A 78 RPM Christmas--Part 1

It's a good thing I back up my MAGIX "projects" onto disc--or, at least, that I did this time. Seems MAGIX decided to lose the FX file to my latest project when my Dell's virtual memory froze up. So, I was able to upload my back-up disc. Problem is, it contained the previous night's work, meaning that much of my editing was lost, along with three files. I had a fabulous restoration of On a Christmas Morning (Prince's Orchestra) that is no more. I'll have to start from scratch.

Which should be easy, because 78s have lots of same.

But I'm not here to whine. (Yes, I am. Wahhhhhhhhh!!) Boy, do I feel better.

However, in spite of any and all computer-based disasters, I'm here with some cool Yuletide 78s, all from my collection. For your convenience, I have listed not only their titles but the people on them. Plus those names that show up in parentheses. We cover every base at this place.

We begin with a Christmas hymn (as opposed to carol or pop song)--maybe the most famous of all; I don't know. That would be my guess. Isaac Watts wrote the hymn in 1719, and Lowell Mason (of the "Better Music Movement") wrote the great tune in 1836, though for a very long time it was attributed to Handel. I coaxed pretty decent sound from this average-condition disc, I think:

Joy to the World (Watts--Mason), Trinity Choir, 1911. From Victor 78.

And here's the flip side. It actually says Oh, Come... on the label, though we're always seeing it as O, Come.... So far, I've found the music credited to three different people, with the hymn itself credited to A.P. Carter. I mean, John F. Wade, who was also probably (possibly?) the author of the words around 1850-ish. (1850-ish?) The 1841 English translation was the work of Frederick Oakeley.

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful (Various folks), Trinity Choir, 1911. From Victor 78.

Next, Victor recording artists Olive Kline and Elsie Baker lend their terrific voices to some charming holiday numbers for children. The first three titles come from Alice C.D. Riley and Jessie L. Gaynor's Songs of the Child World series, which must have been pretty popular--books from same show up in five or six eBay ads, and there are a number of Google mentions. Really fun stuff. The last title comes from Dutch Ditties for Children by Anice Terhune. If you know anything about Anice, please let me know.

Merry Christmas, Sleighing Song (Riley--Gaynor, from Songs of the Child World), Olive Kline (1914).

Around the Christmas Tree (Riley--Gaynor), Little Christmas Shoes (Anice Terhune, from Dutch Ditties for Children), Elsie Baker (1914).

So nice to listen to those two sides without the pops. There were three or four real firecrackers in there. To use an old-fashioned term in a different context than usual.

Jingle Bells, by Shannon Four (The Revelers) was a much tougher case--lesser bloggers might have taken one look at the record's condition, laughed, and tossed the thing in the "Circular File." Not me--I knew I could get some sound out of it. Plus, I enjoy working for a full hour editing pops and messing around with EQ settings. It's a form of high-tech self-punishment. I probably should seek therapy.

Please bear with the snowy start (so to speak)--the sound fills in pretty quickly.

Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpont, 1857), Shannon Four, 1925. From a tracked-with-error Victor 78.

From www.perfessorbill.com :



















Lee