Tuesday, December 11, 2007

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 12


I'm not entirely sure how this track has escaped me until now. Maybe I always thought it was on CD already. (And I think it is, just not in the US.) I would have bet it was on the short list for the Ultra Lounge Christmas discs. I think it's probably better than half the stuff on the third one for sure. But I want you to be the judge, please download this classic Christmas single from Capitol and you tell me what you think. Tonight's track for 26 Days Of Christmas is Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy (Capitol 7" 45 RPM F1255).

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells

No More Fred Waring


I just posted two albums and an EP by Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians. Quite often after I've posted a group of records by a single artist, I'll get an email or a comment asking about another album, and can I post it. Well, I want to head off some of those comments here. The Fred Waring albums above and below, The Meaning Of Christmas (Capitol ST 1610) and The Sounds Of Christmas (Capitol ST 1260), have been released on CD and are available here under the name Christmas Magic (see below). You might not know it, because they've given the collection a new title and new artwork, but it's all the same recordings. If you're a lover of old album art like me, you might want to download and print these scans to go with your CD copy.

I think the two albums above were first combined years ago into the double LP you see below, again with the name Christmas Magic (Capitol STBB-347), and a new cover. I don't know that you'd really want a copy of this cover, but here it is just in case.

This last LP, Now Is The Caroling Season (Capitol T896), I need to look up. I think it's on CD. Yes, but it's out of print at the moment. Plenty of used copies floating around, so I'm not going to share it out.

I've got another LP from The Pennsylvanians that's got one side of Christmas music that seems to have been a promotional LP for the E.F. MacDonald Company, but I'm too lazy to scan it in right now. And they did some of their own songs and played backup for Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra on a Reprise Christmas collection. Again, I'm too lazy to go scan it.

A Wee Bit More Waring

While I'm on the subject of Fred Waring, here's another lost treasure from The Pennsylvanians. This EP of The Nutcracker Suite came out way, way back in 1950, making it one of the oldest things I've shared out. It also happens to be the best version of The Nutcracker that I've got. So don't delay, go get Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Nutcracker Suite (Decca 1-111 7", 1950). I first shared this last year, and it was quite popular. Don't be surprised when the lyrics begin...

Double The Waring


As I hinted in my last post, there was a companion album to Fred Waring's 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. Read the liner notes closely on either that release or the one above, and you'll see where they talk about both albums. I had forgotten about that until earlier this year, but when I remembered it, I knew I had to get his other album up here. So I dug it from the archives, recorded it, scanned it, and now I'm going to share it with you. The songs on this one run more toward the sacred, as opposed to the other one, which has more fun songs. But that doesn't mean you won't like it. Download Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians-Christmas Time (Decca DL 78172) and see for yourself. I don't know if this is a later stereo re-recording, or perhaps it's in electronic stereo. I didn't realize until later that it's unlikely to have come out in stereo if it was actually from 1955 like the other LP. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

The Return Of The Waring


I've shared a lot of things with you this year that I've referred to as one of the most popular shares ever, but guess which one's actually got the most downloads of all? That's right, it's this humble little Fred Waring LP. I've shared it out in 2005 and again in 2006, and both years it's gotten more downloads than anything else. More than Charo, more than the Moog, more even than Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. So if for some reason you don't have it yet, please download Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians-'Twas The Night Before Christmas (Decca DL 8171, 1955). This is the first year I've brought you the original cover, though. Previously I brought you the MCA reissue cover, which is pretty much the same, except for the little Decca Hi-Fi logo up there. I wanted to be a little more authentic with you this year, so I scanned in this older one. It's not in the download, so if you want it, save it to your hard drive now.
By the way, did you know there was a companion album to this one? Stand by...

Used Music-Track Seventeen


Got a great track for you tonight to go on the Used Music collection. I've talked about this track numerous times, but I'm pretty sure I never shared it with you. It's very similar to a Tennessee Ernie Ford song I shared last year, but I like this one better. I don't want to hype it up too much, but go download Bing Crosby With The Ralph Carmichael Chorus And Orchestra-Christmas Dinner Country Style and be amazed. This comes from the compilation The Favorite Songs Of Christmas (Capitol ST 2176). It was also featured on a single from Capitol, 5088, shown below.


Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman

Braking News


I thought it might be fun to use some of the doodles I've scanned from my old records in our company newsletter this month. So pages 1 and 3 are covered in fun doodles. See if you can tell where all of these came from. Every single bit of art you see here, even the snowflakes and garland, came from some doodle I've shared with you in the past. Some of them I colorized, but beyond that they are what you might find in your own record collection.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Iconic Faux Floyd


There were plenty of moments during The Australian Pink Floyd show where if you let yourself, you'd start to believe that you were really seeing Pink Floyd. Of course, you and I could never get tickets to see the real Floyd from the 8th row, and certainly not in a theater with only a couple thousand seats. But there were moments where the experience felt the same. They did a great job of duplicating some Floyd effects, especially the big round screen behind the band, and the visuals on that screen were very effective. Even the props were dead on. Check out the chair the singer is sitting in during One Of My Turns. Looks familiar? Footage of the flying pig over Battersea? Check. Bricks in a wall? Check. Even a giant mirror ball during the encore? Check. Only difference I remember was that when I saw Floyd at Tampa Stadium, the mirror ball was in the middle of the audience, behind my seat. And it was much, much bigger.


Beware Of Pink Kangaroos


What's that emerging from the mist? Why it's a pink kangaroo! Who'd a guessed that a band called The Australian Pink Floyd would have a giant inflatable kangaroo on stage? With all the Christmas sharity going on around here lately, I'd completely forgotten that I never finished up my postings from the show in Atlanta the weekend before Thanksgiving. But I got my Christmas stuff done a little early tonight, so I'm throwing up some more pictures from the show. This 'roo showed up near the end of the show, after we'd seen the giant pig, so it was quite the surprise. He was hopping up and down on stage like some sort of mad marsupial, so it was a little difficult to get a clear picture of him. But you get the idea. For those of you who missed the earlier posts from the show, go here, here, here and here. (I took a lot of pictures...)


26 Days Of Christmas-Day 11


Is it cheating if I pull two tracks from the same album for two different compilations? I hope not, because that's what I'm doing tonight. I just shared a Red Foley track with you on my Used Music collection I have going, and now I'm going to share out a little bit of country cornpone humor with you. As you're listening to this track, just imagine Junior Samples and Grandpa Jones singing it with a bevy of Hee Haw Honeys backing them up . Now that I've put that visual in your head, go download Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells from Christmas Time With (Vocalion VL 3812).

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe

Used Music-Track Sixteen


The Used Music collection takes a turn into country territory tonight with a great version of Frosty. This comes from a collection of tracks on the Vocalion label, a subsidiary of Decca. They didn't put out as many collections as RCA, Capitol or Columbia, but they did have a few. This one is called Christmas Time With (Vocalion VL 3812) and features all their country stars of the day. The track for tonight is Red Foley And The Little Foleys-Shirley, Julie And Jenny-Frosty The Snowman. I'm sure you'll enjoy this version.

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Dick Leibert Returns-Part Zero

I get asked this every year, so I'm going to go ahead and throw this post up again. If you're looking for the album shown above, Christmas At Radio City Music Hall With Dick Leibert At The Organ (RCA Camden 2x12" ADL2-0243, 1973), you have to download two albums I've already shared. Nothing new was on this record, they just repackaged two albums from 10 years earlier and put a new cover on it. So go here and here, download both albums, put the cover you see above on it, and voila!

Dick Leibert Returns-Part Five


So, why do you think I'm sharing out all of my Dick Leibert from past years? Because it's good stuff? Well, yeah, there is that. But it's also because I finally found the last Leibert Christmas LP I was missing! This is the one that I bemoaned not having last year. I love when I can complete an artist collection like this. You have to flip through a lot of dollar records to find the one you want, let me tell ya! Anyone can order something off of eBay or GEMM, but flipping through the stacks at Goodwill and The Salvation Army takes work and dedication. So please, download Dick Leibert-Christmas At Radio City (Westminster WP 6035, 1956). I'm not entirely sure where this one fits into the discography, but I think it's his first recording of Christmas music at Radio City.

I believe there is more Leibert to be had in the Christmas In July shares. Lemme check... Yep. Try here and here.

Dick Leibert Returns-Part Four


This is the pinnacle of all these Dick Leibert albums. The title pretty much says it all, The Happy Hits Of Christmas. No boring carols here, nothing but happy all the way. I can't implore you enough to go get Dick Leibert At The Console-The Happy Hits Of Christmas (Christmas Evergreens Played On The Radio City Music Hall Organ) (RCA Victor LSP-2771, 1963). This is the soundtrack of your happiest Christmas memories! (Again, this is a rerun from 2005 and 2006. Why didn't you download it back then?)

Dick Leibert Returns-Part Three


This is the second of three Dick Leibert albums on RCA, and this is where it starts to get interesting. Dick was the resident organist at Radio City Music Hall for many years, and he no doubt played the organ for thousands and thousands of performances. Playing that much, you eventually have to learn to improvise and improve things a bit, and that's what he starts to do on this record. In places, he just plain cuts loose. This is what Christmas on the organ is supposed to sound like. Go download Dick Leibert-The Sound Of Christmas On The Radio City Music Hall Organ (RCA Victor LSP-2558, 1962) NOW! Unless, of course, you downloaded it sometime back in 2005 when I first shared it, or in 2006 when I shared it again. I'm working hard to spread the good word!

Dick Leibert Returns-Part Two


Here is the second of the Dick Leibert albums I wanted to share with you today, and his earliest on RCA. This one isn't an album in the sense we think of today, but instead it's two 7" 45 RPM records in a double sleeve. I think such packages were common in the early years of vinyl. This one was first shared out in 2005, and then again in 2006, so this is the third time around. Don't let that deter you, though. You'll need this in order to complete your collection of Dick. So go download Sing And Rejoice! Christmas Carols Played by Dick Leibert At the Organ of the Radio City Music Hall New York City (RCA Victor EPB 3056, 1951). Don't forget to come back for the rest!

Dick Leibert Returns-Part One

It's the day after Three Suns Sunday, so it must be Dick Leibert Monday. Or something like that, I suppose. Just bear with me, and we'll get through this together. Dick Leibert is a great organist, with a couple of great Christmas albums under his belt. The one I'm sharing out here isn't the best he ever did, but it's still pretty good. You can read more about it from my post last year, or you can just download Dick Leibert-A Merry WurliTzer Christmas (Westminster WP 6060) and give it a listen. Much more Dick coming up, stay tuned!

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Christmas Roundup Week 3

Well, another week down. Christmas is still two weeks away. This is pretty much the height of the season, so it's all down hill from here. So what got shared out this week?

The Three Suns-Busy Holiday (rerun)
The Three Suns-Raggin' The Scales (rerun)
The Three Suns-Silver Skates
The Three Suns-Uncle Mistletoe (rerun, newly recorded)
The Three Suns-Sleigh Ride
The Three Suns-A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas!
The Three Suns-The Sounds Of Christmas (rerun)
The Three Suns-Christmas Party (rerun)
The Three Suns-Your Christmas Favorites (rerun)
The Blackwood Brothers And The Statesmen-A Musical Merry Christmas
60 French Girls & The Christmas Bell Ringers-Joyeaux Noel (rerun)
Raymond Lefevre-Merry Christmas (rerun)
The Shepherd's Children's Chorus-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Moog Machine-Christmas Becomes Electric (rerun)
Frankie Yankovic-Christmas Party
The Moishe Oysher-Chanukah Party (rerun)
Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas Chime Again (rerun)
Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas (rerun)
Merry Christmas From The Command Family Of Recording Stars (rerun)
When Christmas Comes To Our House
Songs To Sing At Christmas Time (rerun)
The Eric Silver Chorale-Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
Snap-On Male Chorus-Carols Of Christmas (rerun)
John Donnelly And Sons-Sing It Outdoors
Merry Christmas With The KE-Notes (rerun)
David Rose-Little Drummer Boy
David Rose-A Merry Christmas To You (rerun)
George Wright-Christmas Time (rerun, in mono, but new in stereo)
George Wright-Merry Christmas (rerun)

Week Two:

Christmas In Hi-Fi With Ramona Gerhard
The Ramsey Lewis Trio-More Sounds Of Christmas
Paul Mauriat-The Christmas Album (rerun)
Christmas With Big Tiny Little (rerun)
Pete Fountain-Candy Clarinet (rerun, but now in stereo)
Dorothy Collins-Season's Greetings In Song
Blue Barron-Christmas EP
Seeburg Music Library-Matching Christmas Library
Muzak Christmas (rerun)
A To Z (Not Q Or Z) 2007
The Mike Douglas Christmas Album
Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas (rerun)
Christmas With The Don Les Harmonicats (rerun)
The Medallion Orchestra And Chorus-The Sound Of Christmas-Deck The Halls
Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland (rerun)
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music (12")
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music (7" EP) (rerun)
Charo-(Mamacita) Donde Esta Santa Claus? (rerun)
Disco Belles-Tis The Night To Disco
Holiday People-Holiday Disco (rerun)
Max Fagen-Christmas Disco Party (rerun)
Montana Orchestra-Merry Christmas
The Glen Riddle Franciscans-Choral Group-Sisters Of St. Francis-We Sing Of Christmas
Norman Luboff Choir-The Night Before Christmas
The Merriest Of Christmas Pops (rerun)
We Wish You A Merry Christmas (rerun)
Union Central Chimes-Christmas Carols
The Bison Glee Club-The Joy Of Christmas
Leo Addeo-Organ And Chimes Play Christmas Carols (rerun)
Gary Mann-Blues For Baby Jesus (rerun)

Week One:
Christmas Party
Christmas Classics 1963 (rerun)
The Pete King Chorale-Christmas Time
The Jimmy Joyce Singers With Billy May-A Christmas To Remember (rerun)
Frank Chacksfield-Music For A Merry Christmas (rerun, but now in Stereo!)
Arthur Godfrey-All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
Christmas With Arthur Godfrey And All The Little Godfreys
Christmas Greetings From The Town Pipers (rerun)
Christmas Favorites Sung By The Magnificent Magnavox Chorus
Swing Along With Santa's Snowmen
The Ray Charles Singers-Christmas At Home (rerun)
The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling (rerun)
The Ray Charles Singers-Winter Wonderland (rerun)
The Mundell Lowe Ensemble-The Sounds Of Christmas
Greetings From The McGuire Sisters (rerun)
Christmas 1968 With The Going Thing
Gisele MacKenzie-Christmas With Gisele (rerun)
The Joy Strings-Well Seasoned

Whew! The list just gets longer and longer. I'm not even including the two compilations I've got running on this list. It's getting harder and harder to keep up, but I've got the end in sight.

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 10


I didn't intend this to be an all-singles collection, but with the exception of the first day, that seems to be the way it's turned out. I had given a little thought to doing it that way and calling it Christmas At 45 RPM, but decided against it. Maybe I'll try that next year. Back to the subject at hand, your track tonight is another version of Uncle Mistletoe, this time by Eddy Howard And His Orchestra (Mercury 5722-X45). I shared a different version of this track earlier today by The Three Suns. I found this one while searching for that one. I don't know if this one is as good as that one, but it's still good. This one has an odd statement on it about how the Uncle Mistletoe character is the property of Marshall Field & Co. I don't remember all this disclaimer being on The Three Suns copy.

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas

(What's up with that Arthur Godfrey track? Over two hundred downloads? My album shares aren't getting that kind of action! There must be a link to it from somewhere that I'm not seeing. Somebody want to clue me in?)

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXVI-Christmas 2007


Here's a quick little Christmas tree doodle from the back of the LP I just featured, We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Mark 56 Records 529). Nothing fancy, but it's nice.

Used Music-Track Fifteen


I was a little surprised when I picked this LP up the other day and saw Dorothy Collins name on it. I really enjoyed the EP I shared out by her a week or so ago, so I wanted to record these tracks and see if they were as good. I didn't like them as much as those others, but I thought they were still pretty good. And I picked one to share with you tonight for the Used Music collection. So track 15 is Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing from We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Mark 56 Records 529). This record looks a little dubious to me. Shouldn't I know who George Garabedian is?

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy

This Week In December


Now that I'm done posting all that fun stuff from The Three Suns, I can get back to my normal programming. Well, what's normal around here? Anyhow, this is the calendar page for this week. You get a great white egret in flight out over the water. I'm afraid I can't remember exactly when or where I shot this, as it's a pretty generic shot. But it's a good one, and I hope you can enjoy it. More Christmas music is on the way!

Three Suns Sunday-Part Nine


This brings us to the very last track for Three Suns Sunday. This was a track posted back during my original Christmas In July celebration in 2006. I guess there is some concern about whether or not these two records are even The Three Suns or not. I'm not going to get in the middle of that, I just know it sounds like it could be early Suns material. When I posted this track a year and a half ago, it was without artwork, so here are the covers I have. The one above is the one I actually recorded, but they both feature exactly the same tracks. To finish up your collection, please download Busy Holiday by The Three Suns, either from The Three Suns Play (Varsity 69108) or from Twilight Time (Varsity VLP 6001, 1952). Well, it says 1952, but I'm sure it's reissues of older material. I hope you've gotten a kick out of all this Three Suns Christmas. I know I have.

Three Suns Sunday-Part Eight

Getting close to the end of Three Suns Sunday around here, but we aren't done yet. I almost forgot about this great EP from last year, which features a version of Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers. That's Christmassy enough to warrant a mention here, don't you think? So go help yourself to Raggin' The Scales With The Three Suns (RCA Victor 7" 45 rpm EPA 278). This is the complete EP, so you'll get three non-Christmas songs with it, but their still good. Just set 'em aside and listen to them after the holidays are over.

Three Suns Sunday-Part Seven


Another great Christmas track from The Three Suns is something that I found on the compilation above. I'd never heard of or seen the compilation or the track before I discovered it a couple of weeks ago in the big record store in St. Pete. It cost a fortune, but I knew I had to have it. There may be more coming from this collection later, so I don't want to talk too much about it right here. Your track today is The Three Suns-Silver Skates from To Wish You A Merry Christmas-The RCA Victor Family (RCA Victor 3x7" 45 RPM EPC-1037, 1954). I think this track originally came from a single, but I'm not certain enough to give you a number.

Three Suns Sunday-Part Six


Another year passes from the previous Christmas single by The Three Suns, and out pops another Christmas tune, this time a song called Uncle Mistletoe. I had never heard of Uncle Mistletoe, but a little web research reveals that he was a character very similar to Rudolph. I Chicago area department store, Marshall-Fields, created him in1946 in much the same way that Montgomery Ward created Rudolph. Uncle Mistletoe never took off in the same way that Rudolph did (although there were four seasons worth of animated adventures created, apparently), but I have found at least one other version of this cute little tune. The flip side of this single seems to be the same version of Sleigh Ride that was on the previous single. Now, about this copy of the single. It's obviously not on RCA Victor. I've got no idea what happened here. Maybe it's a reissue, maybe it's a bootleg. I bought it from a record shop in Chicago over the phone. The versions on it sound the same as the versions I shared last year, courtesy of friend-of-the-blog Pete. I was excited to be able to share my own copy this year, but I wish I knew the story of this odd label that lists no artists. Oh, did I mention that Uncle Mistletoe is a vocal number? Vocal refrains are handled by Texas Jim Robertson. Please help yourself to The Three Suns-Uncle Mistletoe/Sleigh Ride (Do You Remember #344, originally 1951).

Three Suns Sunday-Part Five


Not long after the Three Suns released their first Christmas album proper in 1949, they released this single. It's a great version of Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride, complete with weird sound effects that I suppose are meant to mimic a horse. It's a great addition to our Three Suns celebration, so please download The Three Suns-Sleigh Ride (RCA Victor 7" 45 RPM 47-3924, 1950).

Oodles Of Doodles CCCXV-Christmas 2007


This is the doodle from the backside of The Three Suns-A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas! (RCA Victor LPM-2054, 1959), the album I just shared with you. It's a bit rough, but it's beautiful to me because I've been searching for it for so long. There's also a bonus tag from the front, letting you know that this record contains "Happy Christmas Music". It certainly does. Just look at Santa and Blitzen (Or is it Comet? I can't tell those two apart...) cutting a rug above. Now that's happy!

Three Suns Sunday-Part Four


Well, here it is, the one you've all been waiting for. Well, sorta. Ever since I found this last month, I've been excited about it. This is really the place where The Three Suns made their Christmas reputation. They actually made it in stereo, but all I've found so far is the mono version. But I did finally find it, and for that I am grateful. (I may have a line on a stereo copy, but that's still in wait-and-see mode.) But everything else I have shared out by The Three Suns is in mono, so this isn't going to be out of place at all. I'm sure there are people out there sharing stereo copies if you must have one, so do a quick search and you'll find them. I only share out stuff that I own and ripped from my own vinyl, so I'm not going to grab it elsewhere and share it here. Trust me, you're going to be happy when you hear this. This is maybe the most amazing Christmas album ever. I can't say enough about it. You just need to download and listen to The Three Suns-A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas! (RCA Victor LPM-2054, 1959). (Note how the title even includes an exclamation point. Sorta like Esquivel!) Only ten years from their first Christmas album, they had worked their way up to this! Of course, there were two albums of Christmas tunes in-between, so obviously the group loved their holiday music. I've got a few Christmas singles and individual tracks from The Suns still to come, so don't go away just yet.

Three Suns Sunday-Part Three


We're breezing along now, all the way to the third full-length Christmas release by The Three Suns. This is the one that seems to exist in the most different variations. There are at least three different covers for the 12", a couple of 7" EPs with different (and quite awesome) covers, and a possible Pickwick label release that I've heard of but have yet to stumble across. They even changed the name slightly over the years, going from The Sounds Of Christmas when on RCA Victor to The Sound Of Christmas when released on RCA Camden. I have no idea why, but there you go. The sound here is great, getting really close to the highs they achieved on their later masterpiece, A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas! If you don't have it yet, please be my guest and download The Three Suns-The Sounds Of Christmas (RCA Victor LPM-1132, 1955). For the search engines, the RCA Camden catalog number is CAL-633, and I think there was an electronic stereo version somewhere with a number that must have had an (e) in it somewhere. Here's the link to where I shared this out last year, where there is more information if you need it. The wire reindeer Camden cover was first shared out here. I didn't have the Rockefeller Ice Rink cover until this year, but I was able to show it to you in the past thanks to a fan of the blog who was nice enough to share it. (Thank you!) And here is the link to my original share back in 2005.




The pictures above are the two EPs I mentioned, with their great artwork. These are fairly rarely seen, so take a look and enjoy. They are The Three Suns-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (RCA Victor EPA-654, 1955) and The Three Suns-White Christmas (RCA Victor EPA-655, 1955). They have all the same music as the full length records above, so those links don't take you to the downloads, but to the original posts where I shared these covers.

Three Suns Sunday-Part Two


The second installment of Three Suns Sunday is this, their second collection of Christmas tunes from 1952, only three years after their earlier collection. Their sound is starting to get a lot peppier, but still has a ways to go. I shared out the 10" LP you see above back in 2005, and then the next year I discover that these tracks had also been released on a double 7" collection, shown below. The music appears to be the same on the two releases, though. (I don't believe they edited the 7" tracks like they did on this Arthur Godfrey Christmas record I shared out earlier.) The cover for these releases seems to be a big improvement over the last one, too. They (and RCA Victor, no doubt) are getting better in every way. If you don't already have it in your collection, please be my guest and download The Three Suns-Christmas Party (RCA Victor LPM -3056, 1952). More to come.

Three Suns Sunday-Part One


Good morning! This is the day that many of you have been waiting for. I'm going to finally start sharing out all this great Three Suns Christmas music that I've been amassing. Frequent blog readers will know some of what's coming, but I hope to also have some surprises for you. I've been very lucky in tracking some stuff down over the past year, and I'm going to share it all with you guys, so buckle in and hold on tight! The sharing starts way, way back in 1949 with this little box of three 45 RPM 7" singles. There are a few indications here of the greatness that was to come, but our guys still have a long way to go in developing their sound. I shared this out in 2005 and in 2006, but if you missed it then, you'll want to be sure and The Three Suns Present Your Christmas Favorites (RCA Victor WP 250, 1949).