Christmas In July 2017 Day 15

Trying to get this done early today so I can go out and see Spiderman today.  I doubt it has any Christmas content in it, though, so this post is going to have to be it for the day.  Here's what you're getting for the almost halfway point.

1. Snowfall, a personal favorite version by George Shearing, String Choir Conducted By Billy May from the LP The Shearing Touch (Capitol ST1472, Stereo, 1960).  And Billy May makes anything better.

2. Glory To Him (Ukranian Carol) (Na Nebi Sirka) by Don Cossack Choir-Serge Jaroff, Conductor-Soloist: I. Seifert from Russian Fair (Decca Gold Label DL 710016, Stereo, 1959).  I'm sure neither Donald Trump nor any of his associates have ever listened to this song.

3. Fuyu No Yoru (Winters Night) by 101 Strings, Conducted By Richard Müller-Lampertz, Koto Solos By Shinichi Yuize, another track from Songs Of The Seasons In Japan (Alshire S-5019, Stereo, 1964).  If you'd told me 20 years ago that I'd be caring even slightly about 101 Strings, I'd have told you that you were crazy, yet here we are.

4. Doll Dance by Vincent Lopez, His Piano And Orchestra from Lopez Playing (Columbia Special Archive Series CSRP 8229, Stereo, 1960).  I thought I had already shared this one this year, but I guess not.  I know I've shared it in years past, though.

5. (a) Las Posadas: Pastorcita Virgen (b) Las Posadas: Virgen Shepherdess By Unknown Mexican Children from the LP Latin American Children Game Songs-Recorded In Puerto Rico And Mexico By Henrietta Yurchenco (Folkways FC 7851, "Electronically Rechanneled To Simulate Stereo", 1968).  I guess Henrietta Yurchenco was somewhat like Alan Lomax in that she went out and recorded folk music in it's natural environs.  Interesting stuff.  You'll get more of this later in the month.

6. The Troika by Alfred Newman Conducting The 20th Century-Fox Orchestra, which I just pulled this morning from Anastasia-Music From The Soundtrack (Decca DL 8460, Mono, 1956).  Doesn't sound very Christmassy, but the name...  It's all in the title.

7. The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot by The Sun Tones, another great old favorite of mine from A Touch Of Gold (Sunrise Records LP 2309, Mono, 1961).  It's hard to go wrong with a barbershop Christmas song!

8. I Wonder As I Wander Out Under The Sky, another song by John Jacob Niles, Mountaineer Tenor, With Dulcimer Accompaniment from his LP John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs (RCA Camden CAL 245, Mono, 1956).  Again, someone who sought out old folk songs, only this time he recorded them himself instead of recording the original performers.

9.  Beautiful Candy By The Paul Smith Ensemble from Carnival! In Percussion (Verve V-4051, Mono, 1961).  I love the candy songs!

And that's it!  Today is the day when I passed the symbolic 100 songs shared!  So you've got a pretty good selection going and there's plenty more where this came from.  I'm back on track with recording more than I'm sharing (which obviously can't keep going forever) so there's plenty in the pile for you.  Here's the link for you, and have a great day.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 14

Fourteen days in a row, I'm on fire!  No, really, I'm on fire, somebody come over and spray some water before all this vinyl starts melting and I drown!  OK, I'm obviously delirious from staying up too late recording music.  So I'm gonna share some Christmas music and hit the hay.  What have I got for you tonight?  Let's have a look...

1. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year, another one by Leslie Uggams-Arranged And Conducted By Glenn Osser, from the album So In Love! (Columbia CL 2071, Mono, 1963).  Need to dig this one up in stereo.  And I need to dig up two Christmas singles that Leslie recorded for MGM back in the day under the name Leslie Crayne.  I believe they were also reissued as a single EP once she became a little better known.  Anybody care to hook me up with a hard copy?

2. Winter Moon by the legendary Hoagy Carmichael With The Pacific Jazzmen-Arranged And Conducted By Johnny Mandel from what I think was his last LP, Hoagy Sings Carmichael (Pausa 9006 (reissue of Pacific Jazz PJ 1223, 1957), Mono, 1982).  Good stuff.  I only know of one true Christmas song by Hoagy, and it took me forever, but I eventually found a 45 of it as performed by The Mills Brothers.

3. Blue December by Gordon Jenkins And His Orchestra from the album Gordon Jenkins' Almanac ("X" (on sleeve) Vik (on label) LXA-1026, Mono, 1955).  Interesting collection of songs, one for each month of the year.  Another one I may go back and revisit in it's entirety after the month is over.

4. March Of The Toys by Ethel Smith from Ethel Smith's Toy Parade (Decca 10" 33 RPM DL 5283, Mono, 1951).  I still need to go back through and compare these older versions to the newer ones to see if they are the same or re-recordings.  She re-released a lot of her stuff time and again, so much so that I don't know what's what.

5. Ave Maria by Connie Francis from her tribute to JFK, In The Summer Of His Years (MGM SE 4210, Stereo, 1963). Don't think I've had this one in stereo before, but I could be mistaken.

6. Skater's Cha Cha by the great Claude Thornhill And His Orchestra from his album Dance To The Sound Of Claude Thornhill And His Orchestra (Decca DL 78878, Stereo, 1958).  Yes, he did songs other than Snowfall.

7. Divertissement De Chocolat, another track from Tchaivoksky's Nutcracker Ballet performed by Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, pulled from the album Khatchaturian-Masquerade/Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1029 (Reissue of 78 RPM set DM-1164), Mono, 1946).  Excellent stuff, as always from these folks.

8. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Bill Mann With The Concert Orchestra Of Stockholm, title track from the album Go Tell It On The Mountain (Word W-3321-LP, Mono, 1965).  Good stuff here.

9. Jesus Born In A Manger by Aunt Theresa Worman from Aunt Theresa's Stories (Super Recordings SR-2026, Mono).  Well, they can't all be good, can they?

And that's it.  I'm tired.  Good night.  See you again tomorrow, I hope.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 13

Lucky number 13!  I must be doing something right.  Let's jump right in, feet first. first time!

1. The Sound Of Christmas by 101 Strings, Recorded Under The Direction Of D.L. Miller, a rerun around here, but this time pulled from the album Themes And Songs Of American Holidays (Alshire S-5056, Stereo, 1967).  Pretty sure when I shared this with you last time, it was from a promo version sent to radio stations with a slightly different track list.  This track is still the same, though, and pretty good.

2. Toy Symphony, Hob. II, No. 27, a bit of classical goodness by Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Heilbronn-Jörg Faerber, Conductor, from the LP Humour In Music-18th Century Style (Turnabout (Vox) TV 34134S, Stereo, 1967).  I don't know about the humour bit, but it's nice music.

3. Winter Time by Trio Shmeed-Orchestra Conducted By Don Costa, an excellent new find this year, and the second song I've shared with you from their LP Trio Schmeed (ABC-Paramount ABC-103, Mono, 1955).  There's some other nice stuff on this LP, probably one of the ones I'll go back and record when I have some free time and it's not July.

4. Les Patineurs-Waltz, OP. 183 performed by Robert Irving, Conducting Sinfonia Of London, and lifted from the LP Philharmonic Pops (Capitol SG 7178, Stereo, 1958).  If you don't recognize the title, it's The Skater's Waltz in French, I believe.  Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

5. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers  (From "Chauve Souris") by Richard Hayman And His Harmonica Orchestra from his stereo spectacular Harmonica Holiday (Mercury PPS 6005, Stereo, 1961).  From another set of stereo show-off discs, this time the series put out on Mercury.

6. Let There Be Peace On Earth (Let It Begin With Me) by The Norman Luboff Choir from This Is Norman Luboff! (RCA Victor LSP-2342, Mono, 1961).  One of those albums I've seen a thousand times but never looked at the track list.  Monday I picked it up and there it was.  Now if I'd only done that with a nice clean stereo copy...

7. Ding Dong Merrily On High by The Dixie High School Madrigal Singers from The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, OH, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  I really haven't shared out very many of these home-baked high school musicals this year.  I have them in the pile, I've just been more interested in the other stuff I have to share.  But when I get to them, you'll know it!

8. Moonlight In Vermont by Brook Benton from Songs I Love To Sing (Mercury SR 60602, Stereo, 1960).  Not sure about the Christmas relevance of this song, but I've seen it pop up on plenty of winter-themed albums.  I guess there are a couple lines in there that could be winter...

9. Dream Of A Doll by Al Bollington, another track from his LP Organ Hues In Hi-Fi (Dot DLP 3110, Mono, 1958).  Not sure how I reached the point where any song with the word 'Doll' in the title is a possible Christmas song, but here we are.

And here we are at the end of a particularly long list of songs tonight.  Hope there's something in there that you find enjoyable.  Leave me a note and let me know what your favorite is.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 12

Whew, got off at a decent hour today so I was able to record a few tracks for the pile. I keep finding more and more records that I want to grab a track from, they seem to come out of the woodwork at times.  At some point I'm going to have to just stop and call it good enough, but not any time real soon since I'm on a bit of a roll.  So let's take a look at what I've got tonight for you.

1. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Thurlow Spurr And The Spurrlows from The Spurrlows Now (Word WST-8445-LP, Stereo, 1969).  A great little bit of Now Sound from a religious LP.  These guys were hired by Chrysler to go around and perform concerts back in the late Sixties.  They even released a Christmas LP during that period, and it's not too shabby.

2. Baby Doll (Theme From "Baby Doll") by Ted Heath And His Music from Showcase (London LL 1737, Mono, 1958).  Not quite as good as the other Ted Heath I shared with you recently, but no the worst thing I'll share out with you this month.

3. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers, one of those songs I probably share too frequently this month, but you gotta take what you can get.  This one is performed by The Peter London Orchestra-Arranged And Conducted By Art Harris from the LP The Sound Of Top Brass (Kapp ML-7500, Mono, 1960).  If memory serves (and it usually doesn't these days), this is the second track I've brought to you this month from this LP.  And I think there's one more to go.

4. Skating In Central Park (From "Odds Against Tomorrow") by John Lewis from the various artists album Jazz From The Movies (Ascot AM 13012, Mono, 1964).  Pretty sure I shared out a track of the same name by The Modern Jazz Quartet some years ago, but it didn't ring any bells when I listened to it.  Must not be very memorable.

5. Lulle Lullay (The Coventry Carol) by John Jacob Niles, Mountaineer Tenor, With Dulcimer Accompaniment, one of the unsung early collectors of folk songs across America, taken from his album John Jacob Niles Sings American Folk Songs (RCA Camden CAL 245, Mono, 1956).  Nice, and there are a couple more where this one came from.

6. My Favorite Things by The Hi-Lo's With Orchestra Conducted By Warren Barker from Broadway Playbill (Columbia CS 8213, Stereo, 1960).  Everybody needs more of The Hi-Lo's in their life.  Honest!

7. Winter Wonderland by Cliff Duphiney With Vincent Marino, Percussionist from the interestingly titled LP Cliff Duphiney's Explosion Of The Tone Cabinets (Decora-Amphora DALP 2002, Mono, 1961).  I was disappointed to find out that I had shared this one before in Stereo.  I guess not every re-share is an improvement.

8. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year by the great Bing Crosby With The Pete Moore Orchestra from the very last LP he recorded in his lifetime, Seasons (Polydor PD-1-6128, Stereo, 1977).  Such a great voice, and truly the father of almost all modern Christmas songs.  If he'd stopped after his first version of White Christmas, we'd still be talking about him today, but the rest of his Christmas catalog is right up there with the classics of Western civilization.

And that's it.  Another eight tracks, and I recorded 12 today, so I'm banking four.  That doesn't catch me up to yesterday, but I'm doing OK.  The weekend isn't too far away.  Hope you're finding something you like and thanks for stopping by!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 11

Whew, long, long day at work today, and didn't get anything done.  So I'm late tonight.  And I didn't get to record a single thing.  That's the first time since the beginning of the month that I haven't recorded more than I shared.  Oh, well, there should be plenty of days left in the month for me to make up for it.  Anyhow, I picked a quick set of shares tonight, so here goes.

1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Vaughn Monroe, not the original hit but a short version he recorded for Dot, His Greatest Hits (Dot DLP 25431, Stereo, 1962).  Nice to have this song in stereo, but it turns out this wasn't his first stereo recording of his 1945 hit.  Stay tuned...

2. Baby It's Cold Outside by not one but two great bands, Ted Heath And His Music & Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra, performing together for their second LP, Heath Vs. Ros Round 2 (London Phase 4 SP 44089, Stereo, 1967).  If you don't have both of their albums together, go find them now!

3. My Favorite Things (From The Production "The Sound Of Music") by Peter Nero, pulled from the album The Screen Scene Starring Peter Nero (RCA Victor LSP-3496, Stereo, 1966).  No arguments about whether or not this is a Christmas song, please.  It is what it is...

4. Honolulu Punch; Hawaiian Holiday; Mele Kalikimaka, a giant medley with a little bit of Christmas content by The Banjo Barons-Arranged And Conducted By Marty Manning, the stereo version of something I shared out a couple years ago in mono, from the LP The Banjo Barons Play Golden Hawaiian Hits (Columbia CS 8783, Stereo, 1963).  There's more where this came from, so stay tuned.

5. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (From "On The Avenue") by Erroll Garner from Plays For Dancing (Columbia CL 667, Mono, 1956).  Garner is an underappreciated pianist in my humble opinion.  Wish he'd done more Christmas stuff.

6. Chilly Winds by Morgana King from her album Everybody Loves Saturday Night (Ascot ALS 16020, Stereo, 1964), which is actually a reissue of an earlier LP on United Artists from 1959 that I've never seen.  Good stuff, but not the best track on this LP.  Stay tuned!

7. Pas De Deux, a tiny slice of the Nutcracker Ballet by Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, reissued in the LP Khatchaturian-Masquerade/Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1029, Mono, 1946).  This is the second track I've shared with you from this LP, and I've got two more to go.  Stay tun...well, you get the picture.

8. Walking On Ice, the second track I've brought you from The Kermit Leslie Orchestra and their album "Middlebrow" Music For The Hi-Fi Fan With The Kermit Leslie Orchestra (Epic 10" 33 RPM LG 1019, Mono, 1954).  And as a special treat for you tonight, my good pal Buster has decided to host the whole thing over at his blog, the home of all the 10" mid-century vinyl you could ever want.  Head on over and say howdy, tell him Honest Ern sent you!

And that's it.  Don't forget to stay tuned each and every day for the entire month of July for more and more goodies just like these!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 10

Hello!  And welcome to day 10!  I've just wasted an hour trying to get a cha cha cha version of a Nutcracker Suite song to play without skipping, and nothing I did worked.  So I'm a little frustrated tonight.  It's very rare that I come across a record that I can't play without skipping, I've got quite a few tricks up my sleeve, but this one just wouldn't cooperate.  So that's one track you aren't going to be hearing tonight, sorry.  Let's take a look at what I do have to share tonight.  I think all the tracks this evening are pulled from stuff I recorded for the un-heard Christmas in July 2016.  Here goes.

1. Silver Bells From The Paramount Picture "The Lemon Drop Kid" by Kitty Kallen & Richard Hayes from the LP Kitty Kallen Sings (Mercury Wing SRW 16241, Electronic Stereo, 1963).  I was so excited when I picked up this record and saw this track on there.  I ran home and ripped it pretty quick.  I think they recorded this for a single back in 1950, but I've never seen it.

2. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by Ken Griffin, not from his Christmas album but from The Sparkling Touch!-Bright And Merry Organ Favorites (Columbia CL 1709, Mono, 1961).  It could be on his Christmas album, but I didn't look to see.

3. The Things We Did Last Summer by Eydie Gorme-Arranged And Produced By Don Costa, one of a few tracks I'll be sharing from her LP Love Is A Season (ABC-Paramount ABC-273, 1959).  Not sure how it happened, but side one of my LP is in stereo while side two is in mono.  Luckily this track was on side 1 so it's presented here in stereo.

4. Snowball by The Four Populaires from the LP The Four Populaires At Greenbrier (Squire LP 553 A-B "At The Greenbrier, White Sulpher Springs, W. Va.", Mono).  Another LP by some local group that wanted to sell a souvenir at gigs.  Sometimes good, sometimes bad, you just never know what you're going to get.  Not sure that this one has anything to do with Christmas, but the title is good.

5. Green Sleeves by Kurt Jensen & His Orchestra from the album Complete Dance Party (Hallmark Blue Label Series HLP 305, Stereo).  And another one from somebody few people ever heard.

6. O Holy Night by Helen Harbourt Zingg, Soprano; Male Chorus; Julius C. Zingg. F.A.G.O., Organist And Director, from their album Union Choir Sings (Mirrorsonic CM 7135, Mono).  And then there's the records that are pressed up by groups who just want a record of their singing.  Lots of these, too.

7. Greensleeves by Buck Owens' Buckaroos-Fiddle Solo By Don Rich from a Buck-less LP called Anywhere, U.S.A. (Capitol ST 194, Stereo, 1969).  Did I really just put a second version of Greensleeves in the share tonight?  Sigh...

8. Snowfall by Hugo Winterhalter from his great unknown LP A Season For My Beloved (ABC-Paramount ABCS-447, Stereo, 1963).  I guess Mr. Winterhalter got tired of being the house everything at RCA after a while and went to record this LP for ABC.  Not sure how that worked out for him, it's not something you see very often.

And that's it.  Eight more tracks, we're headed in the right direction.  See you tomorrow!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017 Day 9

It is the ninth, right?  I'm losing track of time.  So much Christmas music, so little time.  Let's go...

1. Baby It's Cold Outside, one of my favorite versions ever, by Ted Heath And His Music & Edmundo Ros And His Orchestra from their second LP together, Heath Vs. Ros Round 2 (London Phase 4 SP 44089, Stereo, 1967).  Seriously, give this a listen right now.  And if you love it, so out and buy the rest of the songs from their two albums together.

2. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm by Eric Johnson And His Orchestra from the LP Irving Berlin-Blue Skies And Other Favorites (Westminster WST 15021, Stereo, 1958).  I love these early Westminster albums.  I found this one and a couple full Christmas albums I didn't have just yesterday.  Gotta love it when you find good stuff at a good time.

3. The Children's Marching Song (From The 20th Century-Fox Film "The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness") by Ray Martin Conducting The Swingin' Marchin' Band from the LP Parade Of The Pops (RCA Victor LPM-1960, Mono, 1959).  Not really a Christmas song, but a lot of childhood favorites in medley form.  Pretty good either way.

4. Dancing Doll by TV favorite Lawrence Welk And His Champagne Music from Dance Party Featuring Lawrence Welk And His Champagne Music (Mercury MG 20092, Mono, 1956).  If you've never listened to Lawrence Welk's early stuff, so give it a listen.  It's much better than the stuff you used to watch with your grandmother on TV.  Really!

5. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers (From "Chauve Souris") by Henri René And His Orchestra from the Stereo Action LP Dynamic Dimensions (RCA Victor LSA-2396, Stereo, 1961).  I've got all the albums in this series after many years of collecting, but I still buy them when I see them if they're cheap.  They are a beautiful thing to behold with their thick cardboard die-cut jackets, their fancy abstract color photographic inserts and the copious liner notes.

6. Sleigh Ride by Al Bollington from Organ Hues In Hi-Fi (Dot LP 3110, Mono, 1958).  Sleigh Ride is one of the easier Christmas songs to find on non-Christmas LPs.  It shows up in all sorts of places, from organ show-off LPs like this one to Leroy Anderson tributes to seasonal themed albums.  You learn over the years how to spot these things, trust me.

7. I Wonder As I Wander-Appalachian Carol by Mildred Miller from 100th Anniversary Commemorative Concert (John Hancock JH-100S, Stereo, 1961).  I shared this out a long time ago in mono, but had never seen a stereo copy until a week or so ago.  There is was at the half-price Goodwill clearance store.  I figure it was a sign!  Most of the tracks on this one feature Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops, but this one seems to be a capella.

8. Winter Melody by Donna Summer-Accompanied By The "Munich Machine" from the album Four Seasons Of Love (Casablanca NBLP 7038, Stereo, 1976).  I'd hoped this would be a little more disco, but it's closer to early Euro-pop.  Still a nice change of pace from what you normally get around here.

And I think that's it for the night.  Before I give you the download link, I want to point you to an interesting little spreadsheet I made the other day.  It lists every single track I've ever shared with you during Christmas in July!  I put everything into a playlist, then exported it to a spreadsheet.  It's a neat look at what I've shared before, and you can see the things that I've shared more than once.  I figure even after you take out all the duplicates, it's well over 1000 songs!  Have a look here.  And it's not a list for requests.  Most of those songs aren't coming back, at least not in that form.  And here's the download link for the night:

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 8

Whew, long day!  I've been out trying to find more Christmas tracks to share with you this month, and I must have flipped through ten thousand albums.  I could have done half again more but it was so hot in the warehouse I was digging that I couldn't stand it after about the first third.  That was my last stop, but it had the most records.  I was pretty lucky, I stopped at maybe 8 places and came away with records at 7.  Not always something to share but certainly something to listen to.  The one Goodwill I stopped at ticked me off when they told me the records were now $2.18 each!  I nearly put them all back, but I didn't.  I'll just keep that in mind the next time I stop and only buy really, really good stuff if they have it.  Most of the other places were much cheaper, so it all balanced out.  Now, onto the tracks for tonight.

1. Christmas Carol Sing-A-Long by Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra-Julius Rudel, Musical Director, from Christmas In Concert And More... (Allentown Record Co. For Buffalo Savings Bank, No Number, Stereo, 1979).  Looks like I shared this one out with you before, but I have no memory of it.  Side one is all Christmas tunes and side two is random non-Christmas.  Reading the liner notes, they've been holding seasonal concerts in the grand lobby of this Buffalo bank for almost twenty years, but this was the first time somebody got the bright idea to record it.  But, reading the liner notes even more carefully, this is the recording of a rehearsal in a local hall, months before the actual event, so you get really good sound, not something live in front of an audience.  Anyhow, you can look forward to a couple more tracks from this one through the month.

2. Moonlight in Vermont by Leslie Uggams With Mitch Miller And The Sing Along Gang from the LP Leslie (Columbia CS 9936, Stereo, 1970).  Not sure that I put this song squarely in the Christmas category, but I wanted something from Leslie and this is what I found.  Just roll with it, something better will come up, I'm sure.

3. Winter Blues Bossa Nova by Bent Fabric from his album Operation Lovebirds (Atco 33-202, Mono, 1967).  Because we needed some bossa nova around here.  And because he always has such great animal-themed album covers.

4. March Of The Toys ("Babes In Toyland") by Camarata Conducting The Kingsway Symphony Orchestra, taken from the LP The Great Victor Herbert (Phase 4 London SPC21143, Stereo, 1975).  Is that a Moog I hear in there, or just a garden variety synth?

5. The Holly And The Ivy, another track by The Dixie High School Concert Choir and their album The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, OH, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  Hey, at least it's a genuine, bonafide Christmas song!

6. Season's Greetings by Mabel Mercer from the double LP with Bobby Short, At Town Hall (Atlantic 2xLP SD 2-604, Stereo, 1969).  No, it's not really Christmas, but at least she mentions the holiday in there.

7. Greensleeves by George Greeley, His Piano And Orchestra from his LP Piano Rhapsodies Of Love (Reprise R9-6092, Stereo, 1961).  Somewhere in the past, I remember sharing out a whole LP of Christmas piano from Mr. Greeley.  But I don't remember much about it so it must not have made much of an impression.  Now what were we talking about?

That's it, lots of tracks tonight, I'm feeling good about the number of tracks I've already recorded and how many records I still have in the pile to go.  Wish me luck, we've still got a long way to go until August.  And remember, if you like what you've found here, tell your friends.  They need to come visit now.  Once these shares disappear, they're unlikely to ever come back.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 7

Day seven, one week in, still going strong!  Feels good to be posting again, and I've been digging up some good stuff at the junk stores.  Sometimes this job is easy, sometimes it's tough.  Let's see what I've got in the old share folder tonight for ya'll...

1. Winter Scene-Waltz Of The Snowflakes by the Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, from their LP Khatchaturian-Masquerade/Tchaikovsky-The Nutcracker (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1029, Mono, Circa 1953).  I hunted around for a good date on this one for a while, and I couldn't quite put all the pieces together.  I did establish that it combines two earlier sets that had come out originally on a couple of 78 albums.  The Tchaikovsky one was DM-1164 and I believe it was issued in 1946.  I found an early ad from 1953 advertising a tour by Fiedler & The Boston Pops, and this was listed as one of their records that was available, but it was a long list, so I can't tell you if it was new then or not.  The cover for the 78 set is really nice.  There's a small version of it on the cover to this early LP.

2. Snowfall, the Claude Thornhill chestnut, by Living Strings Plus Two Pianos-Arranged And Conducted By Hill Bowen from the LP My Silent Love (RCA Camden CAL-754, Mono, 1963).  You might recognize the name Hill Bowen from some of the Hi-Fi Living LPs I've been resharing this year.  RCA seemed to put that Living Strings label on any band they could find with recordings to sell...

3. Greensleeves by Living Marimbas-Arranged And Conducted By Leo Addeo, from the album Love Is Blue (RCA Camden CAS-2253, Stereo, 1968).  How about that, two Living releases in a row?  It's almost a theme!  Leo Addeo in my mind is much more associated with his releases featuring the music of Hawaii, but I guess he wasn't just a one-trick pony.

4. The Virgin Mary, a rerun by The Chad Mitchell Trio from the album Reflecting (Mercury SR 60891, Stereo, 1964).  I think I shared this out a long time ago in mono, so this stereo copy might sound a little better to your ears.  Maybe.  The vinyl wasn't the cleanest...  I did pull a cover of a Shel Silverstein song from this one while I was recording.  Someday I hope to put together a collection of his songs that goes a little deeper than A Boy Named Sue or Cover Of The Rolling Stone.

5. The Skater's Waltz by Joe Reisman & His Orchestra, pulled from the LP Great American Waltzes (Forum SF 9061 (Originally Roulette SR-25089), Stereo, 1959).  1959 is the date for the original Roulette release of this LP, I couldn't find a reissue date.  Billboard is great, but it's not comprehensive.

6. March Of The Toys by George Melachrino And His Orchestra from the LP The Music Of Victor Herbert (RCA Victor LPM-2129, Mono, 1960).  Not sure why I ripped this one, I think I've shared a nice stereo copy with you in the past.  Just going for quantity over quality as it were.

That's it, another six tracks in the pile.  Here's the linky-link.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 6

Good news, good news!  I found a whole other box of records marked CiJ (for Christmas in July) that I packed away last year!  The bad news is that only about half the records in the box fit the description, but that's still half a box more than I had before.  Pretty sure there's some good stuff in there, but I forced myself to wait until tomorrow to start pulling records out of it to record.  Still plenty of stuff in the old pile I need to work on.  The records I've already recorded this year don't quite fill up a box, so I've got a long way to go...  Now, onto the records...

1. The Toy Trumpet by The Peter London Orchestra-Arranged And Conducted By Art Harris, from the LP The Sound Of Top Brass (Kapp ML-7500, Mono, 1960).  The first of three tracks I pulled from this album, which featured three different conductors, but oddly enough, all three tracks I pulled were conducted by Art Harris.  This LP appears to have been an entry in their Medallion series of stereo spectaculars, but somehow I wound up with a mono copy and in a re-issue sleeve.  Oh well...

2. Coventry Carol by The Dixie High School Concert Choir, another selection from their album The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, OH, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  Nice to be able to throw in an actual Christmas song once in a while...

3. June In January (From The Paramount Picture "Here Is My Heart") by the world's premier duo-pianists Ferrante & Teicher, taken from the LP The Incomparable Piano Stylings Of Ferrante & Teicher (Sunset SUS-5235, Stereo, 1968).  Always good to hear a little something from these guys.

4. Nativity From King Of Kings by Miklos Rozsa from the clumsily-titled Miklos Rozsa Conducts His Great Themes From Ben-Hur, El Cid, Quo Vadis And King Of Kings (Capitol T 2837, Mono, 1967).  Maybe it sounds better when you're watching the movie, but I didn't really get a feeling of the Nativity from this one.

5. Jingle Bells-Instructions by Ed Durlacher & 6. Jingle Bells-Calls And Music by The Top Hands With Don Durlacher, both from Holiday Dances (Honor Your Partner Records (Educational Activities) 2xLP HYR-20, Mono, 1975).  Because you need to do a little square dancing on your Christmas day!

Another day, another fine batch of music.  Hope you enjoy it!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 5

G'day, and welcome to the fifth day of Christmas In July!  All of the songs in today's share were recorded last year for a July that never happened.  There's some good stuff in here, so let's get to it.

1. Be A Santa by Percy Faith And His Orchestra, from his LP featuring interpretations of songs from the musical Subways Are For Sleeping (Columbia CS 5833, Stereo, 1961).  I don't know why, but this was a hard LP to find.  You see lots of Percy Faith in the thrift store bins, but never this one for some reason.

2. Santa Claus Is Flat Gonna Come To Town by The Four Freshman from their second live LP The Four Freshmen In Person Volume 2 (Capitol ST 1860, Stereo, 1963).  This was one of my favorite finds from back in the day.  Some people find it too cheeky but I love it.  This is the sort of track I love to find and share with you here.

3. November "Troika" (Sleigh-Ride) by Morton Gould At The Piano And Conducting His Orchestra from his album Tchaikovsky: The Months, Op. 37a (Columbia Masterworks ML 4487, Mono, 1950).  This is the first of several holiday related tracks on this one.  I was pretty surprised when this turned up because it's the sort of record I'm always looking for but rarely find.

4. Swingin' Them Jingle Bells-Instrumental by Fats Waller from the compilation The Complete Fats Waller Volume IV (RCA 2xLP 5905-1-RB (Originally Recorded in Chicago, 29 November 1936), Mono, 1987).  Until I saw this LP, I didn't realize Fats had recorded an instrumental of his great Christmas song.  These days, I suppose this would be called the karaoke version.

5. When Winter Comes (From The 20th Century Fox Film "Second Fiddle") By Joanie Sommers from Sommers' Seasons (Warner Bros WS1504, Stereo, 1963).  Again, the sort of LP, I search for.  If they're singing about the seasons, there's a pretty good chance you'll get a few winter songs in there.

That's it.  Some new, some reruns, but all good stuff.  Enjoy!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 04

Gonna try and get something up a little bit earlier today.  Can't be up all night since I have to go to work in the morning, unlike the past four days in a row.  And with all that time off, I was able to get more than 80 tracks ripped and put in the pile for future Christmas in July sharing!  Hooray!  Still having a hard time finding new stuff that I haven't shared before, but I've got a few things that I don't think you've heard before.  And I hope the old stuff sounds better than the previous time I shared it.  Now, on with the show.

1. Oshogatsu-Yuki (Snow And New Year) by 101 Strings, Conducted By Richard Müller-Lampertz, Koto Solos By Shinichi Yuize from Songs Of The Seasons In Japan (Alshire S-5019, Stereo, 1964).  I've shared this one before, but it's always nice to share something that doesn't sound the same as everything else, and a bit of foreign flavor helps in that regard.

2. A Partridge In A Pear Tree (The Twelve Days Of Christmas) by Baja Marimba Band from the album For Animals Only (A&M SP4113, Stereo, 1965).  If I haven't shared this one before, then shame on me.  This was one of the first tracks I ever noticed in the middle of a non-Christmas album and wondered what it was doing there.  It also features on the A&M Christmas LP from the period, Something Festive.

3. December by Count Basie And The Mills Brothers from The Board Of Directors (Dot DLP 25838, Stereo, 1968).  One of the all-time great tracks that would have never found without all these July searches!  This is what it's all about!

4. Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by Ethel Smith, the second track shared from Ethel Smith's Toy Parade (Decca 10" 33 RPM DL 5283, Mono, 1951).  Good stuff.

5. Excerpts From The Nutcracker-Scene And March by Antal Dorati And The London Symphony Orchestra from Curtain Up! Holidays Around The World (Mercury SR90361 For Broadcast Only-Not For Sale, Stereo, 1963).  At least this one, I think, is new to the blog.  At least I have no memory of having recorded it before, I didn't do an exhaustive search.

And that's it, five more tracks.  Hope you're having a great Fourth of July!  I wish they'd had the fireworks last night, then I could have stayed up late and watched them.  As it is, I'm sure every yokel in the neighborhood is going to be setting off explosions until tomorrow morning sometime.  I'm so old.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 3

I was shocked today to discover a folder full of Christmas in July songs I ripped last year but never shared out.  So that means I've got plenty more songs in the can to share with you than I first thought!  Gonna be a good month as long as I can find new stuff and not just a bunch of repeats.  So, what have I got for tonight?  Let's see...

1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by The Dixie High School Madrigal Singers from Dayton, Ohio, the first of several tracks from their LP The Dixie H.S. Concert Choir Of 1966-1967 (Dixie High School, Dayton, Ohio, 19165/19166, Mono, 1967).  I see a lot of these old LPs from high schools, junior highs, elementary schools, church groups, civic organizations, etc.  I guess back before the days of video cameras and cell phones, this was your best option of creating a lasting memory of some special event.  I just wish they were a little more interesting to listen to, but to someone on the record, it's priceless.

2. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring, by that other, less-well-known piano duo, Whittemore And Lowe, from the late-career LP The Personal Touch Of Whittemore And Lowe (Mega M51-5009, Stereo, 1972).  I've got another LP on this same label by Phil Harris.  I guess their specialty was grabbing popular artists that were past their prime and hoping for some magic.  Not a bad idea.  The date on the LP cover didn't match the date on the LP, so I went with the earlier one of 1972 instead of the later one of 1973.  Some days I wonder about quality control.

3. Toyland by Carmen Dragon Conducting The Capitol Symphony Orchestra from the album Nightfall (Capitol P 8575, Mono, 1961).  Anything by the father of The Captain is going to be good!

4. Christmas Morn Hymn 23 by Kenny Baker from Mary Baker Eddy Hymns (Published By The Trustees Under The Will Of Mary Baker Eddy 10" 33 RPM TV 15580/15581 (Manufactured By Columbia Records Inc), Mono).  I've shared out some other Christmas music by Kenny baker before, including an entire LP, so I was excited when I came across this.  I also recently found an entire double LP of Christmas music written by Mary Baker Eddy.  Not sure if I can work my way through that much of her music, but maybe.  Check back around Christmas time.

5. The Bell's Of St. Mary's by Gordon MacRae-Arranged And Conducted By Van Alexander from Songs For An Evening At Home (Capitol ST-1251, Stereo, 1959).  An oldie but a goodie.  This album featured some songs that Gordon sang with members of his family, and even an instrumental by Van Alexander.  This particular song is pretty much straight Gordon though.

And there you have it, five more tracks for the third day.  Enjoy!

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 2

Another day, another 20 songs recorded and ready to share for Christmas in July!  If I can keep this rate up for a while, I should be OK through the end of the month.  But you know what happens to the best laid plans...  Anyhow, I've got five good ones for you tonight, so let's jump in.

1. Ethel Smith-Wedding Of The Painted Doll from Ethel Smith's Toy Parade (Decca 10" 33 RPM DL 5283, Mono, 1951).  I think I've shared this before, but not from an LP this old.  She was a very gifted organist, that's for sure.

2. Carmen Cavallaro-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm from 12 Easy Lessons In Love (Decca DL 8747, Mono, 1958).  I think this one's new around here, but I could be wrong.  I want to make a joke about where in the world is Carmen Cavallaro, but it's late and I'm tired.  Maybe tomorrow.

3. Sleigh Ride by Richard Ellsasser from Leroy Anderson Favorites (MGM E3174, Mono, 1955).  Now this one I know I've shared before, along with two entire LPs from him of Christmas and winter music.

4. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Adele Addison And The Jubilee Singers from Little David Play On Your Harp And The Great Spirituals (Kapp K-1109-S, Stereo, 1959).  I pretty much have to check every LP I see that mentions spirituals to see if this is on there.  It turns up more often than not and always makes a fine addition to Christmas In July.

5. The Little Toy Shop by The Kermit Leslie Orchestra from "Middlebrow" Music For The Hi-Fi Fan With The Kermit Leslie Orchestra (Epic 10" 33 RPM LG 1019, Mono, 1954).  While looking this one up, I saw it mentioned as a lost space-age classic.  While I didn't think it was the best thing ever, it was good enough that I need to go back and listen to the rest of the tracks.  Not really a Christmas song, I think it's one of those things you could slide into a playlist and no one would be the wiser.

There you go, another five tracks for you.  The typos are coming fast and furious tonight, so I hope what I wrote makes sense.  I need to redo the share, too, since I found a few typos in the track names while I was typing them in here.  Long day.

Zippyshare

Christmas In July 2017-Day 1

Well, I told myself I wasn't going to do this, but here goes.  I spent a big chunk of the day recording some Christmas music from non-Christmas LPs, so I'm going to share some of them with you during the month of July.  I may not do every day, and I may not do too many on the days that I do share, but at least I'll do something to cut down on the size of this giant pile of records I've been accumulating.  And it's a lot of fun, so there is that.  As has become usual, lots of reruns from past years, though they are all new rips from newly found LPs.  I usually don't realize until I'm listening to it that it sounds kind of familiar, and then I research it a little and discover I shared it out 8 years ago.  Hopefully it sounds a little better this time around, but not always.  So where to start?  How about Snow, Snow by Monty Kelly And His Orchestra And Chorus, something I shared out before from a 45 EP, but this time it's from a 10" called Sensations In Sound And Moods "I Love" (Essex 10" 33 RPM ESLP-106, Mono, 1954), which appeared to be a short series.  Not sure if I've ever seen the others, but I'll keep my eyes open. Next up is a new-to-me track called Snow-Capped Mountain, the first of two tracks I pulled from the self-titled LP by Trio Schmeed (ABC-Paramount ABC-103, Mono, 1955), with orchestra duties handled by Don Costa.  Very interesting stuff on this LP, I wound up ripping about half the tracks, although only a couple of them will show up here.  Track three is the original mono recording of Brazilian Sleigh Bells by Percy Faith And His Orchestra, not from the original 78 but from the LP Fascinating Rhythms Of Percy Faith And His Orchestra (Columbia 10" 33 RPM CL 6203, Mono, 1952).  Again, there appear to have been a whole series of LPs featuring the word Rhythm from Mr. Faith around this same time.  Some interesting stuff on there.  Fourth, we have We Need A Little Christmas, From "Mame", the track that started this madness off today.  I discovered this record at a Goodwill and decided to run home to record this track.  And one thing led to another and here I am trying to do Christmas in July with almost no tracks prerecorded.  Anyhow, this is by The New Singing Sergeants, from the LP of the same name (The US Air Force AF-10276 "This Record Is Not For Sale", Stereo, 1976).  What makes them 'New' appears to be the addition of some women to the previously all-male group. And last but not least is a great rerun track called Ski Run by 101 Strings from the LP 101 Strings Plus Dynamic Percussion (Alshire S-5145, Stereo, 1972).  An oldie but a goodie.  We'll see how long I can keep this up.

Zippyshare

And yes, I still owe you some Hi-Fi Living albums...  Someday...

Volume Seven-Ten Years On

I know, I know, you'd given up on seeing any more of these installments of For Hi-Fi Living.  But here I am again, with volume 7 on this Memorial Day weekend.  Time flies when you're having fun, and I've had plenty of things to do that were far away from this computer.  Mostly, I've been trying to get as many steps as I can on this Fitbit in hopes that it will break and then I won't have to worry about it again.  But my knee gave out before the Fitbit, so I've been dealing with that, too.  But enough about me, you're here for the music.  And this week we've got more of the same, really easy stuff from 1957, part seven of twelve.  Someday I'll get to all of them, I promise.  Here is Jack Say And His Orchestra-These Foolish Things (RCA Custom RAL-1007, Mono, 1957).

1. Love (Your Spell Is Everywhere)
2. Yearning (Just For You)
3. Oh, How I Miss You Tonight
4. Music, Maestro, Please!
5. When You Wish Upon A Star
6. San Antonio Rose
7. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)
8. Wabash Moon
9. When They Ask About You
10. Lullaby Of The Leaves
11. I'd Climb The Highest Mountain (If I Knew I'd Find You)
12. With A Smile And A Song

Zipyshare

Volume Six-Ten Years On

Hello, and welcome back.  Sorry I missed a few weeks.  Life got a little too busy to worry about fifty year old music for a bit.  Hope you're all doing well.  I think this week's music will be worth the wait.  I think this is far and away my favorite installment so far in the For Hi-Fi Living series.  The series dispenses altogether with the interludes this week, but we head south of the equator for some Latin flavor in a nice series of songs.  No idea if Don Amoré is a real person, but I kinda doubt it.  No idea who the real artist could be, so if you have any info, please don't be stingy about sharing.  Without too much further ado, here is Don Amoré And His Orchestra-Latin Holiday (RCA Custom RAL-1006, 1957, Mono).

1. Amor
2. Cuanto Le Gusta (La Parranda)
3. Lisbon Antigua (In Old Lisbon)
4. Brazil (Aquarela do Brazil)
5. Frenesi (Cancion Tropical)
6. Tico-Tico (Tico-Tico No Fuba)
7. Perfidia
8. El Cumbanchero
9. Sweet And Gentle (Me Lo Dijo Adela)
10. Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much)
11. Adios
12. Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verdes)

Zippyshare

Volume Five-Ten Years On

Another Sunday, another installment of the For Hi-Fi Living series.  And, oddly enough, another set by Hill Bowen, making his third installment in the set.  I guess somebody at RCA really liked him, or he worked really cheap.  This one I think is a little better than the last, or at least the songs are more familiar.  Good selection of songs from Broadway, as well as quite a few I've never heard of from shows that can't have been around for very long.  But I'm not a huge fan of Broadway, so so what do I know. And for those of you keeping track at home, this one features piano interludes. Hope you all are enjoying the series.  I'm getting a few requests from people to repost the series, but I look and see that they're looking at the first postings from ten years ago without searching the blog, or even hitting the front page. Remember, if you're interested in something, it's always worth a second of your time to actually look for it, at least that's always been my philosophy.  Anyhow, here is Hill Bowen And His Orchestra-Love On Broadway (RCA Custom RAL-1005, Mono, 1957).

1. They Didn't Believe Me
2. My Ship
3. Wunderbar
4. Make Believe
5. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
6. June Is Bustin' Out All Over
7. Love Walked In
8. Some Enchanted Evening
9. The Night Was Made For Love
10. Orchids In The Moonlight
11. September Song
12. Falling In Love With Love

Zippyshare

Volume Four-Ten Years On

I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to get this special Super Bowl Sunday edition of For Hi-Fi Living up today, but here it is finally.  This is the second contribution from Hill Bowen, and the sound on this one is nice and clean.  Boring as can be, but it sounds nice.  The foxing is still really bad on the rear cover, and the whole thing was printed at a bit of an angle, but I managed to get most of that straightened out for you.  Interludes are back to being played on the piano again this time, and as near as I can tell, there's no theme to the music.  Most of these tunes I've never heard of, and even the writers were mostly unknown to me.  OK, Lorenz & Rodgers I know, but the others, not so much.  Anyhow, hope your team is winning and the other team is losing!  Here is Hill Bowen And His Orchestra-I Married An Angel (RCA Custom RAL-1004, Mono, 1957).

1. I Married An Angel
2. Lovely Lady
3. Taking A Chance On Love
4. Song Of Love
5. I'll Never Be The Same
6. Doll Dance
7. I Love You
8. More Than You Know
9. That Old Feeling
10. Once In A While
11. Blue Moon
12. Down Among The Sheltering Palms

Zippyshare

Volume Three-Ten Years On

Here it is, volume three of For Hi-Fi Living!  We're visiting Hollywood tonight, and it's a Gala Hollywood Premiere as you can tell by the cover.  Twelve songs from Hollywood films, some familiar, some not-so-much.  I guess you never know what might be well known 60 years in the future.  Here is Ronnie Ogden-Hits From Hollywood (RCA Custom RAL-1003, Mono, 1957).

1. I Feel A Song Comin' On
2. Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing
3. All I Do Is Dream Of You
4. Sweet And Lovely
5. Laura
6. Be My Love
7. It's A Most Unusual Day
8. Three Coins In The Fountain
9. Ramona
10. High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)
11. I'm In The Mood For Love
12. Over The Rainbow

Zippyshare

(Sorry about the poor shape of the backside of this LP cover.  Lots of foxing on there.  I took a few minutes to get some of it off, but it was a lost cause.  Hopefully next week is better.)