This LP of carols, which has no catalog number (just the matrices LNY-12-4536/4537 in the runoff area) was also given to Stroh Brewery employees in 1965, only with a different cover--flashy, but not as mind-bending. This cover states, "Produced by the E.F. MacDonald Company for Christmas 1960." And this is my first time encountering Dame Get Up and Bake Your Pies and, oddly enough, my first time finding the popular Boar's Head Carol on vinyl. I've known the latter forever as part of a piano folio, but it had eluded me on disc. The other carols include frequently recorded titles like Deck the Halls (it should be Hall--argghh!); Wassail, Wassail; The First Noel; and of course, Silent Night.
And you've gotta (or should, imo) love the psychedelic jacket and labels, from years before the psychedelic era. And, really, if you stare good and hard at that kaleidoscopic image, you'll either get dizzy, say "Wow, man!" or both. It's cool how the track titles were placed in the uppermost circle.
That's something to think about--i.e., the fact that kaleidoscopes predate the era of "Far out, man!" In fact, Wikipedia reports that "Multiple reflection by two or more reflecting surfaces has been known since antiquity." So I guess that kaleidoscopes epically predated that era. A concept which had been going around (pun intended) for a very long time.
So, what about the music? And the choir? Both very good, with the pressing not the very best (despite its near-mint condition), but I guess we can't expect a primo pressing on a company give-away (though the classic Line Material sides were superbly stamped). And try saying "Primo pressing" over and over while staring at this image. Then again, don't. Simply thinking about that has my sinuses acting up. I'll get motion sickness if I keep this up.
I wish the excellent Emil Cote Glee Club had dug out a few more carols along Dame Get Up... lines, but maybe Emil figured that one 👀 title was sufficient. And a quick check turned up no biographical info for me on Cote--feel free to contribute what you know. As for the E.F. MacDonald Company, a 1962 New York Times pieces described it as "a sales incentive and trading stamp company with headquarters in Dayton (Ohio)." And a Discogs entry on the company's record releases has Laurence Olivier in an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Far out.
You know, this could have passed for a rock LP jacket in 1967 or 1968...
DOWNLOAD: Christmas Carols--Emil Cote Glee Club (E.F. MacDonald Company, 1960)
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Wassail, Wassail
Boar's Head Carol
Dame Get Up and Bake Your Pies
Good King Wenceslas
Deck the Halls
The First Noel
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Silent Night
Joy to the World
Christmas Carols--Mil Cote Glee Club (E.F. MacDonald Company, 1960)
Lee
17 comments:
Oooh, nice find, Lee! I've never seen or heard this record (or the Strohs version), but it fits in with a series of MacDonald records I've been collecting for a while now. I've shared two of them in the past, the one with Burgess Meredith from 1963:
https://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2016/12/late-december-back-in-63.html
And one from John Carradine in 1962:
https://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2017/12/john-not-david.html
Then there's a third that I know of which just features catalog stuff from Dot Records, I think. Ahh, found where I pulled one track from it back in 2007, but the LP came out in 1966. You can see the cover here:
https://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2007/12/used-music-track-twenty-four.html
So your post fills in a hole in that particular catalog. Now we have to find all the other missing years! :) Good work, Lee!
Thanks!
Yes, we need to keep our eyes open for these. I'd love to find the Laurence Olivier "Christmas Carol."
Interesting that Stroh (I think they called their beer Stroh's?) would put out the same release six years after MacDonald's. It raises the question as to whether Stroh/Stroh's borrowed this, or whether there was a third party that supplied the master. And I had checked your blog and noticed those MacDonald's posts. I saw that mine wasn't on there, so it was clear for landing...
Interesting cover. It is reminiscent of a stained glass ceiling, which would be in keeping with the holiday theme.
Buster,
I hadn't thought about that. I was too busy noticing the "trippy" aspect of the design, possibly toward the end of having something amusing to say. Yes, it is totally reminiscent of same...
Lee,
Church had more of an impression on me than the psychedelic era. (Not that I am contrasting my experience with yours.)
Yeah, I saw it as more of a stained glass rose window than a trippy things, but the trippy is certainly there.
And Lee, please don't think you can't post something just because I have! You do a better job with the sound on stuff than I do, and I'm sure many folks would welcome your efforts. I rush through so many things that I can't take the time to really play with the sound to make it all that it can be. I won't be offended in the least to see something I shared once upon a time on your site. At least with you I would know it's not just my same files being offered. :)
That Laurence Olivier sure looks familiar, I may need to take a dive through the stacks tonight to see if I can lay my hands on it.
And MacDonald probably wouldn't be above reissuing old recordings. The flip side of the Carradine record is stuff by 101 Strings and The 60 French Girls, Des Djinns. So I would not be surprised if they sold the same recordings to Stroh a few years later for reuse.
I guess I was searching for a humor angle, but the more I look at it, the more it reminds me of a cathedral. I'm sure that was the intention. And thanks, Ernie, for the nice words and the matter of posting. In fact, last year I came across that earlier RCA Camden Domenico Savino Christmas LP, and I've been wanting to give it a go. (It looks good for ripping, at least, but visual examination can be deceiving.) Again, thanks.
"Visual examination can be deceiving" - so true. That Ralph Flanagan record I shared was perfect visually, but skipped repeatedly using a 0.7 stylus. Following your lead, I used a larger radius (1.0) and it played perfectly!
Wider styli can be a blessing!
Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like it was recorded long before 1960? It has the same aural patina as the 1946 Robert Shaw Chorale Christmas recordings, to my ears.
Thanks Lee, this is lovely.
RL,
I agree--it definitely could be pre-1960. And I agree with the comparison. Those Shaw recordings are the best of their type, imo.
This 'primo' record must look incredible as it spin's Lee it's sure to make your sinus' sane again if you spin 'em backwards who knows, lol
Merry Krimble as John Lennon would say
Byron
Lee, Just enjoyed 'em all great selections and all acapella !
on Good King Winchell that's The Sandpipers from those little golden children's records, I recognize that male lead vocalist though do not know who that is
Thanks for this joyous record !
Byron
There's a good chance MacDonald leased older recordings. It's cheaper that way. :) Their later records seem to be custom recordings though, except for that Christmas Carol. The same recording seemed to show up on a slew of budget labels, and I can't figure out who had it first. MacDonald put it all on one side, then included a side of what I suspect is licensed recordings from elsewhere, including a few tracks from this same artist Lee shared.
Hi Lee. Could you add my blog to your bloglist? Thanks in advance.
my blog: https://fiftiesbeat.blogspot.com
Thanks, Byron!
The Sandpipers? So, all (of some) of these tracks could be from Golden Records. Fascinating possibility. You have an excellent audio memory.
Ernie,
Thanks for the McDonald's info. Looking at the Emil Cote listings at Discogs, it seems like his heyday was the 1940s, so it does seem more probable that these are older tracks, as opposed to Cote showing up again in 1960 to do a company holiday release...
Michael,
I would link to your blog, but it appears you're sharing material that's available on CD, which is something I and my fellow music bloggers try hard to avoid. We don't want to cut into a label's profits. We stick with material that's not "out there" anyplace. Sorry!
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