Christmas In July 2009-Day The Thirty First

Well, here it is, the 31st. I thought we'd never get here. Since it's the last day of the month, you get some Happy New Year songs, and a few versions of Auld Lang Syne. Yeah, so I'm predictable.

Let's start with the first version of Auld Lang Syne. This time it's part of a medley by The Ames Brothers from the various artists LP Let's Have A Party (MCA Special Markets/Decca DL 734615). The full name of the song is Good Fellow Medley: Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here-For He's A Jolly Good Fellow-Auld Lang Syne. Gotta love the Ames Brothers.

Version two is by The Men Of The Robert Shaw Chorale, Robert Shaw, Conductor, from the record A Chorus Of Love (RCA Victor Red Seal LSC-2502, 1960). This is a pretty straight-forward version.

Version three is the first curve ball I have for you. This one is entitled Auld Lang Syne (Wenn Wir Heut' Auseinandergeh'n), and as you might be able to tell, it's in German. The artist is the Gunter Kallmann Chorus With Orchestra And Bells and the LP is Songs For My Love (4 Corners Of The World FCS-4226). If you enjoy foreign-language versions of familiar songs as much as I do, you're going to love this one.

What next? Oh, another track from the Kathy Lecinsky album I gave you some Christmas tracks from the other day, Look At The Holidays (A Good Apple Record PB 1586, 1982). This song is called The New Year Is Coming.

And, to wrap things up, I have three different songs called Happy New Year. The first version is from one of those albums I can't tell you about, and I can't tell you the artist. You'll understand. The second version is by The McGuire Sisters from the LP Children's Holiday (Vocalion VL 3685). I brought you a couple of Christmas tracks from this one the other day, also. This is the same music as from their Christmas LP, but they add a little bit of narration to it, so it's worth sharing again.

Last but not least, I've got this third version of a song called Happy New Year by Gordon Jenkins, His Orchestra And Chorus. There are a couple of things about this one that make it special. First, it's the second version of this song I've brought to you by Jenkins, who also wrote it. Oddly enough, this one has a female vocal and the other one has a male vocal, so it's sung from a slightly different perspective. The second thing is that I pulled this one from a reel-to-reel tape, a first for the blog. It's recorded from I Live Alone (Kapp Stereo Tape KTL 41074) and I've never seen the vinyl. I found the tape almost a year ago, and just last night I dug a reel-to-reel player out of storage, hooked it up and recorded it. I think the sound is really good, with only the slightest hint of tape hiss. And there is no surface noise or clicks or other vinyl noise to be heard here. So enjoy this special song. Also, listen to the lyrics and tell me if some of it doesn't sound a little bit, well, suggestive, especially in this female-vocal version.

And there you go, seven tracks for the last day of the month here. Thanks a lot for playing. Here's the download link. Enjoy!

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Thirtieth

Hello! And welcome to day thirty! Hope you're in the mood for some Christmas music.

Where to begin? How about five songs from The Nutcracker as performed by Ernest Ansermet With The Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden from the LP Ballet Favorites-Highlights From The Nutcracker, Carnaval, Coppelia, Giselle (RCA Victrola VICS-1066, 1964). I know I've given you plenty of Nutcracker songs this month, but I couldn't resist this one more half an album. Hope you enjoy it.

Next up are six songs from a demo LP put out by a carillon manufacturer. The LP is The Beautiful Sound Of Bells (Universal Audio Corp For The I.T. Verdin Company UAS-865-62883, 1973) and the songs are Bells On Parade, Ding-Dong Merrily On High, O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel), O Sanctissima, Silent Night Holy Night & White Christmas. You either like carillon music or you don't, so here you go.

Track 12 is a song called Mary Had A Baby as performed by The New Paltz Choir, a small church group out of New Paltz, New York. The LP is titled Sing Joyfully (Silver Crest Custom NP-62880). I think you'll like this one.

Last, and certainly not least, we come to my favorite track of the night, and one I almost missed. Someone left a comment on the blog and we spoke back and forth about some Chritmas music. He tipped me off to a track I missed from the LP Meredith Wilson's Here's Love (Columbia Special Products-Special Archive Series CSRP 8899, 1963) as performed by The Merrill Staton Voices. It's called That Man Over There, which doesn't appear to be a Christmas song at first glance, but as soon as you listen to it, you'll realize it is. I shared another track from this LP way back near the beginning of the month.

There you have it, 13 tracks on the next to the last day of the month. Here's the download link, and I'd better see you back here tomorrow.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Ninth

Day twenty nine. Not far now...

The first two tracks for tonight are from a record designed for pre-school through grade four, so if you aren't in that age group, you might get bored with these. The two tracks are The Christmas Bell Story and I Love The Winter by Kathy Lecinski from her album Look At The Holidays (A Good Apple Record PB 1586, 1982). What can I say? It is what it is.

From kiddie records we go to a little Urban Contemporary, or at least contemporary to the Eighties. How about a little Ray Parker Jr with Christmas Time Is Here from the album Chartbusters (Arista AL8-8266, 1984). Yes, this is the LP that features Ray in the big Ghostbusters symbol and of course features that song. (I for one don't think it sounds anything like a Huey Lewis song...)

Track four is a nice piano version of Greensleeves by John Curtis and the LP Moonlight (Whitehall WHS 40019). I think this is my last version of this song for the year. Aren't you happy?

Track five, The Skaters' Waltz by The Strings Of The Symphonia Royale. I think the longer the name of the orchestra, the more likely it is to not be a real group. Hmmmm. Anyhow, this is from the album The World's Most Beautiful Waltzes (Grand Award GA 33-376). Got a little Enoch Light connection in that one, I think.

The last two tracks are going to be a mystery. The titles are Kris Kringle and Stille Nacht (Silent Night), but that's all I can tell you about them. Same deal as back in December when I couldn't tell you about a track I was sharing. I don't want to bring the weight of the World down on my humble little blog. They're worth your time, trust me.

That's it. Seven more tracks. Here's the download link, see you tomorrow.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Eighth

Are you ready for the twenty-eighth day of Christmas in July? Well, I know I am. I'm ready for this thing to be over with so I can go back to watching TV in the evenings. Here we go...

The first three songs are jazzy adaptations of the winter part of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I was hoping for more, but this is what I got. The artist is The Günter Noris Trio, and the LP is Four Swinging Seasons-The Günter Noris Trio Plays Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" (Capitol International SP-10547). The three movements are entitled Winter-Allegro Non Molto: Colder Than, Winter-Allegro: Slippin' In The Snow and Winter-Largo: Fireside Fun. With titles like that, I was hoping for so much more...

Anyhow, the next three tracks are by one of those great girl groups, The McGuire Sisters. The first two tracks are from the LP Children's Holiday (Vocalion VL 3685). I almost didn't even listen to this one because I assumed the holiday songs would be the same as the Christmas songs on their Christmas LP that I used to share with you, but have since discovered is on CD. But I was only half right. The songs are the same, but there's added story and narration that I think adds a lot to the recordings. So here are the songs Children's Holiday and The Cactus Christmas Tree. You'll dig these.

The third McGuire Sisters track is their version of Ave Maria from the LP In Harmony With Him (Coral CRL 757303). I shared this with you some time ago, but it was from a later collection of tracks, so I wanted to give you a version that was straight from the source, so to speak. I think you'll enjoy this one.

The seventh track tonight is a bonus version of Ave Maria as performed on the trumpet, and it lasts an extra long seven and a half minutes! This is by Rafael Mendez, Symphony Orchestra Conducted By N. Tejada, from his LP Trumpet Showcase (Decca DL 74636). Gotta love it.

That's all for tonight. Here's the download link. See you right back here tomorrow night!

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Seventh

We're in the home stretch now! Day 27 and counting.

Let's start out with the last Burl Ives track I have for you this month. I think this makes three of his I've shared with you for the month. This time it's The Deepening Snow from True Love (Decca DL 4533). The chorus and orchestra on this one is handled by Owen Bradley, Nashville big-wig.

Track two is Song Of The Bells from Leroy Anderson. I grabbed this one from Leroy Anderson Conducts His Music (Decca DL 8954). I don't know that it's got anything to do with Christmas, but I like it.

Track three is White Christmas by Dennis Day. This is not the same version as the one I shared out with you from Christmas Is For The Family. This one is from the various artists LP 21 Of The Greatest Popular Songs Of All Time As Selected By Billboard Music Week (Pickwick BL-21). I think they released this album to capitalize on some greatest hits list put out by Billboard. It features cheap label knock-offs of the big hits from that list.

Track four is The Bells Of St. Mary's as performed by the Brass Of The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, Conducted By Alfred Newman, from the LP I shared a bit with you last year, Hallelujah! (Capitol SP8529). This time, it's in stereo, so you can listen with both ears.

Track five is Hard Candy Christmas, not as performed by Dolly Parton, but the version from the original soundtrack to the musical The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas (MCA MCA-3049, 1978) by The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas Company With The Rio Grande Band. If that's not specific enough for you, the songs is credited to Pamela Blair, Donna King, Louise Quick-Bowen, Lisa Brown, Becky Gelke, Jan Merchant, Carol Chambers, Marta Sanders, Debra Zalkind & Joan Ellis on the back sleeve.

Track six is one I thought I'd shared out with you long ago, but I can't find where I did, so here it is now. This is Snowfall by Henry Mancini And His Orchestra from the album The Mancini Touch (RCA Victor LSP-2101, 1960). Good version, but what else would you expect from Mancini?

Is that it? I think so, six songs. Here's the download link, get 'em while you can, only a few days left.

The Best From July Of 2008

Here it is, the collection you've been waiting for since August of last year. This is the compilation I put together of 32 of the best tracks I shared out during last year's Christmas In July. It's taken me months to select all the tracks, but I just threw some art together here in the last hour or so, I hope you don't mind too much. But it's not about the art, it's about the great music. Here's the tracklisting with links to the day when I first shared the track in question.

01. Sauter-Finegan & Their Orchestra-Sleighride
02. Homer & Jethro With June Carter-Baby, It’s Cold Outside
03. Ted Heath & His Music-Alpine Boogie
04. The Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra-Blue Christmas
05. The Real Thing Steel Band-Hallelujah Chorus
06. Brass Of The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra-Deck The Hall
07. Ray Conniff & The Singers-I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing
08. The San Sebastian Strings With Rod McKuen & Anita Kerr-And Everyday Was Christmas
09. Erwin Halletz & His Orchestra-Hungarian Sleigh Ride
10. Greg & Steve-Jingle Bell Rock
11. Pearl Bailey-Jingle Bells Cha Cha Cha
12. Joe Cain & His Orchestra-I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm Cha Cha Cha
13. Ken Griffin-Kringle’s Jingle
14. David Whitehall & His Orchestra-Holiday Parade
15. The Sun Tones-The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot
16. The Four Rascals-I’ll Be Home For Christmas
17. The Pipes And Drums Of The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards-The Little Drummer Boy
18. John Graas-Land Of Broken Toys
19. Jack Fina-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
20. Edmundo Ros & His Orchestra-The Skater’s Waltz
21. The Johnny Mann Singers-Snow
22. The Gene Lowell Chorus-Winter Song
23. Ahmad Jamal-Snow Fall
24. Georgia Gibbs-Looks Like A Cold Cold Winter
25. Joe “Fingers” Carr-Snow Deer Rag
26. Walter Carlos-Three Dances From Nutcracker Suite
27. Tomita-Snowflakes Are Dancing
28. The Modern Jazz Quartet-Variations On A Christmas Theme
29. The Chad Mitchell Trio-The Virgin Mary
30. Jack Conner-What Child Is This
31. Dennis Farnon & His Orchestra-Winter Wonderland
32. Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra-Auld Lang Syne

And there you have it. Hope you enjoy it. These tracks are a real labor of love. Oh, wait, you're probably looking for the download link. Sorry about that, I got carried away for a second there. Did I miss any of your favorite tracks from last year? Let me know...

(This thing isn't even finished uploading yet, and I've already found a typo in my track listing. Well, it's pretty minor, so I'm leaving it. Sorry. Now I've found two. I need a proof reader. Three...)

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Sixth

Here's your installment of Christmas In July for day 26. Today's shares all celebrate the holiday by featuring the word Holiday in the title. None of them really have anything to do with the holiday in question, but at least one of them does actually mention Christmas. Let's begin...

Tracks one and two are both from the great maker of holiday-titled music David Rose, and neither of them are the track you're thinking about right now. Both tracks come from the greatest hits collection entitled The Very Best Of David Rose (MGM SE 4155). The two tracks I grabbed for you are titled Holiday For Flutes and Holiday For Trombones. The one you're thinking of is comin' up next.

Track three is the one you thought you were getting before, but didn't. This is Holiday For Strings as performed vocally by The Voices Of Walter Schumann from the LP Lyrical Music For Listening-The Voices Of Walter Schumann (Capitol T297). I found this a few years ago and thought it was a pretty impressive version, so I figured I'd share it with you today.

Track four is by Glenn Miller with Vocals by Kathleen Lane, Every Day's A Holiday from the collection Collector's Choice-Vintage Glenn Miller (Columbia LE 10420). This is the one that mentions Christmas, alongside a number of other holidays.

Track five is the final track I have to share with you from the soundtrack Cinerama Holiday (Mercury MG 20059, 1955) as performed by Jack Shaindlin Conducting The Cinerama Symphony Orchestra. The title is Cinerama Holiday March. I like it and I think you will too.

Track six is the great Billy May performing Brassman's Holiday. This one comes from the sampler LP Stereo Showcase (Capitol SKAO 1268), a sort of answer to RCA Victor's famed stereo samplers of the same period. Well, I guess pretty much every label had samplers like this at the time.

Track seven, the final one, is Bugler's Holiday by Leroy Anderson, he of Sleigh Ride fame. I pulled this from the LP Leroy Anderson Conducts Leroy Anderson (Decca DL 78865). Oh, the label credits James Burke, John Ware & Raymond Crisara with cornet playing on this one. You'd think they'd credit a bugle player, but I guess not.

There you have it, seven more holiday tracks for you. Hope you enjoy them. Here's the download link, see you tomorrow!

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Sixth Redux

I've been thinking about how crappy my shares were back on the sixth day of Christmas in July. In fact, I advised you not to download the shares that day, and many of you took my advice on that. It's got one of the lowest download totals of all the days. To make that up to you, I've decided to give you an extra large handful of shares, and label it Day 6-Redux. But before you get your hopes up too high, there's one catch. The redux is ten version of My Favorite Things. I know there's always an argument over whether or not this is a Christmas song, and with my lax standards for including things that really aren't Christmas at all, this falls firmly on the Christmas side of things. So for all of you that think My Favorite Things belongs in the Christmas canon, here you go. Ten versions from artists such as Dick Shawn, Mary Martin, The Norman Paris Quartet, The Fantabulous Brass, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ray Conniff, The Trapp Family Singers (in a different version from before), Living Strings, The Richard Wolfe Children's Chorus and Andre Kostelanetz. Not a bad selection of artists if I do say so myself. Here's the download link, knock yourselves out.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Fifth

Here we go...with this post, I'm finally caught back up. It's taken a couple of weeks, but it feels good to finally be back to where I should have already been. Now that I'm caught up, I can see the end of the month out there on the horizon. I'd better get busy, I've got a lot of good stuff I still need to record and share with you. So what's in the catch-up post? Two artists, six song, all good stuff. Well, mostly good stuff. You'll see.

The first four tracks are all by The Weavers, you know, the folk quartet featuring Pete Seeger. These songs all come from the LP The Weavers On Tour (Vanguard VRS-9013). I guess it was a little mini-section of the show that featured Christmas tunes. Actually, I'm not convinced this was from a live show. The audience noise seems a little canned to me. Anyhow, the four songs are Go Tell It On The Mountain, Poor Little Jesus, Santa Claus Is Coming (It's Almost Day) and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

The final two tracks are from Anton Brees (I appear to have had his name mis-typed as Frees for the past year.  Sorry about that...) and his carillon album A Spiritual Message From The Singing Tower (Morse's Music/Queen City Album MM 1000, Played on the Cast Bell Carillon at Carillon Mountain Lake Sanctuary, Lake Wales, Florida, USA). This was recorded at Bok Tower, which really isn't too far away from here, although I've never been. Gonna have to get up there someday. I remember seeing a full Christmas LP from this place somewhere last Christmas, shared out on another blog, but I can't find it just now. I'd never seen the LP before, so didn't even know it existed. If I ever find one, I'll be sure to share it with you. The two tracks from this one are O Sanctissima & Angels We Have Heard On High.

There you have it, six more goodies. It's turning into quite the pile of music, isn't it? Here's the download link, thanks for stopping by and listening to my lame commentary.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Fourth

Here I am, back again for today's second installment of Christmas In July. You aren't really getting any extra music here, I'm just catching up after being ill for a while and missing I think five days a couple weeks ago. So with this post and the next one, I should finally be caught back up. So let's jump right into it with six songs that are loosely centered around Christmas toys. Very loosely...

Let's start off with Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers from everyone's favorite John Klein, ably assisted by Leo Addeo from that soon-to-be-classic LP Bells In Toyland (RCA Victor LSP-3832, 1967). I'm afraid this is the last cut I've got for you from this great album. Check back around Christmas, I may bring the rest of it to you. Maybe.

Track two is the great David Rose and a song called The Sad, Sad Rocking Horse. Nothing too Christmassy about it, but I liked it when I listened to it. I like some David Rose stuff a lot, some of it I think is a bit too syrupy. This is from the album David Rose Plays David Rose (MGM SE3748, 1959).

Track three is Jolly Coppersmith from our friend Bob Kames. I found this on the same LP I brought you the other day, Golden Years In Hi-Fi-20 Organ Solos By Bob Kames (King 598). I still don't know if this song has anything to do with Christmas, but it's a nice ditty.

Track four is Hup-Sa-Sa, which I really don't think has anything at all to do with Christmas, but I forgot to share it with you the other day when I gave you some of the skiing-related songs from this album, Cinerama Holiday (Mercury MG 20059). Oh, the artist is Jack Shaindlin Conducting The Cinerama Symphony Orchestra.

Track five is Time For Toys-March Of The Toys by Denise Foster, Arranged And Conducted By Ernie Johnson from the kiddie record The Ages Of Childhood-10 Songs For And About Children By Natalie Ornish (Natwin/Dallas DA 566). Turns out that this isn't the March Of The Toys you've heard before, but it's something along the same lines. I'm sure you'll like it.

Track six is a nice version of Sleigh Ride by Kurt Wege And His Orchestra. And there-in lies a small tale. I had recorded this five or six years ago, but hadn't labelled it. Some years later, I found the file on my PC, and had no idea where it was from. For several years now I've kept an eye out for who Kurt Wege is, and where I got the track from. I finally found it again on the LP 21 Channel Sound-A Leroy Anderson Concert (MGM SE 4075). Then, I found it a second time on an LP called Leroy Anderson Songbook (Metro MS-545), only this time it was credited to The Starlight String Orchestra Conducted By Kurt Wege. Well, at least that was the name on the sleeve. The record said Kurt Wege And His Orchestra. I checked, and they're both the same recording. Another small hint of the origin of this track come from the fine print on the back of that 21 Microphone version. "Recorded by Deutsche Grammophon Polydor Series In Europe." So whatever or whoever he was, MGM was just leasing the track from Europe. Oh, well.

There you have it, another six songs. Here's the download link, I'm off to get something to eat.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Third

Well, let's see. Today is the 25th of July, so if it were really December, this would be Christmas, and since we're celebrating Christmas all month, today should be something special. So how about I use today to get all caught of for the month and get us back on track. That's special in my mind! This share is a little on the classical side, or at least the classic vocal side. I'm not sure exactly what I mean or how to describe it, so let me share it with you and then maybe you'll understand.
The first three tracks are by St. Olaf Lutheran Choir Conducted By Olaf C. Christiansen from the LP I first shared with you yesterday Fifty Golden Years (Mercury MG 20728, 1962). All good stuff, but a little to chorus-y for my preference. The tracks are Prelude To Christmas (Annunciation And Magnificat), Song Of Mary and Come And Adore. I think you'll like them, they make a nice change from the normal stuff I post.

Track four is Mildred Miller performing the folk ballad I Wonder As I Wander from the promotional LP 100th Anniversary Commerative Concert (RCA Victor Custom Records For John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company JH-100, 1961). Arthur Fiedler shares top billing on this record with Ms. Miller, but he's nowhere to be found on this solo vocal performance.

Track five is Arturo Toscanini And The NBC Symphony Orchestra performing Waldteufel-The Skaters Waltz, from the same LP I shared a side-long version of Nutcraker Suite a couple days ago, Tchaikovsky-Nutcracker Suite (RCA Victor Red Seal LM-1986, 1956). I think last year I had three or four days where all I shared were versions of Skaters Waltz and marvelled at the many variations in spelling and punctuation on such a simple title.

The sixth and final track is Pastores Dicite (Christmas Music) by New York Pro Musica-Four Voices from their LP Spanish Music Of The Renaissance (Decca's Gold Label DL 79409). Sometimes I don't know why I pick up records and flip them over, but sometimes I do, and sure enough, there's an unexpected Christmas song staring me in the face. That was the case with this motet. There it was.

And there it is, the end of the list, here's the download link. If all goes as planned, I'll see you twice more today for the Christmas Day in Christmas In July festivities here at Ernie (Not Bert). Thanks for stopping by. (I've made so many typos in this post I think I need a rest. I'm going to take a nap before I get back to posting...)

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty Second

It's getting late, I'd better get today's post up before I fall yet another day behind. Tonight tunes, are, well, all over the place. No rhyme or reason, as rhyme and reason take planning ahead, and I've done none of that. So let's go...

Track one: I Wonder As I Wander by Burl Ives. I promised you more from Burl, and here it is. This is from Folk Songs Dramatic And Humorous (Decca 10" DL 5467), another of those little 10" records that I like so much.

Track two: Midnight Sleighride by The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. Yes, yes, I know, I shared this with you last year, but this time it's a version recorded from radio taken from the record The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra Revisited (Golden Era LP-15071). I like this song, and I'm gonna bring it to you as many times as I possibly can until you leave me so many comments saying that you don't want it that I have to stop.

Track three: Greensleeves by Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians. Yes, it can be a Christmas song. Trust me. This is from Golden Folk Songs For Dancing (Decca DL 74430). I expect you to dance to this, just like the title says.

Track four: What Child Is This by the St. Olaf Lutheran Choir Conducted By Olaf C. Christiansen from the album Fifty Golden Years (Mercury MG 20728, 1962). Listen closely to this one. Hear that? It's the same music as Greensleeves! I told you it was a Christmas song! More from this group tomorrow.

Track five: Hallelujah Chorus as performed by The Coronets on their steel drums. I thought that record from last year was a fluke, but perhaps this is a popular song for steel drummers. I found this one on the LP Mixed Moods-Steel Band Of St. Kitts W.I. (COR-1).

Track six: My favorite for the night is I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (From "On The Avenue") as performed by Skitch Henderson, His Piano And Orchestra. I was excited to find this the night before last when I picked up a copy of his LP A Tribute To Irving Berlin (Columbia CS 9683). I'd never seen it before, and didn't know it existed, but there it was. I shared half an LP of Skitch Christmas music with you a while back, and I've found bonus tracks here, here and there. This one brings me a little bit closer to having a whole LPs worth of Christmas music from Skitch. What a great name, Skitch!

Well, that's all for now. Here's the download link, see you tomorrow.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twenty-First

Here's the twenty-first day of my little Christmas in July celebration. That means only ten days left! It sure will be nice to get a little sleep once in a while, at least until Thanksgiving. Tonight's shares are three songs about skiing, and three songs about skating. I figure both of those are nice winter sports, things you might do around Christmas time. So here goes...

Tracks one, two and four are all by Jack Shaindlin Conducting The Cinerama Symphony Orchestra from that soundtrack album I first shared with you a few days ago, Cinerama Holiday (Mercury MG 20059, 1955). The first two tracks are On The Slopes and Skiers, both written by Morton Gould. The fourth track is Skating Waltz, and it's not written by Morton Gould. It's not written by Emil Waldteufel, as you might have thought, either. That would be Skaters Waltz (see below).

Track three is Ski Run by 101 Strings from their album 101 Strings Plus Dynamic Percussion (Alshire S-5145). I was surprised at how good this was and how much I liked it. Maybe I need to pay more attention to all those 101 Strings albums I see. Nah...

I gave you track four above, so that brings us to track five, one of those Waldteufel tracks I hinted about. It's Skaters Waltz by Bob Kames, and his LP Golden Years In Hi-Fi-20 Organ Solos By Bob Kames (King 598). I believe this is Bob's first LP for King, at least according to the liner notes. It's certainly not his last, as I attested to by posting not one, not two, not three, but four Christmas albums by this guy last Christmas. And now I've found a bonus tracks for you! Stay tuned, I may have a second bonus track. Maybe. I promise nothing.

Track six is another version of Skaters Waltz, this time entitled Skaters Waltz In Swingtime by Bob Crosby, His Orchestra And The Bobcats. The LP is The Best Of Bob Crosby (MCA 2xLP MCA2-4083, 1975). This is a fine collection of his well-known stuff compiled in the seventies, but this particular track was originally recorded 1-23-39 according to the liner notes. Good version.

And there you have it. Six more songs, bringing the total so far to a staggering 167! Not too shabby. So here's the download link, see you again tomorrow.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Twentieth

Need some more Christmas tunes? I thought so. Got a real hodge-podge again today, but there's good stuff in here. Let's dive right in.

Why not start out with a classic from a classic? This is Snowfall from Esquivel, His Piano And Orchestra and his album More Of Other Worlds, Other Sounds (Reprise R-6046, 1961). Unfortunately, this is the mono version, which was the LP I happened to find. It's still really, really good. Turn it up loud.

Next up is White Christmas from The Wurlitzer Company and that LP I first shared with you yesterday, Organ Melodies From The Hobby-Lesson Course For Wurlitzer Organs (The Wurlitzer Company, De Kalb, Illinois). Short, sweet, but nice.

Track three is the great Jo Stafford with her husband, Paul Weston, on the Appalachian carol I Wonder As I Wander. This is from American Folk Songs (Corinthian COR-110). I believe this is a re-release of a much earlier LP, since this is on the Weston-Stafford owned label. Jo retained the rights to all of her early recordings somehow, then later reissued them on her own. But you already knew that.

Track four? Why it's Mele Kalikimaka by The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra Conducted By George Barati from White Ginger Blossoms (Decca DL 74564), a collection of tunes written by Hawaiian composer R. Alex Anderson. This is a really good version of a song you don't hear often enough.

The fifth track is another one from John Klein and Leo Addeo from their album Bells In Toyland (RCA Victor LSP-3832, 1967). This time it's Toyland itself. I'm running short on tracks from this great LP, but I'm not out quite yet. I told you I recorded most of the album for you, and I wasn't kidding.

The final track is Swinging Shepherd Blues by Raymond Paige Conducting The Radio City Music Hall Orchestra from the album Music Hall Bon Bons (Everest SDBR-1024, 1958). I love the sound on these Everest LPs. I think they sound so good because of the involvement of Raymond Scott, but I have no empirical data to prove that.

There you go, another sixer. Hope you like it. Oh, here's the download link. Almost forgot the most important part, didn't I?

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Nineteenth

What day is this? I'm loosing track of time... Seven versions of two songs tonight, The Bells Of St. Mary's and Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers. Not seven versions of each, though, just a total of seven. Five of one and two of the other, I think. Let's get started, shall we?

Track one is version one of The Bells Of St. Mary's. I'm not sure this is supposed to be a Christmas song, but it's about bells and a church, so it's sort of like a Christmas song. This one is by Gordon Macrae, Arranged And Conducted By Van Alexander, from his album Songs For An Evening At Home (Capitol T1251, 1959). Not a bad vocal take on this one.

Version two is by John Duffy at the organ from his LP John Duffy At The Mighty Columbia Square Wurlitzer (Liberty LRP 3004, 1955). I love the cover on this one, you should go search it down. I'm too lazy to scan it in for you, sorry.

Version three is Jesse Crawford from the same 10" LP I featured the other day, In A Monastery Garden (Decca 10" DLP 5058). Sorry about the scratchiness.

Version four is a bit odd. It's from an LP put out by the Wurlitzer company that gave you a sample of all the different songs in the sheet music that came with your new Wurlitzer organ. Well, I don't know if the sheet music came with it, or you had to buy it. For that matter, I'm not sure if they gave you this record or you had to purchase it. Either way, it's a short little version and I'm sure you'll find it at least interesting. Oh, the title of the record is Organ Melodies From The Hobby-Lesson Course For Wurlitzer Organs (The Wurlitzer Company, De Kalb, Illinois).

The fifth version of this song is my favorite, and for two reasons. Reason one is that it's got some good rockin' guitar in there, and the second reason is that the guy's name is Ernie. It's Ernie Maxwell and the LP is The Happy Guitar Of Ernie Maxwell (Canaan CAS-9670-LP). No Berts on this one, I assure you. This is a religious LP, or at least that's who it's targetted towards. Ernie and his family are all wearing matching purple suits on the cover. But the guitar rocks a bit more than you might expect.

The last two tracks are a couple of different versions of Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers. I thought the five versions of The Bells Of St. Mary's were a little skimpy, so maybe you can think of these two as bonus tracks. Version one is another organ song, this time by Ray Bohr from his album The Big Sound-Ray Bohr At The Pipe Organ (RCA Victor LPM-1306, 1956). Version two is by The Sandpipers And The Golden Orchestra, Music Director: Mitch Miller from Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing (Golden Records LP-83), a collection of songs from those little yellow records they had when your parents were kids. I see those a lot at the thrift stores but they always look like they were used as Frisbees instead of records.

So there you go, seven songs for the nineteenth day. Here's the download link, don't forget to come back almost every day!

A Bird That Doesn't Know The Lyrics

Couple months back, I was at Mom and Dad's house, and along comes this hummingbird. I put the long lens on the camera and tried to sneak off the porch to get some shots. Well, I failed. All I could get was the silhouette above, and one blurry picture of him in the air below. These little guys are fast, shy and tiny. I'm going to have to come up with a plan. Maybe a nice sugarwater feeder and a blind. Hmmm...

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Eighteenth

Yep, we're making progress now! Day eighteen already, and it's only the twentieth. Sigh... What do I have for you tonight? A real hodge-podge of stuff.

We start out with a version of Sleigh Ride done at a rather languorous pace. I don't know why exactly that is, but it's different. The artist is The Alma College Concert Band-Samuel Jones, Conductor, and the album is The Kilties Go Concert (Recorded Publications Company 32M-98121/2, Alma College, Alma, Michigan). This is another one of those homemade records, pressed up by a bunch of people without a recording contract. I love these.

Track two is a rousing version of Go Tell It On The Mountain by the Lee Patterson Singers from Oh Happy Day (Fontana (UK) 6434 001). I think this is a budget label thing from England, but it still sounds good. There's an odd noise in this that I think is the singer taking a deep breath before he starts singing each time. Odd...

Track three. March Of The Toys, as played on a carillon to great effect by John Klein, accompanied by Leo Addeo, from that old standby Bells In Toyland (RCA Victor LSP-3832, 1967). I've shared several tracks from this one with you this month, and I'm not done yet. And they've all been winners, that's the amazing thing. Maybe I should record the whole thing and share it out at Christmas? Also, am I the only one who notices a distinct cimlarity between parts of this song and parts of that US Air Force song? Something about "off they go, into the wild blue yonder..." Maybe it's just me.

Track four is something a little more modern, but something I've needed to record for a while now. And when I sat down to make the recording, the record is warped badly. Luckily, this track is the last track on the side, so the effect of the warpage is minimal. But then it started skipping in the last 30 seconds of the song. Took me half an hour of playing with it to get rid of that. The ones you think are going to be a quick rip always wind up being the hardest. So, what song could possibly be worth all that trouble? It's Ray Stevens 80's rerecording of his 60's Christmas tune, Santa Claus Is Watching You, this time from the LP I Have Returned (MCA Records MCA-5635, 1985). I've always liked this song, with it's, err, unique line-up of reindeer. I wish I could afford one of those 45s on Mecury where he did this orginally, but I haven't stumbled across one in my price range yet.

Last, and maybe least, is an odd number from a budget collection. It's Jimmy Soul performing Rockin' Santa from A Shindig-Hullabaloo Spectacular (Gladwynne GLS 2004). Or at least it's something close to that. The fidelity on this is horrid, I'm sure it is a recording pulled from scratchy old vinyl as played on that big old console hi-fi in your grandmother's living room, with the needle flipped over to 78 instead of LP. And I think the name of the track is supposed to be Rock 'N Roll Santa, but you be the judge. Anyhow, I still felt the need to include it for your perusal.

So there you go. Here's the download link. Now I have to go record some more music before I run out of shares for you guys. It's getting a little tight at the moment.

Screw What?

I took this shot last month while I had that fancy rented camera lens. It's a detail of the leaf base on a screw pine tree. I've always liked these tropical trees, but rarely have I gotten a good picture of one. I like this shot, though, you can really see the detail in there, with the saw-edged leaves slowly spreading out into a fan shape.

Christmas In July 2009-Day The Seventeenth

Now that I'm past the halfway point, I feel like doing something a little special. How about 32 tracks in a single post, over an hour of music? No problem, here are three side-long versions of The Nutcracker, as well as a handful of individual performances of selected tracks. Artists include William Steinberg And The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini And The NBC Symphony Orchestra, Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra (in a different performance from the one I gave you on the first day of Christmas In July, this one from 1950), O'Lyn Callahan, Morton Gould Conducting The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy And The Philadelphia Orchestra, and lastly, some little accordian band named The Three Suns.

Let me give you the details for that Three Suns track, because that's the one I'm most proud of. As you might recall, I've shared out all of the Three Suns Christmas albums around here, and quite a few individual tracks from singles and collections. This one was new to me, so I'm going to add it to their Christmas canon. Waltz Of The Flowers comes from budget-label release For Listening And Dancing (Pickwick PTP 2012 (Combines two LPs, Twilight Time & Body & Soul)), in fake stereo. I don't know how this track eluded me for so long, but now we've got it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Here's the download link, have at it. I'm getting a little closer to being caught up, I think, just another day or two of double posts and I'm there.

The Best From July Of 2007

Another week in this July celebration has passed, so I figure it's time to point you towards another old best-of. This time it's the collection of all the greatest tracks I shared out in July of 2007. I think there's some really good stuff in here, so if you want a nice little package of goodies without all the downloading, sifting and sorting, this is it. The tracklisting is as follows, and the hyperlinked names will take you to the day I originally posted that track.

1. Nickelodeon-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
2. Ashtabula High School A Cappella Choir-Carol Of The Bells
3. Joanne Wheatley & Hal Kanner-Baby, It's Cold Outside
4. IBM 7090 Computer-Joy To The World
5. Ron Goodwin-Xmas It Ain't
6. Fred Sateriale's Big Band-Toyland Cha Cha Cha
7. Hugo Winterhalter-Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Cha Cha
8. Earl Grant-Snowfall
9. Ferrante & Teicher-Happy Sleigh Ride
10. Bing Crosby-The Secret Of Christmas
11. Count Basie & The Mills Brothers-December
12. Connee Boswell-White Christmas
13. Andre Previn & David Rose-Blue Holiday
14. Waldorf "Punch & Judy" Orchestra-Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers
15. University Singers-Go Where I Send Thee
16. Sunshine-The Very First Christmas Day
17. Stan Wolowic-Happy Holiday
18. Sarah Vaughn & Billy Eckstine-I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
19. Al Melgard-Jolly Coppersmith
20. Alfred Apaka-It's Snowing In Hawaii
21. Lawrence Welk-Holiday
22. The Klokken Ringers-Silver Bells
23. Ray Conniff-An Improvisation On "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy"
24. The Robert de Cormier Folk Singers-The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
25. The 'Promises, Promises' Cast-Christmas Day
26. Glenn Miller-It Happened In Sun Valley
27. Martin Denny-Snowflakes In Summer
28. Ruby Murray-Christmastime In Ireland
29. The Robin Hood Orchestra-Silent Night
30. John Gary-Let There Be Peace On Earth (Let It Begin With Me)
31. Gordon Jenkins-Happy New Year

Wow, it seems like I was just recording and sharing out those tracks yesterday, but it's been two years now. There's some really great stuff in there that I'd forgotten about. Anyhow, here's a download link that should get you to the share eventually. Thanks for stopping by.