Christmas 2009, Part 18--More 78s!

"More 78s!" kept this file from uploading to storage. I removed the !, and the problem was gone.

Just a gritty and exciting behind-the-scenes story to keep things interesting during this Christmas posting season. And isn't that a great label? I had to have this one. I paid too much for it, but I couldn't pass up a Christmas 78 on the Irene label. And I just now, this second, noticed the words "Record Pak" on either side of "Records." Who were these people?

I cannot say. But I can say that the Meadowlarks' Rudolph the Rednose (sic) Reindeer is the kind of Christmas pop I dream of finding. And I'd be telling the truth. The other three tracks are cheap-label gems, too, and my clean-up job was pretty good. Picture a vinyl 78 filled with little scratches and surface bubbles. Picture a blogger editing out pops, one by one, and marveling at his obsessive devotion to such things.

After that, the Temple Quartette (1927) and the Temple Carol Singers (1912) make return appearances with fabulous Nativity-themed titles (always wanted to type that). Then, the famous St. Olaf Choir (the 1927 version), directed by F.M. Christiansen. The fidelity is brilliant (just like the performances) but the pressing (or maybe simply my copy) packs plenty of hiss. I hate it when the recording quality is hampered by the medium. Of course, in the minds of many, I just described analog.

The final title is from the Record Pak label, which I just mentioned and which appears to have been in cahoots with Irene. (That doesn't sound wholesome.) And which may have been related to Tunepac. "Pac" vs. "Pak." Hmm.

Oh, and yet again I mislabeled Come Ye Faithful People, Come as Come Ye Thankful People, Come, which is the title I'm used to.

Click here to reach download site: Christmas 2009, Part 18--More 78s!

SLEIGHLIST

RUDOLPH THE REDNOSE (sic) REINDEER--Meadowlarks (Irene I-503)
FROSTY THE SNOWMAN--Same
SILENT NIGHT--Shay Torrent (Irene I-503)
WHITE CHRISTMAS--Neighbors (Irene I-503)
GOOD CHRISTIAN MEN REJOICE--Temple Quartette, 1927.
COME YE FAITHFUL PEOPLE, COME--Same
THE FIRST NOEL--The Temple Carol Singers, 1912.
WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED--Same.
FROM HEAVEN ABOVE (Luther, Arr. Melius Christiansen)--St. Olaf Choir, 1927.
BEAUTIFUL SAVIOUR (CRUSADERS' HYMN)--Same.
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL--Jerry Smith, w. the Ralph Berger Orch. (Record Pak)


Lee

Christmas 2009, Part 17--The Massed Miners Choirs

All of the great carols and hymns missing in action from the modern vernacular Christmas playlist (at least ours, in America). Superbly performed, too, by the massed miners' choirs of Yorkshire (nine choirs are listed on the jacket). Give these a listen, and you'll forget the modern Broadway version of the holiday--which I just now started calling Mel-Torme-mas--if only for the time it takes these tracks to rotate, or whatever tracks do on an iPod. Don't have one, so I don't know.

Conducted by Rae Jenkins. Organist: E. Taylor. To the gems:

Click here to hear: Christmas 2009, Part 17

SLEIGHLIST

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID'S CITY
FANFARE (GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO)
GOD REST YOU MERRY, GENTLEMEN
IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR
SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT
THE FIRST NOWELL
I SAW THREE SHIPS
GOOD KING WENCESLAS
O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL
DING DONG! MERRILY ON HIGH
COVENTRY CAROL

(Fontana TFL-5154)


Lee

Christmas 2009, Part 16--Put Christ Back Into Christmas

The received response to this plea--for the moment, at least--is "Christ wasn't in it to begin with." More than a few folks will inform you that Christmas has nothing to do with religion, let alone Christianity. Even the brilliant Karal Ann Marling, author of Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday writes that "American Christmas never had much to do with observances of the Nativity of Christ."

I see. Hence, the enormous popularity of Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Do You Hear What I Hear?, The Star Carol, and so on. And didn't that chart-topping drummer-boy number have something to do with the baby Jesus? Hence, Christmas Eve services and their Christ-is-born sermons--not to mention the yard, window, and courtyard creche scenes that are so much a part of our pop culture. Clearly, the Nativity story has never had much to do with Christmas, and vice versa.

I guess Charles Schultz (A Charlie Brown Christmas) and Stan Freberg (Green Chri$tma$) were way off the mark regarding their shared notion of what Christmas is all about. Ohhh-kay.

Well, decide for yourself. Marling, by the way, traces the put-Christ-back-into-Christmas sentiment to the late 19th century, with its first big flare-up in the 1920s. The modern put-Christ-back-into... trend had its start about 1950. We'll be hearing two recordings by that title, one from 1954, the other from ?. I have a number of recordings from ?, all of them on obscure labels.

Also included in the sleighlist is a 1923 Christmas message by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. President Haley Fisk that few would label secular. The flip has the Metropolitan Glee Club singing Silent Night, perhaps the most famous song ever about the birth of you-know-who. This is my 2005 rip, but it sounded okay to me when I previewed it, so here it is.

For balance, we have Larry Noble crooning Season's Greetings. Of course, only very recently has this phrase become controversial.

Mary Peacock's delightful It's Christmas Again, Peppermint Lane, and If I Were Santa Claus were penned for an annual Moorestown, NJ holiday celebration. Mary died in 2003 at the age of 98. Her obit notes that she "worked in radio in its early days and went on to be listed in the International Who's Who in Music." Cool. The performers are The Music Department of the Woman's Club of Moorestown, as directed by Jill Boswell. I found this wonderful 45 rpm EP in a Columbus, Ohio thrift and first featured it in 2006.

To the sleighlist: Christmas 2009, Part 16


SLEIGHLIST

PUT CHRIST BACK INTO CHRISTMAS (Unger)--George Beverly Shea, 1954.
I WANT CHRIST BACK IN CHRISTMAS--Sister Cecilia, 1962.
PUT CHRIST BACK INTO CHRISTMAS (Unger)--Jack Allyn w. Organta Trio.
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (Carson-Arnold)--George Beverly Shea, early '50s.
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM METROPOLITAN PRESIDENT HALEY FISK, 1923.
SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT--METROPOLITAN LIFE INS. CO. GLEE CLUB, 1923.
IT'S CHRISTMAS AGAIN, PEPPERMINT LANE, IF I WERE SANTA CLAUS (Mary Peacock)--Music Dept. of the Women's Club of Moorestown.
CAROL OF THE BELLS--St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir, 1957.
SEASON'S GREETINGS (A CHEERFUL HELLO)--Pete Pontrelli O., Vocal: Larry Noble, 1959.
HERE COMES PETER COTTON CLAUS--Alex Houston and Elmer, 1972.


Lee

Christmas 2009, Part 15

Very enjoyable Yuletide songs today, from polkas to country to Disco to elevator to theatre organ to barbershop to Arthur Fiedler. You'll never know what hit ya. (Rinnng!) Hello? (Yeah, did you get the name of that playlist that ran me over?")

Four of these are repeats. The rest are fresh, new, daring. You'll view Christmas in a whole new light. What in the world am I talking about? I don't know. To the music:

Click here to hear: Christmas 2009, Part 15

SLEIGHLIST

ALL AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE--Eddie Skylar w. Sparks of Fire Orch.
ALFIE, THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER--Eddie Skylar, Caroline Zarski w. Sparks of Fire O.
CHRISTY THE CHRISTMAS TREE--Nelson Pendergrass.
SANTA COMES TONIGHT--Same.
I'M WAITING FOR SANTA--Showcase Kids.
GREENIE THE CHRISTMAS TREE--Barbara E. Leigh w. The Everlovin's.
BOBSLED--Clebanoff and His Orch., 1962.
SLEIGH RIDE (Anderson)--Romano Gerhard, Mighty Wurlitzer Organ.
THE LITTLE BOY THAT SANTA CLAUS FORGOT--The Sun Tones.
SLEIGH RIDE (Anderson)--Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler.


Lee

Christmas 2009, Part 14--Mervmas, Buzzy the Christmas Bee, more!

Cookie and Santa Frog can't wait to hear today's sleighlist, so totally into the Christmas thing are they at this point. (That's how Cookie looks when he's excited.) I recently made the mistake of uttering "Bah, humbug!" within earshot of Santa Frog. I was just joking, but he didn't know that. "Cool it with that Scrooge jive," he said, "Or you'll find yourself knee-deep in trouble. (Knee-deep! Knee-deep!)"

You'd expect him to have a low, Howlin'-Wolf-style voice, but it's more like a mellow, Bing-Crosby baritone. I haven't attempted to squeeze him to see if any canned sound comes out--the last time I squeezed a plush frog, it croaked.

Merv's marvelous Christmas City refers to Duluth, Minn. I see that the Christmas City of the North Parade already happened (on Nov. 20). I heard from a vocalist who needed the sheet music for this song. I wasn't able to help her, though she did turn up a copy in the Nick of time. The flip is The Song of the Christmas City, which is what I thought Christmas City was, but no one pays me to speculate. Very pleasant tune, with outstanding vocal support by Maureen Reynolds.

Jeff Mitchell's Buzzy, the Christmas Bee and Fountain of the Bells are back. Dad Duke Mitchell duets with Jeff on the latter. I heard from Jeff some time back, but only once. Wish I'd gotten some background on this single, which I found at a San Diego swap meet in 1985.

I thought I had the sound-alike Prom/Promenade label EP which features The Little Drummer Boy, but, if I do have it, it's hiding on me. I do, however, have this nice true-stereo no-name cover from a Tiara label LP credited in whole to "The Broadway Pops Orchestra with featured vocalists and chorus." One of those collections. But it's quite good, and I appreciate the fact they take it at a fast tempo a la the Trapp Family Singers. I wasn't expecting a gem from Tiara (pun unintentional), but I got one anyway.

The wow and flutter are in the recording, maybe even in the original tape. My turntable is innocent.

The feminist anthem It's a Woman's World is from 1954's White Christmas. I got the needle-worn Bell mini-78 to sound a lot better than what I heard through my headphones during the rip. (CORRECTION: Mel informs me that the song is neither by Irving Berlin nor from White Christmas. He is correct. That would explain why I don't remember it from the movie soundtrack! I was going by the Bell label credits....) The last two tracks are from a Lutheran Sunday School LP. They were very brief tracks, so I doubled them up with my usual undetectable editing.

Click here to hear: Christmas 2009, Part 14

SLEIGHLIST

CHRISTMAS CITY (Don Peterson)--Merv Griffin (WDSM GRC 7999)
SONG OF THE CHRISTMAS CITY--Same, w. Maureen Reynolds.
BUZZY, THE CHRISTMAS BEE--Jeff and Sue Mitchell; Orch. conducted by Duke Mitchell (It's a Click 728)
FOUNTAIN OF THE BELLS--Jeff Mitchell and His Dad Duke (It's a Click 728)
LITTLE DRUMMER BOY--Anon. (Tiara TST-105, Record 2)
CHRISTMAS TIME'S A-COMING (Tex Logan)--Bill Monroe, 1951.
GOD BLESS US ALL--Spike Jones and His O. feat. Jud Conlon Choir and George Rock, 1953.
IT'S A WOMAN'S WORLD (Mockridge-Cahn)--Tommy Dorsey and Orch. featuring Jimmy Dorsey; Vocal: Lynn Roberts, 1954.
HEAR THE CHRISTMAS BELLS--From Songs for 3's in Sunday Church School
WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS--Same.


Lee

Sunday (barely) morning gospel--One Solitary Life

I thought I'd have a Salvation Army LP ready for this morning, but it'll have to be next week. Various problems arose during the rip, including two skips, one of which I was able to correct by highly incorrect means (as in, a jeweler's screwdriver tip to smooth out the crosscut causing the jump). But the rip sounds great. I just need to title the tracks and make sure they're spaced correctly, etc.

So, today, two selections. But what selections they are: Robert Goulet narrating One Solitary Life, and its flip side, a Presbyterian sermon called Christmas Coming Into Focus. The minister is Don Moomaw of the Bel Air Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles. Debating with people on Internet sites (not for the self-respecting), I get the impression that many people nowadays have never heard a mainline Protestant sermon. Many, apparently, have never heard of mainline Protestantism, thanks in part to Hollywood's vaudeville stereotype of religion. (We let Hollywood write the script to too many things.) I've always wanted to type "to too."

Again and again, I'm informed that religion exists mainly to brainwash people. To be sure, there were instructions included in today's sermon (at the United Methodist church where I play)--namely, to care for others, especially the poor. And to take the threat of global warming seriously. But since I've been told again and again to eschew religious instruction, especially if it comes from "organized" religion, I reckon I'll have to pass on caring for people and taking global warming seriously. Can't let myself be brainwashed.

Anyway, to the selections:

One Solitary Life (Fred Brock)--Robert Goulet w. the Choir of Bel Air Presbyterian Church (L.A.)


Christmas Message: Christmas Coming Into Focus--Bob Moomaw, Minister (see above).


Lee