26 Days Of Christmas-Day 16

Two tracks in one day for my 26 Days Of Christmas collection? Can I be out of my mind? Perhaps. But how else am I going to catch up before Christmas? With the actual number of tracks listed in the title, I have to at least try to hit that number. And none of you are going to want to listen to Christmas music after Christmas. Well, some of you might, but not too many. This is the track I promised a few days ago. I thought I had shared this with you ages ago, but it turned out that I hadn't. I found another single by Molly Bee shared out at Kiddie Records Weekly, and that reminded me of this great track. So get your clicking finger ready and download Molly Bee, With orchestra Conducted By Van Alexander-Willy Claus (Little Son Of Santa Claus) (Capitol 7" 45 RPM F2285, 1952). I can't believe I've never shared this track before, it's great.

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
Joe Ward-Christmas Questions

The Same King

Here's another album from The King Family, the same King Family that I highlighted in my last post. This album overlaps a bit with that one, but there is some unique stuff here, too. This one was also shared in 2005 and 2006, so I won't go into any great detail here, just suffice it to say that this is another album that will make your life better just by listening to it. So go download Christmas With The King Family With The Alvino Rey Orchestra, Conducted By Ralph Carmichael, Vocal Direction By Jimmy Joyce (Warner Brothers W 1627, 1965). If you like what you hear, I think there's a bonus track for you here.

Update: Looks like this one is coming out on CD for the 2009 Christmas season. That means I'm pulling down the share, and I encourage you to go out and buy the CD. If we don't buy these things when they come out through legitimate channels, then they'll quite releasing them...

A Different King

'Tis the season and all that. This is music from The King Family, not Don King. Not The King Of Kings. Not Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not even the King Of Jingaling. Just the King Family. Perhaps you remember them from TV. I don't, but you may. This is another record that's back for a three-peat, and I think it's deserving of that honor. Go read all about it from 2005 and 2006, I think I covered it more than adequately there. All you need to know here is that you should go download A King Family Christmas (Fleetwood FCLP 3038 or 3031, c. 1968). I've found two different covers for this one, which explains why I'm showing you two different covers in this post. Funny how that works out...


Update: Looks like this one is coming out on CD for the 2009 Christmas season, or maybe it's the very similar release on Warner Bros. Either way, I'm pulling down the share, and I encourage you to go out and buy the CD. If we don't buy these things when they come out through legitimate channels, then they'll quite releasing them...

26 Days Of Christmas-Day 15

Yes, I know it's been a few days since I've given you a track for my 26 Days Of Christmas collection. It's hard to stay ahead of this stuff. I think this track may be worth the wait, though. I know nothing about title or artist here, I don't even remember when or where I dug up this single. But it's a great little song I'd never heard before, and I love new-to-me tracks. So please download Joe Ward, Orchestra Conducted By Dave Terry-Christmas Questions (King 45-4854). The flip side to this is Nothin For Xmas, which I didn't think was half as good as this track.

Previous Tunes:
Mickey Gilley-Don't The Girls All Get Prettier At Christmas Time
Scott Fagen-Sandy The Blue Nosed Reindeer
Russ Morgan-The Mistletoe Kiss
Sascha Burland-The Chickens Are In The Chimes!
Commander Shea School Boys' Choir-Chree-See-Mus
The Crew-Cuts-Dance Mr. Snowman Dance
Tennessee Ernie-A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus
Arthur Godfrey-Christmas Is Christmas
Sue Powell-Kiss Me It's Kiss-mas
Eddy Howard-Uncle Mistletoe
Lonzo And Oscar-Jangle Bells
Margaret Whiting And Jimmy Wakely-Christmas Candy
Joe Dowell-A Kiss For Christmas
Connie Landers-I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter

Christmas Roundup Week 4

Another week down the tubes, and I'm further behind than ever. I didn't post a blessed thing on Friday, and I am three or four days behind on both of my compilations. At least I can say that I actually bought a couple of Christmas presents. Usually that has to wait until the weekend before the big day, but I'm a little bit ahead of that curve this year. I don't care how much I prepare, I just can't seem to get enough music ready to go for the holiday season. But none of that matters to you guys, you just want to get some great Christmas music. Let's take a look at what got shared in the past week:

Two Sides Of Christmas
The Idlers-The Twelve Days Of Christmas
Country Christmas
A Different Kind Of Christmas
USAF-Holiday Greetings And Best Wishes
Eddie Arnold Sings Christmas
George Feyer-Echoes Of Christmas (rerun, but remastered!)
Grace Castagnetta-Christmas On The Siena Pianoforte
Eddie Layton-Organ Music For Christmas (rerun)
The Best Of Christmas In July 2006 (rerun)
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols (rerun)
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Songs (rerun)
Dominic Savino-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (rerun)
Christmas Favorites
White Christmas
Bianco-Joy To The World (rerun)
A Family Christmas (rerun)
Buddy & Bunny Burden-Christmas Favorites (rerun)
The Jack Halloran Singers-The Little Drummer Boy
The Jack Halloran Singers-Christmas Is A-Comin'
Fred Waring-Nutcracker Suite (rerun)
Fred Waring-Christmas Time
Fred Waring-Twas The Night Before Christmas (rerun)
Dick Leibert-Christmas At Radio City
Dick Leibert-The Happy Hits Of Christmas (rerun)
Dick Leibert-The Sound Of Christmas (rerun)
Dick Leibert-Sing And Rejoice (rerun)
Dick Leibert-A Merry Wurlitzer Christmas (rerun)

Week The Third:

The Three Suns-Busy Holiday (rerun)
The Three Suns-Raggin' The Scales (rerun)
The Three Suns-Silver Skates
The Three Suns-Uncle Mistletoe (rerun, newly recorded)
The Three Suns-Sleigh Ride
The Three Suns-A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas!
The Three Suns-The Sounds Of Christmas (rerun)
The Three Suns-Christmas Party (rerun)
The Three Suns-Your Christmas Favorites (rerun)
The Blackwood Brothers And The Statesmen-A Musical Merry Christmas
60 French Girls & The Christmas Bell Ringers-Joyeaux Noel (rerun)
Raymond Lefevre-Merry Christmas (rerun)
The Shepherd's Children's Chorus-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Moog Machine-Christmas Becomes Electric (rerun)
Frankie Yankovic-Christmas Party
The Moishe Oysher-Chanukah Party (rerun)
Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas Chime Again (rerun)
Eddie Dunstedter-The Bells Of Christmas (rerun)
Merry Christmas From The Command Family Of Recording Stars (rerun)
When Christmas Comes To Our House
Songs To Sing At Christmas Time (rerun)
The Eric Silver Chorale-Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly
Snap-On Male Chorus-Carols Of Christmas (rerun)
John Donnelly And Sons-Sing It Outdoors
Merry Christmas With The KE-Notes (rerun)
David Rose-Little Drummer Boy
David Rose-A Merry Christmas To You (rerun)
George Wright-Christmas Time (rerun, in mono, but new in stereo)
George Wright-Merry Christmas (rerun)

Week Two:

Christmas In Hi-Fi With Ramona Gerhard
The Ramsey Lewis Trio-More Sounds Of Christmas
Paul Mauriat-The Christmas Album (rerun)
Christmas With Big Tiny Little (rerun)
Pete Fountain-Candy Clarinet (rerun, but now in stereo)
Dorothy Collins-Season's Greetings In Song
Blue Barron-Christmas EP
Seeburg Music Library-Matching Christmas Library
Muzak Christmas (rerun)
A To Z (Not Q Or Z) 2007
The Mike Douglas Christmas Album
Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas (rerun)
Christmas With The Don Les Harmonicats (rerun)
The Medallion Orchestra And Chorus-The Sound Of Christmas-Deck The Halls
Ruth Welcome-Christmas In Zitherland (rerun)
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music (12")
Ethel Smith-Christmas Music (7" EP) (rerun)
Charo-(Mamacita) Donde Esta Santa Claus? (rerun)
Disco Belles-Tis The Night To Disco
Holiday People-Holiday Disco (rerun)
Max Fagen-Christmas Disco Party (rerun)
Montana Orchestra-Merry Christmas
The Glen Riddle Franciscans-Choral Group-Sisters Of St. Francis-We Sing Of Christmas
Norman Luboff Choir-The Night Before Christmas
The Merriest Of Christmas Pops (rerun)
We Wish You A Merry Christmas (rerun)
Union Central Chimes-Christmas Carols
The Bison Glee Club-The Joy Of Christmas
Leo Addeo-Organ And Chimes Play Christmas Carols (rerun)
Gary Mann-Blues For Baby Jesus (rerun)

Week One:

Christmas Party
Christmas Classics 1963 (rerun)
The Pete King Chorale-Christmas Time
The Jimmy Joyce Singers With Billy May-A Christmas To Remember (rerun)
Frank Chacksfield-Music For A Merry Christmas (rerun, but now in Stereo!)
Arthur Godfrey-All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
Christmas With Arthur Godfrey And All The Little Godfreys
Christmas Greetings From The Town Pipers (rerun)
Christmas Favorites Sung By The Magnificent Magnavox Chorus
Swing Along With Santa's Snowmen
The Ray Charles Singers-Christmas At Home (rerun)
The Ray Charles Singers-Here We Come A-Caroling (rerun)
The Ray Charles Singers-Winter Wonderland (rerun)
The Mundell Lowe Ensemble-The Sounds Of Christmas
Greetings From The McGuire Sisters (rerun)
Christmas 1968 With The Going Thing
Gisele MacKenzie-Christmas With Gisele (rerun)
The Joy Strings-Well Seasoned

I just can't believe how much music that is. I'm out of control!

Go USA-Part Six

It's taken me most of the day to get this one ready to go. And there is still a big skip in the middle of Rosemary Clooney's Silent Night. There doesn't seem to be anything else I can do to get rid of it, so I apologize. This record was originally slated to go up under the heading of 'Missing Music', because when I first pulled it out of the sleeve to record it, there was a different record in there. But then a small Christmas miracle occurred. I found another copy three days ago! So I'm sharing this little gift with all of you, and I think you'll really enjoy it. Side one is a radio show featuring interviews with the one and only Rosemary Clooney, and features three of her songs. I think these are just the usual recordings of her tunes, not something she did special for the show. But the little interview bits are good. Also included are exclusive recordings by Jack Halloran leading the Chancel Choir from First Presbyterian Church, Sherman Oaks, CA, as well as The USAF Academy Falconaires. There's a whole range of stuff in there, you're sure to find something you like. Side two is a live show from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry! I didn't even try to cut this one into tracks, so you're just going to have to listen to it as one long 25 minute track. It stars Archie Campbell, Dottie West, The Jordanaires and Charlie McCoy. There's plenty of good stuff in this one as well. Please don't delay and download Two Sides Of Christmas (United States Air Force) and listen to this music that hasn't been heard in over 30 years. I've got one more entry into my military salute, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. Be sure to come back by then.

Another Week In December

The calendar page this week is a sunset over the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland, Ohio. This is near the area where the Cuyahoga meets Lake Erie, and there are numerous railroad bridges that span the various waterways. There's a restaurant there with an outdoor deck, and you can sit there eating while you watch these bridges go up and down and up and down. There's lots of train traffic and lots of boat traffic, so it's a constant dance.

Go USA-Part Five

The only music I've been able to find so far from actual service members has been this recording. The flip side is actually a promotional piece for some form of prescription appetite control! I won't subject you to that today, but I will make you download and listen to The Idlers Of The United States Coast Guard Academy-The Twelve Days Of Christmas (Wallace Laboratories 7" 33 RPM). Hmmm, now that I type all that out, I think I have some LPs somewhere of some Army band with George Kennedy narrating... I'll have to see what I can dig out. Not that I have time to record much else...

Go USA-Part Four

The fourth share today of great military propaganda, err, music, is this record entitled Country Christmas. This one features a program on side one starring The Jordanaires and featuring Warner Mack and Marion Worth. Side two features a gospel Christmas from The Singing Rambos and The Florida Boys. Both sides feature performances you won't hear anywhere else, so this is truly a record to treasure. I love almost all of the songs on here, and I'm sure you will, too. Go download Country Christmas ( The United States Air Force GXTV-222006/7, 1969).

Go USA-Part Three

This is the military promo that's been in my collection the longest. Most of the records I'm sharing out today have been things I found this year, but this record goes back at least eight years. I used cuts from this one on tapes I shared out some years ago, so that may tell you how long I've had it laying around. But I finally got it digitized this year, and I'm sharing it with you today. This one comes from the US Navy, so it's also unique in that sense. There are some songs on here that you can delete as soon as you get it. It's the kind of stuff that you've heard over and over and over again. But the promo clips are priceless, featuring Norm & Gary Crosby, Phyllis Diller, Shirley Jones (Mrs. Partridge!), Jack Webb (Joe Friday!), George Maharis, Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady!), Edie Adams, Eddy Arnold and Robert Young (Father Knows Best!), all reading from the same couple of scripts about how tough it is to be a serviceman. It's touching stuff, but don't listen to them all in a row. Please be my guest and download A Different Kind Of Christmas (The United States Navy).

Go USA-Part Two

This is probably the most boring of the USAF records I have to share with you today, so I wanted to go ahead and get it out of the way early. This one is just some very generic Christmas music on one side, and some generic Christmas greetings on the other side. The music on here, side two especially, sounds like it's playing at the wrong speed, or perhaps from an old 78. I played with it for a while, thinking there was a problem with my system, but I finally decided it just sounds like that. Maybe you won't think it's that bad, and I'm probably exaggerating, but please download Holiday Greetings And Best Wishes (USAF XMB-536/537). That's a great cover though, don't ya think?

Go USA-Part One

I've done a few theme Sundays in a row now, and today is going to follow in that tradition. I'm throwing up a series of albums recorded by the various branches of the US military (mostly the Air Force) back in the sixties and seventies. I think these were issued to radio stations to help put a positive spin on the military experience at a time when the US was not having the best experience fighting a foreign war. These albums feature performances that were often unique to these albums and not heard since their initial release. There are some tracks that just introduce common Christmas songs, but there aren't too many of those. This particular album features a twenty-some-odd minute performance in the studio by Eddy Arnold and The Jordanaires of Christmas songs and hymns that are really nice. Side two features Christmas greetings from artists as diverse as The Supremes, Wayne Newton, Mel Torme, Sandler & Young and Robert Goulet. I think you're really going to enjoy this record, and the rest of them in the series today. Go download Eddy Arnold Sings Christmas/Find Yourself A Star (US Air Force Public Service Programs).

Christmas Cut To Pieces

Tonight I'm sharing with you a remastered version of the very first Christmas record I shared with you at the blog. This opened the Christmas sharing on Thanksgiving Day, 2005. (There was a single I posted earlier the same day, but it's Thanksgiving music, so it doesn't count). I was never really happy with my recording of that one, since I had a pretty beat up copy. I finally found a better copy sometime during this last year, so I rerecorded it for you. I also spent a lot of time cutting it up into individual tracks for you. It's presented as two side-long medleys, but with a lot of listening and some zooming in and out, I was able to find good dividing points on all the songs. To me, this makes it much easier to listen to, and I enjoy it more as individual tracks than as long medleys. But I've made both versions available for you as part of my effort to keep everybody happy all of the time! So if you want the new version that's cut into individual tracks, please download George Feyer's Echoes Of Christmas (Vox VX25-010, 1955). If you want the uncut medleys, please download George Feyer's Echoes Of Christmas (uncut) (Vox VX25-010, 1955). Which ever version you get, the sound is much better on this version than on the original share.

Good News And Bad-I received an email from George Feyer's daughter-in-law last night, and she tells me that the family is in the process of making all his recordings available for legal download. That's the good news. The bad news is that I can't share it with you anymore, but I think the good outweighs the bad. So keep checking back and hopefully I'll have some information about when and where you can download some tasty George Feyer.

What's A Pianoforte?

I'm not afraid to admit it. I have no idea what a siena pianoforte is. But when I saw this album, I knew I had to buy it just because of the little sleepy guy perched atop the instrument. Turns out that it's a pretty neat little album. Lots of good songs on here in interesting arrangements. It's all played on the magic siena pianoforte, which sounds a lot like a plain piano to me, but I don't have the trained ears of an auteur. Why don't you download and tune your ears to Grace Castagnetta-Christmas On The Siena Pianoforte (Counterpoint/Esoteric (An Everest Records Production) S-2411-53005)? There's some noise on some of the tracks that I wish wasn't there, but you should be able to get the idea.

Used Music-Track Twenty

Seems like only yesterday I was starting, and here we are at day twenty! Of course, I didn't actually post anything yesterday on account of I was tired and fell asleep before I could start posting, and I've missed a couple of days in-between on this particular compilation, but still... It's been a lot of fun trying to put together a collection made up entirely of tracks that are pulled from these old compilations, and trying to make it more interesting than you'd expect. I think I'm doing a pretty good job overall. Tonight's contribution is certainly not something you'd expect to find on an album called Season's Greetings-A Christmas Festival Of Stars! (Columbia CS 8189), but there it was. Please get your Hawaiian fix for today and download Ed Kenney With Luther Henderson And His Orchestra-The Twelve Days Of Christmas. If you've never heard the Hawaiian version of this song, you're in for a treat!

Previous Tracks:
The Sanborn Singers-Jingle Bells
Les Baxter Orchestra And Chorus-Hang Your Wishes On The Tree
Sandler & Young-Mister Santa
Peggy Lee-Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Danny Kaye-Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Holly)
Debbie Reynolds-There's No Place Like Home
Claudine Longet-Snow
The Glad Singers-We Three Kings Of Orient Are
The Ed Sullivan Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Mills Brothers-You Don't Have To Be A Santa Claus
Patti Page-'Twas The Night Before Christmas
George Melachrino-Fairy On The Christmas Tree
The Beneficial Singers-Joyous Christmas
Marlene Dietrich-Little Drummer Boy
Dorothy Collins-Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Red Foley-Frosty The Snowman
Bing Crosby-Christmas Dinner Country Style
Fred Waring-White Christmas
Walter Carlos-Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring

Mail Call

I checked my mail box today, and nearly fell over. I found not one, not two but three packages of Christmas CDs in there! And that's not counting one I got last week! Thank you so much to all the folks who sent me their Christmas CDs! I haven't opened all of them yet, but I'm doing my best to get them all opened and listened to before Christmas. I actually got one CD that you can go out and buy if you'd like, and I highly encourage you to do so if you haven't already. It's called Seasonal Favorites Volume Two from Double Crown Records. It's all sorts of great Christmas tunes from a great label that issues modern surf, rockabilly, retro-cocktail, I hesitate to even try and put a label on some of this stuff. If you don't like the Christmas music you hear on the radio, you're sure to like what you hear on this CD (or on volume one for that matter). Go get it, and tell 'em Ernie sent you! (They may not have any idea who Ernie is, but say it anyway. Say it loud!) Oh, and support your local record store, unless they happen to be in a mall.

Layton The Evening

I've shared out so much great Christmas music in the past two years that I've forgotten some of it. I had completely forgotten about this Eddie Layton Christmas record from last year until I was looking for something else to post tonight. So I'm going to share it out with you again in hopes that I'll be able to remember it. I seem to recall finding this at the Goodwill store, bringing it home, recording it, scanning it and sharing it all in the same day. Gotta love it when a plan comes together! So don't be like me and forget it, go download Eddie Layton-Organ Music For Christmas With Chimes And Brass Choir (Epic BN 26118) right now!

The July Before Last

You may or may not have heard me telling you to go look at such and such song I posted back during Christmas In July. In case you didn't notice those, or didn't pay attention, here's the deal. Once Christmas is over around here at the blog, I go back to posting pictures (and the very occasional LP) until July, when I jump back into the Christmas music again. But July is different from December. In July, I share out individual tracks that I find on non-holiday albums that have a seasonal flair to them. There have been some real winners during Christmas In July, and I try to put out a best-of at the end of each season. This post is all about the Best Of Christmas In July from 2006. Trust me when I say that you can build a great Christmas album from all these songs. See for yourself and download The Best of Christmas In July 2006. I never did make any artwork for this one, so if you want to get the great cover shown above, and a back cover with the tracklist, head over to The Christmas Yuleblog, where CaptOT was nice enough to put something together for me last year. You can also read a track-by-track review of all the great music on this collection.

If the best-of doesn't fill your Christmas sweet tooth, you can go back to the posts from July 2006 and download each days posting of 2, 3, 4 or sometimes 5 tracks of Christmassy goodness. I'm pretty sure that all the download links are still good. When you've gotten those, you'll have a little over 100 more goodies in your Christmas collection, and it's all stuff that you'd never hear if you only listened to Christmas albums. Let me see if I can link them all for you here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. Whew! That's a lot of links. I hope you have a RapidShare account.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Here are a pair of albums from last year that some of you might enjoy. These two albums are both by the Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir, so they are very traditional and reverent versions of Christmas hymns. You won't find any Rudolph or Frosty here, and no one is going to ask Santa for a Cadillac. But there is a time and a place for that and this. So for a little something calmer than the usual fare around here, please download Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Carols (Roulette SR 25097, 1958) and Saint Patrick's Cathedral Choir Sings Christmas Songs-Volume 2 (Roulette SR 25142). I shared out both of these last year over a couple of consecutive nights so you might find more information at those posts if you're curious.

Merry Christmas From Line Material

The Christmas cognoscenti have long been collecting the records released by the Line Material company in the late fifties and early sixties. I still don't know how many of them there actually were, but we've got a new one you might want to add to your collection. I found the record you see above and below at the big record store in St. Pete (Bananas) last year, but I had no way to play it, because it's a 78. So after letting it slip my mind last year, I finally shipped it off to Lee of Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else, who was kind enough to record it for me using his collection of needles for just such a record. He's hosting the sound files over at his blog, so go here and give them a listen. He's also got a Line Material single from 1964 (also donated by a blogger) and two singles from Line Material in Canada (again, from a blogger). Perhaps it's bloggers that make the world go 'round?

Don't forget about Lee's earlier collection of Line Material sides. Be careful when you listen to them, though. They'll stick in your brain like those little things that get on your shoes and socks when you walk through an open field. You can't get rid of them without a lot of effort, and usually not for several days.