Christmas In July 2012-Part 11

The problem with recording my shares too far in advance is that I forget where they came from.  I can't remember the cover of the LP or where I found the record.  Sometimes I'll pull the record down off the shelf where I put them after recording them and try to remember something interesting about it.  Like the Martin Denny track I shared the other day, I wanted to mention the fact that Ferde Grofe wrote the brief liner notes on that one.  But I forgot all about it when I was writing up the track listing.  I do at least try to listen to the tracks again while posting, that way I can remember which ones are good and which ones are, well, not so good.  Have I ever tossed one for not being very good?  No, not really.  Couple of times I've not finished recording one because I really couldn't by any stretch of the imagination relate it back to Christmas, but that's pretty rare.  Anyhow, I'm just blathering on here, and I'm sure you don't care.  Let's get on to the shares for this evening.

1. Skaters' Waltz by the Military Band Organ from the LP Merry Go Round Music For The Young In Heart (Golden Crest CR 3054, Mono, 1959).  Supposedly, there are a bunch of these old music machines at the old car museum right up the road, but I've never been.  I'm not even certain they still have them, but I know they used to because I've found recordings of them.

2. Waltz Of The Flowers From The Nutcracker Suite by The Grand Rapids Youth Symphony-Daniel Kovats, Music Director And Conductor, from the album In Concert-The Grand Rapids Youth Symphony (Abbott SS-18653-01, Mono, 1970).  Some days I don't even look at the back of these school-produced albums, because I think I really don't need another one.  But then I turn them over anyway and find yet another Christmas track I need.

3. Gloucestershire Wassail by Chamber Singers-Robert Summer, Conductor, from that same old LP I've shared tracks from with you so many times before, University Of South Florida Chamber Singers And University Singers (Suncoast Recording Service KM4471, Stereo, 1979).  At least they're pretty good songs, right?

4. Ice Run by Rick Wakeman from the soundtrack to the 1976 Winter Olympics, White Rock (A&M SP-4614, Stereo, 1977).  OK, maybe not the soundtrack to the Games themselves, but at least a soundtrack to the film they released showcasing the games.

5. March of The Dwarfs by Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Earl Bernard Murray from the compilation LP Pomp And Circumstance (Capitol SP 8620, Stereo, 1965).  I first discovered Grieg's March Of The Dwarfs last year, and thought it made an excellent Christmas track, I hope you agree. This is the second track I've found tonight where I made a typo in the MP3 tags.  I need an intern!

6.Put A Little Love In Your Heart by The Mike Curb Congregation and their album Come Together (CoBurt Records CO 1002, Stereo, 1970).  I think this got nudged towards being a Christmas song when Annie Lennox and Al Green covered it on the soundtrack to Scrooged!.  I know the video showed lots of fake snow...

7. Snow Is Falling (From Part 4 "Winter") by The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors, from that other frequently excerpted LP, The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861, Stereo, 1966).  I like it!

8. Sun Valley Twist, an interesting take by Hap Miller And The Hap Miller Sun Valley Orchestra from the LP It Happened In Sun Valley (Stanal Records S-1010, Stereo, 1964).  Twist to your hearts content!


9. Toyland by Pupi Prado And His Orchestra from the budget LP Cha Cha Cha (Celebrity UTS, Stereo).  Pretty sure this track has shown up more than once around here under various names and artists.  Look for Fred Sateriale and Toyland Cha Cha Cha.  Same performance.  :(


10. We Need A Little Christmas by Skitch Henderson & The Tonight Show Orchestra from the LP Broadway Tonight! Skitch Henderson & The Tonight Show Orchestra Play Music From "Mame" (Columbia CS 9318, Stereo, 1966).  This is a rerun from year's past, this may be the first appearance here in stereo.  Maybe.  Hard to tell, I didn't pay too much attention to that in the old days and didn't differentiate.  I think plenty of those early shares were mono records recorded in stereo.  What did I know?


11. What Child Is This by St. Olaf Lutheran Choir-Conducted By Olaf C. Christiansen from the LP Fifty Golden Years (Mercury SR 60728, Stereo, 1962), another rerun from years gone by.


12. What Month Was Jesus Born In?, a great little song you don't hear too often by Odetta from her LP Odetta At Town Hall (Vanguard VSD-2109, Stereo, 1962).  I remember seeing mention of a Christmas album from Odetta on the back of this LP, I'll have to hunt that down, I don't think I've heard it before.


13. Wintertime by Arthur Lee Harper from his LP Dreams And Images (LHI/ABC S12,000, Produced by Lee Hazlewood, Stereo, 1968).  I think Lee Hazlewood did his best work with Nancy Sinatra, but you may like it.  Oh, almost forgot, the record jacket only identifies him as Arthur, but his other work gives his full name.  I put both in the track tags.


And that's it.  Hope you enjoyed tonight's installment.  It's nice not to have to struggle and record stuff on the same night I'm sharing it.  Now I can record stuff at leisure, or I can go watch River Monsters on TV.  We'll see what wins out.  Here's the link, have fun with it.


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Why is the HTML so screwed up in this post? I do not like posting from Chrome!

Christmas In July 2012-Part 10

Day 10, almost 1/3 of the way through!  Now we're movin'!

1. (a) Snowshoes  (b) Riding The Troika, a double whammy from Victor Young And His Singing Strings-Violin Solos By Anatole Kaminsky and his album Gypsy Music (Decca DL 8052, Mono, 1953).  Interesting, I don't know if it makes me think of Christmas, but it's interesting.

2. The Building Of A Band (The Bells Of St. Mary's) by Horace Heidt And His Musical Knights from the collection Camp! (Capitol T2474, Mono, 1966).  The background song is what brought me to this one, but the foreground is a neat little bit about how to put together a band.

3. Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head by The Trapp Family Singers-Dr. Franz Wasner, Conductor, another song from The Best Of The Trapp Family Singers (MCA 2xLP MCA2-4048, Mono, 1973).

4. Let There Be Peace On Earth by The Singing Sisters Of St. Francis Featuring Sister Mary Amelia, Soprano-John LaFalce, Conductor-Ed Husted, Instrumental Background, and the album Sunrise To Sunset (Meteor M-C5061, Mono, 1968).  Private label goodness.

5. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers from Red Nichols And His Five Pennies from an eponymous LP (Tops LP1594, Mono, 1957).  This is a rerun from years past, but it's good.

6. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, a musical version of the Robert Frost poem, performed by Heidelberg College Concert Choir-Lorna Lockwood, Accompanist, from the LP  Heidelberg College Concert Choir-Ferris E. Ohl, Director-Tiffin, Ohio (Recorded Publications Company Z-28941/28942 (Custom Processed And Pressed By RCA Victor), Mono).  Interesting, I'd never heard this done to music before.

7. Ave Maria by 1977 Chamber Singers-Robert Summer, Conductor, one more track from University Of South Florida Chamber Singers And University Singers (Suncoast Recording Service KM4471, Stereo, 1979).  Lots of good stuff on this one, hope you're enjoying it.

8. Christmas Song by Natural Gas from their self-titled album (Private Stock PS 2011, Stereo, 1976).  I didn't listen too closely to the lyrics, but it didn't strike me as having anything to do with Christmas...

9. Good King Wenceslas by The Orchestra Of LeRoy Holmes from the soundtrack LP The Devil's Brigade (United Artists UAS 6654, Stereo, 1968).  This is a rerun from way, way back, and it's worth the repeat, I believe.  I've recorded a lot of stuff from UA this year, they put out some great stuff back in the day, it's just hard to find.

10. It Happened In Sun Valley, a short version by Hap Miller And The Hap Miller Sun Valley Orchestra from the LP It Happened In Sun Valley (Stanal Records S-1010, Stereo, 1964).  I think this is the final reprise from the album.

11. Maria Walks Amid The Thorn by The Choir Of The First Presbyterian Church Of Dearborn-Alexander J. Turco, Organist And Director, from their album Carols And Anthems (Artie Fields Productions H-1496/1497, Stereo, 1967).  More goodness from a private press.

12. Skater's Cha Cha from Claude Thornhill And His Orchestra, the Snowfall man himself, from the LP Dance To The Sound Of Claude Thornhill (Decca DL 78878, Stereo, 1958).  I love dance-themed Christmas songs, so this is right up my alley.

That's it for tonight, short but sweet.  A little something for everyone, I think.  Have at it!

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Christmas In July 2012-Part 9

Part 9.  Nothing special about day 9.  It doesn't evenly divide anything into anything.  It's not themed in any way, it's just there.  So here it is...

1. Ave Maria by The Trapp Family Singers-Dr. Franz Wasner, Conductor, from their album The Best Of The Trapp Family Singers (MCA 2xLP MCA2-4048, Mono, 1973).  They really could sing, couldn't they?

2. The Bells Of St. Mary's by Roger King Mozian And His Orchestra from the sampler Spectacular Is The Sound For It! (MGM E3883, Mono, 1960).  Odd that a mono sampler was issued for a bunch of albums that were stereo showcases.  I think I may have shared this before, but from the original LP.

3. Blue December, a rerun from Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra And Chorus, pulled from the LP Big And Sweet, With A Beat (RCA Camden CAL-443, Mono, 1958).  This'll make you forget those 100 degree temps outside!

4. Cold, Cold Heart from Jerry Byrd and the album Satin Strings Of Steel (Monument MLP 8033 (Reissue of Memories Of Maria MLP 4008), Mono, 1962).  No, it's not really Christmas, but it's Hank Williams and it's got 'cold in the title, twice!

5. Doll Dance from Louis Bregoli and his album Accordion A La Carte (Tiffany 1018, Mono, 1960).  Gotta love a little accordion piece now and then.

6. Hodie Christus Natus Est by St. Olaf Lutheran Choir-Conducted By Olaf C. Christiansen, from the LP The St. Olaf Lutheran Choir (Mercury MG 20636, Mono, 1961).  I need to dig up the stereo version of this one.

7. Play Sweet Music by Children's Choir Under The Direction Of Mabel Stewart Boyter from the album that's surely become a favorite of yours already, A Joyful Sound-Songs For Children (Word W-3137-LP, Mono, 1961).

8. That's My Doll by Frankie Vaughan With Raymond Long At The Piano, The Beryl Stott Singers And The London Palladium Orchestra Directed By Reg Cole (whew!) from the album Frankie Vaughan At The Palladium (Columbia CL 1405, Mono, 1960).

9. That's What I Want For Christmas (From "Stowaway") by Shirley Temple from the album Shirley Temple's Hits (20th Fox Fox 3006, Mono, 1958).  Earlier in the month, I brought you a version of this song by one of the writers, Irving Caesar, which I found a couple days before I found this LP.  Serendipity is the word you're looking for.  :)

10. Winter Weather by Sy Mann At The Lowrey from Songs Of The Four Seasons (Golden Crest CR 3007, Mono, 1957).  Good stuff from the who later put out a Christmas album on the Moog Synthesizer!

11. Falling Snow by The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors, from The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861 (From Part 4 "Winter"), Stereo, 1966).  Another LP that should be fast turning into a favorite.

12. March Of The Toys by The Big 18 from the album Blues On Parade (Victor (Japan) SLS-5031, Stereo).  Not sure when this Japanese version came out, but I think I shared this same track with you before in mono.

And that's that.  Twelve more tracks, one more day.  I'm tired of typing.  Here's the share, knock yourselves out.

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Christmas In July 2012-Part 8

Day 8, beginning of week 2, and it's another theme day.  Well, sorta.  I don't think I have enough tracks to theme the whole thing, but we'll see.  The theme is comedy.  Let's go...

1. The Twelve Gifts Of Christmas by Allan Sherman-Arranged And Conducted By Lou Busch With The Voices Of Jimmy Joyce from the album For Swingin' Livers Only! (Warner Bros W1569, Mono, 1964).  This is the album version, which I believe is a slightly edited version of the single version.  Something about a girl with a clock in her stomach, if memory serves...

2. Amateur Show Contestants by Bob Newhart from Bob Newhart Faces Bob Newhart (Faces Bob Newhart) (Warner Bros W1517, Mono, 1964).  I went hunting for Christmas comedy bits that weren't obvious from the track title, and this was what I found.

3. Twelve Days, a sorta funny song parody by The Chad Mitchell Trio from their album Singin' Our Minds (Mercury SR 60838, Stereo, 1963).  This is a rerun from some years ago, and I think the second track from this album I've shared.

4. Reggae Christmas Eve In Transylvania by Count Floyd and his eponymous album (RCA/SCTV MFL1-8501, Stereo, 1982).  I'd heard the track before and had no idea where it come from.  Now it all makes sense...

5. Twelve Daze Of Christmas by Fay McKay from her LP A-Live At The Dunes (MLG Records 1021, Stereo).  A classic.

6. The Frozen Logger by Hank Hill And Tennessee Folk Trio from the budget LP Folk Song Hall Of Fame (Palace PST-716, Stereo, 1960).  Not really comedy, but I little humorous.

7. A Miserable Merry Christmas by Hiram Sherman, Narration By Cyril Ritchard from the educational record Many Voices-Adventures For Readers: Book 1 (Harcourt, Brace And Company XTV 26334/26335, Mono, 1958).  A humorous story that I thought I'd throw in to give this day a little length.

8. The Abominable Snowman by Jonathan Winters from the album Stuff'n Nonsense (Columbia CS 9799, Stereo, 1969).  I think this album compiled bits from his TV show.

9. Christmas Sing Along With Jose-Jingle Bells, a rerun by Jose Jiminez aka Bill Dana from the LP Jose Jimenez In Orbit-Bill Dana On Earth (Kapp KS-3257, Stereo, 1962).  Not very politically correct, I'm afraid.

10. Choo Choo Engine by Louise Binder Scott, Narrator & Lucille Wood, Pianist from their kiddie LP Listening Time Album 3 (Bowmar LT 1003, Mono).  I wasn't sure this was a Christmas track, but the cover sure looked it, so I took a chance, and here you go.

11. A Word About Winter, another great bit of verse from Ogden Nash With Music Composed And Conducted By Glenn Osser from the LP The Fanciful World Of Ogden Nash (Capitol SW 1570, Stereo, 1961).  I wish I had more Ogden Nash in my collection.

12. Me And My Teddy Bear by Rosemary Clooney-Orchestra Under Direction Of Percy Faith, from the collection Children's Favorites (Columbia 10" 33 RPM CL 2569 Playhouse Party Series, Mono, 1956).  It mentions Christmas, so I'm throwing it in here.

13. A Christmas Carol from the great Tom Lehrer and his album An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer (Reprise RS-6199, Stereo, 1959).  Good stuff and a good tune to end on.

Not a bad collection, if I do say so myself.  Certainly more tracks than I thought I'd be able to pull together for a playlist.  Let me know what you think, or if there's anything I missed.  I can think of a few, but I didn't have them handy.

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Christmas In July 2012-Day 7

Today makes the one week point of the Christmas In July celebration here at Ernie (Not Bert), and what a week it's been!  Certainly the most prolific ever, with more shares per inch than most Fortune 500 companies.  We've still got a long way to go though, so be sure to pace yourself.  On with the show!

1. All Creatures Now Are Merry-Minded by 1978 Chamber Singers-Robert Summer, Conductor, another track from the LP University Of South Florida Chamber Singers And University Singers (Suncoast Recording Service KM4471, Stereo, 1979).  Nice track that's new to my ears.  Oh, and all the music tonight is in stereo to make for them all being in mono yesterday.

2. Ave Maria by Brad White & Lee Eisenstein from their album Old Friends (W.E. Records WE1001, Stereo, 1983).  This is a custom pressing that I'd never seen before.  I think you'll like this version.

3. Baby, It's Cold Outside by Gordon Jenkins, the second track I'm sharing from Gordon Jenkins Conducts 26 Years Of Academy Award Winning Songs (CG CGS 3002, Stereo, 1959).  Is this a rerun, I'm not sure...  This is a little bouncier than I remember.  I like it!

4. Bobsled from Clebanoff And His Orchestra and the LP Strings Afire (Mercury PPS 6019, Stereo, 1961).  I know this is a rerun, and really good one at that.  If this track doesn't put you on the fast track down a snow-covered mountain, you should have your hearing checked.

5. The Bells Of St. Mary's by Del Wood and her LP Rags To Riches (RCA Victor LSP-1633, Stereo, 1959).  Another version of the classic.

6. Christmas Carols by The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors, yet another track from The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861 (From Part 4 "Winter"), Stereo, 1966).  Nice straightforward title.

7. Go Tell It On The Mountain by The World Action Singers Of Oral Roberts University-Joyce Lampkin, Soloist from the LP Oral Roberts Presents (Light LS-5520-LP, Stereo, 1969).  All the other 'soloists' on this LP were children of Oral Roberts.  So there.

8. Go Where I Send Thee by The Dukes Of Dixieland and Clara Ward And Her Gospel Singers, quite a nice surprise from the album We Gotta Shout (Columbia CS 8842, Stereo, 1963).  It's always nice to find something like this hidden away on a mainstream album.

9. Let There Be Peace On Earth, a little bit of celebrity vocal from Eddie Albert-Conducted By Milton Rogers and the album Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' (Hamilton HLP 12103 (Reissue of Dot DLP 25109), Stereo, 1959).  I know this is a rerun, but I grabbed it from a reissue this time.  I don't know when this reissue came out, the 1959 date is the original.

10. The Marvelous Toy from The Chad Mitchell Trio and their LP Singin' Our Minds (Mercury SR 60838, Stereo, 1963).  Another rerun, written by Tom Paxton.

11. Satin Doll, not a Christmas song from Rudy Rosa With Dave Walshaw, local entertainer, and the album A Musical Climax With Rudy Rosa And His Custom X-66 Hammond Organ And Synthesizer Complex (Rudy Rosa 777-MC, Stereo, 1977).  I wasn't sure he was from around here until I noticed a picture on the back of the sleeve that showed a local pass where I like to go shooting occasionally.

12. Snow Deer by Joe "Fingers" Carr And Ira Ironstrings from the LP Together For The Last Time-Volume 1 (Warner Bros WS1389, Stereo, 1960).  I had a mono version of this recorded and ready to go, then I found the stereo had been in my collection all along and was about 2 feet from the computer.  I guess you have to pay attention...

13. Waltz Of The Flowers (Nutcracker Suite), a rerun by David Rose And His Orchestra-Tenor Sax Solo By Bob Cooper from the LP Concert With A Beat! (MGM SE3852, Stereo, 1960).  I ripped this from a record that I brought back from my recent trip to Atlanta.  I think it was one of the only records I brought back with any Christmas In July content, but I brought a whole bunch of pure Christmas stuff.  That should pay dividends come the holiday season.

And that's it, 13 tracks tonight for a total of 95 for the week.  Not too bad.  Download and enjoy!

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Christmas In July 2012-Part 6

I'm a little late tonight, but I've been busy recording more music to share with you guys.  Tonight you get fourteen tracks because I was able to record 14 tracks!  Not the same fourteen, though, only one of them is something I recorded tonight, but you'll get the other 13 eventually.  Let's dive into this pile head first, shall we?  (Oh, and it's theme night!  The theme is "mono".  How's that for adding a little spice?)

1. Angelus Ad Pastores (The Angel To The Shepherds) by The Trapp Family Singers-Dr. Franz Wasner, Conductor from the compilation album The Best Of The Trapp Family Singers (MCA 2xLP MCA2-4048, Mono, 1973).  OK, so this is what I recorded tonight, over a dozen Christmas carols from the family of the real-life Baron Von Trapp.  I'll sprinkle them into the mix as the month goes on, I think you'll be impressed by some of them.

2. Baby It's Cold Outside Cha Cha by Enoch Light And The Light Brigade from Happy Cha Cha's-Volume 2 (Grand Award GA 33-191, Mono, 1959).  I thought I'd shared this before, but I can't find it in the archives.  Now I need to find the stereo version...

3. A Child's Christmas by Emlyn Williams from A Boy Growing Up (Argo RG 547, Mono, 1968).  Yep, it's a cover of the Dylan Thomas poem.  Is a recitation of someone else's poem considered a cover?  Hmm...

4. Doll Dance by The Triads from the LP Sunrise Serenade (Waldorf Music Hall MHK 33-1229, Mono, 1958).  Not bad...very reminiscent of what The Harmonicats or even The Three Suns were doing at the time, which is probably the whole point of the thing.

5. Giddi-Up by Children's Choir Under The Direction Of Mabel Stewart Boyter and the album A Joyful Sound-Songs For Children (Word W-3137-LP, Mono, 1961).  I'd never heard the song before, and I like it!

6. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by The Salvation Army New York Staff Band & Male Chorus from Classics In Brass (Triumphonic LP-7, Mono).  Do all recordings of Salvation Army bands sound like this?  Don't they rehearse?

7. June In January, a rerun from Don, Dick 'N Jimmy from the LP Spring Fever (Crown CLP 5005, Mono, 1957).  Yes, at one time the notorious budget label Crown actually recorded and released original stuff.  Hard to believe, but true.

8. Our Winter Love by Robert Maxwell, His Harp And Orchestra from A Song For All Seasons (Decca DL 4609, Mono, 1965).  Pretty sure this is a rerun.

9. Silent Night from Mahalia Jackson and her album Just As I Am (Kenwood/Nashboro LP 479 (Reissue of Apollo LP from 1958), Mono, 1964).  You can't go wrong with just about anything Mahalia ever released.

10. The Snow Queen by Ireene Wicker, The Singing Lady, Accompanied By Samuel Sanders from the LP Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales (Simon Says M-38, produced By Record Guild Of America, Distributed By ABC-Paramount, Mono).  Yep, same Ireene Wicker we highlighted during Christmas, and the second long spoken-word track of the night.

11. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year by The Four Lads With Ray Ellis And His Orchestra from The Four Lads Sing Frank Loesser (Columbia CL 1045, Mono, 1957).  Another rerun, hopefully sounding a bit better this time around.

12. That's What I Want For Christmas as performed by it's author, Irving Caesar, from the LP And Then I Wrote... (Coral CRL 57083, Mono, 1956).  This album appears to be part of a series featuring popular songwriters where they tell stories and perform their well-known songs.  I know there's at least one more in the set that features an artist known for his Christmas repertoire, and I'm keeping my eyes peeled for it.  I found this one in a small antique mall with one booth of records.  I payed too much money for it, but I knew it would be a great addition to Christmas In July, and you guys are worth it.

13. Wedding Of The Painted Doll by Leon Berry, from an album released before his Audio Fidelity heyday, Glockenspiels, Trap And Plenty Of Pipes With leon Berry At The Hub Rink Chicago-Volume 1 (Replica 33x2501, Mono).  I'm not sure exactly when this came out, but I know it's early.  I think he recorded this song again later, too.

14. White Christmas by the General Electric Transcription Orchestra from Ronald Reagan Recommends Award Winning Music From Hollywood (General Electric GE-1001, Mono, 1957).  Yep, there's a big picture of then-actor, later Governor, later President Ronald Reagan on the cover of this one.  I think this may have been a giveaway with some GE appliance, but I don't know that for a fact.  I had a copy of this many years ago before I shared Christmas stuff, but I haven't seen it in years.  I was excited when this one turned up recently in a thrift store, so I went ahead and bought another copy.

And that's it.  Another wide slice of Christmas music from all over the chart tonight, I hope you enjoy it.

MediaFire

Christmas In July 2012-Part 5

Has it been five days already?  I guess so.  Still a long way to go this month.  Let's jump right in...

1. Look Ahead by The Mariners With Orchestra And Chorus Under The Direction Of Archie Bleyer, Introduction By Arthur Godfrey from Arthur Godfrey's TV Calendar Show (Columbia CL 521, Mono, 1953).  There are three Christmassy tracks on this record, two of which I shared with you last year, one of which kept skipping on me, so I didn't share it.  Not long after that share, I found a very clean copy for a quarter, so here you go.  This may have been a good last-day-of-the-month track, but I thought of that too late.

2. Love-In (December) by Hal Blaine from his album Psychedelic Percussion (Dunhill 50019, Mono, 1967).  Another little blast of psychedelia for your yuletide.

3. The March Of The Siamese Children by Joe "Fingers" Carr from Honky-Tonk Street Parade (Capitol T809, Mono, 1957).  Not really Christmas related, but it always reminds me of March Of The Wooden Soldiers, and it has everything to do with Children, so I throw it in here.

4. Oh, You Beautiful Doll performed by Russ Carlyle And His Orchestra from Russ Carlyle And His Orchestra At Roseland Dance City (ABC-Paramount ABC-253, Mono, 1959).  Well, it has 'doll' in the title...

5. Pure As The Driven Snow by Dorothy Shay The Park Avenue Hillbilly from the reissue LP Coming 'Round The Mountain (Harmony (Columbia) HL 7017, Mono, 1957).  Dorothy Shay has been a little project of mine this year, I've tracked down some of her original 78s and a 10" LP on Capitol.  This isn't much to do with Christmas, but it does mention snow.  I've done worse.

6. Skater's Waltz by 110 Strings, budget label goodness from the 7" record Waltz Favorites (Tops Compact LP 7" 33 RPM 706, Mono).  I think this is the second track this year from a 7" record.  I've seen what I think is this same recording on 12", but ripping the 7" gives me something to talk about.

7. Super Skier, a track about hitting the slopes by The Chad Mitchell Trio from their live LP Mighty Day On Campus (Kapp KL-1262, Mono, 1962).  This track is co-written by Bob Gibson, but I don't remember it featuring on his ski-themed album.

8. Be A Santa by Percy Faith And His Orchestra from the LP Subways Are For Sleeping (Columbia CS 8533, Stereo, 1961).  I've been hunting for this for ages, ever since I first found out he recorded it.  This has to be one of the harder to find Percy Faith records as far as I'm concerned.  But here it is!

9. Bring A Torch, Jeannette Isabella by Chamber Singers-Robert Summer, Conductor, another track from the LP University Of South Florida Chamber Singers And University Singers (Suncoast Recording Service KM4471, Stereo, 1979).  I've never been exactly clear on what's going on in this song...

10. Come And Adore by St. Olaf Lutheran Choir-Conducted By Olaf C. Christiansen from the LP Fifty Golden Years (Mercury SR 60728, Stereo, 1962).  I think this is a rerun...

11. December by Count Basie & The Mills Brothers from their LP The Board Of Directors (Dot DLP 25838, Stereo, 1968).  I know this one is a rerun, possibly one of the best tracks I shared out in 2010, I think it was.  Hopefully, it sounds a bit better this time around.

12. The First Noel by Funtastic 25 and the album Funtastic 25 Children's Songs Volume 2 (ERA BU 4952, Stereo, 1982).  Sometimes, you find Christmas music in the weirdest places.  This record aimed at kids featured a Christmas song at the end of both sides.  Very odd, but I'll take what I can get.  I'm not even sure the name of the group is supposed to be Funtastic 25, but that was all I could figure out from the way it was written on the LP cover and the vinyl.

And that's it for tonight.  I've got to go see if the washer is going to work after I replaced the control panel.  I think it's still got problems, but we'll see.  Here's your link...

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Christmas In July 2012-Part 4

Hello, kiddies, it's that time again, time for another edition of Christmas in July!  It's July 4th, but it's raining outside, so fireworks may not be an option this evening.  If you're rained out, put on some nice Christmas music and take a rest from the heat before you have to get up and go back to work tomorrow.  Let's see what old Ernie Claus has in his bag for you tonight.

1. Satin Doll from Art Mooney And His Orchestra from Jump For Joy! (Kapp KS-3405, Stereo, 1964).  A swingin' version of the Ellington number.  Not much to do with Christmas, but nice.

2. It Happened In Sun Valley by Bob Scobey's Frisco Jazz Band-Vocal By Clancy Hayes from the LP Swingin' On The Golden Gate (RCA Victor LPM-1448, Mono, 1957).  I like this song, I don't think you hear it enough.

3. The Deepening Snow by Bobby Bare from the album Constant Sorrow (RCA Victor LSP-3395, Stereo, 1965), on which Bobby pretends he's Johnny Cash judging by the cover.  Lots of Dylan covers on this one, too.

4. Christmas Carol by Children's Choir Under The Direction Of Mabel Stewart Boyter from A Joyful Sound-Songs For Children (Word W-3137-LP, Mono, 1961).  Another nice track from this LP.

5. Boar's Head Carol by Chamber Singers-Robert Summer, Conductor from their LP University Of South Florida Chamber Singers And University Singers (Suncoast Recording Service KM4471, Stereo, 1979).  Another track from another LP that I got a whole handful of tracks from.  How else do you think I share out so much music?

6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem by The Choir Of The First Presbyterian Church Of Dearborn-Alexander J. Turco, Organist And Director from Carols And Anthems (Artie Fields Productions H-1496/1497, Stereo, 1967).  Yes, third track in a row...

7. One Little Candle performed by Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians-Joe Marine, Soloist from their album Songs Of Inspiration (Decca DL 8709, Mono, 1958).  I appear to have misspelled Inspiration in the track tags.  What kind of shoddy job am I doing here?  Couple more Fred Waring songs coming up later on in the month.

8. O Come, O Come Emmanuel by James W. Keane from the carillon LP Bells Over Rochester-The World Famous City's Carillon (Tom Jones Recording Studio TJS-11975-A/B, Stereo, 1975).  I always try to squeeze a few carillon tracks in here for you, I hope you appreciate that.  :)

9. Everyday Is Christmas, a classic from Joe Bushkin With Rhythm Accompaniment from the album Piano Music For Two (Columbia CL 602, Mono, 1954).  I think I've shared this before, but not from this LP.

10. June In January from Leo Addeo And His Orchestra and the LP Great Standards With A Hawaiian Touch (RCA Camden CAL-672, Mono, 1962).  Good luck finding a Leo Addeo album that doesn't feature music somehow tied to Hawaii.  They exist, but there aren't many.  Not that it's a bad thing, I'm just mentioning it.

11. Exotic Night, and oddly titled version of What Child Is This?, which is actually just different lyrics for the ancient tune Greensleeves, performed by Martin Denny from the album Exotica Classica-For Those In Love (Liberty LRP-3513, Mono, 1967).  I shared this out ages ago, only in Stereo.  Perhaps I should have waited to find a stereo copy before re-doing it, but I figured why not?  I get impatient sometimes.  Oh, and I couldn't find my original copy.  It's here somewhere, but finding anything in this collection is a challenge.

12. Baby, It's Cold Outside from Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme from the LP We Got Us (ABC-Paramount ABC-300, Mono, 1960).  Speaking of stereo/mono, this is something I've kept an eye out for in stereo for ages, but never found one.  I'll just have to keep looking, I guess...  Oh, this one is a rerun as well.

13. Toyland-March Of The Toys by The Troubadors from the LP Great Melodies From The Operettas Of The Century (Kapp KL-1098, Mono, 1960).  Nice version, this.

14. Danse Arabe (From "The Nutcracker") by Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra from The King Plays Some Aces (RCA Victor LSP-1882, Stereo, 1958).  A rerun, but still nice.  As far as I know, other than a couple pieces from The Nutcracker on this LP, Xavier Cugat never recorded any Christmas music.  Anyone care to prove me wrong?

There you go.  How's everyone liking the music this year?  I think there's some good music here, some good sound, and a nice selection.  I love being able to bring you long and varied playlists, you can really enjoy each download on it's own, listening to half an hour or so worth of music at a time.  Lemme know what you think.  Here's the linky-link for tonight.

MediaFire

Happy Independence Day, America!

Celebration!

Here are a few pictures from last night's pre-Fourth fireworks show. Nothing too special, but you'll get the idea. Now if I don't feel like going out tonight for the big show, at least I've got it covered.

Christmas In July 2012-Day 3

Day the third!  14 more tracks to make you forget that it's over 100 outside.  I'm off shortly to shoot some fireworks on the night before the big night.  I always try to get it out of the way early whenever possible.  We'll see how it goes.  So I need to throw tonight's tracks up quickly here.

1. Some Winter On Nantucket Town by Abe King from his album Nantucket (Abe King WFH 1, Stereo, 1975).  Strictly instrumental, very 70's sounding, but not very Christmassy.

2. & 3.  The Tender Snowdrop (and it's introduction) by Anna Russell With Eugene Rankin from her LP Anna Russell's Guide To Concert Audiences (Columbia Masterworks ML 4928, Mono, 1954).  She's not very well known today, but in certain circles back in the mid-fifties, Anna Russell was the bomb.  Or so it appears from her records.

4. Ave Maria by The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors, another track from their LP The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861 (From Part 2 "Summer"), Stereo, 1966).  Not bad, not good.

5. Traineau (The Sleigh Ride) by The Camarata Contemporary Chamber Orchestra from the electronic LP The Electronic Spirit Of Erik Satie Featuring The Moog Synthesizer (Deram/London XDES 18066  (Excerpt from Sports & Divertissment), Stereo, 1972).  What a surprise this was!  You did see the word 'Moog' in there, didn't you?  Short, but sweet.

6. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by Ethel Smith from Bright And Breezy (Decca DL 8799, Mono, 1958).  A rerun from back in the day, but still better than anything on her Christmas LP.

7. Frost Over London by George Martin And His Orchestra from his somewhat hard-to-find LP London By George (United Artists UAS 6647, Stereo, 1968).  I was a little disappointed to find that the frost of the title isn't on a field of pumpkins, but refers to David Frost.  I guess all of George Martin's LPs are hard to find, due to their Beatles connection.

8. White Christmas from Gordon Jenkins and his album Gordon Jenkins Conducts 26 Years Of Academy Award Winning Songs (CG CGS 3002, Stereo, 1959).  I don't know, some budget LP from somewhere or other.  I guess Gordon had a few down years in his career and got his name attached to a few shady deals.

9. Doll Dance by Gus Farney from Gus Farney At The Giant Five Manual Wurlitzer Pipe Organ (Warner Bros W 1409, Mono, 1961).  I loves me anything from the WB label in those early years!

10. The Toy Drum by The Harry Simeone Chorale from the double LP The Magic Of Their Singing (20th Century Fox 2xLP TCF 108-2S, Stereo, 1961).  These guys put out a ton of product, but no one has any memory of anything other than The Little Drummer Boy.  Shame, that.

11. Skating Princess (Eisprinzessin) by Helmut Zacharias And His Magic Violins from the album Magic Violins (Decca DL 8431, Mono, 1957).  Not bad, not bad.  I think I need to take a closer look at what I'm sharing out.  I don't seem to be putting up enough repeats.  If I don't spread things out a bit, it'll be 100% repeats at the end, and no one wants that.

12. The Frozen Logger by Jimmie Rodgers With Joe Reisman's Orchestra And Chorus from the LP At Home With Jimmie Rodgers-An Evening Of Folk Songs (Roulette SR 25128, Stereo, 1960).  This is the first of a few versions I've found this year of this tale of a very cold-tolerant logger.  Oddly enough, I think my collection is still missing a stereo copy of Jimmie full-length Christmas effort.  I've got a mono copy, and a cover-only for the stereo version, but no music.  And while I'm whining, I need a copy of the Bonnie Guitar LP, too.  :)

13. My Favorite Things by The New Group and their album What's New (Roulette R 25270, Mono, 1964).  Not the best possible group name they could have picked.  Who expects a second or third album from The New Group?

14. Masters In This Hall, a nice track by the 1978 Chamber Singers-Robert Summer, Conductor from the privately pressed LP University Of South Florida Chamber Singers And University Singers (Suncoast Recording Service KM4471, Stereo, 1979).  I've got a bunch of tracks from this one, so I hope you like it.

Short but sweet tonight, I've got to go get ready to take some pictures.  Hope you have a great night, and don't forget to come back again tomorrow for more.

MediaFire

Christmas In July 2012-Part 2

I've got the tracks selected, the MP3s made, the ZIP file uploaded, all I have to do is list out all the songs and we're ready to go.  What's on tap for today?

1. Powder by The American Breed from the LP Pumpkin, Powder, Scarlet & Green (Acta A-38006, Stereo, 1968).  It's short, a little psychedelic, and the perfect mood-setter for a Christmas night.  OK, maybe not perfect, but it'll do.

2. Winter World Of Love from Billy Vaughn and his album of the same name (Dot DLP25975, Stereo, 1970).  This one is a rerun from way back when, but I wanted to bring it back in much nicer sound.  I've learned so much over the years, I think I'm making much better recordings now than I was four or five years ago.  Maybe by the time I'm sixty, I'll figure out exactly what I'm doing around here.

3. Away In A Manger by The Choir Of The First Presbyterian Church Of Dearborn-Alexander J. Turco, Organist And Director from the album Carols And Anthems (Artie Fields Productions H-1496/1497, Stereo, 1967).  I tried to stay away from some of the church records, but I can't help myself.  This one is nicely recorded, I think you'll enjoy it.

4. Little Abou The Camel by The Continental Symphony Orchestra, Narrated By Art Gilmore And Don Wilson from Classics For Children Volume 2 (Capitol T3248, Mono, 1957).  I noticed just today that this track appears to have been taken from an earlier kiddie record that's been shared over at Kiddie Records Weekly.  That issue only mentions Don Wilson, so he's probably the narrator on this track.  The story doesn't have anything to do with Christmas, but the music is adapted from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.

5. It Happened In Sun Valley (Open) by Hap Miller And The Hap Miller Sun Valley Orchestra from the LP of the same name (Stanal Records S-1010, Stereo, 1964).  This is one of several Sun Valley-themed tracks from a record put out by a group who actually performed in the actual Sun Valley.  Some cool tracks here that I'll get to you as the month goes on.

6. Frost Flowers, a song by Ichiro Masuda Quintet from the LP Midnight Vibraphone (JVC-Nivico (Japan) SJV 248, Stereo, 1967).  Yes, I've traveled all the way to Japan to bring you interesting music for Christmas in July!

7. The Reason Everybody Likes Christmas by Jim Mandell With Mary Hylan & Debby James from Action Songs For Holidays And Special Days (Tom Thumb T 312, Stereo, 1979).  Great title for a Christmas song, but I'm not sure the execution is there.  Oh, well.

8. Sleigh Ride by Kurt Wege And His Orchestra, a rerun around here from 21 Channel Sound-A Leroy Anderson Concert (MGM SE 4075, Stereo, 1962).  Sleigh Ride is one of the easier to find Christmas tracks, since it shows up on all sorts of Leroy Anderson tribute albums.  Nice version, though.  Looks like I misspelled Orchestra in the track tags, though.  Sorry...

9. Six Weeks Every Summer, Christmas Every Other Year, a country weeper by Mary-Jane And Carol Neal from the album Country To Classic-An Evening With Mary-Jane And Carol Neal (International Composers 2xLP ICI 613, Stereo. 1981).  I'd never heard this song before, but it looks like it's made the rounds before, covered here by a lounge act of questionable talent.

10. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by The Roger Wagner Chorale With The Capitol Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Roger Wagner, taken from the LP Holy, Holy, Holy (Capitol P8498, Mono, 1959).  I think this is a rerun, but I'm not certain.  All I can say for sure about this version is that it's very long.

11. Song Of Mary by St. Olaf Lutheran Choir-Conducted By Olaf C. Christiansen, and the album is Fifty Golden Years (Mercury SR 60728, Stereo, 1962), the first of a handful of tracks from these guys from two different albums.  I wasn't certain it was two different albums until I finally sat down to record them and compared the track list.  I think both covers have the same, or at least similar stained glass windows on the covers.

12. Snowflake Polka by Walter Ostanek And His Polka Kings from Polka Party (Arc A-609, Mono, 1965).  Arc is a Canadian label that specializes in Canadian content, with a broad range of product.  Remember that Christmas In An English Pub LP I shared out a couple years back?  Yep, that was Arc.

13. 'Twas In The Moon Of Wintertime (AKA Huron Carol) by Winifred Smith from the album Ethnic Folk Songs From The South (The Tennessee Squire Association 630-D-2211, Mono).  Last but not least is a great Christmas carol that you don't hear too often.

That's it, thirteen more tracks.  Hope you're enjoying them.  And thanks for all the comments yesterday!  Keep 'em comin', and I'll keep sharin' the tunes!

MediaFire

Christmas In July 2012-Part 1

You know what day this is, right?  It's July the first, and that must mean it's time to begin celebrating Christmas in July here at Ernie (Not Bert)!  Every July since 2006, I've spent the month sharing little bits of Christmas music with you, but not the same albums I share out during December.  No, July is reserved for bits of non-Christmas albums that are a bit Christmassy, either because they sound a little like Christmas, they mention Christmas, or perhaps they are honest-to-goodness Christmas songs tucked away where you might otherwise never find them.  It's a fun little hobby of mine, to find these things that others have overlooked, record them from the original vinyl and share them with the world.  I hope you'll enjoy them.  This year, I've worked especially hard not only to find these hidden gems, but to get most of them recorded ahead of time, thus allowing me to know about how many I have to share, and to maximize my sharity per day.  I think I'm going to set another record this year, beating last year's mark of 427 tracks!  With this many songs in the folder, my goal is to share a minimum of 12 tracks per day, which is basically an entire Christmas album!  You'll find I'm not a very good sequencer, though, so don't expect the smooth flow of a classic Christmas album.  It's more likely to resemble a thrown-together album from your favorite budget label, with different styles, types, volumes, eras, etc, all thrown into a single playlist, but mixed with a little love.  As usual, all tracks come from my own personal record collection, ripped by my own two hands from a cranky old Numark turntable, recorded into Audacity, filtered through ClickRepair, tagged & MP3d in iTunes and shared out via MediaFire.  Any questions, just ask.  Oh, there is no album artwork, mostly because I'm too lazy to scan the hundreds and hundreds of album covers necessary.  What else?  Same as last year, I've going back and re-recorded a lot of tracks that I shared in previous years, either because I found a new, cleaner copy, a stereo copy, or just because I think I do a better job now than then.  I hope to keep these reruns to less than half of the shares, but I think you'll enjoy the old stuff anyway as a reminder of what great music is out there.  So, without too much ado, welcome to Christmas in July 2012, and let's jump into the deep end!

01. Snow by The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors from the album The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861 (From Part 4 "Winter"), Stereo, 1966). Since most of the east coast of America is in the middle of a heatwave, why not start out with some snow-themed tracks? These should held cool you down and get you in the mood.

02. Snow-Snow by Monte Kelly from Sensations In Sound And Moods I Love (Essex Records 2x7" 45 RPM Es-Exp-111, Mono, 1954), a set of two 7" records that I found without sleeves. Interesting, but I wish I knew more about this.

03. Snowbound by John Davidson-Arranged And Conducted By Nick Perito from what I believe is his first album The Young Warm Sound Of John Davidson (Colpix SCP 485, Stereo, 1965). You did know that John Davidson was a singer before he was a gameshow host, right? This tune was the title track for a Ferrante & Teicher seasonal LP before this version, and the common thread is writer and bandleader Nick Perito, who worked on both albums.

04. Winter Song by The Gene Lowell Chorus from Halls Of Ivy (Warner Bros WS 1244, Stereo, 1959). This is the first song I'm sure is a rerun from days of old. This is one of those songs that I keep an eye out because it's fairly likely to turn up outside of the usual Christmas or seasonal albums.

05. The Friendly Beasts by Children's Choir Under The Direction Of Mabel Stewart Boyter from A Joyful Sound-Songs For Children (Word W-3137-LP, Mono, 1961). The month is young and this is my second share of children singing. Hopefully, this trend isn't too annoying. At least they are professional children on a real label, not some vanity pressing from a junior high school. But don't worry, I've got plenty of those waiting for you, too.

06. Hallelujah by The Eric Rogers Chorale And Orchestra from the album Glory, Glory, Hallelujah (London Phase 4 SP 44028, Stereo, 1963). The first appearance of the Handel classic this month, and most certainly not the last.

07. Wedding Of The Painted Doll from Fred Hartley and the LP The Twin Pianos Of Fred Hartley (Richmond (London) RPS 39003, Stereo, 1962). Not really a Christmas tune, but I've been fairly liberal with the themes of dolls and toys in my collecting this year. I hope you don't mind.

08. Bells Of St. Mary's, played by Jerry Byrd on his album Satin Strings Of Steel (Monument MLP 8033 (Reissue of Memories Of Maria MLP 4008), Mono, 1962). I like to find versions of familiar songs on unfamiliar instruments, or at least in unusual settings, and this song on the steel guitar fits in with that theme quite nicely. Can you dig it?

09. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy by guitarist Laurindo Almeida from Reverie For Spanish Guitar (Capitol SP 8571, Stereo, 1961). You're going to see lots of songs from The Nutcracker show up around here during Christmas in July. I've tried to keep it tamped down to a dull roar, and I don't remember recording any entire side-long versions this year, but you never know. If I ever run short of tracks, there are a whole lot more dime-store versions in the pile to be recorded.

10. Ave Maria by Lawrence Welk-Violin Solo By Dick Kesner-Vocal By The Glee Club from Songs Of Faith (Coral CRL 57191, Mono, 1957). The first of many different versions of this song, as well as others of the same name. I can't even keep track of them all. Are they all Christmas, well, sorta.

11. Greenwillow Christmas (Carol) by The Melachrino Strings from Music From Frank Loesser's Greenwillow (RCA Victor LSP-2229, Stereo, 1960). A rerun around these parts, but this time in Stereo, so certainly worth a reshare.

12. Good Night Sweet Mind by Ogden Nash With Music Composed And Conducted By Glenn Osser from The Fanciful World Of Ogden Nash (Capitol SW 1570, Stereo, 1961). I just found this LP yesterday, and I went ahead and recorded the whole thing! Ogden Nash is just great in my humble opinion, and I hope you think so as well. This is the first of two tracks I'll share with you this month, and this one didn't pop out at me as being appropriate until I heard it. You'll wonder why it's here until he gets into his story a bit, then you'll understand immediately. The cover on this one is by Hirschfeld, with his very recognizable fluid style and NINA in the haircut. Should I mention the great Ogden Nash Christmas album?

13., 14. & 15.Introduction To 'A Visit From St Nicholas', A Visit From St. Nicholas, Segue-From Christmas To The Civil War (Excerpt) by the great Vincent Price from the LP America The Beautiful (Columbia Masterworks ML 5668, Mono, 1961). Wow, this is what makes hunting for Christmas music so much fun. I was so excited when I found this album last year, I almost shared it out during Christmas, but I knew it would make a great contribution to Christmas in July, so I held off. Why I'd never heard of this before, I have no idea. I mean, one of the greatest masters of American horror, a movie icon, and he recorded a Christmas story! This is just great. I've broken it into three tracks, an introduction, the story, and a coda that links this to the next recitation on the album. Those of you wanting to put this on your own Christmas albums will probably just want to use that middle one, but I wanted you to get the full experience.

OK, that's day one and a whole lot of typing. I hope I can keep this up. Sharing 12 or more tracks for day is a whole lot more work than two or three. We'll see. But remember, comments are like fuel to bloggers. Here's the link, see you all tomorrow.

MediaFire

Off-Season

I have it on good authority that in the off-season, Santa enjoys hanging out at air shows.  No word on whether he's trading those reindeer in on a Blue Angel-powered sleigh, but perhaps.

Christmas And A Half 2012-Part 4

And that brings us to the final little bit of my Christmas And A Half Celebration, the last 18 tracks to bring us up to 78, all from 78s, both 10" and 12".  What's left here in my playlist?  Lots of flipsides to things I've already shared, but still plenty of good stuff that I'm happy to share.  Here we go...

61. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus-Patti Page With Orchestra Under The Direction Of Jack Rael.  OK, so shoot me, I shouldn't be sharing this one from 1950, but here it is.  Enjoy!

62. Happy Little Songs-Skip To My Lou, Polly Wolly Doodle, Arkansas Traveler, Jingle Bells-Mark Warnow And His Hit Parade Orchestra.  Only a little bit of Christmas on this one from 1945, the flip side to the Mark Warnow/Dick Todd I shared back on day 1.

63. Frosty The Snowman-Meadowlarks.  Budget label goodness! They crammed four tracks onto this 10" 78 that I was unable to date, and they're all pretty good.

64. (I'm Gettin') Nuttin' For Christmas-Ricky Zahnd & The Blue Jeaners With Tony Mottola Orchestra.  Are they all flip sides today?  Not quite, but close.  This one is from 1955's glut of covers of this hit for Barry Gordon.

65. I Wanna Do Something For Santa Claus-Johnny Bond.  Yes, the flip of the 1950 record from Bond that I shared earlier.  Another great track.

66. It's Christmas Time Again-Peggy Lee With Orchestra And Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires.  Yes, another one I shouldn't share, this time from 1953, but at least it's not a b-side.

67. A Letter To Santa-Bill Cook.  Also a flipside, also from 1950.  Ditto.

68. Little Merrie Christmas-Kathryn King With Savoy Orchestra.  Another flip, are you tired of them yet, this time I couldn't put a date on it.

69. The Night Before Christmas-Basil Rathbone With The Robert Mitchell Boychoir.  Another b-side from 1939, by Sherlock Holmes.

70. Santa Claus Tells About His Toy Shop-Gilbert Girard.  Another b-side, not by Buck Rogers in the 25th century, but a different Gil Girard in 1918.

71. Santa Got Stuck In The Chimney-Jimmy Boyd Accompanied By Norman Luboff.  Is this the B-side to one I've already shared, or another record altogether from Jimmy?  I'm too lazy to look. 1953 for this one.

72. Silent Night, Holy Night-Frances Langford With Eddie Dunstedter At The Organ.  Another flip from Frances the talking mule.  No, wait, that's not right.  Sorry, I'm being irreverent.  This is from 1938.

73. Snowflakes-Guy Lombardo And Evelyn Knight And The Royal Canadians.  I've since found this one on 45, so you may hear that version come Christmas and you can compare the two.  This is a rare one in today's playlist in that it's not the flip side of something I've already shared.  And it's from 1951, FYI.

74. Story Of The Magi-Carmel Quinn & Kevin Shanahan With Jimmy Carroll's Orchestra And Chorus.  This track is credited as being written by Felix and Boudleaux Bryant!  Who'd a thunk it!  I shared out the flip side of this 1954 record earlier this week.

75. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas-Art Carney.  Yes, another flipside and a really great oughta-be Christmas classic.  From 1954.

76. White Christmas-The Ravens.  Third flipside in a row, and another really great track going all the way back to 1948!

77. You're All I Want For Christmas-Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra And Choir.  I thought I'd shared all of Hugo Winterhalter's Christmas discography until I stumbled across this 78 from 1949 that predates his work at RCA Victor, ABC-Paramount, and, um, Time or Movietone or wherever it is, I'm drawing a blank...  Good stuff.

78. White Christmas-Gorden Jenkins And His Orchestra-Guest Vocalist Bob Carroll.  Yes, the second version of White Christmas in the playlist, sorry.  I bought this 1949 record at a little junk store in Saluda, NC, just out of frame in the picture I shared yesterday.

There, is that it?  Good, my fingers are tired.  Here's the link, don't forget to come back in July!  ;)

MediaFire

Gas Girl

I don't often shoot people pictures, especially of folks I don't know, but I recently came across this shot of a girl I saw at Sun-N-Fun in Lakeland earlier this year.  Clearly, she was worthy of a picture and didn't seem to mind.  Her job was to fuel the airplanes on the flightline, and she stayed busy since for the week of Sun-N-Fun, Lakeland Linder Regional airport is the busiest in the world.  And she wasn't just for show, either, her and her associate were driving around in the big Shell Oil truck, pulling hoses, hopping on wings, doing whatever it took to get those pilots their fuel.  Look close at the shot above and you'll see that she's assisting the pilot as he puts fresh fuel into his historic Corsair.  She wasn't just smiling for me, either, there were easily a dozen people shooting her like she was a pinup girl posing with the classic warbird.  I but she gets really nice tips from those happy pilots!
 

Saluda Grade

While I'm in the mood for some posting, here's a sign from Saluda, North Carolina, marking the steepest standard gauge mainline railway in the country.  Lots of disclaimers there, but the biggest one they left off is the fact that this stretch of rail hasn't been used in years and years, and would probably need some work before it could be used again.  Saluda is at the top end of the grade, and the other end is in Tryon, the small town where my dad grew up.  We were visiting a couple months ago prior to my grandmother's funeral.

Christmas And A Half 2012-Part 3

Yep, another batch of Christmas goodies from shellac, comin' right up.  Just gonna take me a minute here to cut and paste the titles, then upload the ZIP file...

41. Andy Gump's Holiday Greetings-Sydney Smith.  Weird little spoken word thing here.  I guess Andy Gump was a fairly well-known comic character at the time.  Look it up. This one came in a picture sleeve that folded out and had some stuff inside, it has somehow survived since 1923!  I gotta get a good scanner...

42. Blue Christmas-Russ Morgan And His Orchestra-Vocal Chorus By Russ Morgan & The Morganaires.  Yes, I think I shared this out from 45 once, but it was scratchy.  If it was good then, it's still good now.  Actually, listening to this now, the vocals are a bit scratchy. Sorry...  Russ recorded this back in 1949.

43. Christmas Story-Doris Day With Chorus And Orchestral Accompaniment.  I'm sure all of Doris Day's Christmas music has been anthologized elsewhere, but I was trying to pick the most interesting things I had from a very limited collection of 78s.  So some of these things are generally available, but I wanted you to hear them as they originally sounded, this one from 1950, some 62 years ago.

44. Gingerbread Boy (Original Version Of An Old Folk-Tale)-Georgene Faulkner.  An interesting tale, but not strictly Christmas.  I had to put it in here because it's been floating around since 1914!

45. From Every Spire On Christmas Eve-Jimmy Blades-Chimes, And Charles Smart-Organ.  You know I have to sneak in the occasional organ & chime record, don't you.  Here it is, the first, but probably not the last.  This one goes back to 1953.

46. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing-Richard Jordan, Pipe Organ-Vocal Refrain By Mixed Quartette.  Ha! Right away I jump into an organ track!  This one goes back to 1936.

47. Holy Night-Charles Harrison, Tenor, Orchestra Accompaniment.  Whoops, I skipped over this one the first time I went through and wrote all these little bits and bobs.  I must not have had anything interesting to say about it.  I still don't.  Never did find a date for it, either.

48. I Want Eddie Fisher For Christmas-Betty Johnson With Jimmy Leyden-Conductor.  Yes, they had novelty songs back in 1954.  Plenty of 'em, in fact.  So enjoy this.

49. If You Knock On Any Door On Christmas Day-Primo Scala And His Banjo And Accordion Orchestra With The Keynotes.  The flip side of a record I already shared, and a track that I'd not heard before.  Great little tune from 19 and 49.

50. Jingle Bells-Leo Watson With The Vic Dickenson Quintet. A 1946 take on this perennial classic that doesn't mention Christmas anywhere in the lyrics, yet Christmas wouldn't be the same without it.

51. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!-Woody Herman And His Orchestra-Vocal Chorus By Woody Herman.  Where am I, I'm losing my place here...  Oh, Woody Herman from 1946...  I'm running out of slightly witty things to say...  :(

52. Merry Christmas-Polka-Frank Gallagher With The Dana Serenaders And Orchestra.  Hooray, still more polka!  I need to make a collection of all these polka Christmas songs.  This one is from 1948.

53. Nuttin' For Christmas-The Fontane Sisters With Billy Vaughn's Orchestra.  Not the best rip or the best version of this Christmas bad-boy classic from 1955, but here it is anyway.

54. Santa And The Doodle-Li-Boop-Art Carney.  Ah-ha!  The great sidekick of The Great One!  And what a great single.  This is the rarely heard flip side, but it's still great.  Art released this in 1954.

55. Silent Night -The Ravens. Closest I've got to old R&B Christmas music on 78.  It's smoooooth...  From 1948, the year my dad was born.

56. Sleigh Bell Serenade-Bing Crosby With Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires And Orchestra Directed By John Scott Trotter.  Yep, a Christmas song from Der Bingle that hasn't been heard a million times.  If you really like this, you can find it elsewhere at a higher quality, but this is the way it was heard way back in 1952 on the old console in the living room.

57. Something Barked On Christmas Morning-Ricky Zahnd & The Blue Jeaners With Tony Mottola Orchestra.  I had a request for this 1955 track many years ago, and here it is.  If you're lucky, you'll get the flip side tomorrow.

58. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year-Johnnie Johnston With Paul Weston And His Orchestra.  OK, not really Christmas at all, but I don't have too many of these old shellac discs to work with.  for every Christmas 78 I run across, I probably find 5 Christmas 45s, 50 LPs and maybe 100 CDs.  The odds are stacked against me, but I try.  Anyone wishing to contribute some old records to the cause is welcome to contact me right here.  :)  Oh, this is from 1944, right in the heart of the war years.

59. White Christmas-Charlie Spivak And His Orchestra-Vocal Chorus By Garry Stevens.  An early (1942) version of what was already a Bing Crosby classic.  Of course, as big a hit as it was, every orchestra and bandleader in the country had to issue a version of it to try and get some small piece of the pie.

60. You're All I Want For Christmas-Frank Gallagher With The Dana Serenaders And Orchestra. Bringing up the rear tonight is yet another track from 1948.  What can I say?  This should be a polka record, but it's not.  Funny, that.  Didn't I just share the flipside of this one above?  I've got to put more time into the selection of these tracks...

And there you have it.  Here's a linky-link for you.

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Come back tomorrow for the conclusion of 78 Christmas 78's!

Alvin!

I shot this guy in the backyard where I stayed in Atlanta on a recent trip.  I really wish chipmunks weren't so skittish, though.  This guy took off soon as he noticed me taking his picture.  Somebody should domesticate this critters, who wouldn't want to keep a gerbil with racing stripes and a big fluffy tail!

Christmas And A Half 2012-Part 2

First off, a big Thank You to all the nice folks who've already downloaded part 1 of my little Christmas And A Half treat, and a double big thank you to those who have commented.  It's always nice to hear from the people I'm doing this for, especially since I've been posting so infrequently since Christmas.  Good to know that somebody out there is still paying attention.  So, what have I got for you today?  Hopefully, more of the same great stuff you got yesterday.  Let's take a peek...

21. Ave Maria (Schubert, Op. 52, No. 6) (Text From "Lady Of The Lake")-Charles Kullman (Tenor) With Orchestra.  This may not be the best track in this collection, but I gotta share it anyway.  The more, the merrier, right?  No date on this one, I'm afraid.

22. Good King Wenceslas-Nelson Eddy With Orchestra Conducted By Robert Armbruster.  I don't find too many versions of this story of the good King Wenceslas, so this one is a treat.  I couldn't find a date for this one, but I must not have been looking in the right place.  Columbia Masterworks is too mainstream of a label not to have an extensive discography out there somewhere.

23. Ave Maria-Elizabeth Wheeler.  Sure enough, I've put the same song in here twice.  Only took me two days to screw that up.  Don't worry, I'll do it again soon enough, I'm sure.  There are only so many Christmas songs out there, so repeating them isn't hard to do.

24. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers-Majestic Dance Orchestra.  I think this is one of those early orchestras that existed just for the purpose of recording product.  Not that it's not a good recording, but I can't imagine them going on nationwide tours or anything.  And when I say early, I mean 1922, that's early!

25. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town-American Novelty Orchestra.  Same deal with this one, probably strictly a recording outfit.  I wish I knew more about the early days of recording, can anyone recommend a good book?  I know a little bit about acoustic versus electric, and how they used to record into multiple horns, making a dozen records at a time, playing the same music over and over to make large quantities of records, that's just crazy!  Oh, 1934 on this one, we're getting a little later...

26. Adeste Fideles (O, Come, All Ye Faithful)-Frances Langford With Eddie Dunstedter At The Organ.  Yep, that's right, blog favorite Eddie Dunstedter on the organ, years and years before his three great Christmas records.  I think this one hails from 1938.

27. Silent Night, Holy Night-Kate Smith, Orchestra Under Direction Of Jack Miller.  Yes, Kate smith had some Christmas music back in here early days.  She later recorded full Christmas albums for Tops and RCA, but this is from 1940, well before any of that.

28. When Winter Comes (Cuando Llega el Invierno)-Swing And Sway With Sammy Kaye-Vocal Refrain By Tommy Ryan.  I love finding songs I've never heard before, and I've discovered plenty of them from these old 78s.  This one wasn't something I was familiar with prior to putting the needle on the record.  Sammy Kaye recorded this way back in '41, and he kept making records up the early 70s, I believe.  Now that's a career anyone could be proud of.

29. White Christmas-Freddy Martin And His Orchestra-Vocal Refrain By Clyde Rogers.  One of the most popular of all Christmas songs, I think I've got more versions of this on 78 than any other song.  This came out just as America was marking it's first full year in WWII in 1942.  I can't imagine it was easy to get into the spirit of the season in those days...

30. When You Trim Your Christmas Tree-Les Brown And His Orchestra, Vocal Chorus By Jack Haskell.  Another great track that I was previously unfamiliar with, this time from post-war 1946.

31. Jingle Bells-Slam Stewart Quintet.  Of all the tracks I'm sharing this one had me the most excited and it was the hardest to get some music out of.  The first few times I tried it, all I got was noise.  I don't recall exactly what I finally did different to get some music out of that background noise, but hopefully you can make out something like early (1946) jazz in there now.

32. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?-Kay Kyser And His Orchestra-Vocal Chorus By Harry Babbitt And The Campus Kids.  Ah, Kay Kyser.  I used to think that Harry Babbitt and Ish Kabibble were names I'd learned from an old cartoon or something.  I later found out that I'd had a copy of Three Little Fishies as a young child, and listened to it a lot.  So I have a soft spot for Kay Kyser and his merry band of misfits.  This is from 1947, a couple years before the beginning of the vinyl era.

33. The Skaters Waltz-Continental Musette Orchestra.  No idea who these guys were, and if it weren't from 1948, I'd assume it was another effort by those recording-only bands of the early years.  Perhaps it's an early budget label recording that's since been endlessly recycled?

34. Baby, It's Cold Outside-Dinah Shore And Buddy Clark, Orchestra Under The Direction Of Ted Dale.  I'm pretty sure I've shared this out before during Christmas in July, both in it's full version and an edited version that removes the sound effects intro.  But here it is from it's original 78 recording from 1949.  I recently picked up a CD of some of Buddy Clark's big hits and really enjoyed it.   I guess I should have paid more attention when Buster tried to tell me what a good singer he was.

35. Christmas In Heaven-Bill Cook.  Oh why oh why does Firefox keep locking up on me?  I must be doing too many things at once...  Let's see, Bill Cook.  No idea who he was.  This record dates to 1950, that's about all I know about it.  Hmmm, every time I try to get to Google, the browser locks up.  So I can't look anything up...

36. Jingle Bells Boogie-Johnny Bond.  Oh, yeah, now we're talking!  A little bit hillbilly, but it rocks.  Does that make it rockabilly?  Not quite, but it's good stuff.  I could live on this stuff come Christmastime, no problem.  This is from 1950, so I wonder if it exists on nice-sounding vinyl somewhere, or perhaps a nice master tape in a vault?  Hmmmm...

37. The Sleigh-Mitch Miller And His Orchestra & Chorus.  Good ol' Mitch.  He's much maligned today, but he was a visionary in his day.  This track is also from 1950, and I don't think it showed up on any of his Christmas releases.  I like it, and it's something I've never heard before.

38. The Merry Christmas Polka-Frankie Yankovic And His Yanks.  Another Christmas polka!  Yeah!  How can you go wrong?  This one is from 1951, so it's firmly in the vinyl era, but I've got it on shellac and you're getting it from said shellac!

39. Christmas In America-Hal Hopper And The Voices Of The Valley.  From 1952, that's about all I can tell you about this one.  Anybody got any info?

40. Santa's Coming-Carmel Quinn With Jimmy Carroll's Orchestra And Children's Chorus.  Carmel Quinn is from the stable of artists that made Arthur Godfrey such a hit back in his day.  And there are a few more Christmas records from that stable somewhere around here.  I'll have to look and see what I can share.  This one is from 1954.

Look at me, I'm getting smarter.  I exported the playlist out of iTunes so I didn't have to retype everything.  Now if I can streamline the process so I don't have to do all sorts of extraneous formatting...  Of course, that just means I type more and longer pithy comments for you to ignore as you download the free music.  Live and learn.  Oh, you're probably looking for the download link.  Here ya go, enjoy!

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(If you missed part one somehow, try here. )

Moo!

Best Regards, Debby

As some of you may know, Florida has been getting pummeled for the better part of a week now by a poorly organized, slow-moving tropical system that was eventually named Debby.  We've gotten well over a foot of rain now, and while it seems to be letting up now, it's by no means over.  All that water has to go somewhere, and while much of it's been absorbed into the ground, a lot of it is standing around.  And for whatever reason, it's making a lot of birds very happy.  For the past two days, I've driven past a cow pasture near my house and there have been a couple of flocks of roseate spoonbills roaming around.  I don't see these guys very much, and sightings are very unpredictable, so when I saw a large number of them right near the road, I turned around, found a spot to park, grabbed the long lens, braved the flooded sidewalk and went shooting.  But being very shy birds, soon as the saw me they hightailed it for the far-off corner of the pasture.  But I got a couple of decent shots of them on the wing, heading away from me.  The one above is yesterday, the one below from just an hour or so ago.  The rain was nice enough to let up long enough for me to get some shots, but it's rained a bit since then.


Also of interest in the same field was a pair of tricolored herons, one a bit younger than the other, I think.  That's the mostly brown one above, and the darker one below I think is the older one.  Most of the ones I see around are darker, so I think that's the mature plumage.  It's the time of year where the babies are finally starting to turn their final adult colors, so that's why I think the one at the top is still slightly different colors, he's just a teenager.  Anyhow, both these guys had staked out a spot on the edge of the pasture where the water was flowing over the normally dry sidewalk, looking to see what hapless creatures were being swept up in the floodwaters, then eating them.  They were pretty mad at me because I was hanging out and trying to shoot them while they were working, and they eventually flew off in protest.  But I got some good pictures first.

Oh, and then there was this. I saw a disturbance out in the shallow water that I couldn't quite identify.  I finally spotted some fins and a tail, so I knew it was a fish and not a gator, but I still couldn't tell exactly what kind of fish.  They (I could tell it was three of something from the trails it was leaving on the surface) eventually got close enough to me that I could see down into the water, and it looked to be three garfish!  I would lot have expected that, but there they were, swimming around in the four or so inches of water covering this part of the pasture.  I'm pretty sure I could have grabbed them if I'd wanted to, but they have some nasty teeth in those big jaws.

Christmas And A Half 2012-Part 1

Good day, and welcome to the midpoint between last Christmas and the next, or as we like to call it, Christmas And A Half!  It also happens to be my birthday, but you don't have to get me anything, I've got presents for you!  It's a little project I started last year but never got very far along with, and I'm still not really where I want to be with it, but the time is right to start rolling it out.  I've been ripping music from Christmas 78s for over a year now, and I want to share them with you.  Today is part one of what I think will be four parts, for a total of 78 tracks from 78!  The part I haven't finished yet is the label scans, but someday I'll get the right sized scanner and be able to put faces to these great songs.  Now, a little background.  I ripped all of these myself from my humble collection, some of them sound good, some of them sound like a roaring fire.  Sometime back I finally got a record player that would spin at 78 RPM, as well as the correct sized needle.  I never did get the proper amplifier though, so I had to fix that in Audacity.  I also decided that I didn't like the sound I was getting at 78 RPM, so I recorded everything at 33 and fixed that in Audacity, too.  I recorded both L and R channels, then used ClickRepair to combine the channels and remove lots of clicks and pops.  In some cases, I have a hard time telling the difference between the 78 copy and a 45, but in other cases, well, don't say I didn't warn you...  So, what's in this first part?  Let's take a look...

1. Christmas Medley by American Radio Warblers With Preston Sellers At The Organ.  Yes, that's right, it's a flock of birds singing along to Christmas carols!  Oh, how I wish I had more of this.  (Arthur C. Barnett-Exclusive Distributor 10" 78 RPM DB-C8-3236 & 3237)  No year on this one, I'm afraid.  But perhaps someone can do better research than I and fill us in.  I found a couple references to the radio show that featured this chicks, but nothing about this record.

2. Star Of The East by Ballard & Wheeler, Tenor & Baritone with Orchestra Accompaniment.  This one, to me, sounds like old 78s should sound.  Not good, not bad, all treble, no bass. (Silvertone (Sears-Roebuck) 10" 78 RPM 5129)  Again, no year, but surely this showed up in an old Sears & Roebuck catalog somewhere.

3. Let's Put Christmas Back Into Christmas by Don Moreland with Eddie Ballantine's Orchestra and Choir.  You though putting Christ back into Christmas was a modern sentiment?  Hardly.  This one has to be from sometime in the early fifties, but I think you can find earlier examples without looking too hard. (Jay 10" 78 RPM E2-QB-5855/5856)  I just noticed a big volume jump between the last track and this one.  Sorry about that.

4. I Want A Puppy In My Stocking by Kathryn King With Savoy Orchestra.  I seem to recall this one had a picture sleeve, I really need to get a new scanner... (Prevue 10"78 RPM 1111-78 "Compliments Of Vigilant Insurance Specialists")  This one was a giveaway at some point, I wish they gave away stuff like this these days.

5. Santa Claus Polka by Lennon Bros. With Don Shaw Orchestra.  I was a little unclear on this one, are these guys related to the Lennon Sisters?  I think so.  I know that the male children of The Lennon Sisters are in a group, and members of that group sang backup at the Roger Waters concert I went to a couple weeks ago.  How's that for bringing full circle?  (Zodiac 1212)

6. The Night Before Christmas by Cora Mel Patton.  Finally, one with a date.  1914, so this one was recorded 98 years ago!  Wow!!  (Victor 12" 78 RPM 35418)  Is this the first spoken word I've put in here.  With sound effects!

7. Santa Claus Gives Away His Toys by Gilbert Girard.  Apparently, he made many records like this, some Christmas, some not, and they were hugely popular in the day.  What day was that?  This one dates to 1918!  (Victor 12" 78 RPM 35679 "Descriptive Specialty With Imitations")  Note that reindeer don't all have their correct names...

8. Hark The Herald Angels Sing by Columbia Stellar Quartette With Orchestra Accompaniment.  Another early one, this time from 1919.  I'm just amazed that I'm able to get sound out of something that old.  (Columbia 10" 78 RPM A2788)

9. Jingle Bells by Criterion Male Quartet With Orchestra.  I think the very oldest Christmas audio recording is a version of Jingle Bells.  Or maybe it was the oldest made, but it doesn't exist anymore.  I need to research these things better.  This one is from 1923.  (Gennett 10" 78 RPM 5267 (Division of The Starr Piano Co. Richmond, Ind.))

10. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra.  This one is also from 1923.  I'm sure Lee will enjoy seeing some Paul Whiteman on the sleighlist, but I'm sure he's already got this track. (Victor 10" 78 RPM 19007)

11. Little Jesus by Basil Rathbone With The Robert Mitchell Boychoir.  Yes, that's right, Sherlock Holmes himself.  Now if I could just find Benedict Cumberbatch doing the same track, I could die happy.  (Columbia Masterworks 12" 78 RPM 7407-M)  Oh, this one seems to be from 1939.

12. All Around The Christmas Tree by Raymond Scott And His New Orchestra, Vocal Chorus By Clyde Burke.  Yes, that's right, _the_ Raymond Scott does a Christmas song!  This hails from 1940, and unfortunately, it's not very good, which is probably why you've never heard it. (Columbia 10" 78 RPM 35864)

13.  All Around The Xmas Tree by Mark Warnow-Dick Todd, Hit Parade Orchestra And Chorus.  Just a little confusion here between this and the previous track.  Mark Warnow was Raymond Scott's brother-in-law, and the two titles are very similar, but they aren't the same track.  This one came out few years later in 1945.  (Sonora 10" 78 RPM 3000)

14. Sleigh Ride In July by The Three Suns, Vocal by Artie Dunn.  Look, it's another vaguely Christmas song by The Three Suns!  I couldn't resist when I discovered this one.  The Three Suns Christmas catalog has been a little project of mine for years, so this excites me no end.  This one is also from 1945, right at the end of the war. (Majestic 10" 78 RPM 7122).  I'm a little surprised this has never popped up on any of the Suns' budget reissues of their Majestic material.  Leastways, I've never seen it anywhere other than this 78.

15. The Jingle Bell Polka by The Modernaires Featuring Hal Dickinson-Orchestra Under The Direction Of Lou Bring.  And Christmas polka is a big hit in my book!  When is this one?  1947.  (Columbia 10" 78 RPM 37980)

16. The Mistletoe Kiss by Art Mooney And His Orchestra, Vocal By The Art Mooney Choir.  I'd heard this song by Russ Morgan, but never by anyone else.  I guess that's what happens when you limit yourself to music pressed on vinyl and skip all the stuff on shellac.  This is from 1949, the very first year of commercial vinyl. (MGM 10" 78 RPM 10522)

17.  Snowy White Snow And Jingle Bells by Primo Scala And His Banjo And Accordion Orchestra With The Keynotes.  I'd never heard of Primo Scala, but now I'll know to keep my ears open for his stuff.  And I'd never heard anyone other than Vaughn Monroe do this song.  I think Primo was a bigger artist in the UK than here in the US.  This one hails from 1949, same as the last. (London 10" 78 RPM 495)

18.  Looks Like A Cold, Cold Winter by Tommy Tucker And His Orchestra, Vocal By Don Brown, Sally Sweetland And Group.  Some of these old 78s try to cram so much info onto a little tiny label...  We're up to 1950 here. (MGM 10" 78 RPM 10824)

19. I Said A Prayer For Santa Claus by Jimmy Boyd Accompanied By Norman Luboff.  I'm sure you've heard other stuff by Jimmy Boyd, but this is one of his more obscure Christmas tunes.  This is from 1953, so I'm sure with a little hunting I could find it on vinyl. (Columbia 10" 78 RPM 40080)

20. Where Did My Snowman Go? by Molly Bee, Music By Van Alexander.  Last but not least, here is little-remembered child star Molly Bee.  I don't think I've ever seen anything by her other than two Christmas singles, but I'm sure I'll be corrected.  This last track is from 1954, really close to the end of the 78 era. (Capitol 10" 78 RPM CAS-3192)

There, that's the first 20 of 78 tracks.  I may get another group up tonight, or it may take me from here to the end of June, we'll see.  The music's all recorded, I just need to create the MP3's and write up my pithy comments.  Happy Christmas and a Half!

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