Some holiday shellac, plus Grofe's "Christmas Eve," The Four Voices, Stan Freberg, "The Christmas Tree That Ran Away"

 

A nice 1935 Hallelujah Chorus, the not-listed-at-Discogs Christmas Lights, the flip side of the Four Voices' 1959 Wang Wang Blues (the listed flip is The Little White Cloud That Cried), and Novena di Natale (Christmas Novena) are my favorites from the list, though I have a tacky love for the tacky-even-for-SPC The Christmas Tree That Ran Away--priceless, in that so-chintzy-it's-good budget-label way.  Meanwhile, I'm guessing that the Tops Music Hall and Drama Group's The Night Before Christmas is a reissue of the version released in 1948 on The Record Guild of America, Inc. label.

And, in Novena di Natale, I hear the melody for the Italian Christmas song, Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (You Come Down From the Stars).  DAHR reveals that the recording date was between 1910 and 1916...

Grofe's charming Christmas Eve was written in 1934, and this recording dates from 1956-1957.

DOWNLOAD: Hallelujah Chorus, Christmas Lights--V.A.zip

                     

SLEIGHLIST

The Messiah--Hallelujah Chorus--Royal Choral Society and London Philharmonic, c. Malcolm Sargent, 1935

Christmas Eve (Ferde Grofe)--Barron Smith on the Wanamaker Organ, Philadelphia

The Holy City (Michael Maybrick)--Richard Crooks, Tenor, Orch. Dir. by John Barbirolli, 1934

The Messiah--And the Glory of the Lord--Royal Choral Society and London Philharmonic, c. Malcolm Sargent, 1935

Christmas Lights--The Four Voice, 1959

Sleigh Ride--Sammy Kaye and His Orch., 1960

Caroling, Caroling (Burt)--16 Singing Men

The Star of Bethlehem (Michael Maybrick)--Richard Crooks, Tenor, Orch. Dir. by John Barbirolli, 1934

Yule-Tide--A Christmas Fantasia--Arthur Pryor's Band, 1912

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer--Johnny Cole (Crown 5132)

March of the Toys (Herbert)--Lew White, Organ, Harry Bruerer, Drums, 1941

Green Chri$tma$ (Freberg)--Stan Freberg, 1958

Jingle Bells--Domenico Savino and the Rome Festival Orch., 1956

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town--Domenico Savino and the Rome Festival Orch., 1956

Novena di Natale (Christmas Novena)--Banda Municipale di Milano (1910-1916)

The Christmas Tree That Ran Away--The Caroleers (Peter Pan X-57, 45 rpm EP)

Ding-a-Long Song, The Sleigh Bell Song--The Cricketones, 1953

Winter Wonderland--Fontanna His Orch. and Chorus (Palace XM 903)

The Night Before Christmas--The Music Hall Drama Group and Orch. (Tops 309, 78 rpm)

Santa Claus Polka--Eddie Wojcik, V: Syl Wojcik

Lee

"The Mostest, Bestest, Merriest Christmas Time"--More V.A. Christmas fun! ("Keep them reindeer rollin'! Yule-tiiiiiiiide!")

 

An all-stereo V.A. holiday list, though I think that a fake/pseudo-/rechanneled stereo track snuck through, but that'll happen.  We start off gloriously with that 1945 classic, All Around the Christmas Tree, albeit in a 1964 performance by John Klein on the Carillon Americana Bells, "the fascinating 610 bells of the world's largest and finest modern carillon, housed for the (1964-65 New York World's) Fair in the The Coca-Cola Company Pavilion Tower."--from the liner notes for the LP pictured topside.  The combination of the 610-bell carillon and Henri Rene's orchestra makes for an amazingly cool, Christmas-y sound, though I wish RCA hadn't limited the audio to its Dyna-groove version.  But who's complaining?

I'd planned on making my next sleighlist an all- (or mostly-) organ package, but the percentage of organ tracks this time around is almost 1/3rd, pretty much making this an organ V.A. list, or a semi-organ V.A. list, and there's a lesson there for all of us.  Which will come to mind after my first cup of coffee, I'm sure.  Five tracks by the excellent Buddy Cole on pipe organ, plus Dennis Awe at the Lowrey Holiday D-350 organ with Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Seth Rye at the same model with Here Comes Santa Claus.  Nothing says "Christmas" more evocatively than the sound of an organ-demo room.  ("And here's the one-finger-with-chords button...")

More Christmas polkas, including the Polish carol, Pasterze Mile (Beloved Shepherds?), I Dream of You and Me Polka, and I Can Tell It's Christmas, and Have a Merry Christmas Polka.  And some dreadful--er, dreadfully charming--Peter Pan (SPC) tracks in true stereo and from the 1970s, I believe, including the title track (The Mostest, etc.), Rudolph's Christmas Party, and the impressively green number, A Favor for the Little Christmas Tree, which recommends the replanting of a (real) Christmas tree instead of burning it or laying it out by the curb for waste removal.  All the ingredients of a holiday standard, but somehow (far as I know) it never achieved that status.  And I guess I can't quite imagine rowhouses with replanted Christmas trees.  Things would get pretty cluttered.  Even more so, if specifically planted around and about the recycle bin. 

And for those who've always wanted You're the Cream in My Coffee as part of their holiday background mix, look no further--Bobby Roberts and His Orch., 1958, has you covered.  From the LP Holiday Music for Happy People (see above), which is packed with weird medleys, but I guess when a gathering becomes happy (tipsy) enough, even Rawhide can be slipped into the sleighlist without interrupting the glow--"Oh, this is a good one!  'Keep them reindeers rollin'!!  Yule-riiiiiiiiide!  Yee-haw!!'"

DOWNLOAD: Mostest, Bestest, Merriest Christmas Time.zip

All Around the Christmas Tree--John Klein, Carillonneur, Orch. Arr. and Cond. Henri Rene, 1964

Jingle Bells--Buddy Cole at the Pipe Organ, 1958

The Little Drummer Boy--The Caroleers (SPC/Premier version in true stereo)

The Mostest, Bestest, Merriest Christmas Time--The Mistletoe Singers

Sleigh Ride--John Klein, Carillonneur, Orch. Arr. and Cond. Henri Rene, 1964

Medley: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer--You're the Cream in My Coffee--Jingle Bells--Bobby Roberts and His Orch., 1958

I Dream of You and Me Polka--Lenny Gomulka and the Chicago Push, 1991

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer-Dennis Awe, Lowrey Holiday D-350, 1982

Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly--Buddy Cole at the Pipe Organ, 1958

A Favor for the Little Christmas Tree--The Misteletoe Singers (Tinkerbell label)

Here Comes Santa Claus--Seth Rye, Lowrey Holiday D-350, 1982

Gather Around the Christmas Tree--The Mistletoe Singers (Tinkerbell label, not quite stereo)

Have a Merry Christmas Polka--Lenny Gomulka and the Chicago Push, 1991

Good King Wesceslas--Buddy Cole at the Pipe Organ, 1958

We Three Kings of Orient Are--Buddy Cole at the Pipe Organ, 1958

Rudolph's Christmas Party--Peppermint Kandy Kids, 1971 (Peter Pan EP)

Pasterze Mile (Beloved Shepherds?)--Carol--Ray Jay, 1991

Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)--Buddy Cole at the Pipe Organ, 1958

Joy to the World, Adeste Fideles, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing--John Klein, Carillonneur, Orch. and Chorus Arr. and Cond. Henri Rene, 1964

I Can Tell It's Christmas--Unknown, 1988

Lee

Jingle Bells, When Santa Does the Polka, Arbol de Navidad, and hopefully a lot of fun and joyful tracks!

 

DOWNLOAD: Jingle Bells, When Santa Does the Polka, Albol de Navidad.zip

Jingle Bells--Roger Wagner Chorale, 1962

Jingle Bells--Johnny Cole (Johnny Kay/Kaye?)

Twelve Days of Christmas--Bobby Roberts and His Orch., 1958

Santa Claus Gets a Letter--Johnny Cole

Jingle Bells--Sid Marlowe (Sy Mann) at the Wurlitzer, With Chimes (Palace XM-913)

He'll Be Coming Down the Chimney--Mark Janson and the Brass Express, 1991

I Saw Three Ships--The Diplomat Orch. and Chorus, 1964

Jingle Bells--The Royale Singers (not) and Orchestra (Royale EP703, 45 rpm)

Arbol de Navidad (Christmas Tree)--Bobby Roberts and His Orch., 1958

When Santa Does the Polka--California Connection, 1991

Sleigh Ride--DyAnne Awe, Lowrey Cotillion D-575, 1982

Jingle Bells--Glenn Miller and His Orch., V; Tex Beneke, Modernaires (1941, 78 rpm)

Carol of the Bells--Unknown (The Joyous Season, Pickwick 2DPX-2)

Jingle Bells--Edwin Sawtelle at the Waikiki Theatre Organ, V: Waikiki Theatre Girls' Chorus, 1947 (78 rpm)

Happy Birthday to Jesus--The Boy Savior Movement, 1962

Parade of the Wooden Soldiers--Peter Pan Players and Orch. (Peter Pan 45-573)

Toy Symphony (Father Edmund Angerer)--RCA Victor Orch., c. Ardon Cornwell, 1947

Boogie Woogie Santa Claus--Patti Page With Orch. Dir. by Jack Rael, 1950

The Happy Reindeer--Dancer, Prancer, and Nervous, The Singing Reindeer, 1959 (45 rpm)

The Happy Reindeer--Same (33 rpm)

Lee

The Caroleers' "The Little Drummer Boy" in "stereo": Putting the "junk" in "junk-label Christmas"

 

The "stereo" The Little Drummer Boy (Premier XMS-8)

The mono The Little Drummer Boy (XM-8, but the back jacket indicating a "stereo" issue.

We'll be hearing the disc which came with the pretty awesome Santa Claus cover.  This is one of those rare instances in which a junk-label Xmas jacket looks just as cool--or even cooler--than those of legit caliber.  But there's a bit of incongruity between THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY in big font, right over a picture of Santa.  But buyers of cheap vinyl weren't thinking about such matters--likely, there was an "Only 99¢" sticker on the album, and the purchaser thought, "Hey, Christmas music for only 99 cents. Cool!"  And another junk Xmas album left the racks, later to haunt a 21st-century thrift store.  Where, at the time of this post, thrift managers somehow imagine they can get $5.99 for a mildewed Sergio Franchi disc.

After ripping this and realizing that this is but a reissue of a (presumably) earlier mono LP, I gave some thought to replacing these fake/rechanneled-stereo with the mono ones, but the summed stereo sounds just as lousy as the mono, so...

Oh, and there is selection in actual, true stereo: The excellent Synthetic Plastics Co. title track, one of the best LDB versions ever.  Author and friend Brian McFadden has written about the SPC material which ended up at Premier, and the reasons why, so... just take my word: This is the superb SPC Little Drummer Boy, and in true stereo!  Except I summed the channels to mono.  The thing is, VinylStudio gives me the option of an entire LP in stereo or that entire LP "mixed down to mono."  But I'll stick the true-stereo LDB in an upcoming various-artists extravaganza.  

And then things get mediocre really fast, starting with a so-so Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, which might have succeeded with less sucky audio, and then the most lackluster budget Jingle Bells ever recorded, with polka-quality group vocals that sound slightly hungover.  Next, a hilariously lethargic Deck the Halls (originally, Hall) by another group of polka-background singers who are either 1) just coming out of their hangover or 2) on the verge of passing out in the studio.  We'll never know which.

Then, an inspired and very nicely arranged Twas (sic) the Night Before Christmas, which might have sounded great if it wasn't drenched in echo (the mono cut has the same liability).  This genuinely decent track is followed by a succession of hymnal Xmas songs sung professionally--and in low fidelity--making for typical Side 2 cheap-vinyl filler.  Things close with a decent version of I Heard the Bells originally released by SPC (on Promenade) and credited to the Caroleers--in much better fidelity.  Which seems redundant, since any fidelity would be better than this.

So, save for a few selections, this really does put the "junk" in "junk-label Christmas," but let's consider the highly probable reality that the average purchaser of Christmas material was 1) looking for something inexpensive (and possibly last-minute), 2) didn't especially care about the quality of the performances, and 3) was easily hooked by an awesome cover image like this one.  I know I was hooked when I came across this in the big-city Goodwill, where vinyl is still holding a 99 cents, so imagine the impact of this jacket back in... 1966?  1969?  1972?

It's not unreasonable, in my opinion, to suggest that the combined sales (or, to quote Google's AI, "sheer units") of cut-rate holiday vinyl sold as well or better than major-label LPs.  It's a thought.

But the budgets had pride, and in fact they often touted their second-rate products as superior to regular-priced material from legit outfits.  I doubt we'll ever run across a Have a Crappy Christmas With a Name-We-Just-Made-up Ensemble budget release.

DOWNLOAD: The Little Drummer Boy--Christmas Favorites.zip

The Little Drummer Boy (Coming in true stereo in a various-artists post)

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Jingle Bells

Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Silent Night

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

I Heard the Bells

(The Little Drummer Boy--Christmas Songs for Children--The Caroleers--Premier XMS-8)

Lee

Christmas Everywhere; Christmas Isn't Christmas; All Around the Christmas Tree; more!

 

I have a request for the 1958 Fran Alexandre Christmas Everywhere, and this does seem to be one of my more popular posts.  So I was surprised to discover that there was no working blog link for this number (thanks, Workupload!), so... here it is, along with its flip side, One Star.  Neither number is terribly original, with the first an exercise in how many times the word "Christmas" can be inserted into a set of lyrics--but both are exceptionally well done, with Fran a more than capable vocalist (a contralto, according to my ears).  The uncanny precision of the chorus suggests the multi-tracking of one or two singers (and there's an apparent generational loss as the tracks were "bounced.").  In multi-tracking terms, Christmas Everywhere has a Beach Boys feel--not stylistically but technically.  Back in 2020, there was a 29-comment discussion of the number at this very blog.  Peruse it if you dare!  (No, really, it's went very well.)

This time around, I hear "wow" in the recording--an effect caused by unstable speed.  I had initially sensed (falsely, I think) an edit at each modulation, but I no longer hear anything like that.  I think what we have is a double-tracked lead vocal (as suggested by Brad), and possibly multi-tracked background singers, with everyone very professionally managing the frequent key changes.  Essentially, Christmas Everywhere is like an ultra-simple concept given a very careful and elaborate presentation.  The sense of perpetuum mobile might be the key to the track's genius.  The lyrics tell us that it's "Christmas everywhere," and the music evokes a fast trip across the holiday landscape.  Or whatever I just typed.  ("The holiday landscape"??)

One Star provides a wonderful contrast, since the track is static by comparison, despite a number of modulations (key changes).  The notion of the Star of Bethlehem shining forever is a standard and ancient trope, just as the Nativity was once celebrated by Medieval churches as an event happening just up the hill behind the church, where the congregation could walk and peek in on the holy proceedings.  Linear time is a recent cultural concept.

1952's Christmas Isn't Christmas might be the funniest incomplete-thought holiday title ever.  A perfectly ordinary Xmas number, but unintentionally hilarious (to me, anyway).

Santa Claus is Flying Thru the Sky made the budget-label rounds for years (sometimes with incorrect titles) since coming out in 1950 on Lincoln Records, where it is credited to Loren Becker and Sally Sweetland, with (who else?) Enoch Light.  The composer was Marion Rosette, who (says Discogs) "is best known for the compositions that were featured on the children's television show Captain Kangaroo, including Katie the Kangaroo, City Mouse and Country Mouse, and The Monkey Who Wanted to Fly."  She died in 1991.

And we have a very nice-sounding All Around the Christmas Tree (w: Johnny Stuart, m: Johnny Klein), which first appeared in 1945 on the Sonora label and in a lovely picture envelope/sleeve.  Dick Todd sings with the Mark Warnow and the Hit Parade Orchestra.  Mark was the older brother of Raymond Scott, and he conducted the Your Hit Parade radio orchestra from 1939 to 1949 (the year of his death).  My rip is from an uncredited Value Hit Parade Tunes 78rpm EP.  This was also issued on Royale and Varsity, and who knows where else.  

As for the two 1954 Cliff Martin and The Neighbor's Kids numbers, the label--Pic--had Don Costa, of all people, as the resident conductor.  I'm assuming this is the same Don Costa who was the Director of Artists & Repertoire for ABC-Paramount, and who discovered Paul Anka and is known for his work with Frank Sinatra.  Here, he's backing the Neighbor's Kids.

And three versions of Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride (words: Mitchell Parish): 1) A nice, big-band-ish rendition by Fontanna's Orchestra and Chorus on the ultra-cheap Palace label, 2) the all-time great 1949 Boston Pops rendition (from a 1965 45-rpm reissue), and 3) a gorgeous vocal version by the Crystal Studio Choir on the Audition (Waldorf) label, year unknown.

On a Christmas Morning, recorded on 9/11/1911, might be my favorite "descriptive" Christmas number ever, and it was composed by Lillian Currie, about whom I can find nothing.

Dorothy Collins' Mr. Santa is a take on Mr. Sandman, and it's ripped from a various-artists LP on Coral.  Christmas Shopping, one of two stereo tracks in this list, is a fun 1967 number (which sounds very 1967) written by Bob Ashton and performed by Ralph Carmichael and His Singers.  Bobby Roberts' Jingle Bells, The Best Things in Life Are Free, etc. track is a weird relic from 1958.

Nineteen tracks.  I don't know what happened to number 6, though I hope it went to a happy place.

DOWNLOAD: Christmas Everywhere, more!--V.A.zip

SLEIGHLIST:

Christmas Everywhere--Fran Alexandre, 1958

One Star--Same

Christmas Isn't Christmas--Woody Wooddell and Bailey Sisters, 1952

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer--The Cadillacs, Orch. Dir. Jessie Powell, 1956

Santa Claus Is Flying Through the Sky--Uncredited (Loren Becker, Sally Sweetland With Enoch Light Orch., 1950)

Gee Whiz, It's Christmas--The Beginning of the End (Ray Munnings), 1970

Sleigh Ride--Fontanna, His Orchestra and Chorus

Santa Claus Is on His Way--Cliff Martin and the Neighbor's Kids, Orch. c. Don Costa, 1954

Three Little Dwarfs and Santa Claus--Same

Jingle Bells--The Music City Chorale With Bob Russell (Holiday Hits 902, 1963)

Sleigh Ride--Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler, Conductor, 1949

Sleigh Ride--The Crystal Studio Choir (Audition--Waldorf/Grand Award sublabel).

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas--Ruby Wright With Cliff Lash and His O., The Dick Noel Singers, 1957

On a Christmas Morning--Prince's Orchestra, 1911

All Around the Christmas Tree--Dick Todd, Mark Warnow and Orch., 1945 

Mr. Santa--Dorothy Collins, Orch. Dir. Dick Jacobs, 1955

Jingle Bells--Jeanne Privette, RCA Victor Orch., c. Ardon Cornwell, 1951

Christmas Shopping--Ralph Carmichael Singers and Orch., 1967

Medley: Jingle Bells-Just in Time-The Best Things in Life Are Free--Bobby Roberts and His Orch., 1958

Lee