Sew Good

Here's a record I saw shared out a long time ago, but it's been out of circulation for a while, I'm bringing it back. I ripped a copy of this early in the year, and it's been in the stack so long that I had forgotten about it until a couple of weeks ago when I started scanning covers. If memory serves, that's Donna Reed (and her TV family) who's show was sponsored by Singer at the time.  That may be one of the reasons you don't see this LP too much, people by it for the celebrity on the cover, yet never pay any attention to the music inside.  So don't make that same mistake, be sure you listen to the music inside of The Singer Orchestra Conducted By George Siravo Featuring Steve Clayton And The Don Janse Choral-Favorite Christmas Songs From Singer (The Singer Company HE-S1, Stereo, 1964).

1. Good King Wenceslas
2. O Holy Night
3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. O Come All Ye Faithful
5. Joy To The World/The First Noel
6. Silent Night
7. Jingle Bells
8. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. The Christmas Song
11. The Twelve Days Of Christmas
12. White Christmas

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Re-Eddie (Or Not)

Tonight's do-over from years past is this somewhat somber record from Eddie Layton.  I remember the day I first found this, it was during the season and I had promised myself I wouldn't record any more music, but I ran home and recorded it, then scanned it, and shared it that same night.  I had high hopes for how it would sound, but I quickly discovered this wasn't one of his more outlandish recordings.  Some of the things he did for Mercury back in the day are just outstanding, often with covers to match, but not this.  This is pretty straight-ahead organ demo stuff.  Which isn't to say it's not worthy of a download, because it totally is, but don't think you're going to find anything on here to rival Bob Kames.  If you're still wanting to give it a listen (and this is a new, better rip), this is Eddie Layton At The Hammond Organ-Organ Music For Christmas With Chimes And Brass Choir (Epic BN 26118, Stereo, 1964)

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
2. White Christmas
3. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer; Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
4. I'll Be Home For Christmas
5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
6. Silver Bells
7. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Joy To The World
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are; It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
9. Away In A Manger; Silent Night, Holy Night
10. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)
11. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

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A Little Bit Of Soap

This is probably the newest thing I'm going to share with you this year, and it's 30 years old! But it's a very distinct change of pace from the moldy oldies I normally share out around here.This is a collection of soap opera stars circa 1982 singing their favorite Christmas songs for you, the viewer!  I've seen plenty of similar collections recently, from the stars of NBC to the hosts at QVC, and none of them look as cheaply thrown together as this one.  But at least you get a nice picture of a very young Lori Loughlin to look at, that can't be a bad thing.  There's even an insert (which I included in the scans) talking about how Johnny Marks himself called Lori in the studio to wish her a happy birthday!  (There was also a cover slick in the sleeve that was identical to the album cover, so I didn't scan that in.  If you want a scan of it, just rename the cover as Slick-Insert and you'll be good.)  So anyhow, if you want to listen to a bunch of people who used to be famous, please download Soap Opera Christmas (Pink Wings Productions PW-101, Stereo, 1982).  And if you know who any of these other people are, let me know.  I'm too lazy to Google them.

1. Candice Earley-Oh Holy Night/Oh Happy Day
2. Allen Fawcett-Christmas Is You
3. Randy Hamilton-Merry Christmas Darling
4. Lori Loughlin-Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
5. John McCafferty-Jingle Bell Rock
6. Mary Gordon Murray-Blue Christmas
7. Tom Nielsen-Winter Wonderland
8. Frank Runyeon-White Christmas
9. John Wesley Shipp-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
10. Darnell Williams-The Christmas Song

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A Tale Of Three Records

OK, here's a fun one for tonight's remastered musical memory.  Technically speaking, I've never shared the record above with you.  It's Domenico Savino And The Rome Festival Orchestra-Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAL 333, Mono, 1956).  I've shown you the cover before, though.

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But it turns out that it's exactly the same as this record, which I have shared out in the past.  For some reason, they decided to release it two years later with a different cover.  Now it's Domenico Savino And His Orchestra-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAL 392, Mono, 1958).  They've changed the name to include Hi-Fi, but it's the same recording that wasn't labelled hi-fi two years earlier.  It's all in the name, I guess.

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Now, to add insult to injury, or at least to annoy the record buying public, this is not just a remixed-to-stereo version of either of the records above.  This is a complete re-recording of all the songs on the mono version, with the addition of a chorus on four of the tracks.  And for my money, it's not as good as the mono version.  I can't explain why I like it better, I just do.  So stereo isn't always preferable to mono, I think that's the lesson for tonight.  This record is Domenico Savino And His Orchestra And Chorus-Hi-Fi Christmas Party (RCA Camden CAS-392, Stereo, 1958).

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Oh, the tracklisting for all three records is exactly the same:

1. White Christmas
2. Sleigh Ride
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Jingle Bells
6. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
7. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) (With Chorus on the Stereo version)
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. The First Noel
10. O Holy Night
11. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (With Chorus on the Stereo version)
12. Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen (Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming)
13. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
14. Joy To The World (With Chorus on the Stereo version)
15. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
16. Silent Night (With Chorus on the Stereo version)

Are you following all this? There was also an EP version of that top one that I shared out many years ago, but the music is the same, and the artwork is very similarly tinted.

Torrents 2

Well, it's been a few days now, and I'm curious as to how folks are doing with the torrents.  I don't see them getting used a whole awful lot, but I think it's still early.  For those of you who don't know about torrents, they're a type of peer-to-peer sharing software, so you're basically downloading the share directly from me, or, in a best case scenario, from several other people who've downloaded it before you.  The more people share it, the less the load on any one person.  All you have to do is download the share and leave the client running for a while, the software handles the rest.  Some clients even stay open automatically in the background without you knowing it, so if you decide to try it, you need to pay attention to what you're doing.  If you'd like to try the torrent, give utorrent a try.  Just download it, install it, then click on one of the torrent links in a post.  But read the instructions!  There are lots of setting you can change, including how much bandwidth it uses, but you can screw things up pretty badly if you aren't careful.  I don't want to get blamed if you share out the root of your C: drive with the world.

Any Accordion

At first glance, this is not the sort of Christmas release that you might find interesting.I don't think a lot of people would give it a second glance if they spotted it in a stack of records.  But I'm not like a lot of people, I have to take a closer look.  Flipping it over, I saw a woman with an accordion, and into the pile of Christmas To Share it went!  If you're a fan of accordion music, mixed with a little organ, calliope, harp, sax, cello, flute, even violin, then I'm sure you'll dig this.  And really, where else are you going to get music like this other than Ernie (Not Bert)?  So show a little love and download Sharon Parker-Songs Of Christmas (Rev. Donald L. Parker 17813/17814 (Baxter, West Virginia), Mono).

1. Joy To The World
2. O Come All Ye Faithful
3. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
4. Ring, Merry Bells
5. Silent Night! Holy Night
6. Away In The Manger
7. Go Tell It On The Mountain
8. Oh! Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
10. Angels From The Realms Of Glory
11. The First Noel
12. Oh! Holy Night
13. We Three Kings Of Orient Are

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Buon Natale

I always pick up Christmas records I see from other countries. Well, they may not actually be from other countries, but they feature music from other places. Sometimes I like what I hear, sometimes not. This one stood out, not because it featured a couple of tracks from Sergio Franchi, but because it featured an Italian version of  Frosty The Snowman!  And man, is it good!  So you should download this just for that track.  This is Buon Natale-Christmas In Italy With Sergio Franchi And Favorite Italian Stars (4 Corners Of The World (Kapp) FCS-4223, Stereo, 1965).

1. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (O' Bambino)
2. The Radar Quartet-Jingle Bells
3. Achille Togliani And The Comet Quartet-E' Natale (It Is Christmas)
4. The Padova Chorus-Adeste Fideles
5. The Radar Quartet-Babbo Natale
6. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Santa Notte
7. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Bianco Natale (White Christmas)
8. The Radar Quartet-Frosty L'Omino Di Neve (Frosty The Snowman)
9. Achille Togliani And The Comet Quartet-Buon Natale All'Italiana
10. The Alpi Chorus-Canto Della Nativita (O Tannenbaum)
11. The Radar Quartet-Tony DeVita, Soloist-Sott L'Albero Di Natale
12. Sergio Franchi With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Franco Cassano-Fra L'Orrido Rigor

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Old John

Today's remastered LP comes from 2008, which by all accounts was a very good year. But things have changed since then, so I'm revisiting some of those old shares to make them a little more presentable in today's modern computer age. If you're curious, you can look and see what I wrote back then, or you can just help yourself to Robert John Carwithen-The Bells On Christmas Morn-The Schulmerich "Carillon Americana" Bells (Decca DL 8792, Mono, 1958).  Yes, it's played on a carillon, but you get used to it, trust me.

1. "Basilican" Bells-Pealing
2. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
3. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
5. The First Noel
6. Joy To The World
7. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
8. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
9. Silent Night
10. White Christmas
11. Carol Of The Bells
12. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
13. Good Christian Men Rejoice-What Child Is This?
14. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
15. Deck The Hall-Good King Wenceslas
16. I Saw Three Ships-I Wonder As I Wander
17. Away In A Manger

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Sunday Singles #5-Double Hugo

Double your trouble on this, the last singles post of the day.  Two singles by the great Hugo Winterhalter, both of which have been featured here at the blog before, but these are shiny new rips, so they sound better than ever.  The first one is Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra And Chorus-Blue Christmas b/w White Christmas (RCA Victor 7" 45 RPM 447-0875, Mono, 1950).  This version of Blue Christmas is actually a remake of his earlier hit version for Columbia (which I need to get around to sharing one of these days. I've got it and ripped it, I just need to share it...).  Also, the version of White Christmas on the flip side is different from the one that later showed up on his 10" Christmas LP Christmas Magic from 1953.

The second single in the download is Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra-The Christmas Song Cha Cha b/w Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Cha Cha (RCA Victor 7" 45 RPM 47-7397, Mono, 1958).  Clearly a much different take on both holiday classics, and for me, the novelty never wears thin.

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And if you like those, check through the archives and you'll find the odd holiday-themed track from Mr. Winterhalter here and there.  Someday I'll put them all together into a single share, but not this year.

Four More

While I'm at it, I may as well give you my copy of The Four Aces Christmas record. It's good stuff, but I don't think it sounds much like that single I just shared.  Either way, you'll enjoy it, because I know you're like me and you like all sorts of Christmas music.  Here is The Four Aces-A Merry Christmas With The Four Aces Featuring Al Alberts With Orchestra Directed By Jack Pleis (Decca DL8191, Mono, 1955).

1. White Christmas
2. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
3. Silver Bells
4. Jingle Bells
5. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
6. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. Silent Night
8. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
9. Joy To The World
10. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
11. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
12. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
13. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel)
14. The First Nowell
15. Deck The Hall

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Singles Sunday #4-Four

I hope you're enjoying the singles today.  I've always thought that some of the best Christmas music out there comes from singles and not albums, but they're so hard to find that I've never spent enough time playing with them.  This year I tried to make it a point to record a bunch of them and share them 'round these parts.  Sometimes I pick something up and put it down because I know an artist has a Christmas album and the single is probably pulled from it.  But I've learned to double check that, because it's not always the case.  Take this single.  The Four Aces had a Christmas record, but they released this single a few years later and it's been MIA ever since.  So I'm bringing it back to you tonight.  Who'd a-thunk that a group like the Four Aces would have released a kiddie record like this, but here's the proof.  Please download and give a listen to The Four Aces With Chorus And Orchestra Directed By Jack Pleis-Ol' Fatso b/w The Christmas Tree (Decca (Canada) 7" 45 RPM 9-30775, Mono, 1958).

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Singles Sunday #3-Grist Mill

Every once in a while, when researching a release date in the old issues of Billboard available through Google, I'll stumble across some Christmas release that I've never heard of.  Such was the case with this single from The Mills Brothers.  I knew of an album they put out, and another single, but not this one.  It seemed to have disappeared into the depths of history, even though Hoagy Carmichael was a co-writer of one of the songs!  So I started hunting for it and eventually found this re-issue 45 (the original came out a year earlier, when Decca only issued 78s).  It's typical Mills Brothers harmonies, and certainly deserves to be better known than it is, so I'm doing my part by sharing it out here today.  This is the Mills Brothers-My Christmas Song For You b/w On This Christmas Eve (Decca 7" 45 RPM 9-24768, Mono, 1949).  Enjoy!

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Singles Sunday #2-The First

Boy, was I excited when I discovered this! This is the very first Christmas single ever issued by the then-new Warner Brothers label way back in 1958.  Jumping on the kiddie-vocal bandwagon, they found the worst sounding kid they could and wrote a song just for him about Santa and trains, something I think Spike Jones had already done.  I suspect that by '58, the kiddie vocal trend had just about run it's course, and it shows here.  I doubt if you'll listen this one twice.  That's probably the reason it's remained so obscure to this day, but I couldn't let sleeping dogs lie.  I had hoped for so much more...  Anyhow, this is Johnnie Alvin-Santa Claus Wrecked My 'Lectric Train (Thana Cwaus Wecked My Wectrick Twain) b/w Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Warner Bros. 7" 45 RPM 5024, Mono, 1958).  Please don't smash your Ipod if this starts to play at random.

1. Santa Claus Wrecked My 'Lectric Train (Thana Cwaus Wecked My Wectrick Twain)
2. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer

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Singles Sunday #1-Outta Space

I noticed last night that I am rapidly running out of space on my 1 terabyte drive, and I think that's because I have too much Christmas music! So in honor of being out of space, here's a little song about outer space that I finally broke down and bought this year.  I've always wanted it, but never owned it, and it's one of the coolest things Lawrence Welk ever recorded (though his first Christmas record is pretty cool, too).  This is Lawrence Welk's Little Band Featuring Janet, Brian, Cubby And The Lennon Sisters doing Outer Space Santa b/w All Around The Merry Christmas Tree (Coral 7" 45 RPM 9-62053, Sample Copy-Not For Sale, Mono, 1958).  I know who The Lennon Sisters are, and Cubby is actually the same Cubby from The Micky Mouse Club, but I'm not entirely certain who Janet & Brian are.  One of The Lennon Sisters is named Janet, but why credit her twice? Because she's playing piano and gets called out by name in the song?  Any ideas?  There's a picture sleeve for this one, but my promo copy didn't come with one.

1. Outer Space Santa
2. All Around The Merry Christmas Tree (What is this, 4 songs now with a very similar title to this?)

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Reheated Candy

Today's remaster is this piece of faux psychedelia from Decca. They decided to jump on the hippy bandwagon with a cool cover and an interesting band name, but the music doesn't really match the cover. If you want a truly psychedelic Christmas experience, go find your self a copy of Rotary Connection's Christmas album, or maybe Paul Revere & The Raiders.  Those are truly tripped out affairs.  This one, not so much.  It's still decent Christmas music though, and it sounds better than ever.  This is the same copy I shared with you back in 2008, I've never seen another one pop up, so it can't be too common. Most of my remasters are different copies than the originals, either because I find a better one, or I can't find that old copy in the stacks of Christmas vinyl.  But I re-ripped it, ClickRepaired it, noise-reduced it, cut it up, normalized it, and now I'm resharing it.  This is The Candy Store-Turned On Christmas (Decca DL75147, Stereo, 1969).

1. Jingle Bells
2. White Christmas
3. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
4. Winter Wonderland
5. The Little Drummer Boy
6. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
8. Silver Bells
9. Frosty The Snow Man
10. Auld Lang Syne

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Disco Reindeer

Nothing will get a record into the 'Save For Christmas' pile faster than a track with the word Disco in the title. That explains how this rather innocuous looking record on a religious label got to be the share of the moment.  Track two features a track called 'Rudolf, The Disco Reindeer', and that's all you need to know.  It may be disco-lite, but it's still disco.  Go put on your boogie shoes, then come back and download Joel Gentry And The Skylarks-Christmas Joy-Instrumentals (Skylite SLP 6195, Stereo, 1978).  Oh, and Jingle Bells has a little Smokey & The Bandit flavor to it.  I can't explain it, you'll just have to listen to it.

1. White Christmas
2. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. Silver Bells
4. Away In A Manger
5. Jingle Bells
6. Rudolf, The Disco Reindeer
7. The Christmas Song
8. Little Drummer Boy
9. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
10. Silent Night

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Listen To This

Long story here. I've had this album for ages.  I wanted to share it several years ago, but I couldn't get it divided up into tracks.  It's 37 tracks are divided only into two sides, and there are many, many songs on here from different countries that I am not familiar enough with to tell you when they start and stop.  And I suppose it doesn't help that this is one of the worst Christmas records I will ever share with you.  Well, worst implies bad, and it's not bad, it's just very difficult to listen to for any period of time.  I've been hard pressed to listen to any of the tracks all the way through, and many of them are only a minute long.  You see, this was recorded from singing wineglasses, a little trick I saw on Real People once growing up, where someone fills wineglasses with a little water, then spins a wet finger around the edge in such a way that the glass begins to vibrate.  The structure of the glass and the level of the water determine tone, and with a whole lot of practice and a lot of glasses, you can make a song.  Mr. Hansen made an entire album, and probably a career in exactly that way.  My parents and I tried it in the kitchen immediately after the show, and while we made a little noise, no one would call it music.  Anyhow, the first time I recorded this, I tried to cut it into individual songs and couldn't get anywhere.  I kept coming up with more tracks than what's listed on the sleeve.  I tried again this year, and I think I finally got it right.  There are some familiar songs that you can use to guide you through this, but many of them are somewhat obscure (to me, at least) carols that are hard enough to recognize, but play them on a wet wine glass and good luck!  Having said lots of negative things about this, you should still download and listen to it.  This is likely to be the most unique Christmas music you hear all season, unless The Captain revisits his Christmas steam whistle.  Please have a listen to Einar Hansen On The Eighteenth Century Glass Instrument-Christmas Music From Around The World (MGM E3277, Mono, 1955).

1. Argentina: A Maiden Was Adoring God The Lord
2. Austria: Silent Night
3. Australia: Ring Out, O Bells! Your Peals Today
4. Africa: Glory To That Newborn King
5. Belgium: De Aenbidding Der Herders (Shepherds' Christmas Song)
6. Brazil: Glad Christmas Bells
7. Canada: Where Were You, O Maiden? (D'ou Vients-tu, Bergere)
8. China: Chen Mei Ke (Lord, For Thy Revealing Gifts)
9. Czechoslovakia: Lullaby Carol (Hajej, Nyjej, Jezisku)
10. Croatia: Happiness The Sun Is Bringing (Cestit Sviety)
11. Denmark: On Christmas Shopping (Hvilken Voldsom Traengsel Og Alarm)
12. Ecuador: Sweet And Precious Jesus (Dulce Jesus Mio)
13. England: God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
14. Finland: In The Silence Of This Night (I Denne Stille Nattens Fred)
15. France: Angels We Have Heard On High (Les Agnes Dans Nos Campagnes)
16. Greece: Thy Birth, O Christ
17. Germany: A Mighty Fortress (Ein'feste Burg)
18. Holland: A Child Of Beauty Was Born To Us (Ons Is Gheboren Een Kinderkijn)
19. Hungary: Angels From Heaven (Menyböl Ar Angyal)
20. India: What Child Is This? (An Adaptation Of Greensleeves)
21. Ireland: Carol (Amhran Nodlag)
22. Italy: Sleep, O Holy Child Of Mine (Dormi, Dormi O Bel Bambin)
23. Japan: Lowly Shepherds Of Judea
24. Mexico: The Rocking Of The Child (El Rorro)
25. Norway: Idenne Sode Juletid
26. Portugal: O, Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
27. Philippines Islands: Pagka-Tao (A Tagalog Carol)
28. Poland: Rockabye, Jesus (Lulajze Jezuniu)
29. Russia: Glorious Yuletide, Glad Bells Proclaim It
30. Puerto Rico: Shepherds At Bethlehem (Pastores A Belen)
31. Scotland: Child In The Manger (Leanabh An Aigh)
32. Switzerland: Christmas Carol (Weihnachtslied)
33. Spain: Catalan Christmas Song (Canso Da Nadal)
34. Sweden: Christmas Is Here Again (Nu Har Vi Jul Igen)
35. United States: Jingle Bells
36. Venezuela: Nino Lindo
37. Wales: Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly

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A Real Shiner

Since I already sorta let the cat out of the bag on this one on my Torrents post, I'll go ahead and throw it up here as an official post.When I spotted that cover, I thought it was yet another repackaging of those same old kiddie records from Peter Pan or Synthetic Plastics or Precision Radiation or their ilk, but I was wrong.  This was a real, though short-lived, label, and a real, though little-known, artist.  I think they were looking for a different audience than who would really appreciate this music, but whatever, at least they got it out there.  Merv Shiner was a country artist who had a huge hit with Here Comes Peter Cottontail back in 1950, and he stayed active in the music industry for many years after that, looking for another hit like that one.  He never really found anything that took him back into the public eye like that song did, but he did release some interesting stuff, including this Christmas record.  Maybe the Christmas Kiddie label was attached to appeal to fans of his Peter Cottontail days, I don't know.  But it's a nice record, and good luck finding a copy for yourself.  This is the only one I've ever seen, and I nearly passed it over.  That just goes to show you kids, buy every single Christmas record you see, and sort out the garbage later!  That said, why don't you go ahead and download Merv Shiner-Greatest Christmas Kiddie Hits (Certron Corporation CS-7012, Stereo, 1970).  1970, that sure was a great year!

1. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. Oh, Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. Here Comes Santa Claus
5. Twas The Night Before Christmas
6. Frosty The Snowman
7. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
8. White Christmas
9. Pancho's Snowball (this right here is the track you want for your Christmas mix!)
10. Jingle Bells
11. Away In A Manger
12. I Saw Mommie Kissing Santa Claus

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Oh, Snap!

I spoke to Dad earlier this evening, and of all the Christmas shares I've ever shared, this was the only one he mentioned. I don't know that it's his favorite, but it was certainly on his mind. So I went ahead and made sure that this was the next one out of the remaster pile. First shared out by me all the way back in my inaugural year of 2005, this one has come back time and again, but it's always sounded exactly the same.  I think you'll agree once you've listened that it now sounds much, much better.  You also get a nicer scan of the cover, both front and back, and this is the first time you've been able to see the record labels, too!  See all the benefits you get with remastered shares?  It's like what's old is new again!  So, to hear it again for the first time, here is The Snap-On Male Chorus with Carols Of Christmas (RCA Custom Record Dept. SOLP 6363, Mono).

1. Awake, Awake
2. Away In A Manger
3. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
5. Spirit Of Christmas (A Medley)
6. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
7. Cantique De Noel
8. God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
9. Deck The Halls
10. Carol Of The Drum
11. Silent Night
12. Jingle Bells

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Get Maxwell (Not Smart)

In a pattern that I'm afraid might become all too common this year, I first saw this LP over at CaptOT's place, A Christmas Yuleblog.I love Robert Maxwell and I love harp albums.  Oh, and I think you already know that I love Christmas music, so this was a great match.  It's been four years since the Captain shared it, and I've since found my own copy or two, so I figured I could go ahead and share my copy.  Doubly so since he's not sharing too much over there these days.  I've even had requests from other folks to repost his copy, but I don't do that sort of thing.  This is my copy, my scan, my rip, the whole nine yards.  There's nothing I can tell you about this album that he didn't say better over there, except I think his copy was from Canada, and mine is not.  It's a regular US release on the budget Lion subsidiary of MGM.  I think this LP came to market just as stereo was becoming the way to go, and without a stereo version to push, they sort of let it fall into obscurity.  I see that again and again with items released in '57-'58.  It's a shame, because it was good music.  Anyhow, this is Robert Maxwell And His Harp-40 All-Time Christmas Favorites (Lion (MGM) L70081, Mono, 1958). All 40 tracks are crammed into 8 medleys, so it's not nearly so long and expansive as that Will Kennedy record with 'only' 36 tracks.

1. Jingle Bells; Winter Wonderland; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town; Jolly Old St. Nicholas; White Christmas
2. The Christ Child Is Born; Dear Baby Jesus, Now Rest In Sleep; All Through The Night; O Sanctissima; Chanson De Noel
3. Here We Come A-Caroling; Lullaby Carol; Lullaby, Thy Little Tony Child; Masters In This Hall; Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
4. I Saw Three Ships; Born Is He, The Child Divine; Listen, Listen, Children Dear; Good King Wenceslas; O, Tannenbaum
5. Deck The Halls; It Came Upon A Midnight Clear; We Three Kings Of Orient Are; Angels We Have Heard On High; The First Noel
6. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel); Away In A Manger; The Moon Shines Bright; The Holly And The Ivy; What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; Bring A Torch, Jeanette Isabella; I Wish You A Merry Christmas; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Joy To The World
8. Christmas Eve Is Here; Sing We Now Of Christmas; O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles); Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; Silent Night

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Renewed King

One of my goals this year was to revisit a lot of my old shares and remaster them using some of the new equipment, technology and experience that I've gained over the years.I've learned a lot since I first started doing this back in, what, 2005?  I've been through half a dozen different turntables, at least as many needles, three computers, four or five different pieces of software, countless versions of that software, and, perhaps most importantly, a whole lot of experience.  So getting the chance to go back and rerecord some of my favorites was nice.  It let me rediscover a lot of the things I'd forgotten and I hope you'll feel the same way when you listen to these records.  This is the first of what I hope will average out to about one a day.  I'm going to do this rather than re-share old things this year, so if there's something in the archives you're looking for that's not currently available, cross your fingers and hope that I've found the time to remaster it this year.  This first record is something I shared out in 2009, but I'd recorded it sometime earlier, choosing not to share it because I didn't want to step on the toes of The King Of Jingaling who'd shared it FaLaLaLaLa some years earlier.  His rip was in mono, but mine was a stereo copy, so I eventually shared mine.  And now I'm sharing it again, with what I hope is better sounds and almost certainly a higher bit rate.  Please be my guest and give another listen to Wayne King And His Orchestra With The Wayne Robinson Singers-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Decca DL 74438, Stereo, 1963).

1. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
2. The Christmas Waltz
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
5. Jing-A-Ling-A-Ling
6. White Christmas
7. Carol Of The Bells
8. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)
9. Snowbound
10. Silver Bells
11. Christmas In Killarney
12. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

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PS-This cover has been used elsewhere over the years, just in case it looks familiar to you.

Christmas On The Moon

This is a record I meant to share last year, and I had it recorded, but never found the time to scan the artwork. I finally managed to get it done this year, so here it is for your enjoyment. This is one of those classic albums of the outsider art world, sort of a so-bad-it's-good thing.  I don't know much about it, or Tim Dinkins himself, so I'll let the music speak for itself.  This is Christmas On The Moon With Tim Dinkins (Cartwheel LP-CW-112-A, Stereo).

1. Santa's Rocket
2. The Empty Chair
3. Two Little Stockings
4. I Won't Let You Lick My Candy Bar (by Susan Kay)
5. Just A Little Birdie In A Coo Coo Clock
6. Merry Christmas
7. The Wise Ole Owl (by 'Mystery Guest')
8. Ole Pop Reindeer
9. Christmas Message
10. Christmas Comes To Everyone
11. A Little Boy's Letter To Santa
12. Tinkle Toes

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Where To Begin

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to share first this year. Every year I worry about it much more than I should. So I finally decided that the first thing I would share would be the first thing I recorded for you back in August, right after the end of Christmas In July. (What?!? You don't know about Christmas in July? Then by all means, go look at some of the posts from July!) Anyhow, where was I?  Oh, the first share.  This is my first share.  The only reason I grabbed it first back then was because it was something I had never seen before, it bragged about having 36 songs on it, and it was not recorded at 33.3RPM.  Yep, that's right, this is a very elusive 16.6 RPM record!  Never seen one before?  Well, they exist, but mostly as kiddie records or spoken word things, rarely as regular music.  And with a name like Stereo Christmasland, how could I really go wrong? So I set things up and played it at my regular 33 and a third setting, then using the magic of science, I was able to slow it down to the right speed, chop it into all 36 full-length tracks (no medleys here!) and share it with you.  It's not the best music I'll share with you this season, but it's far from the worst.  This is Will Kennedy's Stereo Orchestra-Stereo Christmasland (Dancetime 12" 16-2/3 RPM LP WK-5000-S, Stereo).  I never did find a year on this one, anybody care to try and pin it down?

1. Rudolph, The Red Nose (sic) Reindeer
2. Greensleeves
3. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
4. I Saw Three Ships
5. O Tannenbaum
6. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
7. Silent Night
8. Over The River And Through The Woods
9. Adeste Fidelis
10. Joseph O Joseph
11. Deck The Halls
12. By The Christmas Tree
13. Unto Us Is Born A Son
14. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
15. Good King Wenceslas
16. Come, All Ye Shepherds
17. Jolly Old St. Nicholas
18. Joy To The World
19. Winter Wonderland
20. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
21. The Christmas Song
22. Angels We Have Heard On High
23. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
24. Wassail Song
25. The First Noel
26. Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep
27. White Christmas
28. O Sanctissima
29. Away In A Manger
30. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
31. Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming
32. We Three Kings
33. O Holy Night
34. O Come, Little Children
35. The Holly And The Ivy
36. Jingle Bells

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(For those of you who don't know about torrents, ask your local computer expert.  I really can't explain it, and it's sorta scary...  I'm going to try them for a while and see how they go.  If bandwidth becomes an issue, or I get a call from Comcast, they're going away quickly!))

Welcome Christmas!

I have a problem. I'm addicted to Christmas music. All year long I haunt the thrift stores, looking for random bits of Christmas music.  But not the same old Bing Crosby Christmas album, mind you, I'm looking for the stuff that's fallen between the cracks of history, the things that no one remembers or that no one cares about any more.  Nothing thrills me more than finding some album or single or even a crusty old piece of shellac that I've never seen before, anything that has Christmas or Holiday or Snow or Santa or Reindeer in the title.  I pay the $0.99 and rush home with it to see what sort of treasure it might be.  Most of the time it's nothing special, but every once in a while, it's a piece of gold.  What I've learned over the years is that if it's a piece of gold, you can buy it from Amazon or iTunes or some other such place.  But even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, and I find the occasional piece of tarnished silver, which I then polish up and share here at the blog during the holiday season.

Most of you have been here before (I've been doing this for years and years and years now) and you know the drill. I record all this music that I share from my own collection. I scan the images in myself, which is somewhat laborious, believe me, and then I share it with you.  During the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's, I'll share out dozens of records that most people have never heard of, things that you can't download anywhere, or buy on CD or vinyl at those rapidly disappearing places called 'Record Stores'.  These are things that for the most part time has forgotten.  There are good things and bad things, but they are all interesting in their own way.

By the time you read this, it should be just after lunch on Thanksgiving, and I'll be at my Aunt's house for the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Who knows when I'll be able to get back to a computer, so I'm queuing up a couple of posts that should give you a good introduction to what you should expect around here for the next month or so. If you see something you like, leave me a comment, tell your friends, spread the good word.  If you don't see anything you like, sorry.

The little cards you see here are from two of the later records in the Goodyear series, some things I had never seen before, and I suspect many of you have never seen them, either, which is why I'm putting them up here. They were stuck to the outside of the shrink wrap, which had never been removed, so they survived the nearly 40 year trip (1973 & 1974, I think) into the future for me to find.  Look close at one of the cards and you'll see that they mis-spelled CYCLE.  This was probably in the days where such things were hand-set on a printing press.  Poor intern working that day probably lost his job over that.  Anyhow, stay tuned, and the Christmas goodness will start popping up.  Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Torrents

Anybody know anything about torrents?  I'm giving some thought to sharing files via torrents this Christmas, but I'm not sure about all the particulars.  I made a test file, but I'm not sure how it's working.  Anybody want to click it and let me know what happens?

Johnny Nash-Prince Of Peace (2012 Remaster)

If you've already got a torrent client installed, does this magnet link work?

Merv Shiner-Greatest Christmas Kiddie Hits

Angels

If you watched the episode of Dr. Who last night, you might recognize this statue in Central Park that played a small role in the events that took place.  This is very close to the rock that Amy, Rory and the Dr. were perched on near the beginning as well as the bridge that he ran across at the end.  I saw it all when I was there in September of last year.  But I didn't see anybody famous hanging about when I visited.