Christmas Around The TV

Speaking of television, I just got an email from Diane Werts, writer for Newsday, reminding me that she's got a big huge list of upcoming Christmas TV specials available for you to look at. I first heard about this list over at Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else, and then again over at FaLaLaLaLa, so it seems to be making the rounds. Oh, and she's got a book about all those TV specials, too. Check it out. (Ha, get it? "Check it out." Like people still go to the library and check things out...) I wish I had time to watch TV in the next month, but I'm too busy recording and sharing Christmas music with you guys. Oh, well. My brain thanks you.

Speaking of Christmas and television, there's an episode of The Osbournes that show the family looking a the stage set for an upcoming Christmas concert. I only saw it once, but I remember thinking there was a great Christmas song playing during the scene, and I wanted to know what it was. To this day I haven't seen the episode again, or heard the song. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

Not For Sale

Here's an album from long, long ago. Not only a long time in years, but a long time in spirit. I couldn't find much info on this LP out on the wide, wild internet, but judging by the info on the sleeve, this was a giveaway when you bought a Magnavox product, possibly a TV, back in the fifties. But it wasn't just a no-name group of session musicians they hired. No, it was a company chorus that actually competed in national competitions and won! There's a little note right there on the front of the album, telling how these folks won first prize at the Chicagoland National Music Festival. Magnvox must have been proud of them. They also hired Virgil Fox, wizard of the organ, to fill things out a bit, with some solemn interludes between the acapella numbers. Fans of vocal choruses should enjoy this little lost slice of history. Please download Christmas Favorites Sung By The Magnificent Magnavox Chorus (Magnavox). If anybody knows any more about this record, please leave me a comment. I'd love to know the history of this record. For the curious, I posted a doodle or two from the flipside of this record back during Christmas in July.

Oodles Of Doodles CCCIX-Christmas 2007

Here's a bonus snowman from the flipside of the LP I just shared with you, Swing Along With Santa's Snowmen (Craftsmen C 8040). How 'bout that great mustache and the candy cane? I love these doodles!

Snowmen? In Florida??

This is one of my favorite covers of all the stuff I'm sharing out this year. I walked into the Goodwill store, and there it was, right on the front of the rack. All those great snowmen looking back at me with their varied expressions, I knew this would become a share on the blog. I had no idea what kind of music it would be. I hoped for something like swing, but what I got was a Chipmunks ripoff. It's not bad though. There's a nice little narration that runs through the record, but it's too short, really. This is from the Craftsmen label, a subsidiary of notorious budget label Precision Radiation Instruments. Now that you know that, you won't be surprised by the horrible surface noise and relatively low fidelity of this recording. But you can still enjoy it. Help yourself to Swing Along With Santa's Snowmen (Craftsmen C 8040).

A Romping Holiday

What have we got here? Why, it's "A Romping Holiday", of course. I found this RCA Victor tag earlier this year, and knew I had to save it to share with you during my Christmas Share-A-Lot celebration. Those of you who've hung around the blog for a bit know that I love these little taglines that appeared on the cover of RCA Victor popular series records from 1959 to 1961 (or so...). I'm still working on a complete list, but I'm starting to think that maybe that's impossible. Or at the very least, improbable. This particular tag doesn't actually come from a holiday record, but it's still a great slab of vinyl It's on the cover of Bob Thompson, His Chorus And Orchestra-Mmm Nice! (RCA Victor LSP-2117, 1960). I think this record may be on CD now...Maybe not. Wait, here it is. And it features Sandy Warner on the cover, better known as the cover girl on all those Martin Denny records.

Three Ray

This is the third rerun from Ray and the singers. This one unfortunately isn't unique, as it seems to be a re-recording in stereo of the previous share. But maybe you prefer to listen with two ears instead of just one, so I'm making it available here for you. If you're interested, here's The Ray Charles Singers-Christmas At Home (MGM SE-4166, 1963). New stuff coming up later, promise!

Two Ray

The second rerun of the day is another record from Those Ray Charles Singers. This one is full-on holiday music, unlike the last one that included songs about the season alongside the Christmas tunes. I don't have a whole lot to say about this one that I haven't said over the past two years, so just go out and download The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling (MGM E3467, 1956) if you don't have it already.

One Ray

The first of three reruns today is this great LP from The Ray Charles Singers. This record is on MGM, but many people know these singers from their many LPs on the Command label. I won't bore you with a lot of talk here, just go download The Ray Charles Singers-Winter Wonderland (MGM E3387, 1956). You'll be glad you did.

Used Music-Track One

As if I haven't already gone overboard with the Christmas music sharing today, I want to start building a compilation album, too. I thought of a great theme when I heard someone else's compilation called Used Music. I wanted to pull together a collection of music from those Christmas compilation LPs you see in the thrift stores all the time. You know, the ones that used to be available in gas stations or grocery stores, or in this case, from your Amway dealer. Track one of my collection is Jingle Bells by The Sanborn Singers from Sounds Of Christmas (Columbia Special Products for Amway P 12474, 1974). The Sanborn Singers were an in-house group that performed at Amway conventions and what-not, so I think that this collection is pretty much the only place to get this track. They've got another song on there, too, that I might share with you later if you're good. Everything else on the LP is the regular-issue Columbia artists filler stuff, like Johnny Mathis, Percy Faith and Mitch Miller. But this track? WOW!

Make-Up Music

I feel a little bad about sharing two half-albums with you on my first day out of the gate, so here's a little bonus flexi-disc. I discovered this at a Goodwill store many months ago. When I carried it up to the register, the salesgirl had no idea what it was. I think she suspected it was a piece of garbage that should have been thrown away, not sold. So she let me have it for free. Best nothing I ever spent! This record contains one track, a medley of Adeste Fidelis, O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, Silent Night and Joy To The World. No idea where it originally came from, so if anyone has any info, please share. Here's The Mundell Lowe Ensemble-The Sounds Of Christmas (Ameridisc Red Flexidisc). I think I've shared out stuff featuring Mundell Lowe around here before, but never anything under his own name. I've seen him on the backs of many LPs.

Last Year (And The Year Before That)

Over the past two years, I've shared out over 120 albums with you, roughly sixty each year. Last year, I reposted almost everything from the first year, meaning that you had access to all of my shares, even if you missed the previous year. To do that this year would kill me, so I'm only going to repost some of my favorites from the past two years alongside the new stuff. However, most of those old shares are still available if you know where to look. Here is a pretty complete list of all the shares from last year, so if you follow all these links, you'll be able to download many of my shares and catch all the stuff that I'm going to have to leave out this year. I haven't checked all the shares to be sure they're available, but if something's gone, please leave me a note and I'll try to get it back up for you. This list should keep you busy for the next few months... :)

Thurlow Spurr And The Spurrlows-Christmas; Time For Song
Christmas Surprises From The Ralph Hunter Choir
Thurlow Spurr And The Spurrlows-Go Tell It On The Mountain
Domenico Savino-Music For Christmas Eve
Domenico Savino-Hi-Fi Christmas Party
Yogi Yorgesson-Yingle Bells
John Klein-Let's Ring The Bells All Around The Christmas Tree
John Klein-Noel Bells
Robert Way-New England Sleigh Ride
Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland
John Klein-The Bells Of Christmas
Herbie Koch-Christmas Bells Of Stone Mountain
Raymond LeFevre-Merry Christmas
Henri Rene-Home For Christmas
Paul Mauriat-The Christmas Album
David Rose-Merry Christmas To You
Lionel Barrymore-A Christmas Carol
Gary Mann-Blues For Baby Jesus
Loretta Young-The Littlest Angel/Gregory Peck-Lullaby Of Christmas
Sy Mann-Everybody's Christmas Favorites
Gisele MacKenzie-Joyeux Noel
Gisele MacKenzie-Christmas With Gisele
The McGuire Sisters-What Child Is This
The McGuire Sisters-Ave Maria
The McGuire Sisters-Greetings From The McGuire Sisters
'Twas The Night Before Christmas
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer And Other Christmas Favorites
John Davidson-My Christmas Favorites
The Mexicali Brass-Winter Wonderland
Christmas With The Mexicali Brass
Tijuana Voices Sing Merry Christmas!
A King Family Christmas
Christmas With The King Family
Marilyn King-My Favorite Things
The Rainbow Sound Of Bianco-Joy To The World
A Visit From Saint Nicholas
Lorne Greene-Must Be Santa
The Ray Charles Singers-Christmas At Home
Felix Slatkin-Season's Greetings
Lynn Anderson-The Christmas Album
Merry Christmas From Buck Owens And Susan Raye
Mitch Miller-Christmas Songs And Carols
Merry Christmas With The KE-Notes
The Jimmy Joyce Singers With Orchestra by Billy May-A Christmas To Remember
The Pied Pipers Sing Favorite Christmas Carols
The Moishe Oysher Chanukah Party
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Songs-Volume 2
Christmas With The Don Les Harmonicats
Nelson Riddle-Avon Wishes You A Happy Holiday And A Joyous New Year
Nelson Riddle-The Christmas Song
Hugo Winterhalter-Christmas Magic
Hugo Winterhalter-Sleigh Ride
Hugo Winterhalter-Blue Christmas b/w White Christmas
Muzak Christmas
Bob Coe-White Christmas/Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Richard Keys Biggs-Christmas Bells
The Sisters Of Divine Providence-Christmas Mosaic
The Happy Crickets-Christmas With The Happy Crickets
Woody The Woodchuck-Christmas Sing Song
The Surfers-Christmas From Hawaii
Emilien Allard-Noels au Carillon de l'Oratoire Saint-Joseph
Skitch Henderson-Winter Holiday
The Ray Charles Singers-Winter Wonderland
The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling
George Feyer-Echoes Of Christmas
Arthur Lynds Bigelow-Ring! Christmas Bells
Christmas In Cleveland
Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas
Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas Chime Again
The Three Suns-Uncle Mistletoe/Sleigh Ride
Leo Addeo-Organ And Chimes Play Christmas Carols
The John McCarthy Chorale-Merry Christmas Sing Along
The Town Pipers-Christmas Greetings
Big Tiny Little-Christmas With Big Tiny Little
George Wright-Merry Christmas
George Wright-Christmas Time
The Sandpipers-Frosty The Snowman
101 Strings-Christmas Moods
The Lighthouse Singers-Christmas Carols Volume II
Lew White-Christmas Time
Billy Crystal-The Christmas Song
Merry Christmas From The Command Family Of Recording Stars
Ashley Miller-Christmas Carols
Songs To Sing At Christmas Time
Merry Christmas From...
Dennis Day-Christmas Is For The Family
Holiday People-Holiday Disco
Max Fagen-Christmas Disco Party
Warner Bros Stars-We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Ephrem Zimbalist, Jr.-Adeste Fidelis
Mitch Miller-Be A Santa
Cyril Stapleton-Children's Christmas Album
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music
Godfrey Malcolm & Fredrico-Chimes Of Christmas
Menudo-Feliz Navidad
Jose Melis-Christmas With Melis
Charo-(Mamcita) Donde Esta Santa Claus
Bruce Woodman-Christmas Carols With A Latin Lilt
60 French Girls & The Christmas Bell Ringers-Joyeaux Noel
Yank Lawson & Bob Haggart-Hark The Herald Angels Swing
William Clauson-Canciones De Navidad
Natal No Brasil
The Snap-On Male Chorus-Carols Of Christmas
A Kimball Christmas
Christmas Classics 1963
Frank Chacksfield-Music For A Merry Christmas
The Three Suns-Christmas Party
The Three Suns-Your Christmas Favorites
The Three Suns-The Sounds Of Christmas
The Three Suns-Raggin' The Scales
Lester Lanin-Christmas Dance Party
A Christmas Sampler
Dick Leibert-Sing And Rejoice
Dick Leibert-The Sound Of Christmas
Dick Leibert-The Happy Hits Of Christmas
Dick Leibert-A Merry Wurlitzer Christmas
Buddy Cole-The Organ Plays At Christmas
Buddy Cole At The Pipe Organ-Pipes And Chimes For Christmas
Ray Conrad-The Cotton Pickin' Lift Tower
Six Family Mountain-Takin' A Ride With The Wind
Spencer Ross-Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Merriest Of Christmas Pops
Fred Waring-Twas The Night Before Christmas
Fred Waring-Nutcracker Suite
Pete Fountain-Candy Clarinet
David Wayne Narrates The Little Star Of Bethlehem
Eddie Layton-Organ Music For Christmas
Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas
Sammy Kaye-Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye-Christmas Serenade
Sammy Kaye-Year 'Round Favorites
The Moog Machine-Christmas Becomes Electric
Avon Campaign 21
Danny Robinson-Deck The Halls
Buddy & Bunny Burden-Christmas Favorites
A Family Christmas Album
Slim Boyd-Christmas Country Style
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians

Good Grief, what a list! Is that even all of them? Sorry I couldn't get them in some sort of order. I think they're close to the order I shared them out in, which doesn't do you any good when it comes to finding anything. But you'll figure it out, I have faith in you. :)

Sisters Three

Here's another rerun from late in the year last year that you may have missed. This is one of the few records that had eluded me for many years so I had to break down and buy it off of eBay for a small fortune. I take some small pride in the fact that nearly all of the records I share with you here on the blog are things that I find at thrift stores for one dollar or less. But not this one. You don't have to pay for it, though, you get to hear my copy. So here's The McGuire Sisters-Greeting From The McGuire Sisters (Coral CRL 57225, 1958) for your enjoyment. I've got a track from The McGuire Sisters on an Arthur Godfrey record coming up later this season, so stay tuned. Also, more Christmas McGuire Sisters can be found here and here.

Update: This one is out on CD now, although it's a little hard to tell. There's a collection on the Jasmine label that includes all the songs from this LP, plus all the songs from the Christmas With Arthur Godfrey LP. Not sure how the McGuire Sisters got stuck on there, but who am I to question how such things work. You can order this from Amazon via this link. Wait, maybe I'm mistaken. Try this disc instead.

Would You Like A Ford With That?

I had no idea what I was going to get when I bought this record. Well, I thought I did, but I didn't. I found the empty cover in a huge stack of records, and decided I needed to find the actual vinyl. Half an hour later I found it further down the pile inside the gatefold of another LP. (Usually I don't find the records missing from empty sleeves, but that's going to be another series of posts sometime soon...) The music is almost exactly what you think it is just by looking at the cover above, but you don't know the rest of the story. A little internet research told me that The Going Thing were actually a manufactured band, put together by Ford for use in marketing campaigns and promotional tours. I guess they took the idea from The Monkees. They recorded a few albums that were only released to Ford employees, then went their separate ways when advertising trends changed. Rumor has it that Karen and Richard Carpenter were members for a brief time, but their career took off before they had to wear too much velour. Anyhow, I think you'll enjoy the smooth, inoffensive sounds of Christmas 1968 With The Going Thing (Private Pressing for Ford XCSV-141473, 1968). Note: The first track on here (and longest) is a spoken introduction and holiday wishes from John Naughton, a bigwig at Ford at the time. The whole record is only 17 minutes long, and it's only recorded on one side.

Where I Left Off Last Year

Here's a record I first shared out last year right at the end of the season, so it's possible that many of you missed it. This is one of the records that I am always on the lookout for in the bins, because all I have is this mono copy, and it's pretty beat. I would love to get a stereo copy in nice shape, but I'm only willing to pay a buck for it (I'm cheap!). I think I originally paid a quarter for this one, and it sat in my collection for years before I ever played it. Boy, was I surprised! This is a really great album that should be on every one's playlist! So if you don't have it already, please go download Gisele MacKenzie-Christmas With Gisele (RCA Victor LPM-2006, Mono, 1959). You can also check out an earlier EP from Gisele that has many of these same tracks on it. It may not give you any more music, but it does give you another picture of Mademoiselle Gisele.

Update: Looks like someone finally wised up about this record. It's now available for download on iTunes. So I can't share it anymore, but you can download a nice MP3 version of it.

Oodles Of Doodles CCCVIII-Christmas 2007

It wouldn't be Christmas around here without some great Christmas doodles. These little bits of artwork adorned the back sides of records back in the days when record companies tried to save money by printing the back covers in B&W instead of full color like the front covers. I've been sharing these since the very beginning of the blog, and as you can see by the Roman numeral 308 above, I've shared out quite a few. I don't think I have enough Christmas ones to post one a day this season, but I've got quite a few I hope to share with you during the next month. Today's wintry scene comes from the flipside of Season's Greetings From Perry Como (RCA Victor LSP-2066, 1959). I don't think I've seen any reissues of these great old albums that include the original rear artwork. Many of them even omit the original artwork from the front! (That's another goal of mine this holiday season. I've scanned many original LPs from my collection, and I want to share that original art with you. If you have a reissue CD without the original art, you'll be amazed at what you're missing. But that's for another day...)

Hooray For The Salvation Army Band

I agonized over what I was going to share with you first this year. I finally decided on this little gem. I picked this up a couple of months ago at a huge Salvation Army store in North Tampa. I flipped past it, then went back to take a closer look. It didn't really look like a holiday record at first, but something made me look that second time, and thank goodness it did. This is one of the more interesting records I have to share this year. The Joy Strings were actually a band assembled by The Salvation Army in England. Most bands I've heard associated with The Salvation Army are brass bands that don't play very well, but this is nothing like that. These guys can rock with the best of them, at least the best of the mid-sixties. I'm only sharing out the first side, as it's the only side with Christmas songs, but it's still plenty of songs for you. This is the earliest recording of O Little Town Of Bethlehem done to the tune of House Of The Rising Sun that I've found. It's great! So welcome to this year's Christmas share-a-thon, and go get my first share, The Joy Strings-Well Seasoned (Epic BN 26321). Reading up about The Joy Strings tells me that they have other Christmas albums out there, but they may have only been released in the UK. Anyone got any those they'd like to share? ;)

And So It Begins

Well, Thanksgiving dinner (2, actually) is over. The turkey is gone, the diet Mountain Dew is all guzzled, and I'm sure my sugar is through the roof. That means it's time to open up the vault and start with the Christmas music. You get to listen to it and I get to share it. Over the next month I hope to bring you some of the best and some of the worst Christmas records that vinyl ever had to offer. Everything I share is stuff that I own and ripped myself from scratchy old vinyl. I've recorded it over the past 4 months, one record at a time, scanned the covers in, converted everything to MP3, tagged it all, uploaded it, and now I'm gonna post it. If I should inadvertently post something that's on CD, please let me know, I'll get it taken down immediately. If there is a problem with something I post, please let me know, I'll try to get it fixed. If you have a question, please ask it. I usually post all the info I have about an LP, but the comments are great places for other folks to share their knowledge. There are plenty of people out there who know more about this music than I do, and they sometimes stop by and share tidbits. Plus I just love to get comments about my shares. If you come across something that has been deleted, please leave a comment and I'll try to get it back up. Unless, of course, it's something that is on CD now, in which case I usually post a note and a link to somewhere that you can visit to buy the music. All of my stuff is shared out using RapidShare. I know some of you don't like it because you have to wait an hour between downloads. Please consider getting a month-long subscription for about $15. You'll be happy you did. Sometimes RapidShare goes down, so if it doesn't seem to be working, just give it a few hours and try again. Anything else I wanted to mention? Not that I can think of. I hope you enjoy the Christmas music and may it make your season a little bit brighter!

PS: If you use any of my stuff in your Christmas mixes, I'd love to hear it. Drop me a line and I can hook you up with an address if you'd like to send a hard copy. Or if you share it out on the web, please put a link in the comments! Thanks again!

Now, how about some music?

Turkey Lurkey

You think of odd things when you're visiting home for the holidays. I remembered a play that I was in back in second grade. I thought that I was the turkey, but reading the news coverage tells me that I wasn't. Maybe I sang in the chorus or something. I remember getting to wear feathers at some point. Anyway, here is the original article from the Lakeland Ledger dated 27 Nov, 1977. I'm on the left, Robert Williams is the turkey with the broken arm, and Jennifer Sparks is the love interest. Or something like that. Anyhow, that's me, thirty years ago...

Tradition

As I've done for the previous two years, I have a song that I share out for Thanksgiving. It's a rousing track that will surely get you going as you head to the turkey table. Here is Spencer Ross-Thanksgiving Day Parade (Columbia 4-41532 7" 45 RPM single, 1960). I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow Is The Day

Not long now, folks. Not long now.