Christmas Logistics

I've lamented that I didn't have much military Christmas music to share with you this season. But that's not the same as having none.  Here's an LP I ripped but didn't finish the artwork until earlier today.  It's a little later than most of the stuff I share around here, but it's still pretty old, and I don't think anyone is going to take offense at me sharing it, especially since it was given away in the first place. Lots of good stuff on here, I think you'll enjoy it. This is The Logistics Command Band Of Flight-An Air Force Logistics Command Christmas Sampler (AF Logistics Command MC20776, Stereo, 1986). I had two copies of this one in the archive, and they both had the same price tag on them. I suspect I bought one once upon a time, then forgot about it and bought the other copy from the same place at a later date. I need a better system of organizing what I have and don't have, I think.

1. Alleluia! Laudamus Te
2. Ave Maria
3. Jingle Bells
4. Country Christmas
5. White Christmas
6. Christmas Suite-Medley
7. Away In A Manger
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Gesu Bambino
10. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

MEGA

Glazed Ham

I've got a bunch of singles in the pile that I haven't even started sharing yet this year. This record comes from the 2015 pile though, something that I didn't get around to sharing that year, but I stumbled across it again this year and decided to go ahead and finish it up for sharing.  My collection is full of things I wanted to share, but never did, since my eyes are often bigger than my blog. I suppose I could go for quite a few seasons without ever recording anything new, but where's the excitement in that?  To me, it's all about finding something that's old, yet new to me and hopefully to you.  The name Tom Glazer should be familiar to some of you who've been paying attention, especially during Christmas In July. His name has shown up there several times, though I don't believe he ever recorded a full Christmas album.  The two sides of this 78 are things he recorded for the Children's Record Guild in 1952. To the best of my knowledge, most of their recordings have never been reissued.  This morning I'm doing a small part to remedy that situation.  This is Tom Glazer With The Gene Lowell Chorus-We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Round And Round The Christmas Tree (The Children's Record Guild 10" 78 RPM (Microgroove) 226, Mono, 1952).

1. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
2. Round And Round The Christmas Tree

MEGA

Vienna Calling

Time for yet another installment of Capitol Of The World's Christmas around the world.  This time it's from Austria, and a recording from a group that would go on to become stalwarts of the Christmas landscape.  Everyone nowadays has heard of the Vienna Boys Choir, but on this record, that name is in parentheses, and they go by their local name, Wiener Sängerknaben.  This is in my experience one of the easier to find entries of the series, so I almost didn't bring it to you, but I happened to stumble across both this album and a later re-issue at the same time, so I figured why not. I'm not sure my pressing is original, as it has the rainbow swirl label that was used around the time of The Beatles. I suspect an original would have a bluish-purple label, but this will have to do for the time being. But enough blather, you don't care about pressing and re-issues, you just want to hear some Christmas music. This is Wiener Sängerknaben (The Vienna Boys Choir), Directed By Xaver Meyer, Organ By Alois Forer-Christmas In Austria (Capitol T10164, Mono, 1958). The re-issue cover I mentioned is in the download and you can see it down at the bottom of this post. Not sure why they thought this was an improvement.

1. O Tannenbaum (The Christmas Tree)
2. Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen (A Rose Sprang Forth)
3. Glocken Des Stiftes St. Florian (Bells Of St. Florian)-This one is actually performed by The Famous Chimes Of Vienna's St. Florian Church, but you'd figure that out when you listen to it.
4. O Du Fröhliche, O Du Selige (Joyful Yuletide)
5. O Jesulein Süss (Sweet Little Jesus)
6. Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night)
7. Ihr Kinderlein Kommet (Come Little Children)
8. Es Wird Schon Glei Dumpa (Soon It Will Knock)
9. Kommet Ihr Hirten (Come You Shepherds)
10. Still, Still (Quiet, Quiet)
11. Es Hat Sich Halt Eröffnet (It Became Wide Open)
12. Adeste Fideles

MEGA

Pokey!

Here's yet another album I should have gotten out during the height of the Christmas season. I'm afraid I don't know too much about the provenance of this album, it just kinda showed up one day.  The jacket is completely blank on the back, and there are no credits on side 1 of the label. Side 2 is credited to Jack Parker, so I put that name on the big long story on side 1 as well. Poking around the internet doesn't yield any results for this album, but there does appear to have been a Christmas special on the radio from 1957 by the same name. Digging deeper and adding the Jack Parker name yields a copyright entry from 1949 to a radio drama by the same name. I'm guessing this is a recording of that radio play, maybe not the original, but something perhaps recorded by Mr. Parker in later years. I could be way off base, but I'm guessing he pressed up some copies of his old radio show, added some more modern stuff he recorded, and then gave out copies to friends and family for Christmas.  Or maybe he tried to sell the shows somewhere.  I'm hoping someone out there knows a little something about this and they'll stumble across this post one day.  If you're reading this and you know the story behind the story, please leave a comment.  In the meantime, give a listen to Jack Parker-Pokey The Christmas Elf (Northpole Records 148, Mono). My sleeve looked like some of the ink was smeared as it rolled through the printing press, but I cleaned it up as best I could.  Not much chance of finding another copy of this one.

1. The Story Of Pokey, The Christmas Elf
2. The Miniature Manger
3. The Christmas Tree
4. The Christmas Gift
5. The Story Of Hanukka
6. Christmas Around The World
7. Christmas Candles
8. Christmas Pageant
9. The Day After Christmas

MEGA

Canadian Noël

Time for a little more organ music, this time from our friends to the North. I was excited to find this double album sometime in the past year, but I was a little less excited when I discovered I had already shared out one of the two albums they combined to make this double pack. Well, they didn't include the whole album, only ten of the twelve tracks made the cut. I suspect they omitted two tracks from the other album they used as well, so I need to keep an eye out for that one.  But this is a good overview of the organ style of Mr. Hétu if you aren't familiar with his work. It's pretty good stuff, as these things go.  Not the best, not the worst, but firmly in the middle. And there are plenty of holiday classics here that don't often get a nice workout on the organ.  Download this and give it a listen, maybe save it for next year if your Christmas is over already.  This is Lucien Hétu-20 Succès Souvenir De Noël Avec Lucien Hétu (RCA Gala (Canada) 2xLP KTL2-7026, Stereo, 1974).

1. Minuit Chrétiens
2. Jésus De Nazareth
3. Symphonie De Noël
4. Adeste Fideles
5. Miracles De Noël
6. L'Enfant Au Tambour (Little Drummer Boy)
7. Le Père Noël S'En Vient (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)
8. Valse Des Patieurs (Skaters Waltz)
9. Quand Il Neige (Let It Snow)
10. Il Est Minuit (Le Noel Des Petits Oiseaux)
11. Dans L'Temps Du Jour De L'An
12. Tour De Cariole
13. Katia (Il Peut Neiger)
14. Mets Tes Petits Souliers
15. Nos Vieilles Maisons
16. Le P'Tit Renne Au Nez Rouge (Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer)
17. Noël Blanc
18. Promenade En Traineau (Sleigh Ride)
19. Vive Le Vent (Jingle Bells)
20. J'Ai Vu Maman Et Le Père Noël (I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)

MEGA

Boxing Day Blues

Happy Boxing Day to all of you out there who celebrate it, and happy go back to work day for those who don't.  I'm in the second category, I'm afraid, so back to work I go. But I'm not ready to stop sharing just yet, so here's another great share that you should download and save for next year.  This is the story of Jeminie the Christmas Tree, and a handful of songs that fill up the back side of the album.  There are a couple of songs in the story as well, so I clipped those out as best I could and appended them to the end as bonus tracks.  According to Discogs, there was a single that featured these bonus tracks as well, though I've no idea if my clipped versions are close to what was on the single.  If anyone has a copy, I'd love to hear it.  This story and these songs are all quite good, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  I found this record right at the end of last season, and have been looking forward to sharing it all year long. Yet I couldn't seem to find time to finish it until here, after Christmas.  Sometimes that's just the way these things work out.  This is Wendell Watts-Jiminie The Christmas Tree (Solar Glo Records SG 1271, Stereo, 1971).

1. Jiminie The Christmas Tree
2. Just One Gift For Christmas
3. Happy Little ChristmasTree
4. Christmas In The City
5. Hush-A-Bye
6. Why Can't Every Day Be Christmas Day?
7. Christmas Is A Time For Love
8. Jiminie The Christmas Tree (Bonus)
9. The Little Christmas Tree (Bonus)
10. Jiminie The Christmas Tree-Reprise (Bonus)

MEGA

Boring Organ

I kept thinking all season that I had shared this album out before with a different cover, but I don't see it anywhere in the archive except in a folder labelled "Not Shared". So I guess I meant to share it, but never actually finished it up. I suspect it wasn't all that exciting of a record, so I never felt the need to finish. It's still not that exciting of a record, but at least here I have what I think is the original cover, and not the much more common later re-issue. If you need more of the old-fashioned organ and chime Christmas music, this is your record. Please enjoy Charles R. Cronham-Christmas Carols (AKA Christmas Carols With Organ And Chimes) (Mercury MG 20040, Mono, 1953).

1. The First Noel
2. God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen
3. Here A Torch, Jeanette Isabella
4. Sleep, Little Dove
5. Shepherds! Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep
6. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
7. Good King Wenceslas
8. O Sanctissima
9. Good Christian Men, Rejoice
10. What Child Is This
11. Angels We Have Heard On High
12. Deck The Halls
13. Come, All Ye Shepherds
14. The Sleep Of The Child Jesus
15. Come, Ye Lofty, Come, Ye Lowly
16. Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming
17. At Solemn Midnight

MEGA

Merry Christmas!

The big day is finally here!  Seems like only yesterday it was early November and I was wondering what in the world I was going to be able to share with you this season.  But here we are, a month later and still going strong.  Nothing too special for the big day, but I do have a nice little record from the cadets at West Point, home of the United States Military Academy. Not a whole lot to say about this one, but I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas today, wherever you are!  This is Merry Christmas From West Point (West Point-United States Military Academy WPS 8301, Stereo, 1983).

1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
2. Mary, Mary
3. O Come, All Ye Faithful
4. Carol Of The Bells
5. Noel In G
6. Christmas Day
7. Alleluia
8. Lord Today
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. Go Tell It On The Mountain
11. White Christmas
12. Winter Wonderland
13. Feliz Navidad
14. Improvisation On "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

MEGA

Doggett All!

I've saved a little bit of the best here for Christmas Eve.  It's a classic album from organ maestro Bill Doggett, something much different than all the organ albums I've shared with you all season. Some people call this the first R&B Christmas record, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. It certainly does swing a lot, and it's got a certain level of hip that no organ demo LP will ever equal.  It's a pretty hard album to find, but some of the tracks have turned up on CD here and there, so I hope I don't get in too much trouble for sharing it here.  This is Bill Doggett And His Combo-12 Songs Of Christmas (AKA Christmas Songs) (King 600, Mono, 1955).  I hope you all have a very merry Christmas Eve!

1. The Christmas Song
2. Jingle Bells
3. White Christmas
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Silent Night
6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
7. I'll Be Home For Christmas
8. What Child Is This
9. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
10. Joy To The World
11. Blue Christmas
12. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

MEGA

Way Up In Utica

We're getting down to the wire around here, and I've got so much more that I wanted to share out this year. We'll see how that pans out because I don't have a whole lot of time this year, and with so few days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's just no time. This morning I've got yet another local choir for you, this time from Utica, NY. I don't know much about this one, I just grabbed it because I liked the cover.  Nice picture, don't you think? This is The Utica Chorale-The Songs Of Christmas (The Savings Bank Of Utica AHS 1000, Stereo, 1968).

1. Fanfare For Christmas
2. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
3. Carol Of The Bells
4. The First Noel
5. Deck The Halls
6. Still, Still, Still
7. Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light
8. Thee With Tender Care I'll Cherish
9. The Little Drummer Boy
10. Bring A Torch, Jeannette
11. Hush-A-Roon Carol
12. Patapan
13. Silent Night
14. Glory To God
15. For Unto Us A Child Is Born
16. Mary Had A Baby
17. God Rest You  Merry, Gentlemen
18. The Christmas Song
19. Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming
20. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

MEGA

Christmas With The Local Boys

I'm thinking this is the only record I'm going to share with you this year that I know for a fact has skips in it. I tried and tried and tried to get a clean rip, but I just couldn't do it. So don't listen too closely to the long songs on side two, OK? This is a record from St. Petersburg, a community just north of me across a long tall bridge across the mouth of Tampa Bay, and a great place to go record hunting.  It's historically been a retirement community, but it's turned into hipster central in the past decade or so. But all those retirees have lots of records, and whether they're selling them to the record stores or passing them along to relatives who don't want them after they die, there are a lot of great records to be found up there. I'm not sure if I actually found this record in St. Pete, but I have seen copies of it up there, and for some reason it's always got a high price tag on it. Not sure why that is, I guess because the stores hope some local will pay that to hear their parents or grandparents sing. I didn't pay much for it, and unfortunately, that shows in the quality of the record. Lots of clicks and pops in addition to the skips, and the back cover is completely blank. I don't know if it came from the factory that way or it got torn off in the 49 years or so since it was pressed, but even the blank cover is beat up. So don't go into this one expecting an audio delight.  But do let me know if your parents or grandparents are on here.  This is St. Petersburg Boychoir-Donald R. Mathis, Musical Director-Christmas With The Boys Of 1970 (Mark MC 2993, Stereo, 1970).

1. Carol Of The Bells
2. Jingle Bells
3. Before The Paling Of The Stars
4. Gesu Bambino
5. Ave Maria
6. Fulgebut Justi
7. Night Before Christmas
8. March Of The Three Kings
9. Little Jesus, Sweetly Sleep
10. Portions Of The Messiah (Skips)
11. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas (Skips)

MEGA

God On TV 2 Part 2

Just when you thought I was done, here's a second album from Rex Humbard and his Cathedral of Tomorrow gang. Not nearly so long as the first one, this was actually the one I recorded first and didn't realize it was part 2 until I was tagging the tracks. Of course then I had to go track down the first one, but found the Robert Schuller in the meantime, so that's how we wound up with this little set of TV preachers this year. Always a story behind how these things happen, even if it's just random chance.  Not much of a story, I suppose, but a story. More music on this one, and less spoken word, so if that's your preference, this record is for you.  This is Rex Humbard And The Cathedral Of Tomorrow Staff-Rex Humbard's Christmas Album Volume II (Rex Humbard A4RS-4550/4551, Stereo).  Just like the other two, this one comes in a mailing envelope. This particular copy was mailed to an address in Canada as you'll see in the scan. I go to great lengths for the records I share around here! It looks like there is a little confusion about the title. I maybe should have changed it to match the first one, but I didn't. Oh well...

1. Introduction
2. O Come All Ye Faithful
3. Away In A Manger
4. The First Noel
5. Christmas
6. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
7. In A Manger Long Ago
8. O Holy Night
9. Joy To The World
10. Christmas Message Part 1
11. Seeking For Me
12. Christmas Message Part 2
13. The Prince Of Peace
14. Christmas Message Part 3
15. Do You Know The Prince Of Peace

MEGA

This Year's Not Christmas

Seems like each year I stumble across something I want to share that doesn't really relate to the season at hand. At least this year it's a little more appropriate than train noises or random music with Christmas in the title.  This is the soundtrack to a film that was made in the Soviet Union, then brought to the US where it was dubbed into English and released onto the market in 1959. this soundtrack is not just the songs and dialog from the movie, it also includes narration to explain what's going on, possibly making it one of the first records to do so. It also features a couple of straight songs from Sandra Dee, at least one of which was released as a single. It's early in the morning as I'm typing this, and I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Anyhow, I was really excited when I found this beautiful gatefold record, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  This is Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen (Decca DL 78977, Stereo, 1959). In addition to Sandra Dee, you get the voice talents of Tommy Kirk, Patty McCormack & Paul Frees, with music from Joseph Gershenson conducting the Universal-International Studio Orchestra.

MEGA

Happy Chanukah!

I wanted to say Happy Chanukah to all our Jewish visitors out there, and apologize for no new Chanukah content. I didn't turn up a singe new piece of content for the festival of lights this year, so I have nothing to share with you. But maybe you missed all the content from last year. If so, start here and work your way back through the posts.  You should find nine great posts that cover all eight nights. Oh, and here's a link to the Chanukah in August from earlier this year, just as a little icing on the latke.  Enjoy!

God On TV 2

Up next in our little featurette of TV preachers is this one from Rex Humbard. I don't remember too much about old Rex, and I have no cute stories about him to relate here. I do know that I saw this record a bunch on the thrift stores, so it must have gotten some good distribution back in the day.  And it's always in a mailing envelope, so they must have been via mail order only.  Maybe it was a premium if you donated so much money, or just sold outright and shipped this way.  I don't know, but it's a nice listen.  Again, there's the story of The Nativity interspersed with Christmas carols.  It's certainly not the worst thing I've shared with you this season.  This is Rex Humbard And The Cathedral Of Tomorrow Staff-Season's Greetings From Rex Humbard And The Cathedral Of Tomorrow Staff (No Label, No Number, Stereo).

1. Joy To The World
2. Silent Night
3. Christmas Story Part 1
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
5. Christmas Story Part 2
6. In A Manger Long Ago
7. Christmas Story Part 3
8. The First Noel
9. Christmas Story Part 4
10. Angels We Have Heard On High
11. Christmas Story Part 5
12. Lullabye
13. Christmas Story Part 6
14. Away In A Manger
15. O Come All Ye Faithful
16. Christmas Story Part 7
17. What Child Is This
18. Christmas Story Part 8
19. We Three Kings
20. Christmas Story Part 9
21. CHRISTMAS
22. Christmas Message
23. Joy To The World

MEGA

Jersey Boys (And Girls)

When I saw this record at the Salvation Army store recently, I thought it looked very promising. It was the only thing I found in the store that I needed, and I didn't have any cash on me.  I had to hide the record and run out to the car to scrounge some spare change and pay the $0.50. I got it home and recorded it a few days later, and it wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped. But if I record it, I'm gonna share it, so you get to hear what I heard.  I sat down to work on the cover art the other night and I was just about to Photoshop out the writing at the top and the bottom when I actually read it.  That's when I realized it was autographed by the namesake of the choir, Lewis Shearer, and his wife, the accompanist. I thought that was pretty cool, so I left it in the picture.  Maybe there'll be something on here that you can appreciate, but I was left a little cold.  This is The Lewis Shearer Chorale, Lewis A. Shearer-Director, Elsie Shearer-Accompanist-Born Today! (Record Room/Argus Records RR-1945, Stereo, 1977). Remember folks, you can't tell a record by it's cover!

1. Alleluia!
2. Glory To God
3. Come Ye Lofty, Come Ye Lowly
4. Go Where I Send Thee
5. Alleluia! Now Is The Christmas Morn
6. Go Tell It On The Mountain
7. Born Today! (Hodie Christus Natus Est)
8. Sing A Round For Christmas
9. The Christmas Polka
10. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
11. Put Your Hand In The Hand
12. A Marshmallow World
13. Christmas Day Is Here
14. It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas

MEGA

God On Your TV

Here's the first of a small set of albums from TV preachers back when they seemed to be all over the airwaves. We only had three or four channels, and you didn't have much else to watch if you happened to be looking for something on a Sunday morning.  We usually settled on a Tarzan movie on the local independent station, but not before flipping through all the network channels and finding nothing but preachers dressed in their Sunday best doing their thing.  And one of those was Robert Schuller and The Hour Of Power. This past January, I was in California for a few days of software training, and the class was being held at a small hotel sort of katy-cornered from the former Crystal Cathedral, a huge house of worship that Schuller built some years after the release of this album. The music here is not bad, it's probably what you would expect from a group that was on TV every week performing behind a well-known preacher. There are also six different parts of the story of the first Christmas, as told by Schuller. Those might be the part that's most worth the price of admission here.  This is Robert Schuller And The Hour Of Power Television Musicians-Merry Christmas From The Hour Of Power (Hour Of Power RS 1002, Stereo).

1. Christmas Is Here
2. The First Christmas-Part 1
3. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
4. In Dulci Jubilo
5. O Holy Night
6. The First Christmas-Part 2
7. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
8. Carol Of The Manger
9. The First Christmas-Part 3
10. Angels We Have Heard On High
11. The First Christmas-Part 4
12. Stille Nacht
13. I Wonder As I Wander
14. Noel
15. Adeste Fideles
16. The First Christmas-Part 5
17. He Came Here For Me
18. The First Christmas-Part 6
19. Joy To The World

MEGA

Back In The USA

OK, back in the USA and into the cesspool that is our nation's capitol, Washington, DC.  I'm sure the people who live and work there are mostly good folk, but the itinerant politicians are on my nerves of late.  Well, some of them need to be a little more itinerant, if you get my drift. Anyhow, this is a nice collection of tracks from a local artist who teams up with a couple different groups to make a nice sounding collection of stuff.  I think there's even a handbell choir in here on a track or two, so be sure you download and listen to this one closely.  This is Paul Hill & The Paul Hill Chorale-Christmas In Washington (NCF Records, No Number, Stereo). There it is, The Festival Bell Choir.  Also starring The Chevy Chase Elementary School Chorus and Sondra Proctor at the organ. Just full of good noises!

1. Glory To God
2. On Christmas Night
3. Deck The Halls
4. Mary Had A Baby
5. Rise Up Early
6. The Virgin's Slumber Song
7. Silent Night
8. Merry Christmas
9. Mass In G Minor-Kyrie
10. Mass In G Minor-Gloria
11. Mass In G Minor-Credo
12. Mass In G Minor-Sanctus
13. Mass In G Minor-Agnus Dei

MEGA

Another City

No share here, but you can find the related share here from a year ago. When I threw that share up last year, I mentioned that I thought there were identical albums stamped with newspapers in different cities, and here's a scan of a record to prove that. This version comes all the way from Hawaii, and has been stamped by The Honolulu Advertiser. That's a long trip for this album, but it proves my point that this record was pushed in many different cities across the US. Looks like this paper is still around, though it's now the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after a merger in 2010. Its history extends back to 1856, long before Hawaii was a US state or even a territory.  In fact, Hawaii was still a kingdom back then and was under the rule of King Kamehameha IV! How about that for a history!

They're Back Again!

One more is never enough when you can have two more, so here's yet another album from The Lundstroms! This time around it seems to be the soundtrack to a video special they made, and there are plenty of special moments you don't get on the other discs. Lots of chit chat, and an actual sermon from family patriarch Lowell! Don't tell me I didn't save the best for last. Same deal with this one, it got left in the car yet didn't melt. Hard to believe, but true. This is The Lundstroms' Wilderness Christmas-Special Partners' Edition (Message Records M-7904, Stereo, 1979). Special Edition!  See how great I am to you.  Having said that, I find no evidence there was ever a non-special edition.  Maybe you'd like a participation trophy, too, I've got a whole stack here...

1. Something Great Is Happening
2. Headin' Home For Christmas
3. On A Winter Day
4. Look Out Bear
5. The Joy He Brings To Me
6. The Joys Of Christmas Day
7. Jesus Is My Gift
8. Wilderness Day
9. Christmas Medley
10. We Sing Christmas Day
11. Welcome Back Jesus
12. Jingle Bells
13. Christmas Message
14. Hosanna

MEGA

They're Back!

It's been a long time since I've brought you any Christmas music from The Lundstroms family, but I'm back tonight with another cool album they put out back in the day. I first shared the music of this religious family back in 2010 (here and here, or if you want active download links, go here and here). I'm not sure what first drew me to their music other than I think I saw a track from them on an Andy Cirzan mix, and I'm not sure I've ever found that exact track, but you know what they say, the more the merrier. So when I found yet another album of Christmas music from the family, I just had to have it. However, I almost didn't have it.  I went looking for it a day or so after buying it, and I couldn't find it. I eventually found it under the front seat in the car, not where you want to find a record in the middle of the summer in Florida. I put it aside for a couple of years thinking that there was nothing of value there except the sleeve until one day I picked it up and took a good close look.  It looked OK, and when I played it, it seemed to be OK.  Maybe it was a cool day, or there was just enough shade or something.  Maybe it's a Christmas miracle!  Either way, you get some more Lundstroms music!  This is The Lundstroms' Old-Time Christmas Favorites (Message M-8003, Stereo). Mid 80's is the best I can do for a year on this one. Everybody on the cover looks a lot older than on the other albums, so some time has passed.

1. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
2. Joy To The World
3. The First Noel
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
5. Away In A Manger
6. O Come All Ye Faithful
7. Jingle Bells
8. Angels We Have Heard On High
9. We Three Kings
10. Silent Night
11. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear

MEGA

Buon Natale!

Some of you may remember from Christmas In July that I had to finish up the season pretty close to the end of the month because I was going overseas to visit Italy in August.  Well, I made that trip, and it was pretty great. Saw a bunch of mountains, stayed on a lake, ate gelato and a lot of pizza, all while trying not to think about work back at home.  Many thanks to my wonderful girlfriend and her very generous family for putting up with me for a whole week and running me around to the next picturesque tourist town each and every day. So this share of the Italy edition of Capitol's Christmas Around The World series is a very appropriate share for this year. I had to record this one twice, because the first time was from a pretty beat copy. Then I found a much nicer version so I went ahead and did it all again for you.  There's lots of great music on here, none of which I heard while I was there. It also didn't look anything like the cover of this record, if I'm honest with you.  However, I can tell you that there is religious iconography on nearly every corner, so if Christmas isn't constantly on their minds there, at least Christ is.  This is Christmas In Italy (Natale In Italia) (Capitol Of The World T10093, Mono, 1957).

1. Coro Di Alunne Della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe Accompagnate Del Complesso Speciale Del Pistoia-È Nato Gesù (Jesus Was Born)
2. Coro Di Alunne Della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe Accompagnate Del Complesso Speciale Del Pistoia-Buon Natale (Merry Christmas)
3. Orchestra Diretta Da Gian Mario Guarino-Pastorale
4. Orchestra Diretta Da Gian Mario Guarino-Presepe
5. Alvaro Cordova E Coro, Con Orchestra Diretta De G.M. Guarino-Notte Sacra (Silent Night)
6. Alvaro Cordova E Coro Della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe Accompagnate Del Complesso Speciale Del Pistoia-Bianco Natale (White Christmas)
7. R. Lipparini, Tenor; Cleva, Soprano E Coro-La Ninna Nanna A Gesù (Lullaby To Jesus)
8. Coro Di Alunne Della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe Accompagnate Del Complesso Speciale Del Pistoia-La Stella Di Betlemme (The Star Of Bethlehem)
9. Cappella Musicale Della Basilica Di San Francesco In Assisi-Alla Luce D'una Stella (At The Light Of A Star)
10. Cappella Musicale Della Basilica Di San Francesco In Assisi-Campane Di Natale (Christmas Bells)
11. Coro Di Alunne Della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe Accompagnate Del Complesso Speciale Del Pistoia-Cantico D'Amore (Melody Of Love)
12. Coro Di Alunne Della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe Accompagnate Del Complesso Speciale Del Pistoia-Dolce Risveglio (Sweet Awakening)

MEGA

Big & Beegie

When I saw this record in the stack, I was pretty sure it was a Christmas record, even though the title is Organ & Chimes.  Imagine if you just had a list of records to order from, and that was the title.  You'd have no idea what you were going to get without seeing that great vintage wrapping paper and the festive bow. I know you don't care about the organ music or the chime music, but I'm giving it to you anyway, even though it's in mono and it's pretty short.  And you'll like it I tell you!  No, love it!  This is Beegie Long-Organ & Chimes (MGM E-4408, Mono, 1966).

1. Oh
2. Does
3. It
4. Really
5. Matter
6. What
7. Tracks
8. Are
9. On
10. Here
11. You
12. Are
13. Either
14. Going
15. To
16. Download
17. It
18. Or Not

MEGA

Shifting Gears

Talk about a change of pace, I'm switching from Christmas stories and foreign songs to this, which is really hard to categorize, but it ain't any of those things.  This record is a little newer than my usual fare, but it's no less obscure. I thought I was the only one who had a copy, but I soon discovered that your friend and mine, Stubby, had shared it out over at The 'Fa many years ago.  I hope it's been long enough that he won't mind me sharing my copy with you. This record covers the bases from funk to disco to R&B with some rock and raw vocal finesse thrown in here and there for good measure. I don't know much about it, I don't know how it came to be, I don't know why it wasn't a huge hit, but it's not something you see every day, and it's good. So download this and tell me what you think.  This is Larry Farrow-It's The Happiest Time Of The Year (Capitol ST-12021, Stereo, 1979). Guest vocalists include Nancy Wilson, Elmo Washington, Gene Harbin, Jim Gilstrap, Elaine Norwood, Quinin Williams & The Shades of Love. And there are a lot of session players on here you'll recognize, too, but I'm too lazy to type it all in. If that lead-off track doesn't get your toes to tappin', you might want to check your blood pressure!

1. It's A Sho-Nuff-Boogie Down-Sock It To Me Sleigh Ride
2. You Know It's Christmas
3. It's The Happiest Time Of The Year
4. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
5. Let This Be A Merry Christmas
6. Little Altar Boy
7. The Christmas Medley (The Sound Of Christmas; Let It Snow!; Winter Wonderland; The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You); Merry Christmas Baby; The Best Thing About Winter Is Christmas Time; Christmas Time Is Here; Christmas Funk; Sleigh Ride)

MEGA

Speaking Of Winter

I always like to share some stories with you every year, and I didn't want to miss doing so this year. There are four good stories on this one, three of them are winter related and the other is Christmas, but they are all good and worth a listen or two. One of them I think I'd heard before in a different version, but I'm not sure if I'd ever shared it or not.  The package seems a little cheap, and that back cover is just about blank.  I didn't put a whole lot of work into cleaning it up as I didn't see much point, but your mileage may vary.  This is Owen Jordan, Storyteller-Winter Stories (Story-Hour Recordings) (A Weston Woods Recording, Prepared By Book-Of-The-Month Club LBM-54-5272, Mono). Anyone have this record when they were younger?

1. The Tomten
2. Christmas In The Stable
3. White Snow, Bright Snow
4. The Big Snow

MEGA

Glade Jul!

I haven't been able to share as much international Christmas music this year as I would like, though I do still have a few things to share before time runs out. This one was an automatic purchase based on the cover alone, I mean, how could you resist puppies! This record comes to us all the way from Norway, and is on the label that brought The Beatles to the world, though I'm sure it's a slightly different arm of the company. There's nothing else about this album that's going to bring The Beatles to mind, but it will give you a good idea of the sound of Christmas in Norway in the early Seventies. I'm not certain about the date, but I think that's what I got from Discogs. Could be this is a little earlier, but you never can tell. The LP is split among two different artists, Sølvguttene and Olav Werner, and the title is Glade Jul (Odeon/Parlophone (Norway) SMOCN 1001, Stereo, 1974).

1. Jeg Er Så Glad Hver Julekveld
2. Kimer, I Klokker
3. Et Barn Er Født I Betlehem
4. Jeg Synger Julekvad
5. Her Kommer Dine Arme Små
6. Du Grønne Glitrende Tre Goddag
7. Glade Jul
8. Deilig Er Den Himmel Blå
9. O Jul Med Din Glede
10. Deilig Er Jorden
11. Det Kimer Nu Til Julefest
12. O, Du Herlige

MEGA