Saturday, August 05, 2017

Christmas In July 2017 Day 36

36 days?  This is getting crazy!  I didn't even plan on doing Christmas in July this year.  Every single song I've shared (except for the few I recovered from last year) has been ripped from record since the beginning for the month. And I've shared out a lot.  We're well ahead of any other year  But I'll be honest, I had to go out today and spend a few hours looking specifically for stuff to share here.  I'm almost out of records to record, so I don't see it going for too awful much longer.  But I'm not calling it yet, we'll see what happens.  Anyhow, I've got twenty more great tracks for you, and here they are.

1. White Christmas by Harry Koenig from the charity LP Piano Interpretations As Played By Harry Koenig (Album No. 1) (For The Koenig Cancer Research Foundation U-61869 This Record Is Not To Be Sold, Stereo).  Nice version, but I think it's too late to donate to his cause.  Not sure of a year on this one, but it was a long time ago.

2. Snowflakes Are Dancing (Children's Corner No. 4) by Tomita from Snowflakes Are Dancing-The Newest Sound Of Debussy (RCA Red Seal ARD1-0488 (Quadradisc), Quadraphonic, 1974).  I thought all the copies of this were in quad, but I saw one today that was in plain old stereo.

3. Sleigh Ride by Frederick Fennell Conducting The Eastman-Rochester "Pops" Orchestra from Music Of Leroy Anderson, Vol. 1 (Mercury Living Presence SR90009, Stereo, 1958).  They really must have liked Leroy Anderson, they made three volumes of his music.  Which is good for us, but still a lot.

4. My Favorite Things (From The Musical Production "The Sound Of Music") by The Richard Wolfe Children's Chorus from Puff The Magic Dragon And Other Songs Children Request (RCA Camden CAS-1088, Stereo, 1967).  These kids sang a lot.

5. Lawn As White As Driven Snow ("The Winter's Tale"; Act IV, Scene 3) by Maxine Sullivan from the LP Sullivan, Shakespeare, Hyman-Maxine Sullivan Sings The Songs Of William Shakespeare As Set To Music By Dick Hyman (Monmouth Evergreen MES/7038, Stereo, 1971).  I liked this LP a lot more than I expected.  I guess I was expecting something that sounded more like merry olde England, but it was fairly contemporary.

6. Dear Mister Santa Claus by Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra from Meredith Willson's Here's Love (London PS 330, Stereo, 1963).  Just found this one today, I had never seen it before.  Some good stuff on here, like this song that's not on the official cast LP!

7. The Christmas Symbol by The Concordia Choir-Paul J. Christiansen, Conductor-Soloist: Deborah Langemo from O Crux (Concordia Records/Mark MC-14005, Stereo).  Nothing really to say about this one, it's getting late.

8. Christmas Carols (In Czech, Hungarian, French And English) by The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors, from the album Recorded "Live" The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall-Choral Music Of The Seasons (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861, Stereo, 1966).  I still don't remember sharing tracks from this LP before, but I did.  I guess I share too much to remember it all.

9. Beffutta Az Utat A Ho (The Wind Has Barred My Path With Snow) by Lendvay Kalman And His Gypsy Band from Tears Of A Gypsy (Westminster WST 15004, Stereo, 1958).  Is it the fiddle that makes it gypsy music?

10. Waltz Of The Flowers (From Nutcracker Suite) by Meyer Davis And His Orchestra from On With The Dance (ABC-Paramount ABC-197, Mono, 1958).  Is this the only track from The Nutcracker Suite I have for you tonight?  I doubt it.

11. The Story Of The Nutcracker by James Kenney from Story Time (Merry Records MR-009, Mono, 1963).  Nope, I guess not.

12. The Snows Of Fujiyama by Henry Cowell from The Piano Music Of Henry Cowell (Folkways FM 3349, Mono, 1963).  Looks like this was a reissue of something older.  Not sure who Henry Cowell was, I should really look these things up.

13. Skaters' Waltz by George And Madeline Brown from The Story Of The Music Box (Caedmon 10" 33 RPM w/ Book CB-2, Mono, 1952).  Yawn.  So late...

14. Northern Lights (Nordlicht), Polka by Zacharias And His Magic Violins from Hallo Scandinavia! (Polydor  (Germany) 46064 LPHM, Stereo, 1958).  Now this is good stuff!  I pulled it from a German release, but I believe I found an American issue of it just today.  It's amazing what I stumble across sometimes

15. Moonlight In Vermont by The Bud Shank Quartet With Bob Cooper from Jazz At Cal-Tech (Pacific Jazz PJ-1219, Mono, 1956).  I've kind of shied away from this track as a Christmas thing for a while, but I've warmed up to it a little this year.  Hope you don't mind.  The more the merrier, right?

16. Lord Christ, When First Thou Camest (December) by The Birmingham-Southern College Choir from Hymn Of The Month-Album 6 (Graded Press No Number, Mono, 1968).  It appears each year in this series was done by a different group.

17. Holidays by Mouseketeer Ensemble from Happy Birthday And Songs For Every Holiday (D*sneyland  DQ-1214, Mono, 1964).  Maybe shouldn't share stuff from the mouse, but here it is.

18. Holiday For Strings by The Peter London Orchestra-Arranged And Conducted By Art Harris from The Sound Of Top Brass (Kapp ML-7500, Mono, 1960).  Another song I've tried to shy away from a bit.

19. Cherry Tree Carol by The Mitchell Trio-Solo By Mike Kobluk from Typical American Boys (Mercury MG 20992, Mono, 1965).  I stumbled across a while collection of Chad Mitchell LPs today, I think I was able to grab pretty much everything they did with a holiday bent to it, unfortunately, not all in stereo.

20. Ave Maria by Marian Anderson from 60 Years Of "Music America Loves Best" (RCA Victor Red Seal 2xLP LM-6074, Mono, 1959).  This is I believe her original performance of this song.

And that's it.  I know I still owe you a tracklist form yesterdays share, but that's not going to happen tonight, I've not budgeted my time well today.  Hopefully tomorrow.  Here's the link, see you later.

Zippyshare

Friday, August 04, 2017

Christmas In July 2017 Day 35

Another long day.  Too tired to list everything out.  Will take care of that tomorrow, but don't want to miss a day of posting, so go ahead and download it, or wait until tomorrow when I'll tell you what's in there.  I can give you a hint; selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite!

Zippyshare

Two days later, let me see if I can't get caught up by telling you what was shared.

1.  The Wedding Of The Painted Doll by Jack Fina from Kitten On The Keys (Dot DLP 25268, Stereo, 1960).  Not strictly Christmas, but I tend to grab anything with Doll in the title.

2. We Can't Go Wrong, another great track by The Kennedy Space Center Chorus, Directed By Arthur C. Benington, from Voices Of Space (Century Records 32909, Stereo).  Gotta love NASA!

3. Toyland-Finale ("Babes In Toyland") by Camarata Conducting The Kingsway Symphony Orchestra & Chorus from The Great Victor Herbert (Phase 4 London SPC21143, Stereo, 1975).  Something from much after Camarata's heyday with Disney.

4.  Stille Nacht (Silent Night) by Disneyland Boys Choir Under Direction Of Paul Salamunovich from Walt Disney Presents It's A Small World-18 Favorite Folk Songs (Disneyland STER-1289, Stereo, 1965).  Speaking of the mouse...

5. Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year by Tom Cooper from Tom Cooper Sings The Great Songs From Movie Musicals (Insight Records IN 218, Stereo, 1981).  A little bit more recent than what I usually like to share, but still good and still from vinyl.

6. Sleigh Ride by Maurice Abravanel Conducting The Utah Symphony Orchestra from Fiddle Faddle And 14 Other Leroy Anderson Favorites (Vanguard Cardinal Series VCS-10016, Stereo, 1967).  Leroy Anderson never disappoints.

7. Skater's Boogie by Lawrence Welk alum Jo Ann Castle from her LP 12 Great Hits In Ragtime (Dot SLP 25433, Stereo, 1962).  More of that barroom piano sound.  Well, not any recent barroom, but, well, you know.

8. Pine Cones And Holly Berries (With "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas") by The Merrill Staton Voices from Meredith Willson's Here's Love (Columbia Special Products CSRP 8899, Stereo, 1963).  Was this musical ever that popular?  It doesn't seem to have aged well.  Perhaps people paid more attention to it was the time since it was coming off the heels of the still-famous Music Man.

9. The Peace Carol by Friends Of Fiddler's Green (Bob & Evelyne Beers, Martha & Eric Nagler And The Boyer Family) from The Seasons Of Peace-A Great Family Sings (Biograph BLP-12033, Stereo, 1971).  Maybe the best thing on this LP.

10. The Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers by John Gart At The Conn Electronic Organ With The Minute Men from Organ On The March (Kapp K-1119-S, Stereo, 1959).  Halfway through the list!

11. Our Winter Love by Bill Pursell-Orchestra Under The Direction Of Grady Martin from Our Winter Love-Introducing The Piano Magic Of Bill Pursell (Columbia CS 8792, Stereo, 1963).  Did you know Grady Martin played the guitar licks on Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree?  Now you do.

12. My Favorite Things (From The 20th Century-Fox Film "The Sound Of Music") by blog favorite Dick Leibert from his album Highlights From "The Sound Of Music, "Mary Poppins", "My Fair Lady" (RCA Victor LSP-3406, Stereo, 1965).  I just found a stereo copy of one of his early Westminster Christmas albums yesterday.

13. March Of The Toys by George Melachrino And His Orchestra from The Music Of Victor Herbert (RCA Victor LSP-2129, Stereo, 1960). I think I shared this out earlier in the month in mono.  Oh, well.  I meant to hold this to the end where I've got a couple of re-do's like this, but I forgot about it.

14. March From The Nutcracker Suite, the first of today's Nutcracker selections, this one is by Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra-Julius Rudel, Musical Director, from the LP Christmas In Concert And More... (Allentown Record Co. For Buffalo Savings Bank, No Number, Stereo, 1979).  I thought I was done with this LP days ago, but I guess not.

15. It Never Snows In Freeport by Little Sparrow from Steel Pan Hit Songs (G.B.I. Recording Co GBI-116, Stereo, 1980). There was in insert in this record jacket advertising other albums on the label.  Right on the front was a Christmas album that I need to hunt down.

16. In The Bleak Midwinter by The Hamilton College Mens' Choir With Brass And Organ-John L. Baldwin And Stephen Bonta, Directors, from the LP The Heavens Are Telling-Great Sacred Music (Connoisseur Society CS 2056, Stereo, 1973).  Nice music.

17. Hurry Home For Christmas by The Shawnee Choir-Earl Willhoite, Director, from Both Sides, Now! (Shawnee Press Reference Recording M-297, Mono).  Just the thing for your chorus, choral group, glee club, etc.

18. Holidays by Rod McKuen from Desire Has No Special Time (Everest SDBR 3208, Stereo, 1968).  McKuen was certainly prolific, recording for many, many labels.  And he doesn't shy away from throwing a holiday themed piece in every now and then.  This one is mostly spoken word, but there's a bit of music in there, just to drive home the Christmas link.

19. Falling Snow (In Japanese) from those kids The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors, and their LP Recorded "Live" The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall-Choral Music Of The Seasons (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861, Stereo, 1966).  Does anyone speak Japanese.  Not sure what they're saying here.

20. Russian Dance (Trépak), more Nutcracker, by French National Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Roger DéSormiere from Nutcracker Suite/Suite From The Swan Lake-Tchaikovsky (Capitol P-8140, Mono, 1954).  I remember being happy when I recorded this because it gave me a bunch of tracks to share.  I didn't realize it would drag out so long...

But that's it for this share.  Sorry it took me a few days to get the list up.  If you were waiting before you downloaded it, I hope there's something in the list that will make it worth your while to give it a listen.  Thanks!

Thursday, August 03, 2017

Christmas In July 2017 Day 34

Another day, another giant stack of Christmas music from the archives for you.  How much longer can I go?  I don't know, but we'll see.  Let's jump right in.

1. Winter Child by Michael Kamen, the artist now well-known as a film composer, but this comes from his rocking days and the album New York Rock (Atco SD 7020, Stereo, 1973).  This track would have fit in very well on my theme day a little while back.

2. Snowfall by Joe Harnell from Golden Piano Hits (Columbia CS 9266, Stereo, 1966).  This track turns up in a lot of places, it's one of the ones I have to keep my eyes out for.

3. Sleigh Ride as performed by Piano Rolls from the cheapie album The Sound Of Piano Rolls (AKA The Sound Of Piano Rolls In Percussion) (International Award Series AKS-199, Stereo).  Kinda neat.

4. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by Lorin Hollander, Pianist, from the LP A Lorin Hollander Concert (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2912, Stereo, 1966).  I just found this one today when I stopped at a Goodwill after lunch.  There's Christmas music everywhere, I tell you, everywhere!

5. Horse And Buggy by Leroy Anderson from Leroy Anderson Conducts His Music (Decca DL 78954, Stereo, 1960).  Listen to this and compare it to Sleigh Ride.  Tell me he wasn't trying to rewrite his earlier hit.

6. The Holly Bears A Berry by Golden Ring from Golden Ring-A Gathering Of Friends For Making Music (Folk-Legacy Record FSI-16, Stereo).  I've never been quite clear on the significance or symbolism of this song.  I guess I should look that up.

7. From Heaven Above by The Concordia Choir-Paul J. Christiansen, Conductor-Soloist Donna Lindeman, from O Crux (Concordia Records/Mark MC-14005, Stereo).  I wasn't going to record this one, but was reading the lyrics while recording another song on the LP.  Then I realized I was missing something.

8. Freeze And Melt by Sing & Learn from the album Seasonal Songs (Macmillan Educational Company 09015, Stereo, 1989).  Be sure you play along.

9. Footprints In The Snow (Preludes, Book 1, No. 6), some electronic sounds from Tomita and his LP Snowflakes Are Dancing-The Newest Sound Of Debussy (RCA Red Seal ARD1-0488 (Quadradisc), Quadrophonic, 1974).  The second album this season in quad.  This one isn't nearly as obscure as the other one was, though.  This one was in a lot of hip listeners record collections back in the day.  Seminal electronic music.

10. Christmas Message From Gemini 6 by Astronaut Walter C. Shirra With Narration By Bill Larson, another track from Voices Of Space (Century Records 32909, Stereo).  Sometime later I intend to share a version of this entire side of the record that hasn't been cut into tracks, so you can see how it all fits together.  This is how it begins.

11. Christmas Carol-Aguinaldo by Unknown Puerto Rican Children from Latin American Children Game Songs-Recorded In Puerto Rico And Mexico By Henrietta Yurchenco (Folkways FC 7851, Electronically Rechanneled To Simulate Stereo, 1968).  These unknown kids just keep popping up, don't they.

12. The Boy Who Laughed At Santa Claus by the great Ogden Nash from Ogden Nash's Parents Keep Out Read By Ogden Nash (Caedmon TC 1282, Stereo, 1969).  I love Ogden's witty poetry.  This track was also featured on his rare Christmas album, but I figured you needed to hear it again.

13. Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind ("As You Like It"; Act II, Scene 7) by Maxine Sullivan from the album Sullivan, Shakespeare, Hyman-Maxine Sullivan Sings The Songs Of William Shakespeare As Set To Music By Dick Hyman (Monmouth Evergreen MES/7038, Stereo, 1971).  Not only did Dick Hyman co-write all the tracks on this LP, he plays all sorts of keyboard instruments on it as well.

14. Waltz Of The Flowers, tonight's obligatory track by French National Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Roger DéSormiere, from Nutcracker Suite/Suite From The Swan Lake-Tchaikovsky (Capitol P-8140, Mono, 1954).  This late in the season, I find my stack of records to rip is almost half Nutcracker tracks.  And I refuse to subject you to that many versions of The Nutcracker Suite.  Promise.

15. Moonlight In Vermont by Willis Conover Presents The Orchestra-Joe Timer, Musical Director, from Willis Conover's House Of Sounds (Brunswick BL 54003, Mono, 1954).  Not entirely sure who Willis Conover was, or if he actually played on this LP.  I kind of lean towards no after reading the liner notes, but it's not exactly clear cut.

16. The Miracle Star And The Miracle Baby by Wendell Loveless With Hermon Voss At The Organ, from Great Stories From The Bible (Word W 3029-LP, Mono, 1958).  Because you need more spoken word stuff in your library.

17. Jingle Bells by The Alley Singers...Phil Stern And Al Brennan from the LP Side By Side (RCA Victor LPM-1629, Mono, 1958).  Now this is the type of track I hunt for!

18. Good Christian Men, Rejoice (December) by Concert Choir Of Pfeiffer College from Hymn Of The Month-Album 8 (Graded Press No Number, Mono, 1970).  I found a small pile of these Hymn Of The Month albums sometime back, but I just rediscovered them the other day, so I've pulled a few Christmastime hymns from them for your listening enjoyment.

19. From Echoes Of Christmas: Skaters Waltz-Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy as performed by George Feyer, Piano, from his sampler LP This Is Feyer-Echoes, The Best Musical Trips On Record-A Voxample (Vox SFP-1, Mono).  These are a couple of songs from Feyer's great Christmas LP.  If you've never heard it, it's quite the lounge artifact.

20. Christmas-East Cheam Style by Tony Hancock With Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques & Bill Kerr from the soundtrack LP Unique Hancock (BBC Records REB 150M, Mono, 1973).  I don't know the story of the show this is from, but when I see Christmas in the title of just about anything, I have to grab it and give it a listen.  This is a little skit about how much the star of the show is like Scrooge.

And that's it.  Long day, off to bed soon.  Enjoy the music from today!

Zippyshare

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Christmas In July 2017 Day 33

Here we go again, keeping the ball rolling on into August.  More great tracks for you tonight, I'm not scrapping the bottom of the barrel just yet.  Let's see what's in the pile for the evening.

1. My Favorite Things (From "The Sound Of Music") as performed by Enoch Light And The Brass Menagerie, from the self-titled LP Enoch Light And The Brass Menagerie (Project 3 PR/5036SD (Promotion Copy Not For Sale), Stereo, 1969).  Enoch really does a number on this staid old workhorse.

2. A Merry Peal, more handbells from The Arbutus United Methodist Church Chancel Ringers and their LP Listen! (DFH Recording Co. DFH 114, Stereo, 1978).  I don't know why I like 'em, but I like 'em.

3. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, a stereo re-recording of the classic hit by Les Brown And His Band Of Renown, taken from the LP The Les Brown Story (Capitol ST 1174, Stereo, 1959).  I'm glad that some of the big band leaders got to record some of their songs in hi-fi and stereo, but then when they started doing the same thing with pop hits, that got kinda out of hand.

4. In Dulci Jubilo by The Hamilton College Mens' Choir With Brass And Organ-John L. Baldwin And Stephen Bonta, Directors from The Heavens Are Telling-Great Sacred Music (Connoisseur Society CS 2056, Stereo, 1973).  Not sure if this is homemade music or not.  It's not bad.

5. Hallelujah Chorus by 101 Strings, Recorded Under The Direction Of D.L. Miller from the album Themes And Songs Of American Holidays (Alshire S-5056, Stereo, 1967).  Is this the only version of this I've shared this year?  Usually I have a few church choirs doing it, but I can't think of any others off the top of my head.

6. Go Tell It On The Mountain by Monsignor Russell H. Davis from Songs For The Seasons (Fleetwood BMC5075, Stereo).  Now this one is homemade.  Most of the songs are by the St. Paul's Boys Choir, but I guess the head guy got to put a song or two on the LP.

7. Doll Dance by Jack Fina from Kitten On The Keys (Dot DLP 25268, Stereo, 1960).  Nice piano version, if you like that ricky-tick, honky-tonk piano style.

8. Bugler's Holiday by Arthur Fiedler And The Boston Pops from Evening At Pops (Polydor PD5032, Stereo, 1972).  Another tune written by Leroy Anderson, in case you didn't know.

9. Ave Maria (Schubert) by Franck Pourcel E Sua Grande Orquestra from Páginas Célebres (EMI/Odeon (Brazil) SC 12001, Stereo, 1973).  How do I come up with a record from Brazil?

10. Angels We Have Heard On High by The Robert Shaw Chorale from the demo LP Admiral Dual Channel Stereophonic High Fidelity Demonstration Record (Admiral R322-17R (The Musical Selections On This Record Are From The RCA Victor Catalog), Stereo, 1958).  Buy a new stereophonic record player, get a fancy demo record to play on it!

11. Winter Evening by Alexandrov Song And Dance Ensemble Conducted By Boris Alexandrov from The Red Army In Hi Fi (Artia ALP 101, Mono, 1960).  More Ruskies.

12. Song Of The Virgin Mary as performed on the music box by George And Madeline Brown from The Story Of The Music Box (Caedmon 10" 33 RPM w/ Book CB-2, Mono, 1952).  Another album from which I grabbed a lot of tracks.

13. Snowballs by Silver Burdett Records from Making Music Your Own-Kindergarten Record IV (Silver Burdett Records 75 180 4, Mono, 1966).  Kiddie music...

14. Sleigh Ride by Ethel Smith from Galloping Fingers (Decca DL 8456, Mono, 1957).  I need to start sharing this song out more, I've still got a lot of different versions in the pile.

15. The March Of The Siamese Children by Mr. Apache himself, Jorgen Ingmann, from the album called, interestingly enough, Apache (Atco 33-130, Mono, 1961).  Not really anything to do with Christmas, but I liked it.

16. March Of The Flowers by Jose Melis, His Piano And Orchestra from Our Love (Seeco Celebrities CELP-471, Mono, 1961).  Don't be misled by the title, it's just Waltz Of The Flowers done with a march tempo.

17. It Happened In Sun Valley by the great Glenn Miller And His Orchestra from his small LP Sun Valley Serenade (RCA Victor 10" 45 RPM LPT 3064, Mono, 1954).  A reissue of some songs from the film.

18. Go Where I Send Thee by The Weavers from their LP The Weavers At Carnegie Hall (Vanguard VRS-9010, Mono, 1957).  Classic stuff.

19. Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy by French National Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Roger DéSormiere from Nutcracker Suite/Suite From The Swan Lake-Tchaikovsky (Capitol P-8140, Mono, 1954).  I've got a lot of Nutcracker songs to burn through, too.

20. Christmas Comes Once A Year by The Brussels Symphony Orchestra-Directed By Fernand Terby from the fairly obscure LP The Music Of Donald O'Connor (Palette MPZ-1021, Mono, 1965).  Yes, you read that right, Donald O'Connor wrote this song, as well as the 4 others on this LP, including one side-long suite.  According to the story on the sleeve, he wrote this using only the black keys on his piano.  And evidently Irving Berlin gave him a fancy piano that featured a lever you could push and make all the black keys sound like the white keys.  Not sure what kind of wizardry that is, but they need to do something about all that blatant racism.

And anyhow, that's everything for tonight.  Sure to be something in there that's new to you and is worth listening to a second time.  Don't forget to come back tomorrow and the next day, still plenty of goodies in the pile.

Zippyshare

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

Christmas In July 2017 Day 32

Well, the first 31 days were pretty easy, let's see how much further down this road we can go.  I've got a kind of loose theme for tonight, at least for most of the tracks.  I've been saving up a bunch of oddball 70's and 80's seasonal tracks, much later than the sort of thing I usually share.  Some singer-songwriter stuff, folk-rock, country-rock, I think there's even a new wave track in there for some reason.  But the theme doesn't carry all the way through, I couldn't find enough tracks to fill up a whole day.  You'll see once you look through the list.  Not a lot of big names, either.  Just some stuff I found that caught my eye.

1. Winter Moon by George Anne Egerton from the album Single Minded Lady (Single Minded Lady Music NR 17860, Stereo, 1989).  This is getting pretty late-model for me, but I thought it would make a nice addition.  CDs had pretty much taken over the future of music by this point, so there's more of this stuff on CD than vinyl.

2. Simple Gifts by Friends Of Fiddler's Green (Bob & Evelyne Beers, Martha & Eric Nagler And The Boyer Family) from The Seasons Of Peace-A Great Family Sings (Biograph BLP-12033, Stereo, 1971).  I've shared some other tracks off of this one, but I thought it fit the theme pretty well.

3. Rain On Snow by Samantha Jones from Call It Samantha (Ascot (United Artists) AS 16027, Stereo, 1968).  I remember the title on this track didn't match between the album cover and the actual vinyl.  So I listened to it and decided Rain On Snow was correct.  The back of the LP said Rain Or Snow.  Spelling and proofreading are important, people.  I thought this had a very Claudine Longet vibe, except there's no French accent involved.

4. När Juldagsmorgon Glimmar (When Christmas Morning Gleams), some Scandinavian Christmas music fro you from Anne-Charlotte Harvey Accompanied By E. Craig Ruble, Stephen Gammell And Maury Bernstein from the LP Memories Of Snoose Boulevard-Songs Of The Scandinavian-Americans (Olle I Skratthuly Project SP-223, Stereo, 1972).  Hard to find foreign Christmas music, I was quite proud of this one.

5. Joy (Jeso, Joy Of Man's Desiring) by, believe it or not, Kenny Rogers And The First Edition Featuring Gene Lorenzo from the soundtrack of their TV show, Rollin' (Jolly Rogers (MGM) JR 5003, Stereo, 1973).  First off, I didn't even know that The First Edition had a TV show, so there's that.  Second, Gene Lorenzo was the newly added keyboard player in the group, I guess this was a chance for him to show off his chops.  A friend of mine asked recently if KR & The First Edition had done any Christmas music and I said no.  Then I found this!

6. Home For Christmas by The Mid South Boys from City Lights (Morning Star Records MST-4078, Stereo, 1987).  I have a bad habit of picking up just about every record I see and searching for Christmas tracks.  It takes forever, so I can only do it when I have time on my hands, but it does sometimes yield results.

7. Footprints In The Snow by Tom Eslick from Shadows (Kingswood TE-1, Stereo, 1972).  I don't remember anything about this one, so hold on a minute and I'll listen to it. Oh, yeah, Gordon Lightfoot guy.  About a third of the tracks were covers of his songs, and this one really sounds like him.

8. Diamonds In The Snow by Shirley English from her album Diamonds In The Snow (Private Press for Shirley English, Anchorage, Alaska, Stereo, 1979).  Yep, somehow this record migrated from Alaska down to Florida, and I grabbed it.  Gotta love serendipity!

9. Cold Wind Blues by Colwell-Winfield Blues Band from Cold Wind Blues (Verve Forcast (MGM) FTS-3056, Stereo, 1968).  You gotta have a little Blues with your Christmas, at least that's what Stubby always says.

10. Cold Snow by Jonathan Edwards from the eponymous LP Jonathan Edwards (Capricorn SD 862, Stereo, 1971).  I kid you not, the day after I ripped this one, I saw the CD at the store.  I didn't buy it, but I saw it.  Funny how that happens.

11. Christmas In Your Heart by The Wyld Ryce Band from the LP Gimmycks (Wyld Ryce (Canada) WRA1-297, Stereo, 1986).  This one was a real surprise.  One of my favorite finds of the season.  Love the way it turns into a wholly different song in the middle.  She sounds a little like Karen Carpenter, don't cha think?

12. A Child Is Born by The Monks Of Weston Priory from the album Locusts And Wild Honey-Songs For Celebration By The Monks Of Weston Priory (Weston Priory Productions XLP-1020, Stereo, 1971).  I think I have a whole Christmas LP by these guys, they seem to have been quite prolific.

13. Babe Of Bethlehem by Golden Ring from the album Golden Ring-A Gathering Of Friends For Making Music (Folk-Legacy Record FSI-16, Stereo).  Still not sure if Golden Ring is supposed to be the name of the group or the album or both.  So I just assumed both.

14. As Winter Falls by Lyon In Winter from As Winter Falls (Cryptovision CRL 1300, Stereo, 1986).  This is the new wave-ish one I mentioned.  See what you think.

15. Allelulia/Joy Upon This Earth by the great Pete Seeger from his LP Circles & Seasons (Warner Bros BSK 3329, Stereo, 1979).  I thought this one was pretty good.  Half of it was written by his father!

16. Silent Night by George And Madeline Brown from The Story Of The Music Box (Caedmon 10" 33 RPM w/ Book CB-2, Mono, 1952).  Well, I guess that's it for the themed music, we're back to random music box stuff.

17. Ave Maria (Kodály) (In Latin) (From Part 2-Summer) by The Budapest Children's Choir-Valeria Botka And Dr. Laszlo Czanyi, Directors from Recorded "Live" The Budapest Children's Choir At Carnegie Hall-Choral Music Of The Seasons (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2861 , Stereo, 1966).  I know there are dozens (hundreds?) of different versions of Ave Maria, but I was a little surprised to find this one included with the Summer section of the album.  More songs coming from this one, all from the Winter section, though.

18. March by French National Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Roger DéSormiere from that same old LP, Nutcracker Suite/Suite From The Swan Lake-Tchaikovsky (Capitol P-8140, Mono, 1954).  Am I almost done with this one?  I don't know anymore...

19. Carol Of The Drums, a new one recorded just tonight from an LP I had to clean the mold off of.  The artist is The University Of Wisconsin A-Cappella Choir and the album is Vision Of Peace (Soma MG 1217, Mono, 1959).  Pretty good stuff, but very quiet.  Turn it up so you can hear it, but beware the peak in the middle.

20. Song For A Winter's Night by Tony Rice from Me And My Guitar (Rounder 0201, Stereo, 1986).  I guess there was one more song to fit my theme after all. Maybe this is the one I was thinking about when I said something about Gordon Lightfoot above.  Especially since this one is actually written by Gordon Lightfoot.  My brain is Christmas-addled.

And that's it for tonight.  20 good songs, I think you'll enjoy them all.  Here's the link, don't forget to keep coming back around, I'm not even close to done yet!

Zippyshare

Monday, July 31, 2017

Christmas In July 2017 Day 31

Here we are, the last day of July!  And as is our custom, we celebrate the New Year on the last day of the month.  Here are way too many versions of Auld Lang Syne for you, and a few other end-of-year songs.

1. Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot by The Obernkirchen Children's Choir-Edith Moeller, Conductor from the album Wandering With The Obernkirchen Children's Choir (Angel 35839, Stereo, 1961).  This is as good a place as any to start.  It's Auld Lang Syne, but with a different title.  Sneaky...

2. A New Year's Tale (Ukranian "Tshedrivka") (Socil) by Don Cossack Choir-Serge Jaroff, Conductor-Soloist: I. Seifert from Russian Fair (Decca DL 710016, Stereo, 1959).  Here are those sneaky Russians again.  I mean Ukranians.

3. New Year's Day by 101 Strings, Recorded Under The Direction Of D.L. Miller from Themes And Songs Of American Holidays (Alshire S-5056, Stereo, 1967).  Guess what the main melody here is?

4. Master And Mistress by Alan Mills & Marilyn Powell from Holiday Songs (Bowmar B 2055 168, Stereo, 1966).  This one is a little different.

5. Happy New Year Twist (Auld Lang Syne) by The Lions from Twist With The Lions (Metro (MGM) MS 300, Stereo, 1962).  Twist the night away with this one.  Arranged by Billy Mure, but I'm not sure if he's actually playing on it or not.

6. Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians, the final track on a 160 song medley spread out over 8 sides, The Lombardo Years-Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians Play The Best-Loved Lombardo Medleys (Capitol 4xLP STDL-2181, Stereo, 1964).  Only about a minute long, but that's probably all you need.

7. Auld Lang Syne by Chas And Dave from the soundtrack to Party Party (A&M SP 3212, Stereo, 1982).  Is this the newest version I have for you tonight?  Maybe.

8. Ano Nuevo-New Years Carol by those nameless Puerto Rican Children from Latin American Children Game Songs-Recorded In Puerto Rico And Mexico By Henrietta Yurchenco (Folkways FC 7851, Electronically Rechanneled To Simulate Stereo, 1968).  Does this make you think of the new year?  I don't know...

9. Scottish Medley: Annie Laurie; Campbells Are Coming; Loch Lomond; Auld Lang Syne by Johnny Duffy At The Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ from Carousel Music In Hi-Fi (Liberty LRP 3053, Mono, 1957).  Not the first track from Mr. Duffy this month, probably not the last.

10. Hard Hard Year, something a little different from The Everly Brothers from their obligatory UK-themed LP Two Yanks In England (Warner Bros W 1646, Mono, 1966).  Didn't every American rock group have to do something to join or fight the British Invasion?

11. Happy New Year, another new song, this time by The McGuire Sisters With Orchestra Directed By Dick Jacobs from Children's Holiday (Coral CRL 57097, Mono, 1957).  Nice little song from the sisters.

12. Good Night Ladies And Auld Lang Syne (Medley), another medley, from Hugo And Luigi With Their Family Singers this time, from their LP Sing Along By The Fireside (Mercury Wing MGW 12207, Mono, 1959).  Hugo And Luigi did some good stuff in their long career, but they also did some not-good stuff as well.

13. Auld Lang Syne by The Pete King Orchestra And Chorale from Songs To Celebrate (Kapp KL-1284, Mono, 1962).  An entire LP with songs of great celebrations, and not a single Christmas track to be had anywhere on it!

14. Auld Lang Syne by The Leading Men Quartet With Orchestra from Music For Special Occasions-Festive Songs (Capitol 7" 45 RPM CASF-9018, Mono).  This may be the only song I pulled from a 45 this season.  It's an EP, so there are four songs on there, I figured that made it OK for sharing here.

15. Auld Lang Syne by Chorus And Orchestra Arranged And Directed By Ivor Raymonde from Scottish Sing-Along (London International Series TW 91272, Mono, 1960).  Nice cover on this one.

16. Auld Lang Syne by Vaughn Monroe-Arranged And Conducted By Milt Rogers from Vaughn Monroe Sings The Great Themes Of Famous Bands And Famous Singers (Dot DLP 3470, Mono, 1962).  I know this is not Vaughn's first recording of this tune...

17. Auld Lang Syne, the inevitable banjo version by The Banjo Barons-Arranged And Conducted By Teo Macero And Marty Manning from The Banjo Barons Play Music For Happy Times (Columbia CL 2089, Mono, 1963).  Gotta dig this one up in stereo some day.

18. Auld Lang Syne by George Hamilton IV, Arranged And Conducted By Don Costa from George Hamilton IV On Campus (ABC-Paramount ABC-220, Mono, 1957).  Is this his first album?  I know it's from when he was more of a folkie than a country singer.

19. Auld Lang Syne by The 1st Brigade Band from the LP Band Music Of The Confederacy-Making History Live Volume 4 (Heritage Military Music Foundation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Stereo, 1981).  This one and the last one are two songs from the stuff I ripped back in 2016 but never shared.  Can't let anything go to waste around here.

20. Auld Lang Syne by Jo Stafford-Accompaniment By Paul Weston from Jo Stafford Sings Songs Of Scotland With Words By Robert Burns (Columbia CL 1043, Mono, 1957). Jo is an excellent choice to wind up the New Year's share tonight.

And that's it for the day, though not for the month.  I still have well over 100 songs in the sharing folder, so I'm going to keep going until I run out.  Don't forget to keep checking in here for more.

Zippyshare

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Christmas In July 2017 Day 30

Hello!  And welcome to Sunday's edition of Christmas in July!  Nothing really special about Sundays around here, it's just a nice long weekend day where I can spend some time and record lots of new music for you.  I've got more recorded now than I've ever had for Christmas in July, so I'm going to have to spill over into August a bit.  We'll see how long it goes.  But for today, let's see what's in the share pile.

1. The Bells Of St. Mary's by Johnny Duffy At The Mighty Columbia Square Wurlitzer from I Hear A Rhapsody (Liberty LST-7028, Stereo, 1955).  I know this didn't come out in stereo in 1955, but there's a possibility that it was recorded that way, then released on record in stereo some time later.  I couldn't find a later release date, so I just stayed with the 1955.  Note that this is a different LP from the other Johnny Duffy stuff I've shared.

2. The Friendly Beasts by Marilyn Powell from Holiday Songs (Bowmar B 2055 168, Stereo, 1966).  This is good stuff.

3. We Need A Little Christmas (From The Broadway Musical Production "Mame") by Julius La Rosa With The Chorailers, Arranged & Produced By Don Costa from the LP You're Gonna Hear From Me (MGM E4398, Mono, 1966).  Love it when I find a true Christmas song in the middle of an otherwise normal LP.  This one shows up a lot, I guess because of it's Broadway heritage.

4. Skaters' Waltz by The 110 Strings Orchestra from Waltz Favorites (Mayfair 9657S (Yellow Vinyl), Stereo).  Not sure when this one came out.  And pretty much every release on this label came on colored vinyl, usually yellow.  However, as time went on, they mixed more and more dark vinyl into the mix, and the yellow became muddier and muddier.  Still looks cool, though.

5. Three Little Drummers From Africa by Friends Of Fiddler's Green (Bob & Evelyne Beers, Martha & Eric Nagler And The Boyer Family) from the confusing LP The Seasons Of Peace-A Great Family Sings (Biograph BLP-12033, Stereo, 1971).  This song was also released as a single from The Beers family Christmas LP on Columbia.

6. The Twelve Gifts Of Christmas by Allan Sherman from Best Of Allan Sherman (Rhino RNLP 005, Stereo, 1979).  Unfortunately, this is the edited version.  You aren't allowed to hear the word naked used to describe the lady with a clock in her stomach.  You need to dig up the single version if you want to hear this one unexpurgated, though I suppose it's available on his Rhino box set.

7. Winter World Of Love by Bing Bang And The Entertainers from Studio Session (A.B.A. Records PRS-2014, Stereo).  Listen to that accent, will you!

8. Holiday For Strings by The Stanley-Johnson Orchestra Featuring The Duo Harps Of Dorothy Remsen And Catherine Johnk from Have Harp Can't Travel (Liberty LST 7118, Stereo, 1959).  I know Holiday For Strings isn't really a holiday song, but I can't resist sometimes.  This one seems to involve a train somehow, in addition to the harps.

9. Mary Had A Baby by Florida All-State High School Chorus-Mr. Vito Mason, Conductor, from the double LP Twenty-Second Annual Florida Music Educators Association Festival Concert (Century 2xLP 23205 (Curtis Hixon Hall, January 8, 1966, Tampa, Florida), Stereo, 1966).  I was surprised to see that Frederick Fennel was listed as one of the directors on this set, though he had nothing to do with anything I recorded.  He had to be pretty big at the time, nice to see him taking part in the local school music scene.

10. Medley: Say It Isn't So; I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm; Isn't This A Lovely Day (To Be Caught In The Rain) by The Melachrino Strings And Orchestra from The Ballads Of Irving Berlin (RCA Victor LSP-2817, Stereo, 1964).  More medleys of Irving Berlin.

11. Ave Maria (Schubert) by The Robert Shaw Chorale With Symphony Orchestra And Organ-Organist: Clyde Holloway from the LP Songs Of Faith And Inspiration (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2760, Stereo, 1964).  Great version.

12. It's A Holiday by Kay Lande, Alan Cole And The Carillon Singers-Music Direction By Jim Timmens from Songs About: The Weather, The Four Seasons, What Time Is It?, The Days Of The Week, Holidays (Children's Records Of America CRA 20433, Stereo, 1974).  Music for the kiddos.

13. My Favorite Things by Greg Hatza With Grady Tate And Eric Gale, another swinging organ version from ORGANized Jazz (Coral CRL 757495, Stereo, 1968).  Lots and lots of versions of this song out there.

14. Waltz Of The Flowers (From "Nutcracker Suite") by Alfred Newman Conducts The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra from Music For Orchestra-Invitation To The Ballet (Mercury MG 20036, Mono, 1955).  Yes, we're into the Nutcracker section now.

15. Nutcracker Suite Overture; Anitra's Dance (Peer Gynt Suite); Fugue In C Minor; Our Love (From "Romeo And Juliet"), a long medley by Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians-Billie Loukas And Dave Waner, Soloists, from In Concert (Reprise RS-6148, Stereo, 1965).  Wish they'd done their whole Nutcracker Suite live here.

16. Winter: Introduction, The Frost, The Ice, The Hail, The Snow by The French National Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Roger Désormière from the album Alexander Glazounov-Ballet Suite From The Seasons Opus 67 (Capitol Classics P8157, Mono, 1952).  Something for the ballet fans that's not by Tchaikovsky.

17. Musical Sleigh-Ride (Schlittenfahrt) by Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Heilbronn-Jörg Faerber, Conductor, from Humour In Music-18th Century Style (Turnabout (Vox) TV 34134S, Stereo, 1967).  A selection from Mozart, though not Wolfgang.  This one is by Leopold Mozart.

18. White Snow, Bright Snow by Owen Jordan from White Snow, Bright Snow/The Story About Ping/Madeline's Rescue/The Biggest Bear (Picture Book Parade By Weston Woods Studios PBP-2004, Mono, 1961).  And now we head off into the spoken word section of the evening.  Also the really long track section.

19. The Birth Of Christ by Leif Erickson, Narrator, With Dramatic Cast, one whole side from The Bible Stories-Volume VII (Library Of Sound Education CR-207, Mono, 1960).  I had to hunt through a lot of volumes from this series before I finally found the Christmas one.  Hope you appreciate that.

20. The Nutcracker Suite by Bob Keeshan Featuring Full Orchestra And The Sandpiper Chorus from the LP A Child's Introduction To The Nutcracker Suite (Wonderland LP 143, Mono, 1979).  This think this is a reissue of a 1958 original that I've never seen.  And this track goes into both the Nutcracker and spoken word section of tonight's presentation.

That's it for tonight.  I can't type for some reason, I hope I corrected all the typos, but I really doubt it.  Come back tomorrow!

Zippyshare

Whoops, shared too much tonight, wouldn't fit in a single upload.  You will want to get part two as well.

Zippyshare, part 2