Godzilla Versus Christmas

The war on Christmas just became a lot more deadly, now that Godzilla has joined the fray. We hate to say it, but Christmas probably doesn't stand a chance....

Godzilla Vs. Christmas (Lee Hartsfeld), Performed by Lee Hartsfeld, 12-23-05.

The Godzilla roars were borrowed from King Ghidorah's Sound Page. Check out the other cool noises there.


Lee

Summer in central Ohio

Well, it feels like summer--we were above freezing today! Yee-haa! Makes you want to hang up the coat and gloves. Which, of course, is a great way to catch a cold or the flu.

Doctors insist otherwise, but dang it, with colder temperatures come flu and cold viruses. It's common knowledge (which means it must be in Wikipedia). Germs like the frigid air--it's closer to the clime of Mars or Jupiter, where they originally came from one billion years ago. This crank theory brought to you by MYPWHAE.

Caroling, Carloing has been corrected to Caroling, Craloing. I mean, Caroling. And I just now understand Crimsoncrow's "Ouch!" comment (insertion of dilithium crystal). I thought she was grimacing at/from her excellent pun. Puns are painful, especially when they're sharp.

And... maybe my Internet Explorer is having a bad night, but I swear that all I'm getting for Google is a blank page. I'd look up "Google down" on Google, but of course that's slightly impossible at the moment.

What I'm getting at www.google.com:

In other news, Acolyb gives a year of 1965 for the LP that rendered the Anna Maria Alberghetti, Maurice Chevalier, and Sammy Davis, Jr. tracks (Goodyear's The Great Songs of Christmas, Volume 5). Thanks, Acolyb. This means that my mid-to-late-'50s guess was pretty close. I wish Goodyear would have put the years in their titles--"Great Songs of Christmas, 1965," for example. Or on the bottom of the back jacket. Line Material had the courtesy to note the release years, so why not Goodyear? I reckon this is kind of late to be complaining, though.

(Ring, ring) "Goodyear Customer Service." "Yes, why didn't you put the years on your Christmas albums?" "Um... what?"

Which reminds me--have you ever found an old, unfilled-out subscription card, such as for a 1966 Schwann catalog, and had the urge to send it in? And wouldn't you have a heart attack if, days later, a 1966 Schwann catalog arrived in the mail? With a 1966 postmark?

Before I forget to do so, I'm going to add the other five Line Material files to the Sounds of Christmas post for a complete set. Or are there five, total? I don't know.

It's a sad day when you don't even know how many Line Material records you own.

I had some other things to mention by way of update, and they've escaped my tired mind. Meanwhile, Google is still absent. Maybe it's tired, too....


Lee


















"Ho, ho, ho! I'm Christ Kindel! I mean, Santa Thor! I mean...."

Christmas with Judy Valentine

From the 1958 LP Christmas Magic, here are three charming performances by Judy Valentine with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra. Judy's voice was small in volume but big in technique--vocal control to die for. Incredibly smooth, soothing fare to grace the holiday:

Winter Wonderland (Felix Bernard, Dick Smith), Judy Valentine with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orch., 1958.

I'd Like to Hitch a Ride with Santa Claus/That Christmas Feeling (Johnny Burke, James Van Heusen), Judy Valentine with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orch., 1958.

That's What I Want for Christmas (Irving Caesar, Gerald Marks), Judy Valentine with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orch., 1958.

I'd Like to Hitch a Ride is making its second appearance here, which is O.K.--it more than merits a repeat presentation. Here's a digital shot of the cool and arty Christmas Magic cover:



















Thanks, Judy, for the great (in fact, magical) sounds!

Lee

Line Material's "The Sounds of Christmas"

"Reprinted by Request from Christmas 1958," says the label. No doubt--this one goes all out to entertain. Some rough spots (condition-wise) near the beginning, but MAGIX took care of those with ease. All I did was set the settings and splice the splices. And all YOU have to do is click on the image to get to the file. The Sounds of Christmas will put you in Merry Christmas mode and keep you there.

Or, rather, "Merry Christmas from Line Material" mode:


















Wow. I'd call that the total Line Material experience, wouldn't you?

And here are the rest of the Line Material sides (that I have), for your listening convenience:

Santa's North Pole Band, 1957.

The Kinds of Christmas, 1959.

Santa's Factoree, 1960.

The Day Santa Was Sick, 1961.

Let's Trim the Christmas Tree, 1962.


Lee

MYPWHAE's Unhip Christmas, Part 10

MYPWHAE's staff wishes you a Merry Mas!

While we're waiting for Judy Valentine, the last Line Material installment, and other good stuff, here's some just-as-good material that's been waiting patiently at box.net for its day in the blog. That day has come....

We begin with a quickie that should please (and appease) the "Dude, where's my Christmas?" folks. If it doesn't, I don't know what to say:

A Christmas Greeting, (Harry Simeone), The Harry Simeone Chorale, 1958.

You'd think that would do it, wouldn't you? But... no way to tell. Next up--Anna Maria Alberghetti, with one of the catchiest Mas tracks ever committed to analog:

Caroling, Caroling, Anna Maria Alberghetti. (Mid to late 1960s.)

Now, if this next track doesn't qualify as unhip, what possibly could? And I love it. Christmas Island, as only Lawrence Welk and The Sparklers could render it:

Christmas Island (Lyle Moraine), Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music, w. The Sparklers, 1956.

That's a good one for blasting on a car stereo, though this isn't the best time for opening one's window to let the sound out, unless you're lucky enough to reside in a non-wintry clime. Still, think how funny that would be, especially accompanied by cries of "Lawrence Welk!! Wooo!!" ("You were arrested for blasting what?")

This next one might be hip in a retro sense. Who knows. These guys were big deals in jazz circles during my parents' time. All the jazz cats dug The Hi-Los. They were a hardcore edition of The Four Freshmen. To be sure, their harmonizing was remarkably precise:

Deck the Halls, The Hi-Los (from Reprise LP).

And I thought I'd already posted the next one. I guess not. This is my favorite New Christy Minstrels track, and one of my favorite Mas tracks, period. Just beautifully done:

Here We Come a-Caroling, The New Christy Minstrels, 1967.

Very old tune, that. As I'm sure you know. This one is even older (I think--don't take my word for it). Make some room on your hard drive for The Waverly Consort, as they expertly consort on In Dulci Jubilo, which we heard several posts ago as Good Christian Men, Rejoice:

In Dulci Jubilo, The Waverly Consort, directed by Michael Jaffee, 1977.

And here are The Lancers, who want to do more than whistle under the Mistletoe, if you get my drift (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). More than whistle. In addition to. Heh, heh, heh. Under the Mistletoe.

Discuss politics, maybe. That's probably what they mean....

I Wanna Do More Than Whistle (Under the Mistletoe) (Cates, Copeland, Greene), The Lancers, with Orch. and Chorus Directed by Van Alexander, 1954.

And lastly, but not leastly, here's Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, from 1943, with Jingle Bells11. (Jingle Bells11??) The thing is, Box.net (my storage site) won't allow two or more files with the same title, so I have to add digits whenever that situation arises. Box.net can't tell Jingle Bells5 from, say, Jingle Bells10, so in this way I "fool" the software. Box.net's software is clever, but I am moreso. Muwa-ha-haaa!

Jingle Bells, Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, 1943.

O.K., I lied. We have one more track. Sammy is back, with (speak of the Devil) Jingle Bells. As in, by itself (no Christmas Time All Over the World). As far as Box.net is concerned, this is is Jingle Bells8, but we know that it's just plain ol' Jingle Bells:

Jingle Bells, Sammy Davis, Jr. (from Reprise LP)

Aw, heck. We might as well add Jerry Wayne's jubilant Jingle Bells, complete with a whistling solo (sounds like Ted Weems' Elmo Tanner!) and a sing-along. I'm guessing 1950, or so, for the year--and I'm guessing that this was edited from a medley (clue: the 1:28 playing time and the abrupt stop).

Jingle Bells, Jerry Wayne, 1950-ish.

More, believe it or not, to come.

Lee

Five Days Until Mas

"What? You've never seen a green Santa before?"

I've got several tracks yet to rip, plus a number of already-ripped tracks begging to be posted. No rest for the MP3 blogger, at least not with Mas this close at hand. I guess you could say that I'm having a busy but merry Ripmas.

I found Frosty, and I've put up the correct track for Let It Snow, etc. (thanks, Paul F.) Plus, I put up the right file for Fred Waring's Parade of the Wooden Soldiers--the one with Parade by itself. This is what happens whenever I'm in too much of a hurry to make sure I've posted the right files and/or links! The file-uploading process being what it is, it's easy to mislabel things--I have only a track number to go by.

In other news, my "Stephen Foster" credit a few posts back was my odd sense of humor at work. White Christmas has become such a "folk" number (as that term used to be defined when "folk" meant "popular"), I thought it would be funny to credit it to the great 19th-century American songwriter. I can't remember why I thought that was funny, though....

Irving Berlin (real name: Israel Baline) gave us WC, of course. He also wrote Happy Holiday, so it's a good thing he left our world before Bill O'Reilly could send an angry mob after him. Then again, the Siberia-born Berlin also produced God Bless America, so maybe his name isn't mud with the take-back-Christmas crowd. Who knows?

And... while I was posting Line Material Christmas records, Bob Trancho was doing the same thing! Check out bob.trancho.net for some LM info and interesting LM memories from some of the site's visitors. Oh, and also for a zip file of "Merry Christmas from Line Material" ringtones! I tried to leave a comment at Bob's site, but it was denied for "questionable content."

Yeah, that sounds like me.

I'll be sharing the 1958 LM The Sounds of Christmas in a day or so. There are a handful of clicks that need to be removed, and then it'll be good to go. Two more Judy Valentine tracks coming up, too. Ripmas, indeed.

In the meanwhile, here's Frosty, Peter-Pan style:

Frosty the Snowman, Peter Pan EP 2605.

You probably noticed what sounds like a jump at one point--in fact, I think my MAGIX (or my hard drive) had a hiccup at that point. Every once in a while, that will happen. Be assured there is nothing wrong with your music program. As far as I know.


Lee

MYPWHAE's Kiddie Christmas, Part 6 (I think)

I think this is Part 6. I can't be sure....

You will recall that Part 5 preceded part 4, in case you're wondering what happened to part 5. It's old news by now.

But we can be sure that all of these are fit for kiddies of all ageys. I mean, ages. And we begin with one for the ages, Sammy Davis, Jr.'s Jingle Bells/It's Christmas Time All Over the World. It's one of those we're-all-alike-in-our-diversity numbers that are so unintentionally funny. Davis does his usual terrific singing job:

Jingle Bells/It's Christmas Time All Over the World, Sammy Davis, Jr.

I consider Sammy to have been the most talented Rat Packer, hands down, but of course I don't dare say so. Frank fans might get upset, and we don't want that to happen.

Here's a talented orchestra with a snappy and happy (wasn't that a Hanna-Barbera cartoon?) rendition of the greatest of all Christmas novelty instrumentals, Leon Jessel's Parade of the Wooden Soldiers. No arranger listed at the Fred Waring site, but this treatment sounds a lot like Ferde Grofe's 1928 orchestration for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, including the whole-tone ending.

Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (Leon Jessel), Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, 1950.

And what's a kiddie Mas without something from Peter Pan? The record company, I mean. Less chintzy, for one thing. Here are two delightfully cheap P.P. productions, and darned if they don't capture the spirit of the Season better than most big-money efforts:

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, From Peter Pan EP 2605.

Ohhhhh-kay. I said two, didn't I? Well, I can't find the other one. I know I uploaded it, so we can only conclude that I mistitled the thing. Which means I'll have to go through all of the titles in box.net. Excuse me while I slowly crack up. Thank you. ("Hee, hee... ho, ho... hee, hee... ha, haaaa!! HO HO HOOOOOO!")

I feel so much better now. So, hopefully I'll find the lost Peter Pan track at some point. Sometime before the 25th. Meanwhile, let's listen to a choice selection from the MacMillan Sing and Learn LP, Holiday Songs:

Santa's Coming, From "Holiday Songs" (MacMillan Sing and Learn Program), 1987.

I trust that you listened and learned. If not, you'll have to replay the track and (this time) listen. And learn. (We take our educational selections seriously at MYPWHAE.)

And here's that huge holiday favorite that everyone claims to hate but that somebody's got to like (because why else would it be so famous?), The Little Drummer Boy. I know that I like it, so there's one person. I invite others to step forward and proclaim their like (or love, whichever the case may be) for this choral classic, which started in 1941 out as Carol of the Drum by Katherine K. Davis. I'm still putting facts together about this tune--I plan to have a tell-all post ready in a few days, if not sooner. Meanwhile, here's Harry Simeone's hit 1958 version, which not only uses an arrangement by Jack Halloran but which employs Jack's singers as well! What a story behind this thing....

The Little Drummer Boy (Katherine K. Davis), The Harry Simeone Chorale, 1958.

The source for this track (the LP Sing We Now of Christmas) credits Harry Simeone--as in, Simeone and nobody else. But the dang thing was written by Katherine K. Davis, and this will remain the case no matter how many people are, or aren't, given the credit. At least Alan Freed wasn't in on the deal.

Just as I don't dare suggest that Sammy Davis, Jr. was the best singer in the Rat Pack, I don't dare admit that I like the New Christy Minstrels. That would be too uncool, and I really, really worry about that. (No, I don't. Of course.) And here are the NCMs with two really fun Mas novelties. Folk can be fun and still be folk, you know. Lee said so:

Sing Along with Santa, The New Christy Minstrels, 1963. (From Merry Christmas!)

It'll Be a Merry Christmas, The New Christy Minstrels, 1963. (From Merry Christmas!)

Now I've got to figure out what the heck happened to that Peter Pan track. It's always something. At least we have the label image (below)!


















"Help meeee! I'm lossssst!!!"--Frosty the Snowman MP3, from somewhere in the fifth dimension.
Helping to keep the holidays hopping,

Lee

A Good Year for Finding Stuff, Part 1

E.T. Claus says, "Take me to your chimney!"



I came across some good recorded music in 2005, and I thought I'd share some of it. (Imagine that--me sharing music!) In fact, this first track I discovered a mere four days ago. It comes from the Modern Sound LP Hitsville Class of '63, and I'm almost sure that MS was responsible for the 45 RPM label Hit. Not positive, but I think so. I'll have to Google that.

Yup, I was right. I'll have to read through this entire site when I have the time (or, rather, if).

The jacket credits are interesting: "Recorder: Sam Phillips Studio, Nashville," and "Engineer: Billy Sherrill." Sam Phillips and Billy Sherrill--far out! No group name listed on the jacket, but we wouldn't have gotten its real name, anyway. It's an interesting, Fleetwoods-style cover version of The Beach Boys' Surfer Girl:

Surfer Girl (Brian Wilson)--From "Hitsville Class of '63, Modern Sound 518).

I did some amazing file-editing on that. A number of loud pops and some annoying areas of distortion were removed after about 40 minutes of splicing and filtering on my MAGIX program. It's such a nice track, the effort was warranted, I think.


















Another great find was this 1952 recording of Caravan, which I recently posted at Vintage Lounge, and which I don't think is one of the more common versions. The Harmonicats meet Santo and Johnny in this rather advanced production:

Caravan, Martin and Brown, The Harmonica Duo, 1952. From Republic 45.

More 2005 finds to come....


Lee