Christmas Olympics

Your selection of the day is this sorta-seasonal LP featuring a couple of holiday tunes, some wintery stuff, and some other stuff that really has nothing to do with anything, but it's all pretty well done.  The Omega label has always stood for cheap stuff as far as I ever knew, but then I saw this and thought I'd take a chance.  It's pretty good, but the tracklisting is quite odd.  Some of the tunes here just don't belong, but I think you'll enjoy them.  This is The Ralph Sutton Quartet-Jazz At The Olympics (Omega OSL-51, Stereo, 1961).  This appears to have been linked somehow to the 1960 Winter Olympics, but the date I found fit it is 1961, so maybe it didn't come out right away.  Or maybe my date is wrong, who knows? Oh, and it's live, but well recorded.

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Button Up Your Overcoat
3. I've Got Me Love To Keep Me Warm
4. I'll Follow You
5. Hot Buttered Rum
6. Let It Snow
7. I'm Shooting High
8. Winter Weather
9. I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling
10. Squaw Valley Blues

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I remember finding this record the very first week after Christmas last year, and thinking I was going to have something good to share this season!

Re-Burl

Another little goody for you here, something that I first shared back in 2011, but tonight I found my old WAV files and decided to go ahead and encode it at a higher bitrate for you.  Same music, same rip, just hopefully a little better sounding.  I'm still looking for what I suspect is another version of this release that features a bit of narration about each song.  I forget exactly why I think there is such a version, something about the text on the back of this one, I think.  But if you have such a thing and want to share, please get in touch with me.  And if you'd like to take a look at a short want list from me, please click here.  Plenty of things out there I'd love to hear, cause I don't have it all...yet!  Please enjoy Burl Ives, Music Conducted By Tony Mottola-Christmas At The White House (Caedmon TC 9102, Stereo, 1972).

1. The Little Drummer Boy (Richard M. Nixon)
2. Joy To The World (John Adams)
3. Adeste Fideles (Thomas Jefferson)
4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Zachary Taylor)
5. While Shepherds Watch'd Their Flocks By Night (George Washington)
6. Silent Night (Lyndon B. Johnson)
7. Christmas On The Sea (Theodore Roosevelt)
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are (Abraham Lincoln)
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Ulysses S. Grant)
10. Shout The Glad Tidings (Andrew Jackson)
11. Silver Bells (John F. Kennedy)
12. Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Laden (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

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The End Of Last Year

I believe this was the very last thing I posted before Christmas last year, about the time folks quit thinking about Christmas music and turn their thoughts to the coming year.  It was also one of the very few shares that stayed live all through 2017 which means people kept downloading it all year long, at least once every thirty days.  That's pretty unique among all the music I share with you guys, and this is a unique record.  It's all original Christmas music, and it's all pretty interesting.  It sounds to my ears like the soundtrack to a TV special that never was, though I remember finding a mention somewhere online that it had been optioned for a TV special at one point that never happened.  I've been trying not to revisit too much of the stuff from last year just to give you fresh new stuff, but I figure this one is worth highlighting for those folks who may be new or missed it somehow.  (There's a ton of stuff from last year still available in the archives from last year. I went through and reloaded a bunch of it in the past few weeks, so be sure you scroll back through it, there are gems to be had!)  Here once again is The Chuck Bird Orchestra And Singers-The Spirit Of Christmas (Santa Records SC3131, Stereo, 1976).

1. A Holly Holly Holly Holly Day
2. Snow Flakes
3. Under The Mistletoe
4. A Christmas Lullaby
5. A Toy Train
6. How Much Longer
7. The North Pole Polka
8. A Perfect Christmas Tree
9. Merrily On His Way
10. The Echo Of Christmas
11. The Elf Parade
12. Merry Christmas

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Re-Ruth

Back to the request lines, here's another oldie from my inaugural season, 2005, though I remastered it in 2011 for slightly better sound.  After the success of the soundtrack to The Third Man, zither music had a moment lasting a few years.  And few proponents were as prolific as Ruth Welcome.  She put out a dozen or more records in a span of maybe ten years, including this great Christmas LP.  You may not be familiar with the instrument, but you'll love the sound of Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland (Capitol ST 1782, Stereo, 1962).

1. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear/Lo, How A Rose Is Blooming/Angels And Shepherds
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem/What Child Is This?/O Come Little Children/Away In A Manger
3. O Holy Night/Coventry Carol/Angels From The Realms Of Glory/Silent Night
4. Jingle Bells/Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas
6. Silver Bells
7. The Christmas Song
8. Winter Wonderland
9. White Christmas

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Re-Bing

You might remember me sharing out the record above some years back, featuring narration by none other than Bing Crosby.  We'll it turns out that they've recently reissued it on both CD and vinyl, so if you want to purchase a legit copy, head on over and get your self a copy! It's good stuff!  For the search engines, this is The Bonaventure Choir And Children's Chorus-Bing Crosby-Narrator-The Bible Story Of Christmas-The Traditional Carols In Gospel Sequence (World Library Productions WLP 8, Mono, 1957).  When they contacted me to tell me they were going to reissue this, they were nice enough to send me a picture of the original tape box below.  Pretty cool!

Apaka's Back

From way back in the dark ages of 2007, here's a Christmas EP from the shores of beautiful Hawaii.  The cover, unfortunately, is not as beautiful.  I think the manufacturing process did something to it that left it susceptible to some sort of nasty oxidation as you can see.  I've seen several of these over the years, and they've all succumbed to one degree or another. (Some Mercury label stuff of the same vintage exhibits a similar problem, though it's not all of them.)  Later on, I found the cover below which has the same catalog number and the same tracklist, though it's survived the years in much better shape.  I dropped it into the download, so if you want to change it, be my guest.  This is Christmas At The Hawaiian Village With Alfred Apaka And The Hawaiian Village Serenaders (Hawaiian Village HV-EP-2, Mono).

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Joy To The World (Hauoli Ka Honua)
3. Jingle Bells-Mele Kalikimaka
4. Silent Night (Po Hama 'U')

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The Sound And The Color

At some point in the past few years, I found a stereo version of this one, but I haven't seen it lately and have no idea what I did with it.  So in the meantime, I'll reshare this mono version with you that I first shared out in 2012.  It'll have to do until I dig up my stereo copy.  This is The Sound & Color Of Christmas from Seeburg Background Music (Seeburg 700189, Mono).  This was a secret share at one point last year, for those folks who take the time to read and leave me comments!  So you may have seen it around here since that original post back in 2012.

1. Medley: We Wish You A Merry Christmas; Carol Of The Bells
2. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
3. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
4. Angels We Have Heard On High
5. Good King Wenceslaus
6. Coventry Carol
7. Carol Of The Drum ("Little Drummer Boy")
8. Deck The Halls
9. I'll Be Home For Christmas
10. Medley: Shepherd's Carol; Patapan
11. O Christmas Tree
12. Here We Come A-Caroling
13. The Christmas Waltz
14. God Rest, Ye Merry Gentlemen (I swear, that's how it's punctuated!)


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Crash, Bang, Boom

From the request lines, here's an oldie from 2010 that features local sounds from around Houston, Texas. This is another one of those records that got no comments the first time around, yet somehow people still stumble across it and want to give it a listen.  So it goes.  This is Crash's Christmas Album To Benefit University Children's Hospital At Hermann (CCA Records 1-1986 (Houston, TX), Stereo, 1986).

1. Crash-The Christmas Song
2. Dave Ward-I Saw Mommie Kissing Santa Claus
3. Sir Shaun Rabb-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. The Concert Chorale Of Houston-Carol Of The Bells
5. Paul Christy-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
6. Jim Westmoreland-Frosty The Snowman
7. Milo Hamilton-A Visit From St Nicholas
8. Dave Ward, Pat Hunt & Tommy Lee Bradley-O' Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Matt Alan-Jingle Bell Rock
10. Kevin Bass-O' Come All Ye Faithful
11. Marvin Zindler And The Miracle Minstrels-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
12. The Concert Chorale Of Houston-Coventry Carol
13 George Grenias-Silver Bells
14. The Concert Chorale Of Houston-Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
15. Crash-White Christmas

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Forbidden!

Don't look now, but I'm going to share something with you that I probably shouldn't.  Something that I found just this weekend in it's super-rare stereo version, something great and wonderful that's really, really hard to find.  Take a look at the cover scan above and I'm sure you can figure it out.  If you've never heard or seen this before, it's part of a series of all four seasons, recorded in 1957 (though I'm not sure if the stereo is from the original sessions or a later re-recording).  It's instrumental and it's lush.  If you like that sort of thing, you're going to love this.  It's not strictly Christmas, but there are some Christmas songs on there.  Mostly it's cold-weather themed stuff, though a couple of tracks I can't explain.  It's all good, though, so go grab it.  Unlike most everything else I share, I put a password on this one.  That password is "ErnieNotBert", without the quotes.  Give it a listen, I think you'll like it! (For the curious, the mono version of this was a secret share some years ago.  I think this one is a significant sonic upgrade!)

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Jimmy Jams

I got a request to throw this one back up, then another request for the same thing.  I thought that was a little surprising, but then I realized it was the same person requesting it multiple times.  *Sigh*  Be sure you do what it says on the cover of this one and open before Christmas, you won't be disappointed.  This is a later stereo remaster of something I first shared way back in 2005, and it's more than worth your time.  Please download and enjoy The Jimmy Joyce Singers With Orchestra Conducted By Billy May-A Christmas To Remember (Warner Bros WS 1237, Vitaphonic Stereo, 1958).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
3. An Old Fashioned Christmas
4. Jingle Bells Around The World
5. Christmas Hop
6. Medley Of Foreign Carols
7. Round About Christmas
8. Santa Claus Sleigh Ride
9. The Story Of Christmas
10. Christmas Dinner Country Style
11. Reprise Medley
12. Medley Of English Carols

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Not Quite Jazz

Part of my big haul of Christmas singles from Banana Records yesterday was this 7" from Scholastic Records.  I thought it was one of the ones you used to get from them that told a story along with a book you were supposed to read like we used to get in school, but I think instead this was a demo for a book of Christmas carols they put out.  You can find various mentions of the book around the internet, and even a few mentions of the record (like at Discogs), but very little is made about the fact that it's attributed to Carla Bley.  I have to assume this is the same Carla Bley well known for her work in the jazz field, starting not too long before this record was released.  The music on it is more vocal than jazzy, but it's not entirely bland.  I'm not familiar enough with Carla to say if that's her voice or not on the tracks, but one of you may be able to help say yes or no.  About my only knowledge of Carla Bley is that she released an album with Nick Mason, the drummer for Pink Floyd. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure this is going to be something you've never heard before.  Please enjoy Carla Bley-Six Songs From A Wreath Of Carols (Scholastic Records 7" 33 RPM CC 0603, Mono, 1968).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. A Christmas Carol
3. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
4. Coventry Carol
5. Silent Night
6. O Christmas Tree

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And thanks to Christine Petton of St. Louis, MO, for putting her address labels on her record all those years ago.  I couldn't get the labels off, though I was able to remove her signature from a few spots.

Just Another Share

Real quick, I wanted to get something new up, but I don't have too much in the pipeline at the moment.  Here's a single side for you that I bet is fairly unknown to most of you.  I'm always picking up singles and looking for unknown songs that may be Christmas or winter related, and this is the result of that search.  If you've heard this one before, let me know, I'd be curious to know where.  I'm sure you'll enjoy this one either way.  This is Betty Everett-Just Another Winter (Uni 7" 45 RPM 55189 "Promotion Copy Not For Sale", 1969, Mono).

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Tis The Seasoned

Here's another one brought back from the past via the request lines.  Back in the early fifties, Capitol put out a series of EPs bringing together Christmas singles from various artists who didn't have enough output for an album.  It's pretty hard to find those releases these days, but I've been lucky enough to find most of them.  One of the truly forgotten ones is this collection of two singles from country funnymen Homer & Jethro.  Don't confuse these tracks with items of the same name on their later full Christmas LP, these are the original recordings in the original mono.  I first shared this out back in 2010, but just for you, I'm bringing it back this year.  Please enjoy Homer & Jethro-Seasoned Greetings (RCA Victor Extended Play 7" EPA 534, 1953, Mono).

1. (All I Want For Christmas Is) My Upper Plate
2. I Saw Mommy Smoochin' Santy Claus
3. Randolph The Flat-Nosed Reindeer
4. Frosty The Defrosted Snowman


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RIP Jim Nabors

I just saw news online about the passing of Jim Nabors at age 87.  Looks like he was still living in Hawaii after moving there many years ago, even turning in this soundtrack to a Christmas in Hawaii TV special he made in 1981. I first shared this with you last year, and it took me many years to track it down.  Many collectors of Christmas music are familiar with the albums he made for Columbia back in the day, both of which (and some single-only songs as well) were collected up recently and rereleased on CD. But this record didn't make the cut there.  You also get to hear the great Carol Burnett here, though not as much as you might hope.  So if you missed it the first time around these parts, please download and give a listen to Christmas In Hawaii With Jim Nabors (Bluewater SLP-725, Stereo, 1981). Rest in peace, Jim.

1. Christmas All Over The World-Jim Nabors
2. Doodle Ee Doo-Jim Nabors
3. Little Drummer Boy-The Brothers Cazimero
4. Twelve Days Of Christmas-Jim Nabors
5. O Holy Night-Jim Nabors And The Honolulu Boy Choir
6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Jim Nabors & Carol Burnett
7. Jingle Bells-Jim Nabors & Carol Burnett
8. O Come All Ye Faithful-Jim Nabors
9. Aloha Kalikimaka-The Brothers Cazimero
10. Hasegawa General Store-Jim Nabors & Carol Burnett
11. The First Noel-Jim Nabors
12. Away In A Manger-The Honolulu Boy Choir
13. Silent Night-Jim Nabors

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Re-Maxwell

Here's another oldie from 2012 that hasn't been reshared since, one that I was pretty happy about when I found it back in the day.  I don't know why it's fairly rare, but it's not something you stumble across every day. If you like the harp, and you like Christmas, this may just be the album for you.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  This is Robert Maxwell And His Harp-40 All-Time Christmas Favorites (Lion (MGM) L70081, Mono, 1958). Lest you think this is double or triple LP, it's not.  Those 40 tracks are crammed into 8 medleys as shown below.

1. Jingle Bells; Winter Wonderland; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town; Jolly Old St. Nicholas; White Christmas
2. The Christ Child Is Born; Dear Baby Jesus, Now Rest In Sleep; All Through The Night; O Sanctissima; Chanson De Noel
3. Here We Come A-Caroling; Lullaby Carol; Lullaby, Thy Little Tony Child; Masters In This Hall; Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
4. I Saw Three Ships; Born Is He, The Child Divine; Listen, Listen, Children Dear; Good King Wenceslas; O, Tannenbaum
5. Deck The Halls; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear; We Three Kings Of Orient Are; Angels We Have Heard On High; The First Noel
6. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel); Away In A Manger; The Moon Shines Bright; The Holly And The Ivy; What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabella; I Wish You A Merry Christmas; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Joy To The World
8. Christmas Eve Is Here; Sing We Now Of Christmas; O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles); Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Silent Night

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Back With People

This is the first remaster of the season, and a record I've said I wouldn't bring back, yet here it is. I shared this record with you back in 2005, my very first season, then I un-shared it because I found a place that was selling it on CD.  That place has since disappeared and I'm convinced it wasn't too legit.  I could be wrong, and someone may show me something that makes me take this down quick, so if you want it, you should grab it now.  If you're not familiar with Up With People, then you should look it up.  If you are familiar, then you know you have to download this.  Lots of good stuff on here, mostly vocals, but a great instrumental called Jingle Bell Beat has long made my short list of favorites for many years now.  I just wish I'd had a cleaner copy to scan.  The music is much cleaner than that rough looking cover scan might lead you to believe.  That "Merry Christmas To You All" text is supposed to be red, but try as I might, it's still pink.  And the ringwear is atrocious.  The scanner picked it up so much worse than it actually looks in real life.  Oh, well.  Gotta run with what I've got.  Anyhow, this is Up With People-Merry Christmas To You All (Pace Records 1105, 1968, Stereo).

1. Merry Christmas To You All-Featuring Linda Blackmore And The Up With People Chorus
2. Pat's Poem-Featuring Pat Ector
3. Up With People!-Featuring Linda Blackmore, Pat Ector, Debbie Kirkpatrick And The Up With People Chorus
4. Jingle Bell Beat-Instrumental
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem-Featuring Linda Blackmore; Guitar-Finis Fator; Trumpet-Graham Young
6. Away In A Manger-Featuring Linda Blackmore And The Up With People Chorus
7. Hope Of Mankind-Featuring Linda Blackmore And The Up With People Chorus
8. A Present For Santa-Featuring Howie Surrey And The Up With People Chorus
9. Waddle-Instrumental
10. Children-Featuring Frank Fields
11. I Wonder As I Wander-Featuring Debbie Kirkpatrick And The Up With People Chorus
12. There'll Be A New World Beginnin' From Tonight-Featuring Finis Fator And The Up With People Chorus
13. O Holy Night-Featuring Linda Blackmore
14. Merry Christmas To You All-Featuring Linda Blackmore And The Up With People Chorus

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Re-Louie

I haven't been doing a very good job with the reshares this year, unfortunately.  That's the bit that makes it seem like I'm sharing out a whole lot more than I really am, because the works almost all done on those posts, all I have to do is write a little something and voila!  The other issue is that I can't think of older things that I want to repost.  After having done this for so many years, a lot of it is a blur.  I think of things when I hear a familiar tune, or I see something online that reminds me of an oldie.  What made me think of this one, I have no idea.  I first shared lo-fi Louie here back in 2012, a banner year for the blog, and I don't think I've returned to him since.  You can read a little bit more about this single at the old post, and there's a comment that sheds a little bit of light on this particular issue of the track, but it's still a bit of a mystery.  Some day someone will come by and tell us all about it, I'm sure.  In the meantime, please download and give a listen to Sonny Bloch's Coralairs-Louie The Elf b/w Buon Natale (National Recording Corporation (NRC) 7" 45 RPM 2871-35 (Produced For The Junior Chamber Of Commerce), Mono, 1958).

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Ohio For The Holidays

One of the things I always keep an eye out for is local Christmas music.  I love to find the records put out by radio stations or civic groups or maybe a collection of local bands in honor of Christmas.  Good ones are hard to find, but there are great ones out there.  This one is probably better than average, but if you grew up in the Dayton, Ohio, area, I'm sure this will bring back many Christmas memories.  I don't have any memory of when or where I got this, but a fellow Christmas collector over at FaLaLaLaLa.com posted his rip of this record and volume three last year, mentioning that his copies were pretty beat and he'd love to find a better copy.  The cover looked familiar, so I dug into the archives and found this copy, still in the 30-year old shrink wrap.  So the sound is really good from the fresh vinyl.  Anyhow, there's quite a range of sounds on here, so download it and give it a listen.  (And if you've got a local collection of Christmas music, please share!)  This is Holiday Aid-A Hometown Christmas-Volume II (Morningside Music (No Number) Dayton, Ohio, 1987, Stereo).  I may have labelled it Daytona instead of Dayton in the download.  Sorry about that.

1. Watersign-Good King Wenceslas
2. Linda Robertson (WHIO-TV) and Chuck Gillespie (WVUD Radio)-You Make It Feel Like Christmas
3. Rock And Roll Radio "Minstrels" (Dr. Dave Gross (Z93), Alan Kaye (Z93), Jan Neilson (WTUE), Chris Geisin (WTUE) and Wild Bill (Majic 104))-Little St. Nick
4. Sweet Adelines-Holiday Medley
5. New Horizon-Share Your Love
6. The Celebrity Choir-We Wish You A Merry Christmas
7. The Celebrity Choir-Happy Christmas
8. Larry Bailey-(Oo La La) Merry Christmas
9. Dow Thomas-Christmas Shopping Blues
10. Barbara Kerr (WKEF-TV) and Bruce Asbury (WHIO-TV)-The Gift Of Song
11. Van Dells-Silent Night
12. John Burkhardt-If It Were Your Child

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Mysteries Of The Unknown

Here's a fun one for tonight.  I picked this record up during a recent business trip to Chicago.  Even though I was there on business, my evenings were my own and I was able to hit up five Goodwill stores, one Salvation Army store, and a great record store for about five minutes called Kiss The Sky.  But the only record I came home with in all that hunting was this one, and I had hoped for more.  Pretty much every place I visited had a pile of records, and there were plenty of things I hadn't seen before.  (I had to buy a new suitcase at the Salvation Army store and check it to get all the goodies back!) I'd never seen this record before, and thought it would make a nice share.  I should have looked a little closer, then I might have been warned that it doesn't credit any artists, and that's always a red flag.  When I pulled it out the other day, I thought maybe the Marion Rosette you see mentioned on the cover was going to be the artist, but once I heard choruses and male and female voices and orchestras playing, I knew that you weren't going to buy it if I credited it all to her.  So I kept digging and found a single at Discogs on the same label, featuring Santa Claus Is Flying Through The Sky, and it's credited to Loren Becker.  But the time shown on the label scan didn't match my rip.  But the flip side, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, did match!  And it's credit to Roger White.  So I went ahead and tagged that track.  And I'm pretty sure it's the same voice on Hark The Herald Angels Sing and God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.  Then some more digging led me to the discography of a long-lost kiddie record label, Lincoln Records.  There's the same Roger White credited to a few songs, including the ones I thought matched his voice!  And there's a version of Santa Claus Is Flying Through The Sky, this time credited to Sally Sweetland, Loren Becker and Enoch Light Orchestra.  I don't have a lot of evidence, but I think this is the source of the track.  At least I have a man and a woman singing.  Many of the other tracks here show up in that old Lincoln Records discography, but the label scans don't credit an artist, so I have no one to attribute them to. (I also noticed that the B-side songs on those old 78s, where there were two to a side, were really short on my rips, which would make sense...)  That's further than I've ever gotten with some of these old no-artist kiddie records.  Anybody got any more info or documentation to share?  Did I loose you way back?  Sorry.  This is Sing For Christmas-Favorite Carols And Songs (Fairyland F113, Recordings by Corona Records, Mono, originally recorded c. 1950). At least you get a cute cover out of the deal.

1. Joy To The World
2. Santa Claus Is Flying Through The Sky
3. Good King Wenceslaus
4. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
5. My First Christmas Tree
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. Jingle Bells
8. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
9. O Come All Ye Faithful
10. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
11. The First Noel
12. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
13. Silent Night
14. Deck The Halls

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Steve-a-rino!

Something just a little bit different for you tonight.  A radio show by talk-show host (and some-time intellectual) Steve Allen, half of which is Christmas themed (the other side is all about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and even features excerpts from his speeches). I pulled this one out of the shrink wrap early this afternoon, which was on rather tight and had warped the record slightly lo the many years.  But I don't think you'll notice unless you're listening really close, and even then, maybe not.  Lots of little soundbites here for your mixtapes, so feel free to cut and paste. Plenty of voices here other than Steve, he just introduces the collection of stories, plays a song, narrates here and then, tells one story of his own, then wraps it all up at the end.  It flows the whole time, so I didn't cut it up into pieces. (The B side is 10 different short segments, so those are tracked in separate files.)  This may not be the thing for everybody, but I'm sure plenty of you will dig it.  Please have a go at Steve Allen-A Season Of Hope (SandCastles 1088/10M, Mono, 1988).  If you use it, feel free to share what you made with me, I'd love to hear it.  In fact, if you use any of my music, I'd love to hear how and where it gets used.  I get to hear my children, all grown up and living life on their own, out in the wild.

1. The Gift Of A Giggle (which is made up of the following segments: "The Gift Of A Giggle" And Chorus; Opening by Steve Allen; Just Get That Child Born!; Harriet's Dolls Were Always Prettier; Electric Trains; Grandma's Hanukkah Gift Box; Christmas In The Wrong Direction; Santa Was A Real Guy; "Hello, Christmas!"; Know How To Catch A Rabbit?; Second Collection On The 747; No Time To Change For Christmas (Personal Story By Steve Allen); Wasn't That A Neat Baby?; Closing By Steve Allen)
2. Ebony And Ivory
3. Peace Maker
4. Reach For A Star
5. Caretakers
6. America
7. Doorways
8. The Human Touch
9. Ships
10. Birth
11. Communication

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Exotic Seasonings

I've been spending a lot of time trying to think of old shares to bring back, but not having a lot of luck.  Something new I recorded today made me think of this one, from 2011, and when I found out I'd never reshared it, I figured I'd bring it back.  This is a series of little radio vignettes that you can drop into your mixes or just wherever, sort of spice things up.  Some of them are really out there, if memory serves.  Please give a listen to Seasonings-Thirty Second Seasonal PSA's Produced By The Seventh-Day Adventists (A Sunspot Production 7" 33 RPM SP-1046, Stereo).

1. Jamie's Letter
2. Santa & Bobby
3. Papa & Tony
4. Neighbors
5. Warm Hugs
6. Holiday Salute
7. Mistletoe
8. Runaway
9. Worried Helen
10. The Christmas Story
11. Grandma's Gift
12. The Bell Ringer

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Dame Edith Not Edna

Tonight is a record that I have looked at for years, but never listened to or recorded.  I finally corrected that situation last night, and now here it is for you to listen to as well.  I've not got much clue as to who Dame Edith Evans was, other than being an English actress of a certain age and talent.  I guess I had secretly hoped for something more along the lines of Dame Edna, but I don't think that's the case here.  More like Dame Judi Dench, perhaps, but without the cool Bond connection.  Doesn't matter, though, since she only features on the long side A track, anyway, alongside The Chorleywood College Blind Children's Choir.  They handle all the singing work, Dame Edith just narrates.  A little digging at Discogs leads me to believe this is a recording from an English kiddie record circa 1959, just licensed and padded out for a 1962 US release. (You can even hear a convenient fade in the middle where they flipped sides on the original 45 release.)  The flip side of this one contains six tracks from four choral groups located around Washington DC.  Nothing too exciting, I'm afraid, but you never know until you try.  This is The First Christmas Including 19 Favorite Christmas Carols (Wonderland RLP 1469, 1962, Mono).

1. Dame Edith Evans With Chorleywood College Blind Children's Choir-The First Christmas (Once In Royal David's City; Away In A Manger; While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks; From Far Away; Love Came Down At Christmas; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Ding Dong, Merrily On High; Unto Us A Boy Is Born; We Three Kings Of Orient Are; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; A Day! A Day Of Glory; Little Child Jesus; O Come All Ye Faithful)
2. Washington National Cathedral-Patapan
3. Washington National Cathedral-Benedicamus Domino
4. First Baptist Church Group-Silent Night
5. Georgetown University's Singers-Veni-Veni Emanuel
6. The Church Of The Reformation Choral Group-Lay Down Your Staffs
7. The Church Of The Reformation Choral Group-Sing Noel

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Past, Present And Future

OK, let me go ahead and say this right at the beginning.  This is a weird one.  You'd think it's just another Christmas album by noted choral director Ken Darby and his singers, but that would be too easy. Perhaps the cover clues you in if you look closely at the odd colors and the warped typeface.  The creepy guy in the center ornament doesn't help either.  I hunted this record for a long time before it finally came my way.  I'd seen it mentioned on contemporary Decca Christmas LPs, but for some reason it never turns up.  After you listen to it, you might understand why it's a little rarer than Bing and Burl albums.  I don't really know how to explain it.  It's not bad.  But it's not catchy or poppy, either.  It could easily be the soundtrack to something, but it isn't.  I'm thinking the closest thing it might compare to is Gordon Jenkins' themed albums, like Manhattan Tower or Seven Dreams.  It's like that, if that means anything to you.  It even gets a little sci-fi on the future part, talking about listening to the sounds that left Earth many years ago.  Or is that the past part?  I don't know, it's all too trippy for me.  I'm going to go listen to my copy of Rotary Connection-Peace, that'll make this one sound like Nat.  Maybe.  If you're feeling brave, why not download and listen to Chorus And Orchestra Under Direction Of Ken Darby-The Spirit Of Christmas--Past, Present And Future (Decca DL 78939, Stereo, 1959).  Funny story, I recorded this one two years ago, but then promptly misplaced the record.  I didn't scan it before I lost it, so couldn't do much with it.  Today I found another copy and was able to scan and share it real quick.  Ha, that sure was funny!  I crack myself up!

1. The Spirit Of Christmas Past; Adoremus Te; Noel De Thevet; The Friendly Beasts; Come To Bethlehem; The Coventry Carol; Mary Treads The Snow; Stille Nacht; The Bell-Ringers Carol
2. The Spirit Of Christmas Present; 'Twas The Night Before Christmas; White Christmas; We'll Dress The House
3. The Spirit Of Christmas Present (Con't); Caroling, Caroling; Some Children See Him; Come Dear Children; 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
4. The Spirit Of Christmas Future; To You Who Are As Yet Unborn
5. The Story Of Christmas
6. Another Christmas
7. Finale: Saviour, Saviour

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Old And Red

I get a lot of requests to share my old shares here at the blog, some of them fairly frequently.  However, I think this is the first time I got a request for something that never even got a comment the first (in 2007) or the second (in 2009) time around.  I had just about forgotten about it myself, though I knew I had shared something by Mundell Lowe before.  I'm not aware of any other Christmas music he released under his own name, though as a long-time session musician, he must have played on uncounted releases by other artists through the years.  This being a flexidisc, I'm sure the sound is only marginal, and since I recorded it ten years ago, the recording and bit-rate may not be too up-to-snuff either.  So take it for what it's worth.  This is The Mundell Lowe Ensemble-The Sounds Of Christmas (Ameridisc Red Flexidisc 7" 33 RPM, Mono).

1. Medley: Adeste Fidelis, O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, Silent Night and Joy To The World

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LaFalce Not LaFace

The first share of the year is housed inside this gem of an album cover.  I almost didn't notice that it was Santa Claus at first glance, and I certainly didn't realize he was riding a reindeer until some careful study.  It's drawn in a pretty cool stained glass-looking motif, and there's a signature that looks like Lachman or Leichman, is that someone famous?  I'm not coming up with any hits at Google, but if anyone knows anything, please let me know.  The recording artists here are an a capella group consisting of nine brothers, though I'm not certain if their family name is La Falce or LaFalce.  I see it both ways around the internet, but this LP is pretty consistent in putting a space in there.  It's much less consistent with title of the LP. The front cover says Christmas Sung By The La Falce Brothers, the back cover says Christmas...With La Falce Brothers, and the vinyl just says Christmas.  Take your pick, I don't remember what I put in the track tags.  This album can't have been very popular.  This is the only copy I've ever seen, and it's not listed in many of the usual places around the internet.  The La Falce Brothers appear to have given the fame machine a good shot in the late Fifties, but I don't think they caught on like some other family groups like, say, The Osmonds.  It's certainly worth a listen, I think you'll like it.  This is Christmas With The La Falce Brothers (Jubilee JLP-1058, 1957, Mono).  And this cover is a lost classic!

1. O Come All Ye Faithful

2. Twelve Days Of Christmas

3. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

5. Joy To The World

6. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

7. Angels We Have Heard On High

8. The First Noel

9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

10. Deck The Hall

11. Ring Silver Bells

12. I Saw Three Ships

13. Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child

14. O Holy Night

15. Silent Night

16. What Child Is This

17. Hark The Herald Angels Sing

18. O Come, O Come Emanuel

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Christmas 2017!

Good evening, and welcome to Christmas 2017 at Ernie (Not Bert)!  It's been a few months since I've been around, and in that time I've been busy doing anything and everything except recording Christmas music.  So this year may be a little thin on new music, but only compared to past years.  I'm sure I'll still have a record or two to share that you'll enjoy, and hopefully enough stuff that you'll be able to find something you'll actually like.  I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to say, but it's all escaped me here in the moment I sit down to type this.  In addition to not preparing for the past few months, I've also come down with a bad cold this week, so I haven't been able to do much at all ahead of time.  I have been doing something that I haven't done before, and that is trying to get all the shares from last year loaded up and ready to download again.  So all of you that weren't around last year, soon you'll be able to sift through all the posts from last season and download to your hearts content.  I think I'm about a third of the way through that project, so there are things there to download now, but certainly not everything.  Also, we had a most excellent Christmas in July this year, and for the first time, all of those shares are still active at Christmas!  So be sure to look through those posts and download some really great Christmas music from non-Christmas albums.  I stretched it out through the months of July and September, encompassing over 600 songs this year, so there's something in there for everybody!  Other than that, just keep checking back from now until New Year's to see what old and horrible Christmas music I've dug up to share with you this year. you shouldn't go away disappointed.

And remember, leave me a comment when you can.  All bloggers thrive on comments.  We get hundreds of hits per comment, but the comment means more than all of them.  Just say howdy, let me know where you're from, what you like, what you didn't.  You can leave a request, but there's not much chance I'll have it or have the time to get to it.  But you never know.  Please don't leave lists of all the Christmas music you want, though.  That just ticks me off.

That's it from me for the moment.  Give me a few minutes and I'll get the first share of the year up.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and thanks for stopping by!

Volume Eight-Ten Years On

For the first time in a while, here's another installment in my refurbished shares of the old For Hi-Fi Living series.  I had a lot of fun doing Christmas in July, but now it's time to get back into this series and try to finish it before Christmas.  We're up to volume 8 now, our first from Malcolm Lockyer.  I recorded these tracks a couple months ago, so I don't really remember much about them.  I like the cover though.  The blanket always looks like a giant pair of lips to me.  Maybe that was on purpose, I don't know.  Anyhow, this is Malcolm Lockyer And His Orchestra-A Lazy Afternoon (RCA Custom RAL-1008, Mono, 1957).

1. Deep Purple
2. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
3. In A Little Spanish Town ("Twas On A Night Like This)
4. Don't Blame Me
5. Time On My Hands
6. The Wedding Of The Painted Doll
7. Let Me Love You Tonight
8. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
9. Jeannine (I Dream Of Lilac Time)
10. At Sundown
11. I'll See You In My Dreams
12. Goodnight Sweetheart

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