Harping On Christmas 4

Once more we move up into the Eighties (I think, there's no date on this one, but it looks and sounds Eighties) for more Christmas music from the harp. None of these harpists I'm sharing today are really big names, or at least I don't know much about any of them. Wait, are there any big-name harpists? I guess it's not my instrument of choice, but it makes for nice Christmas music. This is Greg Buchanan-A Harp For Christmas (Bread 'N Honey WBHR135, Stereo). Enjoy!

1. Angels We Have Heard On High
2. O Holy Night
3. Go Tell It On The Mountain
4. Concerto In Bᵇ
5. Silent Night
6. O Come, All Ye Faithful
7. Away In A Manger
8. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. What Child Is This

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Harping On Christmas 3

Up next is worldwide superstar Adele playing harp for you for Christmas! Wait, maybe it's not the worldwide superstar Adele after all, but it's still someone named Adele. That has to count for something, right? This is Adele Girard-Merry Christmas (Totem 1024, Stereo, 1976). Nice album, and it's autographed on the back! Enjoy!

1. O Holy Night
2. Angels We Have Heard On High
3. Away In A Manger-We Three Kings
4. The First Noel
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
7. Do You Hear What I Hear?
8. O Christmas Tree
9. Sleigh Ride
10. Winter Wonderland
11. What Child Is This?
12. Silver Bells
13. Good King Wenceslaus
14. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
15. Carol Of The Bells
16. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
17. Jingle Bells
18. Silent Night

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Harping On Christmas 2

Up next is a much more modern harp record for Christmas, all the way up to 1985. So as you can see, the harp trend lasted for a good long while. Don't know much about this one but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. This is Sylvia Woods-3 Harps For Christmas-Traditional Carols Performed On Three Harps (Tonmeister TNLP 1225, Stereo, 1985). Enjoy! (Since this one features three different harps, does it count as three entries into today's series?)

1. Angelical Hymn; Twelfth Night Song
2. Coventry Carol; While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks; The First Noel
3. Lo, How A Rose; O Sanctissima
4. I Saw Three Ships; Christ Was Born; Gloucestershire Wassail
5. Angels We Have Heard On High; Ding Dong Merrily On High
6. Oxen & Sheep; O Come Emmanuel
7. Up On The House Top; Jingle Bells; We Wish You A Merry Christmas
8. Away In A Manger; O Come, Little Children
9. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; O Come All Ye Faithful; Joy To The World
10. He Is Born; Bring A Torch, Jeannette Isabella
11. Silent Night
12. What Child Is This?
13. Twelve Days Of Christmas; Deck The Halls

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Harping On Christmas

Early in the morning and time for the daily reshare. This is a great and somewhat lost album that RCA made for their record club. I've been sharing it regularly since 2005, my very first year of blogging. I guess it was mono back then, but I got hold of a fancy stereo version the very next year and kept it in rotation ever since. I used to think that Christmas records focused on the harp were rare, but that's not entirely true as we'll see today. But we start out with this oldie from Gene Bianco who's been a friend of the blog for a very, very long time. This is The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco, His Harp And Orchestra-Joy To The World-Everybody's Favorite Christmas Music (RCA Victor CSP-104, Stereo, 1962). Enjoy!

1. Medley: We Wish You A Merry Christmas; Silent Night
2. White Christmas
3. Jingle Bells
4. O Holy Night
5. Medley: Away In A Manger; The First Noel
6. Medley: Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful); Joy To The World
7. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
9. Silver Bells
10. Medley: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Deck The Halls
11. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
12. Medley: Sleigh Ride; We Wish You A Merry Christmas

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MEGA (Uncut)

One thing I've done different this time around is offer a version as recorded on the vinyl where the tracks have very little gap in between them. It plays almost like a long medley on each side, though I think it's just edited that way. I've always shared out the tracks and was used to it that way, but when I went back to the original vinyl for the remaster this year, I thought it might be a good idea to offer it the other way for a change. Your choice!

Not The Chipmunks 4

Bringing up the rear here in our chipmunk cavalcade is this late entry from 1982. And with a title like More Christmas With The Happy Chipmunks, I fear they have a previous LP out there that I don't have, or can't find. So maybe next year I'll have another ripoff for you. In the meantime, this one is going to have to slake your chipmunk desires. This is The Happy Chipmunks-More Christmas Fun With The Happy Chipmunks (Holiday/Audiofidelity HDY 1951, Stereo, 1982).

1. Jingle Bell Rock
2. Frosty The Snowman
3. Jolly Old St. Nicholas
4. Jingle Bells
5. Deck The Halls
6. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
7. All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
8. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
9. Toyland
10. White Christmas

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Tinfoil Santa

I'm going to sneak in here with an extra share real quick because it's related to that last chipmunk record I shared with you. It's got the same sort of foil ornament on the cover and it's on the same label. I guess those foil appliques were the gimmick of the season that year. Nothing special, but this is The Roy Scott Chorus & Orchestra-Christmas Carols (AKA Christmas Carols For A Happy Holiday) (Silver Seal/Premier UTS-1005 (AKA UT/S 1005), Stereo). Enjoy! More chipmunks coming right up...

1. Silent Night
2. The Wassail Song
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
4. The 12 Days Of Christmas
5. Away In A Manger
6. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
7. I Wonder As I Wander
8. We Three Kings
9. Noel
10. O Tannenbaum
11. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
12. O Come All Ye Faithful

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Not The Chipmunks 3

Ready for some more fake chipmunks? No? Well, you're getting 'em anyway. If I had to record all these things, you have to download and listen to them. This time it's Chippy The Chipmunk from known budget offender Premiere. At least it has a nice silver foil cutout on the label, but that's about all it has going for it. This is Chippy The Chipmunk-Christmas With Chippy The Chipmunk (Silver Seal/Premier UTS-1006 (AKA UT/S 1006), Stereo). I'll be honest here, I didn't compare all these records to each other. I hope I'm not sharing the same tracks with you over and over again with different names.

1. Jingle Bells
2. Chipmunk Song
3. Good King Wenceslas
4. On A Sleigh Ride With You
5. Deck The Halls
6. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
7. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
8. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
9. O Tannenbaum
10. Frosty The Snowman

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Not The Chipmunks 2

Next up in our cavalcade of fake chipmunks is this record by The Chippers. This comes to us from Canadian budget label Arc, which should come as no surprise. Well, the budget part, you may not know anything about Arc. I bought a copy of this record at a thrift store in NYC a few years ago, but didn't realize until I got it home that a big chuck was chipped out of it. Took me a few years, but I finally got another copy that I could rip for you. I think this is the one with Twelve Days of Christmas where they keep singing it wrong, but to be honest all these records run together. Give it a listen and let me know. This is The Chippers-The Chippers Sing (AKA Christmas With The Chippers) (Arc (Canada) AC-22, Stereo, 1963).

1. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
2. There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays
3. Frosty The Snowman
4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
5. Let It Snow
6. White Christmas
7. Jingle Bells
8. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
9. Winter Wonderland
10. Sleighride
11. Deck The Halls
12. O Tannenbaum
13. Good King Wenceslas
14. Twelve Days Of Christmas

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Not The Chipmunks 1

Everybody loves Alvin & The Chipmunks. I don't know anybody who turns off the radio when their big Christmas hit plays. And because everyone loved them, and everyone knew the tape manipulation gimmick that made their distinctive sound, there were plenty of people who thought they could do the same thing to make a quick buck. And people who think like that don't usually have very good imaginations, so they all made their characters chipmunks as well. I mean if you're going to rip something off, you may as well do it all the way, right? Anyhow, I've collected up a few of those copycats, err, I mean copy-'munks, for you today, starting here with one that didn't even bother to change the name of the band. This was produced by the fine folks at Cameo-Parkway, undoubtedly something to do with Allen Klein. A quick check of Discogs tells me that somebody complained and the name of the band got changed eventually to The Beavers. Too little too late if you ask me. Anyhow, this is The Chipmunks (Not!)-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Wyncote Stereo W 9153, Stereo, 1966). Stay tuned, more to come!

1. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
2. Frosty The Snowman
3. Jingle Bells
4. Deck The Halls
5. O Tannenbaum
6. Good King Wenceslas
7. Twelve Days Of Christmas
8. Let It Snow
9. Sleighride

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All' Round The World

There's something about these homemade covers that attracts me for some reason. I mean, all the covers you see are made by someone, and they're frequently hand-drawn artwork, but I mean the ones that don't have any fancy typography or photos or even solid geometric layouts. The whole thing is drawn by hand from start to finish. Like this one for an example. OK, it does have some standard fonts in there, and a picture of the artists, but the rest of it was clearly drawn by someone. Maybe I don't have a clear enough idea in my head what I'm trying to say, it's early. I'll just shut up and tell you to download The Martins-Merry Christmas-Christmas Around The World With The Martins (DMM Records DMCLP2810, Stereo). Enjoy! This is the only Christmas album I've ever seen that features a selection from Hamlet...

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!; Winter Wonderland
2. Come Love, Come Lord
3. Maranatha
4. Selection From "Hamlet"
5. Spanish Medley: Pastores A Belen; A La Nanita Nana; Pastores
6. Italian: Gesu Bambino
7. French Medley: March Des Rois (March Of The Kings); Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant (He Is Born, The Holy Child); Noel Nouvelet (Sing We Now Of Christmas); Les Agnes Dan Nos Campagnes (Angels We Have Heard On High); Un Flambeau, Jeanette Isabelle
8. German Medley: Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! (Silent Night, Holy Night); Joseph Lieber, Joseph Mein (Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mild); O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree)
9. Polish Medley: Gdy Się Chrystud Rodzi (Christ Is Born); Lulajże, Jezuniu (Lullaby For Jesus); Dzisiaj W Betlejem (In Bethlehem)
10. English Medley: Lully Lullay (The Coventry Carol); What Child Is This; The Holly And The Ivy
11. Scotch-Czech Medley: The Christ Child's Lullaby; Come All Ye Shepherds
12. Poem: Jingle Bells; White Christmas; The Christmas Song
13. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noël)

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Christmas Key

Another Christmas remaster here, this time from a rare single-sided record pressed on pretty green vinyl. Well, OK, you got me. The record does actually have two sides (thank you, Euclidean geometry), but there's only music pressed onto the one side. I guess it was cheaper to manufacture that way. I first shared this way, way back in 2006, and I re-ripped and remastered it this year just for you! It's some good singing by a chorus of employees with Kenyon & Eckhardt, a large mid-century ad agency that employed an awful lot of people. The roll call on the back of the LP details who all the members of the group were, as well as their position within the company and it's a pretty long list. I'm sure this will look and sound better than what I did 17 years ago, so be sure to download this new version. This is Merry Christmas With The KE-Notes (Original Sound Studios for Kenyon & Eckhardt OSS-2267 One Sided Transparent Green Vinyl, Mono, 1959). Enjoy!

1. Introduction by Bill Lewis
2. Deck The Halls
3. O How Lovely Is The Evening
4. Joy To The World
5. Silent Night
6. Carol Of The Bells
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
8. The First Noel
9. O Holy Night
10. Angels We Have Heard On High
11. Adeste Fideles
12. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

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Gettin' High

Last post of the day, I promise. (Well, we'll see...) I was giving some thought early in the year towards making entire series of posts with records that all featured the same cover. You know, those stock covers that seem to show up frequently on school & church choir records that you find at the thrift stores now and then. I got through recording a few of them, then my attention wandered off towards the next shiny thing. This is one of those records, now I just have to find the record I shared years ago that has the same cover. The name is escaping me right now... Anyhow, this cover is referred to as Ornaments 2 over at Discogs, and there's a long list of about 14 different albums that have used some variation of this cover image. I don't think that list includes this one, or the one I've shared before that I can't think of. If that sort of cover re-use fascinates you like it does me, there's a master list of these duplicate covers that runs to 832 different covers! It's an amazing effort, really it is, and I think they've only just scratched the surface. No one is entering these home-grown records into the database, so there's lots more to be found and entered. But is the music any good? That's up to you to decide. This is High Spirits, Past And Present-Youth Of Holy Spirit Parish-Merry Christmas To: You (AKA Christmas, 1973) (No Label 101651/101652, Stereo, 1973). Actually, it's not bad. They sound like they were having a good time. Enjoy!

1. Winter Wonderland
2. Sing We Noel
3. Go Tell It On A Mountain
4. Children Go
5. What Child Is This?
6. A Christmas Round
7. Away In A Manger
8. Do You Hear What I Hear?
9. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
10. Silver Bells
11. Wassail
12. White Christmas
13. Angels We Have Heard On High
14. 'Neath The Silent Stars
15. I Heard The Bells
16. Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
17. Drummer Boy

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Speaking Of Neiman Marcus

Since that last post was a double album from Neiman Marcus, here's another double album from them as well. Only this time it's actual music, and it's pretty good stuff. However, I don't think this one sold very well either. Imagine yourself in the store at Christmas time and you see that plain white embossed cover on a rack. You pick it up to see what it is, flip it over, and guess what? The back is blanker than the front. And of course it's shrink-wrapped, so you can't open it up to see what might be in there. Perhaps there was a sticker on it that's been lost to time, but I still think was a hard sell back in the day. It's all original songs by a couple of artists no one has really ever heard of. The fourth side is a long instrumental suite of melodies from the original songs, I had to familiarize myself with the songs quite a few times before I could start to pick out the melodies in the suite. I just don't see a lot of shoppers being drawn to something like this when they could pick up a compilation with Nat, Bing and Dean on it at the music store next door. But as I mentioned, it's good stuff, though the production is a bit dated. Give it a listen, see if you like it. I found my copy in a record store in Atlanta many years ago, paid a little too much for it, but you grab something when you see it, especially if you've never seen it before. I've since found another copy that was much cheaper, but that was years after that first one. This is Zimmers & Whitaker-Christmas Love (Neiman-Marcus 2xLP No Number, Stereo, 1980). Now I need to see if I can find Christmas releases from Neiman Marcus from 1978 and 1979 to complete the series.

1. Christmas Love
2. Joseph Was A Carpenter
3. Santa's Wish
4. A Christmas Memory
5. Near Bethlehem
6. Tonight We Trim The Tree
7. Sounds Of Christmas
8. Star Spangled Night
9. There Will Be Winter
10. The Two Trees
11. God Bless Us, Every One
12. Poor Little Day After Christmas
13. Little Babe, A Lyin' In A Manger
14. Thank You For Your Love
15. Rattle Those Packages
16. The King Of Glory
17. A Christmas Fantasia On Themes By Zimmers & Whitaker (Instrumental)

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Advent 2

As promised, I've got another Advent calendar you can start today. I remember finding this one not too long after Christmas last year, knowing it was something I'd be sharing this season. It's a double album in a fancy box with a fold-out calendar and storybook inside where you can follow along as you listen to the stories. It's a nice package and appears to have been available exclusively at Neiman-Marcus stores during the 1977 Christmas season. I suspect most kids didn't care too much about Advent calendars after they saw Star Wars that year, and this couldn't have been too popular. I've never seen another copy, but then I can't think of where there might be a Neiman Marcus store anywhere nearby. Mala Powers wrote and narrated all the vignettes here, she was a popular actress in the 50's and 60's, though to be honest I didn't recognize the name when I bought this. She does a nice job with the stories, some of which are originals, others are adapted from seasonal stories you may be familiar with. You get one a day all the way through Christmas Eve, but nothing for Christmas, sorry. This is Mala Powers-Follow The Star-A Christmas ADVENTure (RCA Special Products 2x12" 33 RPM DML2-0262 for Neiman-Marcus, Stereo, 1977). Enjoy!

1. Follow The Star (Star Window #1)
2. The Advent Wreath (Star Window #2)
3. The Legend Of The First Christmas Tree (Star Window #3)
4. Heart's Desire (Star Window #4)
5. From St. Nicholas To Santa Claus (Star Window #5)
6. The Little Blind Shepherd (Star Window #6)
7. A Candle For Mary (Star Window #7)
8. Christian In Secret (Star Window #8)
9. The Animals' Christmas (Star Window #9)
10. A Gift For Gramps (Star Window #10)
11. The Holy Night (Star Window #11)
12. Felix (Star Window #12)
13. Christmas Customs Around The World (Star Window #13)
14. The Third Lamb (Star Window #14)
15. The Christmas Rose (Star Window #15)
16. A Christmas Gift For The General (Star Window #16)
17. Piccola (Star Window #17)
18. How Santa Claus Found The Poor House (Star Window #18)
19. Gift Of The Earth (Star Window #19)
20. The Robin (Star Window #20)
21. Why The Chimes Rang (Star Window #21)
22. Adventure To Bethlehem (Star Window #22)
23. Don Pedro's Christmas (Star Window #23)
24. The Nativity (Star Window #24)

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Book Of Lists 2

Time for another one of my lists from Discogs, a seemingly random collection of records that actually have a theme. This time around the theme is Elvis, but there are no records by Elvis in the list. It's all Christmas records about The King, most of them coming out after his untimely passing lamenting his absence from the Christmas season. Some of them are good, some of them are not, but they can be something to hear. Good luck collecting them all! My favorite that I've shared is by a singing surgeon.

The List!

Advent 1

Today is the first of December, and that's the traditional day to begin an Advent calendar. Lucky for you, I've happened across a couple recorded calendars, and I'm happy to share them with you. This first one appears to be a promo sent to radio stations back in 1976. The station would play each recording on their respective day, culminating on the Christmas story itself on the big day. I recommend you do something similar when you listen to it, because listening to them all in a row is pretty boring since they all use the similar theme music. They are nice and short though. This is Derric Johnson's The Re'Generation-Christmas Is... (Impact CI-1176, Stereo, 1976). Enjoy!

1. December 1-Stars In The Window
2. December 2-The Organ Was Broken
3. December 3-The Stolen Statue
4. December 4-No Room
5. December 5-Missionary In A Manger
6. December 6-The Guest
7. December 7-For The Birds
8. December 8-Just One Star
9. December 9-Forgotten Father
10. December 10-Don't Forget
11. December 11-One Solitary Life
12. December 12-His Name
13. December 13-The Borrowed Manger
14. December 14-Just Shepherds
15. December 15-Mistaken Traditions
16. December 16-The Bully And The Baby
17. December 17-The Mother God Chose
18. December 18-The Fullness Of Time
19. December 19-Purpose
20. December 20-Shopping Daze
21. December 21-Go To See
22. December 22-True Wise Men
23. December 23-Becky
24. December 24-Christmas At My House
25. December 25-The Story

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Elvis Is Still The King

It's 2023, and Elvis Presley is still one of the biggest artists in the world. The Beatles released a new single this year and The Rolling Stones released a whole album, but the world is still fascinated with an artist who did it while the members of those groups were still in diapers. Unfortunately, this post isn't about Elvis, but about one of his many imitators, or tribute artists if you prefer. Hailing from 1986, nine years after Elvis' early death, this was only a hint of the force he would become in the music world inspiring many to try to imitate him, and thousands more who took some of his style and adapted it into their own. Since the Elvis biopic last year and the death of his daughter Lisa Marie at the beginning of this year, he's never been far from the headlines. I hope this Christmas LP by a tribute artist jokingly claiming to be Elvis' son will hold you over until you next get a chance to listen to an actual Elvis Christmas song. His first Christmas album is still the standard by which other Christmas albums are judged. This is Elvis Jr.-Christmas Blessings From Elvis Jr. (Son Records BS 003, Stereo, 1986). Oh, by the way, this is a remaster of an album I first shared back in 2011. Not only did I share it then, it was the lead-off share that year, an honor that's only bestowed on one album a year. (Seriously, how can two albums be 'first' in a season?)

1. Silent Night
2. Silver Bells
3. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. Blue Christmas
5. Jingle Bells
6. Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer
7. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
8. Frosty The Snowman
9. Winter Wonderland
10. Amazing Grace
11. Peace In The Valley
12. White Christmas

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Bonus Bonus

Here's a bonus record that I almost forgot about. It's another record that seems to have been something you might have ordered from a magazine, or gotten free with a subscription. And wouldn't you know it, it's from the same people as that last record. It's almost as if I plan these things sometimes. This is another record where I had the mono version all recorded and ready to scan when I discovered a stereo copy in the archives. So I recorded that one and then when it came time to do the scanning, I skipped the mono version and went straight to the stereo copy. So you only get one version of this one today, but I'm sure there's nothing special about that mono copy. Still wish I knew more about this Christian Herald company that put out these records, but I'm lazy and Google is not my friend today. If you know anything more, please share. In the meantime, this is ...And Shalt Call His Name Jesus-The Story Of Christmas In Music And Scriptures (Capitol Custom For Christian Herald CHS 1001-LP, Stereo).

1. The Bison Glee Club-Gloria Fanfare
2. Unknown Narrator-Part 1
3. Lutheran Hour Choir-Gabriel's Message
4. Unknown Narrator-Part 2
5. Del Roper-O, Litttle Town Of Bethlehem
6. Unknown Narrator-Part 3
7. Paul Mickelson Choir-We Three Kings
8. Unknown Narrator-Part 4
9. Unknown Artist-Evening Star
10. Unknown Narrator-Part 5
11. Lutheran Hour Choir-As Lately We Watched
12. Unknown Narrator-Part 6
13. Frank Boggs-Birthday Of A King
14. Frank Boggs-Sweet Little Jesus Boy
15. Unknown Narrator-Part 7
16. Unknown Artist-On Wings Of Song
17. Unknown Narrator-Part 8
18. Frank Boggs-Prayer
19. Unknown Narrator-Part 9
20. Unknown Artist-Selection From Peer Gynt
21. Unknown Narrator-Part 10
22. Unknown Artist-Theme From The Cornish Rhapsody
23. Unknown Narrator-Part 11
24. Frank Boggs-Joy To The World

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Quiet, Two Quiet

It's still a ways until Christmas, so enjoy the relative quiet while it lasts. I'm sure that's not the quiet Christmas they were thinking of when they titled this LP, but that's what came to my mind when I decided to post it. They were probably thinking of those few hours on Christmas Eve when all the shopping and wrapping and decorating and general  prepping is done and you can sit down and just enjoy everything you've done without worrying about what needs done next. I know I'm looking forward to not having to make the next post. But that's a few weeks away. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and listen to The Quiet Of Christmas (Capitol Custom for Enrichment For Living CHM-1005, Mono). No artist on this one, I'm afraid. Seems to be tied to some magazine (Christian Herald, perhaps?) or something, probably something you got with a subscription or a Christmas gift you could order. Big fancy gatefold with colorful painting, so I can see this being a Christmas gift. There's not much gap between the tracks, so I'm making it available as a pair of uncut sidelong tracks, as well as each individual song in it's own track. Your choice, but choose wisely, no returns!

1. Silent Night (Instrumental)
2. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
3. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
5. We Three Kings
6. What Child Is This?
7. The First Noel
8. Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head
9. O Come, All Ye Faithful
10. Silent Night (Vocal)

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Command Performance

In the column of daily remaster, today's entry is a Christmas album from the Command label. There was a classical Christmas release on the label, but as far as I have ever been able to determine, this was the only full Christmas LP they released on the popular side. Unfortunately, it came out after Enoch Light had sold the label to ABC, but it still features many of the label's heavy hitters, from Doc Severinsen to Dick Hyman, and most everybody in between. If you didn't get it when I first shared this in 2006, now is your chance. This new remaster is a far sight better than that old one, too. So don't hesitate, download today! This is Merry Christmas From The Command Family Of Recording Stars (Command RS 920 SD, Stereo, 1967).

1. William Steinberg Conducting The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra-Adeste Fidelis
2. The Ray Charles Singers-Christmas Is A Birthday
3. Bobby Byrne And His Orchestra-The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
4. Ashley Miller At The Paramount Theater Organ-The First Noel
5. The Robert DeCormier Singers-Mary's Little Boy Child
6. Toots Thielemans And His Orchestra-Jingle Bells
7. The Ray Charles Singers-Silent Night
8. Command's Guitars And Strings Featuring Al Casamenti-Sleigh Ride
9. Robert Maxwell-White Christmas
10. Doc Severinsen And His Orchestra-Joy To The World
11. Dick Hyman-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
12. Virgil Fox, Organist, With Louise Natale, Soprano-O Holy Night

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17 or 23?

One of my most favorite discoveries this season is the record you see before you. It's the type of home-produced record that you hope to find. I'm not sure I can articulate why I like it, but I do. The singing is OK, but not great. The songs are mostly originals, but not particularly memorable. Production is dodgy and the record was pretty noisy on top of that. But it's got heart. When you listen to this, you know that these kids meant what they were singing about, and they were enjoying themselves, and the loved to do it. This group put out a couple other records according to Discogs (which is missing this one, I suppose I should add it), and those others may be worth seeking out if you can find them. I don't imagine too many of these were pressed. The question I had was why are there 23 people in a group called 17 Young Christians? I guess they added some people to the group as time went on and they didn't want to change the name. Beside the point, really. Download this one and give it a listen. Put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine the joy they felt in putting something like this together. Maybe some day they'll put this out for again, with a nice remaster and some championing like Irwin Chusid did for The Langley Schools Music Project. I can dream, can't I? This is 17 Young Christians-Christmas In Song (St. John Of God Church, Central Islip, N.Y. SP 9905/9906, Stereo, 1971). There's a FB group for these guys, but it's not very active. I'll mention this there and see if I get any more info.

1. Christmas In Song
2. Do You Hear What I Hear?
3. Look Towards The Sky
4. The Best Day Of The Year
5. Christmas Comes Once A Year
6. The Joy Of Christmas
7. Following The Star
8. Remember It's Christmas
9. Explain It To Me
10. Remember When
11. Everything
12. Hymn
13. I'll Be With You
14. Merry Christmas To You All

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The Producers

I think this is the only production record I have to share with you this year. I had quite a few last year, but nothing other than this one has turned up for me this year. I was looking at a handful of them on Discogs just the other day, but I drug my heels for a few days and they sold right out from under me. You gotta be quick on the trigger for stuff sometimes. But that's neither here nor there, you just want some cool Christmas music. Well, this record has some cool short synthesizer-heavy Christmas bits for you that I think you'll enjoy. Each artist gets a side, and I'm sure you'll be able to tell the two styles apart. This is Anthony Mawer & Geoff Bastow-Merry Christmas (JW Music Library (England) JW 477, Stereo, 1976).

1. Anthony Mawer-Festive Season (a) Deck The Halls
2. Anthony Mawer-Festive Season (b) Ding Dong Merrily
3. Anthony Mawer-Festive Season (c) Good King
4. Anthony Mawer-Three Ships - Three Kings
5. Anthony Mawer-Carols Of The Nativity (a) The First Nowell
6. Anthony Mawer-Carols Of The Nativity (b) Hark The Herald Angels Sing
7. Anthony Mawer-Carols Of The Nativity (c) Adeste Fideles
8. Anthony Mawer-Tree Tops Glisten
9. Anthony Mawer-Snowmobile
10. Anthony Mawer-Winter Sunshine
11. Anthony Mawer-Lullaby For Christmas Eve
12. Geoff Bastow-Jingle Bells
13. Geoff Bastow-De Holly An' De Ivy
14. Geoff Bastow-Ho Ho Ho!!
15. Geoff Bastow-12th Day Of Christmas
16. Geoff Bastow-God Rest Ye
17. Geoff Bastow-Yule Train

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Special

Lots of religious musicians release Christmas albums. It's my goal to collect and share all of them with you, at least the older ones. This is the first one for the day, I think there's another coming up later. I remember having to do a lot of work on this cover, there was dark packing tape holding the top seam together on the jacket and I had to do a lot of Photoshop work to remove it and put the wording back together. So if you see anything that's just a little bit off, that's probably why. I'm not the best at doing such things, but I get it done eventually. This is Lindy Rich-Something Special For Christmas (Arnold Associates No Number, Stereo). Enjoy!

1. Reading-"Something Special"
2. Joy To The World
3. What Child Is This?
4. Reading-"Personal Christmas"
5. Sweet Little Jesus Boy
6. A Star Was His Candle
7. Reading-"Silent Night"
8. O Holy Night
9. Reading-"Inside Christmas"
10. Do You Hear What I Hear?
11. Silver Bells
12. Sleigh Ride
13. Winter Wonderland
14. Reading-"A Special Something"
15. Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)

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The Other Singer

The next record today is this beautiful album brought to you courtesy of The Singer Sewing Machine Company. Back in the day there were a lot of women who stayed at home and took care of the family while the hubby went off to work. And many of those ladies were incredibly handy when it came to making and mending the family's clothes. So of course they needed sewing machines. They were undoubtedly popular Christmas gifts, even more so when they came with a free Christmas record! No idea what's going on with the kids on the cover here, neither one of them seem to be too happy about Mom's new Christmas present. This is not the only record the Singer company produced, I brought you another one back in 2012 (with a re-encode in 2018 where the download is still good). That one features Donna Reed on the cover, so some folks collect it just for that. I would have remastered that one for you this year, but I couldn't find my copy in the archives, so you'll have to make do with this one. This is The Mastertone Orchestra Featuring The Don Janse Chorale-A Singer Christmas For The Family (Singer No Number, Mono, 1963). Pretty sure this music was licensed from a budget label and used again and again. If you hunt carefully through your music library, you might have it in a couple different places.

1. White Christmas
2. O Come All Ye Faithful
3. Joy To The World
4. Deck The Halls
5. O Holy Night
6. Silent Night
7. The First Noel
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Away In A Manger
10. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
11. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
12. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

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Panama, Panama-a

Time to visit the small Central American country of Panama at Christmas time. This is a snappy little organ album from the Canal Zone, which I thought I had shared with you before, but I guess not. I can't find it on the blog, though I did have a copy of it on my computer. Maybe I recorded it but never shared it. I did find this one, maybe that's what I was thinking of. Anyhow, you'll enjoy this if you like the organ records around here. If not, then it may not be your thing. This is Lucho Azcarraga Y Su Conjunto-Navidades En Panama (Christmas In Panama) Con Lucho Azcarraga (Panama LA-2001, Mono, 1964). Enjoy!

1. Venid Pastorcillos
2. Jingle Bells
3. Holy Night
4. Joy To The World
5. Bells Of St. Mary's
6. O Christmas Tree
7. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
8. Cancion De Cuna
9. White Christmas
10. A Belen
11. Christmas Morn Is Come Again
12. Noche De Paz
13. O Come All Ye Faithful
14. Away In A Manger
15. Ese Precioso Niño

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Hi Ho Hi-Fi

I've shared out a lot of organ and chime records over the years, but this one has always stood out to me. Not because of the music I'm afraid, but because I like the cover and because it has the phrase Hi-Fi in the title. How can you go wrong with that? This was first shared in 2008 but I've remastered it and I'm bringing it back tonight. This is Hank Sylvern-Christmas In Hi-Fi: Organ Bells Chimes (ABC-Paramount ABC-146, Mono, 1956). Enjoy!

1. Joy To The World
2. Away In A Manger
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. The First Noël
5. Deck The Hall
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
9. Jingle Bells
10. The Cherry Tree Carol
11. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
12. Silent Night

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