, for the completists, the label is 20th Fox, and the catalog number is 45-121, and the label goes out of its way to mention that this is the original version.

Nutcracker Sweet!

Since I just reposted a Fred Waring record, why not throw up something new by him as well? (New being a relative term, since this came out way back in 1950!) Keep in mind that they didn't yet have hi-fi in 1950, so this one sounds like it was originally recorded as a 78, but it's still worth a few listens. And as an added bonus, they added lyrics to the traditional Tchaikovsky tunes. Who'd a thunk it? One of the writers of those lyrics (and the arranger) is one Harry Simeone, who you may recognize as the guy behind one of the greatest Christmas records of all time, Little Drummer Boy. Without further ado, here is Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Nutcracker Suite (Decca 1-111 7", 1950).

Last Christmas, I Gave You Some Tunes

I want to highlight some of the stuff I shared out last year, in case anybody new stops by, or maybe you missed it last Christmas. (For those of you who are brave, I've re-upped everything from last year, so it's all available for download. You'll just have to search the archives, or wait for me to re-post it like this.) One of the few requests I posted last year was this Fred Waring LP. I don't have a lot of time to rip the records that people request, but sometimes I get the chance, or I really like what I hear when I dig out the record. That was the case with this one. I didn't expect much, but this is a really great Christmas record. So if you missed it last year, please go download Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians-'Twas The Night Before Christmas (MCA 15016, originally released in 1955). You'll be glad you did.

Swingingest Christmas (Oodles Of Doodles CCVII)

I've been agonizing for months now over what to share out first for Christmas 2006. I finally decided just this morning that this record had to be it. It's got all sorts of things about it that I love to share here at Ernie (Not Bert). First, it's one of those records that's just hard as all get-out to find. I nearly dropped it when I first picked it up and realized what it was this past summer. It was at a Goodwill store in Englewood, FL, among a bunch of other mildly interesting stuff. Having never seen one in the flesh, I really had to look at it well to understand what it was. In case you don't know either, let me explain it. This is a various artists LP from 1959. What distinguishes it from the others is that one of the artists was Esquivel, who arguably had a bigger career during the Space Age Pop revival of the nineties than he did in the fifties and sixties. The other artists include Ray Martin, Mimi Hines and The Skip-Jacks.
What else is there to love about this album? Well, you get one of those RCA Victor tags that I love so much. Oddly enough, this is one of the few taglines that they repeated in their series. I shared another Merry Christmas tag with you back on the opening day of Christmas In July. (I see that I also mentioned this record, and wished for it. I guess Santa came early this year.)
Can it get much better? Of course it can. There's a doodle on the back! A sort of a Santa-themed cuckoo clock motif, where Santa and your mother hook up right at midnight. And if you look closely, someone sees Mommy kissing Santa Claus.

So all of this adds up to the perfect start to the Christmas Share-A-Thon for 2006. The only problem is that parts of this record have been released on CD. Several years ago, they took the Esquivel solo tracks, as well as the tracks on which he backs the Skip-Jacks, mixed in some LP tracks that had a holiday theme, added a rather merry non-holiday B-side, a couple of tracks by a famous swing-revival DJ featuring a voice-over from the bed-ridden Esquivel, and called it an Esquivel Christmas album. It's short, but great. So that means I can't share 6 of the 12 tracks with you. Trust me, the remaining six tracks are well worth your time. The remaining tracks all feature Ray Martin And His Orchestra, and most of those feature lead vocals by Mimi Hines. She does a great job using several different voices to make each song sound a little different. After all that build up, are you ready to download The Merriest of Christmas Pops (RCA Victor LSP-2032, 1959)? Go get it, end enjoy!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Same as last year, we're celebrating by sharing out pretty much the only Thanksgiving-themed track we know of, Spencer Ross-Thanksgiving Day Parade (Columbia 4-41532 7" 45 RPM single, 1960). This upbeat march is a great way to officially kick off the 2006 Christmas Share-A-Thon here at Ernie (Not Bert). It's going to be bigger and better than last year, with all your old favorites, plus more new stuff than you can shake a stick at. So as soon as you've eaten that last little bit of turkey, drop by and see what we have to offer. You won't be disappointed!

More Of The White Stuff

Those of you who experienced the Christmas Share-A-Thon last year at Ernie (Not Bert) know that I always tried to get two shares up a day. I didn't always make it, and sometimes all I could throw up was a single with two measly tracks, but I tried. So this year I intend to keep up that tradition. When possible, I like to have a theme as well, and since the holidays really haven't started yet, our theme has to be something else. And since I have a second album for skiers, here it is, making our theme 'Skiing'. This LP doesn't have the humor of our previous share, but it's got some decent tracks. The style is 70s country-rock. Think Eagles, or something similar. Maybe not as good, but you get the idea. Please download and give a listen to Six Family Mountain-Takin' A Ride With The Wind (National Ski Patrol NSP-1001). I think I shared the doodle from the back of this LP with you sometime last year... Oh, and what's with these two LPs both having a slangy contraction in their title? Curious...

The Colors, The Colors!

I'm starting to go loopy. I've recorded so much vinyl lately, it's all started to run together, but not into a black soup. Instead, it's a colorful kaleidoscope of different wavelengths, sound waves morphing into light waves. It's all so trippy...

'Twas The Day Before Thanksgiving (Oodles Of Doodles CCVI)

I can't wait anymore. Everybody is already posting their Christmas music, and I'm feeling left out. But you aren't supposed to have anything to do with Christmas until the afternoon of Thanksgiving, right? So, how about if I cheat a little and share out a non-Christmas album? Something that fits into the winter theme, but doesn't involve any holiday at all. So, how about a folk album about skiing? Yep, here's a great LP all about how great it was to go skiing in the 60s. There's some very dated terminology in here, but I'm sure you'll get the point. I only ever went skiing once (if you want to call it skiing...) and I often know what he's talking about. I had to think about Round Bottomed Bogners for a minute, but I figured it out. Oh, and there are some great little doodles around the edge of this LP that to me look like the Schmoo, but your mileage may vary. So please, download and enjoy this, the first share of the season from Ernie (Not Bert): Ray Conrad-The Cotton-Pickin' Lift Tower And Other Skiing Songs (Prestige International INT 13039) !

The Week Of Thanksgiving

Welcome to the week of Thanksgiving. I am giving thanks for the fact that I only have to work three days this week! Hooray! By a strange coincidence, the picture this week was taken on Thanksgiving Day last year. These white ibis were hanging around the small pond in my aunt's back yard last year while my family was gathered to celebrate the holiday. How's that for a coincidence?

Can You Believe Your Ears?

I found this neat-o 7" EP last week, and I've been wanting to share it ever since. This is Hearing Is Believing (RCA Victor SRA-7-1, 1954). I saw a full size LP with this cover once, but it was in terrible shape so I passed. Now I have the 7", which to me is a little cooler than the full size record, even if it is shorter. I won't bore you by sharing out the audio on this record, it's mostly classical stuff, as recorded back in the 78 RPM days and the "New Orthophonic" recordings, albeit in mono. The date on this is 1954, so stereo as we know if was still three or four years away. Anyhow, I just love that little guy with the big ear. Maybe his other ear grew to similar proportions after the advent of stereo. I threw in an image of the flip side below, in case you want to read up on how High Fidelity is your friend.

Christmas Is Coming

Just a quick note to brag about the fact that I reached over 1000 recorded Christmas tracks today. That's just for this year, by the way. Since starting sometime in June, I've gotten 1006 tracks recorded from vinyl. I think I shared out 112 of those back at Christmas In July, and there were 12 or so from the Mike Douglas LP. All the rest are either things I wanted for my own listening pleasure or things I want to share during the holiday season. So stay tuned, you won't be disappointed!

Moon Over LA

I've been remiss in not posting more of my few shots from LA. (For that matter, I still have lots of pictures from Ohio that I wanted to share, but haven't yet. (Even worse, I drove four hours to Palm Beach today, didn't take any pictures, then drove back four hours. What's wrong with me?)) Anyhow, the picture above is the moon rising over LA when I was out there. I guess the smog acted to give it the incredible color you see here, which is usually only present in full moons, and then only when it first comes up over the horizon. I tried to get some of the many planes that were buzzing about into this shot, but those didn't come out. The planes were stacked up over LAX waiting for clearance, as many as 10 at a time were visible from my vantage point, all lined up in neat little rows.

The Middle Of November

So, where am I today? Unfortunately, I'm back in Florida, which really isn't a bad thing I guess. At least you get a new calendar page to look at. Unfortunately, it's a Dead End. But what a view! This happens to be in Siesta Key Village, a small city on the island of, you guessed it, Siesta Key, Florida. The little road I was on wasn't much more than a sandy strip of old, crumbled asphalt.

Seven Miles Up

Here's another amazing view I caught from the plane on my way back from LA. I haven't figured out exactly where this is yet, but it's from well past Lake Mead. I'm guessing Utah, maybe. Anyhow, it's a populated place, as evidenced by the small marina in the left center of the shot. The lake is obviously created by some dam downstream, so in theory I should be able to find it. We'll see.

The View From Above

When I saw this scene from the air, it took me a while to believe what I was seeing. After taking the picture, bringing it home and comparing it to what I saw on Google Earth, I was sure of what I saw. On the flight back from LA, via Kansas City, we passed right over Lake Mead, and if you look closely near the center of the picture, that's Hoover Dam, the same site I brought you after my trip to Las Vegas back in June. What are the chances we'd fly right over this? I only wish the picture could be better. What you see above is after I spent half an hour in Photoshop cleaning and tinting, and as you can see, it still looks pretty poor.

Flying Rocks From Outer Space

Hooray, I'm back from LA! What a hectic two days. The best part of the trip turned out not to be the time I spent on the ground, but the time I spent in the air. It's a beautiful country from seven miles in the air. The most amazing thing I saw was totally unexpected. I was sure I would see mountains and valleys, rivers, streams and canyons, but I had not expected to see a meteor crater. But that's exactly what it was. That's the Barringer Meteor Crater, located just off I-40 near Flagstaff, Arizona. I spotted it just before the pilot came on the intercom to mention it. He mentioned the 50,000 year old crater, and noted that it had barely missed the neighboring I-40. Ha, that's funny stuff. Anyhow, it's not the best picture in the world, since I shot it through three levels of plastic in the airplane window. (Would it hurt them to clean those windows once in a while? Honestly...) Stay tuned for more shots from Air Ernie!

It's A Plane!

Hey, hey, I'm in LA. This photo brought to you by Southwest.com!

Goin' Back To Cali

Tomorrow morning I have to get up at 3 am to catch a flight to Los Angeles, California. Yep, I'm headed for the City of Angels. I'll be there for 24 hours and 15 minutes. It's a business trip, and that's all the time I could get. I don't know if I'm going to be able to squeeze in any picture taking, but I hope so. I went to California three years ago for a wedding in Berkeley, which I turned into a sort of mini-vacation. That's when I spent most of a day driving through the Marin Headlands, and where I got the shot of the Golden Gate above. I still have friends in the area, and I hope to get back someday. Looking at the pictures I took back then, I wonder what I could do now, with more experience and a better camera. Someday...

November Marches On

The page for this week is a rather nervous-looking box turtle. I found this guy at Joan Durant Park on Longboat Key here in Florida. He was minding his own business until I grabbed him and took his picture for about 10 minutes, which I'm sure just ruined his day. I saw something on TV the other day about how to tell male and female box turtles apart, but I don't remember the way it went. Something about the color of their eyes...

1 x 10^5

Well, I finally made it. I got my 100,000th hit today. It's taken about a year and a half, with a full 40,000 of them coming during last December's Share-a-thon. Thanks to everybody who has helped me get here, and here's to 1,000,000 more!

When I Die And They Lay Me To Rest

You gotta go where the pictures are, and in this case, the photo was in a cemetary. I think I have a shot of this same cemetary from my January trip, but I can't find it right now. This was in some little town in Ohio who's name escapes me. It's a weird little intersection where 5 or 6 roads come together. I'll have to look it up. Northfield, I think that's it.

November Begins

First day of the month, so you get a weekly calendar page in addition to the monthly page I just shared with you. And again, we're in the city of Cleveland. This time the picture is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, located in Public Square near the base of Terminal Tower. When I was here a couple of weeks ago, there was massive construction going on around the monument, so you couldn't actually get very close to it.

November 2006

Welcome to November! And that means a new calendar page. Here's another view of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland. Don't mind the construction equipment down below the round part, I'm sure the rumors of the building falling into Lake Erie are exaggerated.

Happy Halloween-Again!

Happy Halloween from the friendly vultures at Lake Myakka!

The Day Before Halloween

Here's a photo of the full moon behind a spooky old tree I promised you the other day. Pretty nice picture for the day before Halloween, don't you think? This picture seems to pre-date the blog, which explains why I haven't shared it with you before.

Rats With Racing Stripes

Did I show you this guy already? I don't think so. Ohio seems to be overrun by these rats with racing stripes. Or, if you prefer, chipmunks. They are certainly fast! I got few pictures where they are standing still. And they don't let you get close at all. I shot this guy from six feet away or so, then had to crop the picture quite a bit.

The End Of October

For the last few days of October, here are some fall gourds. I shot these in Ohio sometime last year. They were plentiful during my trip this year, too. They love their fall up there!

Deer Me

I saw plenty of deer this time in Ohio. There were some on the way in from the airport, some in people's yards, and these in the woods at Bedford Reservation. There was a third one in there somewhere, but he didn't make it into this picture. Well, she didn't, I mean.

Daybreak

After days and days of rain and snow in Ohio, this was the sunrise on my last morning there. I think maybe they were happy to see me go. And there are those crummy power lines, again!