Bing (Not Chandler)

Right off the bat, let me emphasize that there is no download here. Even after saying that, I'll find references in other places to this blog and they'll claim I have a Bing Crosby download. I'm convinced that every noise the man uttered on record has now been released on CD somewhere somehow. I've found a couple of kiddie records that he was involved in that I wanted to share, but sure enough, they are out on CD. Now that I've got that off my chest, I just wanted to share this cover with you. I think some of these old record covers are pretty spiffy, and they'll never see the light of day again outside of box sets and books. This is Bing Crosby-Christmas Greetings (Decca DLP 5020, 10", 1949). I think it was a collection of old tracks originally issued on 78s, collected up and called an album. It features the Adrews Sisters on a couple of tracks, too. I hope you guys will indulge me with these occasional posts without shares and not whine too hard.

Square Dance Fever

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Christmas is square dancing, right? If so, you're going to love this version of Deck The Halls. Side one features Danny Robinson doing the calls and side two is just the music. But wait, there's more! The lyrics are included so that you can do the calls yourself! Imagine the fun you can have calling out the steps to your children on Christmas morning! Just picture the looks on their faces as they dosido around the Christmas tree. So be sure not to miss this exciting interactive download. Here's Danny Robinson With The Square Tunes Band-Deck The Halls (Square Tunes 140, 7"). I looked around the web for more info on Danny or his band, but there's very little to be had. Looks like he was from here in Florida, but is no longer with us.

Christmas Card In A Pear Tree

Here's a little something from the archives I thought you might like. You all remember The Partridge Family, of course. They released a Christmas album called A Partridge Family Christmas Card Starring Shirley Jones Featuring David Cassidy (Bell 6066, 1972), and original copies came with an actual Christmas card stuck in a slit on the front cover. Later copies had a picture of the opened card printed on them. But here's a scan of the actual card out of my copy. No, I'm not going to share the LP with you since I know it's on CD. But this card is great. Why do you suppose that Danny Bonaduce signed his name as Dante? Susan Day is just beautiful. And I like how the envelope has little figures for everyone in the family, even the dog. How cute!

The Avon Lady Always Rings Twice

Here's another share from last year that I want to highlight for this season. This little 10" record contains some, err, interesting advice for the Avon saleslady who's preparing for those holiday sales. You might find it rather interesting. It's begging to be cut up into chunks and interspersed on your Christmas CD. The flip side is some rather innocuous Christmas music that you probably won't listen to twice. What more can I say? Got get it! Avon Campaign 21 (Avon, 1968)

Moog Madness Returns

One of my readers was kind enough to point out a number of shares from last year that I hadn't reuploaded. Oddly enough, it turned out that when I went to look for those recordings, I couldn't find them. For some reason, they didn't get filed away with all my other rips. So, I had to go back and do some re-recording. This is the first one of those. The sound should be better on this one than what I gave you last year, anyway. I know the cover of this one is in much better shape than the one I scanned last year. Also, I'm sharing stuff at a slightly higher bit rate this year, so even if the vinyl weren't cleaner (and it is), it will sound better. But blah-blah, blah, you just want to get some great music, don't you? Here's the second greatest Moog Christmas LP ever recorded, The Moog Machine-Christmas Becomes Electric (Columbia CS 9959, 1969).

For those of you that have read this far, how would you like a secret share? I found an awesome moog version of Handel's Messiah on an LP by Ralph Carmichael called The Electric Symphony (The MOOG Synthesizer). The rest of the record is mostly original compositions with a Christian theme that you really don't need to hear. But this track I'm sharing? WOW! You gotta hear this! It's going on my annual Christmas CD for sure. So here is The New Hallelujah "Handel's Hallelujah Chorus" by Ralph Carmichael & Clark Gassmann from The Electric Symphony (The MOOG Synthesizer) (Light LS-5541-LP).

Request Lines Are Open

Hello out there! I hope everyone is enjoying the shares. I see lots of downloads, but no one is leaving any comments. Not that you have to, but it makes a bloggers heart warm to get little notes now and again. I shouldn't say that I've gotten no comments, but I haven't gotten many. And the ones that I have gotten are very much appreciated. But the reason for this post is to try and get a little more feedback. It's still early in the season, and there is plenty of time to maybe get some requests in here. Everything I post is from my own personal record collection, and my own rips, but maybe there is something in my collection that you'd like to hear. Just leave me a comment, and I'll see what I can do. I certainly don't have copies of every Christmas record ever released, and a lot of what I have is stuff that no one is going to want to listen to, but maybe. I'm willing to throw the door open to suggestions. Better to make your requests now than in the waning days of December. I do have a few other things I need to do besides work on this blog...

Oh, don't forget the rules. It has to be something that's out of print. That means you can't go to Best Buy and get it, or order it online from somewhere, or even download it from iTunes. And lately, that rules out a lot of stuff. So please don't ask me for any of those things, I'm just going to have to tell you no.

Sammy Kaye Day, Part Three

I know it's hard to believe, but there is more Sammy Kaye to be had here. (There's also more Sammy Kaye to be had out there. I know there are some singles floating around, so if anybody feels like contributing to the cause here, drop me a line...) This is the final bit of Sammy Kaye Christmas I have in the archives. A three record set of 45s with a seasonal theme, this little gem came my way a few months ago. One record has White Christmas on one side and Winter Wonderland on the other, so that's what you're going to get in the download. To tell you the truth, I didn't even record the rest of the set. Hope you don't mind too terribly bad. You'll have to go to some other blog for the rest of the year. So, to finish out our Sammy Kaye collection, here is Year 'Round Favorites With Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra (RCA Victor WP 184, 3x7", 1949). Wow, that's old! And why are all three of these releases on different labels?

Sammy Kaye Day, Part Two

Remember, I said more to come, and here's some more. This is a set of four 7" 45 rpm singles in a little box, which I guess used to be a competing format for the 12" LP. Sounds like the same old competing technology war you thought was a modern invention. But that's beside the point. We're interested in the music. This recording takes us all the way back to 1951, which to tell you the truth is long, long before I was ever around. But I can still enjoy it. What I don't enjoy is the way there's an announcer on nearly every track telling you who's singing. It's all Sammy's orchestra, but he has different vocal groups, including the Three Kaydets & The Kaye Choir. Trust me, it gets old fast. But you'll have to download it and see for your self. Here are those jolly snowmen, Sammy Kaye-Christmas Serenade (Columbia B-285, 4-7", 1951).

Sammy Kaye Day, Part One

It's time for our first theme day around these parts, or at least our first well-themed day. Most days I like to post in free-form, train of thought ways, and you never know where that's going to take you, but today I have a well-thought out plan. Yes, it's Sammy Kaye Day! (No, not Danny Kaye. If you want him, go here.) This first selection is the most recent, and also the only one in stereo, allowing you to use both ears at the same time. You really should listen to this while you're putting up your Christmas tree. And can anyone tell me what has that little girl on the cover so fixated? She's not paying any attention to her stuffed poodle, or Mom and Dad for that matter. There's something very interesting at the other end of that couch. I'm guessing a new PS3. Or perhaps not. Anyhow, please download and enjoy Sammy Kaye And His Orchestra-Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye (Decca DL 74070, 1960). More to come...

Christmas Talk

Another performer that we lost in 2006 was Mike Douglas. Mike recorded two Christmas LPs in his lifetime, this one, and a second on the Word label, which I have yet to find. I shared this out back in August not long after his death, and I offer it to you again now. Please download and enjoy Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas (Epic BN 26322, 1967).

You know, the catalog number on this one is pretty close to the number on the Eddie Layton one I shared with you earlier. So that Layton is probably from the same year, or maybe a year earlier. That sounds about right.

Dee-lirious Holi-Dee

Speaking of Lenny Dee, you owe it to yourself to go get this LP. Don't be scared off by the toy poodles or the cheap Santa suit, this record is Dee-licious. The artist is Lenny Dee, the instrument is the organ, the album is Happy Holi-Dee (Decca DL 74146, 1961). Oh, and the vocals on three tracks are handled by The Anita Kerr Singers. This is an album I would have loved to bring to you, but someone beat me to it. You can go download this over at Check The Cool Wax, along with plenty of other holiday goodies. Go get it now! I'll still be here when you get back.

Sadly, Lenny Dee passed away earlier this year. He died here in Florida at the age of 83.

Better Layton Than Ever

I promised myself I wouldn't do it, but I did anyway. I just found this record today, so I rushed home, ripped it, scanned it, converted it, uploaded it and now I'm posting it. I should let these things sink in more, but I got caught up in the moment. One of the tracks I shared out during Christmas In July was a wiz-bang version of Winter Wonderland by Eddie Layton, so I was quite excited to find a whole Christmas LP from him today. It's somewhat later than his other, more out-there stuff on Mercury, but it still has its moments. No, it's not Lenny Dee or Earl Grant, but you'll still enjoy it. I don't have a date on this one, but I'm guessing around mid-60s. The liner notes mention that this is his first LP for Epic, so it's a little surprising that they decided to start with a Christmas record. There were no listings for this record on GEMM, so maybe it's pretty rare. (They do list a 4-song holiday EP on Columbia that I need to dig up, though). So please download and enjoy Eddie Layton-Organ Music For Christmas With Chimes And Brass Choir (Epic BN 26118).

Christmas With Billy

One of my goals this year is to share with you as much old, crusty, out-of-print and forgotten Christmas music as possible. So, to maximize that, I'm going to point you towards some other sharity sites with Christmas records available for download that I think you might like. Whenever I have the record they're sharing, I'll scan it in and throw it up here, otherwise, I'll just give you the link. The record I want to point you to now is Billy Vaughn-Christmas Carols (Dot DLP 25148, 1958). Well, I think the date is 1958. This LP was released with a couple of different covers, this being one that came out later, I think. Also, it's stereo, and 1958 is really early for stereo, so sometimes you get a rerecording from a later date on these stereo releases. But enough semantics. You can get this LP over at The Tuna Melt, so have at it.

Just in case that isn't enough Billy Vaughn for you, he was featured twice back during the Christmas in July celebration here at Ernie (Not Bert). Check the archives and you can download Billy performing Winter World Of Love and The Chipmunk Song. (His version of The Chipmunk Song actually made the Christmas In July Best-Of disc!)

David Wayne (Not Bruce)

Good morning everybody! Welcome to a new day of Christmas music magic. Today is Black Friday, which means I am going to try not to leave the house all day, 'cause anywhere I may try to go is just going to be a mess of people trying to find bargains. Well, I might try to go to Steak N Shake for lunch, but that's no big surprise. But enough about me, you're here for the music, right? The album of the moment is a pair of well-presented stories on the Cricket label. I think the Cricket label is a few steps above the usual kiddie record garbage that comes out on Pickwick or Premiere, even though it does appear to be a subsidiary of Pickwick. I really enjoyed the two stories on here. I'm afraid I have little info on the featured narrator, David Wayne, though. There is an IMDB entry on a David Wayne (from The Andromeda Strain!), but I have no way to confirm if it's the same guy or not. In fact, they list five David Waynes. Either way, this certainly isn't Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. But enough of the babbling, here is David Wayne Narrates The Little Star Of Bethlehem & The Toy Box, John L. Eastman Conducting The Cricket Symphony (Cricket CR-X1). The back cover of this is just ads for other records in "The Grand Prix Series", so I didn't scan it in. Oh, and there is some bad surface noise at the beginning of side two, but it goes away pretty quick, so try not to let it annoy you too badly.

Stereo Candy

Here's another of the things I shared out last year that I wanted to remind you of. The great Pete Fountain released Candy Clarinet (Coral 57487, 1967) long before he had to fight off Hurricane Katrina. If you really, really want to, you can download my copy, but why would you want to when you can get the Stereo version over at my buddy's place, christmasyuleblog.blogspot.com? You'll be glad you did. (Thanks for the stereo rip, Cap'n!)

Little Hawk

I mentioned that I shot two birds today on Thanksgiving, so here is the other. Yep, it's the same American Kestrel (or it's mate) that I shot a couple of months ago. Evidently, they love the field behind my parent's house. Unfortunately, they are also very skittish. I couldn't get within a few hundred yards of this guy. I actually hopped a fence this time, trying to get closer, fighting my way through weeds that were quite literally up to my neck. But the closer I got, the more he fidgeted, until he finally flew off and didn't return. A couple of times he flew off, circled around, then came back to rest on a different branch of the same tree. During on of those orbits, I got the shot below of the little guy on the wing. My camera has a real hard time focusing on such a small object that's so far away and in motion. I even had a monopod to try and steady the shot, but it's still quite fuzzy. You can also see the grain in the picture from the high ISO I used. But I saw the kestrel again, and that's the important part!

Little Wing

It's not all about the Christmas music just yet. I'm still trying to get out and take some pictures between the recording sessions. Today I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving, and happened to catch a couple of interesting birds. This is the first one, but I'm afraid I have no idea what it is. It's hard to shoot these little guys since they are rarely out of the bushes, and they are so small. Again, I need a longer lens. But this one came out pretty well, with lots of color.

Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum

Somebody help me, I can't stop with the segues! In my last post, I mentioned Harry Simeone, and his famous arrangement of Carol Of The Drum, which he smartly renamed The Little Drummer Boy, and thus collected royalties for ever and ever. But that's neither here nor there. What is here is the cover of the 45 RPM 7" release of that track, which I had never seen before until I stumbled across this copy the other day. The track is incredibly easy to come by, so there's no download here, I just wanted to share the picture sleeve with you. By the way, the flip side on the record inside is Die Lorelei, From the 20th Century-Fox Picture "Fraulein" by The Voices Of The Junior Chorale. I don't think that's a Christmas tune... Oh, for the completists, the label is 20th Fox, and the catalog number is 45-121, and the label goes out of its way to mention that this is the original version.

Nutcracker Sweet!

Since I just reposted a Fred Waring record, why not throw up something new by him as well? (New being a relative term, since this came out way back in 1950!) Keep in mind that they didn't yet have hi-fi in 1950, so this one sounds like it was originally recorded as a 78, but it's still worth a few listens. And as an added bonus, they added lyrics to the traditional Tchaikovsky tunes. Who'd a thunk it? One of the writers of those lyrics (and the arranger) is one Harry Simeone, who you may recognize as the guy behind one of the greatest Christmas records of all time, Little Drummer Boy. Without further ado, here is Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Nutcracker Suite (Decca 1-111 7", 1950).

Last Christmas, I Gave You Some Tunes

I want to highlight some of the stuff I shared out last year, in case anybody new stops by, or maybe you missed it last Christmas. (For those of you who are brave, I've re-upped everything from last year, so it's all available for download. You'll just have to search the archives, or wait for me to re-post it like this.) One of the few requests I posted last year was this Fred Waring LP. I don't have a lot of time to rip the records that people request, but sometimes I get the chance, or I really like what I hear when I dig out the record. That was the case with this one. I didn't expect much, but this is a really great Christmas record. So if you missed it last year, please go download Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians-'Twas The Night Before Christmas (MCA 15016, originally released in 1955). You'll be glad you did.