Another thrift gift from Diane! At first glance, this looks like an exceptionally cheap effort. But, of course, looks can be deceiving. Except, not in this case--this is, in fact, an extremely cheap effort. It's every bit as bargain-basement as it looks, if not moreso. And it features one the worst choirs in the world. Normally, I'd hate to be that nasty about it, but the choir tracks are awful. But this is a Cheapmas miracle--the perfect terrible Xmas LP. There are two types of terrible--plain terrible, and wondrously terrible. This is the latter.
Fun-awful, we could dub it. Where to start? Well, I've less than praised the choir, but there's also a singer who makes like Dean Martin on Let It Snow, and not very successfully. I dig that track. Then there's another male singer who handles the majority of the numbers (which are solo, despite the "Carolers" credit), and he's pretty mediocre, and the backings sound cheap--and, once again, we have the makings of a classically cheap Christmas budgeter. ("Budgeter"--budget LP.) And we have the title track, Hail to Christmas, which sounds like a Polka attempt--I'm not sure. It was dubbed from a wobbly master--my LP was perfectly centered on the turntable, so I don't know what happened there. An uncentered master disc, probably.
Tacky, really, is the word which best describes Hail to Christmas. A triumph of tackiness.
Now, whenever you see a "Stereo" sticker placed over the catalog number (see upper r.h. corner), you have to wonder, "Are they serious?" In this case, no. The sound is pure, unadulterated mono, and it even says "Mono" on the labels. Or, rather, "MONO." I combined the channels for the best effect, and so the audio is tolerable, however cheap.
This is just a lovably chintzy effort--with a cute over, to boot--and solid gold to lovers of awful and/or of the awfully cheap. I have some high-art stuff coming up, featuring the Schola Cantorum of Valparaiso University (Indiana) and the Trinity Church Men and Boys Choir (New Haven), so this is the calm before the... something. I want to do a pun on that phrase, but I can't think of one. "The cheap before the...?" Anyway, enjoy the glorious awfulness of Hail to Christmas:
DOWNLOAD: Hail to Christmas--Peter Raymond Carolers (Wyncote W 9151; 1966)
Jingle Bells
Silent Night
Sleighride (sic)
Hail to Christmas
Deck the Halls
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Let It Snow
Frosty the Snowman
Christmas Tree
Joy to the World
Hail to Christmas--Peter Raymond Carolers (Wyncote W 9151; 1966)
Lee
18 comments:
Hey Lee,
I only listened to a few songs, but I g0t this idea:
Let's make a record for the kiddies...
No, let make a record for the adults, but keep the kiddies sounding music...
Oops, we do not have enough money, maybe the PTA will supply the voices...
Yea, that is a good idea. Remember that parent that sorta sounds like a Bobby Rydell wannabee?
Then the kids can flog it door to door, and stand in front of stores hawking it to unsuspecting adults.
Would you like to buy an album, it will help our school. It has my dad singing on it, my mom is on it too.
What cute little children you are, let me have a copy. Here is your dollar.
What did you buy that for? It is to help out the kids and the school. Well, another great gift to give to your mother this year. She always did hate me, so it will be perfect to give to her.
Sorry Lee, I am having a Christmas sugar rush attack.
Wyncote may have been the cheapest of the cheap, but there were many contenders for that title.
Haven't listened to it yet, but I like the cover. ;)
Wasn't Wyncote the budget arm of Cameo-Parkway? Not that they were paragons of quality, but...
Geordie,
It's a lovely "period" cover, imo. And the music, while tacky, is fun!
Ernie,
Yes, Cameo-Parkway's budget label. I forgot to mention that. Wyncote put out that amazing "best of" LP which features both Clint Eastwood and Merv Griffin, among others.
the swine before the pearls?
RobGems68 Wrote:
ah, yes, Cameo-Parkway's Wyncote Budget records, named after Wyncote Street in downtown Philedelphia, where Cameo-Parkway once was located 1958-1967. I haven't found this album yet, but it looks notoriously cheap enough to be from Cameo-Parkway's pressing plant. Why your "stereo" copy may play mono may be because the album is electronically re-processed for stereo, an annoying process all record labels attempted throughout the 60's & 70's to sell mono recordings in phony psuedo stereo. In this jacket's case, your copy appears to be a mono sleeve with a "stereo" decal on it, a common practice in late 1967 & early 1968 for record companies to rid of all of their leftover mono sleeves when mono was going out of style & stereo albums (real & fake) were becoming the norm. One label (Mercury Records) did a deceitful trick on mono buying buyers by issuing stereo records labeled as "mono" om the sleeves & labels. this was a indication in late 1967 that Mercury was no longer going to issue mono albums, but still had lots of leftover mono sleeves & mono labels at their pressing plants. So they issued these "mono" records in stereo and placed them in "mono" sleeves, thinking no one would notice the difference. One thing that always irked me about Wyncote Records before they closed their doors in December 1967 and Allen Klien took over the master tapes was I often wonder why Wyncote never issued a Bob Seger & The Last Heard or a Detroit's Rationals (two rock groups that happened to be on Cameo-Parkway at the time) budget album on their roster. Certainly they had enough material; Seger had 10 tracks leased(from Detroit's Hideout label) to Cameo-Parkway, The Rationals had 9(leased from Detroit's A2-Square label.) They did issue two fake "Monkee" albums issued as by "The Chimps" (though their name is nowhere to be found on the sleeves or the labels-That's right, Wyncote tried to sell these psuedo Monkees albums as by the "real" group. Yeah, right.") Whatever Allen Klien did with the master tapes to this Christmas album (if it WAS mastered from master tapes, it may have been mastered from another acetate vinyl. Budget labels could be notorious for vinyl needle drops when remastering old songs, and so could CD's!), he must have either shelved them like thousands of other Cameo-Parkway masters, or he may have sold them to another budget label, having wanting nothing to do with them. Merry Christmas, and keep these low budget Christmas albums coming. I have a few myself.
RobGems68,
At least one more budget/junk offering coming up! Many thanks for all the information.
Many titles that originally appeared on the 1964 "Christmas Carols" LP (Wyncote W / SW 9115), credited to the Winston Singers.
Hmmm....
Gotta love the budget labels.
Lee - You're really selling this one today.
Thanks for all your incredible shares again this year. Music sharing sites are not as plentiful as the used to be. I appreciate all your efforts.
RL,
Thanks for the that info. I had a feeling that some of these were recycles!
Chester,
My pleasure. Thanks for the nice words!
Wait, Barba is back? Welcome!!
Hey Lee,
This is an update.
I think I am "spot-on" with this one. Just kidding? It really sounds like they hired, were contracted, approached, or whatever by a Highschool PTA or teachers group. It sounds just like one to me. It has all the charm of something that was flogged by said group. I really like this album. Cheapness wins me over this time. And that Bobby Rydell wannabee or a singer like him wins me over too. Actually, they all do. Yes, I am sane, some people think I am weird now and again. Maybe, at almost 45 I am having a midlife change. Then again?
Bryan,
Well, as you know, I have a fondness for cheap LPs, too--and I think it extends back at least 25 years, which would have me in my 40s or late 30s. A lot of people seem to love budget efforts, especially the "junkier" ones. You are not alone! You are perfectly normal on that score--not to worry!
I worded that weirdly. I meant, as you probably guessed, that a quarter of a century ago, I was in my 40s. At my age, the 40s seem young, everything being relative.
Hey Lee,
I read your first response and did not notice there was anything wrong with how you said it. As you know with my brain, things sound normal, until I have thought about it. When I write down anything my brain is racing faster than I write. I am always forgetting those small words. Grammarly is always telling me that I should subscribe to get them to do premium corrections. But if I take the time, and re-read what I wrote, I usually can figure it out for free.
Currently, Grammarly says I have 6 premium mistakes. I do not feel up to corrections, so you get my response as-is.
Ernie,
Yes, that's right. I should have welcomed Barba back. So I'll do it now: Welcome! Nice to hear from you again.
Bryan,
Oh, that's just me, over-worrying about my words. Nothing on your end!
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