The Union Central Chimes--The Sound of Christmas (1961)

 

It was inevitable--a chimes LP, here at MY(P)WHAE.  Every Christmas blogger ends up in this spot.  It is fate.  It is preordained, I think the word is.  But this thrift gift from Diane has an awesome cover, it has an Ohio connection--Cincinnati, in the general area from which my foster father hailed--and bell chimes are actually pretty interesting, even if they're perhaps not all-day-playlist material.  Most of us associate the sound of these bells with the holiday, so there's instant holiday ambiance.  We had a Catholic school half a block from our Toledo home, so I grew up hearing timed chimes.  ("Timed Chimes" sounds like the name of a modern rock band.)

I should also note that, when John's family resided in New Concord, Ohio, their plumber was none other than John Glenn's father.  True.

Chimes.  Well, let's start with Britannica's handy definition of "bell chime":

"Set of stationary bells tuned in a musical series, traditionally in diatonic sequence (seven-note scale) plus a few accidentals (sharps and flats)."

The Union Central Life Insurance Company of Cincinnati, Ohio must have had one impressive collection of bells, given the variety of keys (or scales) heard on this LP, and given the fact that the opening track, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, begins with no fewer than four half steps.  I wonder how the bells are arrayed?  I Google-searched, but found no images of the tower interior.

Chimes have a strike tone, which is the melody note we hear.  Then there are a bunch of overtones, which I can't make out so well on a 1961 mono recording, as opposed to hearing bells in person--in which case, I was trained to hear overtones (3rds, 5ths, octave, etc.).  What I can hear is a lower, parallel Major 6th.  The effect is kind of spooky, since constant parallel intervals sound weird in music.  A Major 6th is a pleasant-sounding interval, but there's a problem--the lower "shadow" melody is, ostensibly at least, in B Major, and there are points at which non-diatonic notes happen--C, D and G natural, for example.  Our ears are hearing B Major, with a number of wrong notes tossed in.  I hope that explanation made sense.  I'm not sure it did.

The bells sound gorgeous, and they're beautifully tuned, and if your ears aren't as distracted as mine by the weird-sounding tone happening under the strike tone, this should be an enjoyable listen.  I read that bells can be programmed, essentially, in a piano-roll fashion, which would eliminate the need for a live performer at a keyboard or at wooden levers to operate each bell.  It would help with timing the chimes, too.  Anyway, some of the tracks have an organ added, which seems to be the common Christmas thing--organ and bells.  But at times it seems more like bells vs. organ, as the bells plow ahead of the organ in tempo--so I wonder if a live organist was playing along with programmed melodies.  It's also possible there were two live performers, each unable to hear the other, since the organist would have had to be isolated in a booth or another room--things had to be separately miked, since the bells would have obliterated the organ sound.  I wish the LP notes would have gone into some detail.  A simpler solution, of course, would have been double-tracking, with the organist playing along with the prerecorded chimes in a studio.

I learned a lot about bell towers in the quick studying I had to do for this post.  Fascinating stuff.  Ignore the non-diatonic lower tone (if you don't detect it, don't worry about it!), and put this on for maximum holiday atmosphere.  I'd love to hear these in person, because these clearly are (or were) superbly fashioned bells, and because the full overtone experience is always cool.  And "full overtone experience" (in quotes) brings up two matches on Google.  I just added a third (once Google catches it).

And, again--that cover is just too cool.  Thanks, Diane!

Note: Side 1, track 4 is a label typo--it's actually God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, a carol typically punctuated incorrectly as God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen.

DOWNLOAD: Union Central Chimes--The Sound of Christmas (1961)

Lee

The One Horse Open Sleigh, 1872-style

This is a 2011 post which I thought I'd re-up. Years back, when I was getting download counts at Box.com, I checked in one day and was stunned to see that more than 1400 downloads had happened! I'm still stunned. (Only 1,327 of those were by me.  Just kidding.)  Anyway, the text explains all. Just pretend it's 2011 again, and my use of the present tense won't be a problem.

So, I received my eBay copy of the William B. Bradbury tunebook, The Victory (1872 edition), and there on page 74 is James Pierpont's The One Horse Open Sleigh, a.k.a. Jingle Bells--only, with its original melody (!), which is different in spots from the one we know. So I put together a recording, with me at the Casio WK-3800 (Patch 071). This is tricky to play, because the tenor part is up top on its own line (and notated an octave up in the treble clef), which makes putting all four voices together a royal pain, since the tenor has to be added to the bass, alto, and soprano, and played an octave lower than written. Therefore, I recorded this four bars at a time and joined the results together. Which is actually less of a hassle than re-notating the thing for easier reading. Except for a couple rushed measures, this came out nicely, I think. 

DOWNLOAD: The One Horse Open Sleigh (James Pierpont)--Your blogger at the WK-3800; 2011.

        "I need one of those dish TVs.  Hey, how come I only have two reindeer??"--Santa

Lee

A gift from the King of Jingaling--The Shawnee Choir: Tidings of Joy (1975)

For once, I didn't have to do the rips!  Brad, the King of Jingaling, donated three ripped-and-scanned LPs to my blog, all by the outstanding Shawnee Choir (of the Shawnee Press, Inc.).  He asked if I would like to feature them, and I said "Sure."  I had posted a Shawnee Choir LP last year, and I had declared it superb, so I figured I'd be nuts to turn down the offer.  This is not to suggest that, by any rule of logic, that I'm necessarily sane because I accepted the offer (or as a result of accepting it), but... right.

And don't miss Brad's Line Material catalog scans at Falalalala.com--they're terrific.  So far, Brad has featured images from the 1956 and 1958 LM brochures, along with my LM record rips from those years. The images are charming, wonderfully "period," and--best of all--downloadable.  By the way, if anyone has the 1957 catalog, I'm sure Brad would love to hear from you.  

I just finished listening to the present offering--Shawnee's Tidings of Joy, from 1975--and it's first-rate in every regard.  I love hearing choral arrangements done right, and of course Shawnee would have wanted the best singers in town when it came to plugging its arrangements--and so it got them.  (I assume "reference recording" means "demo.")  One problem with this sort of record, though, is the chance that a group of amateurs might listen to performances on this level, and (not realizing their limitations), say, "Hey, we can sound like that!"  Then again, if it sells choir arrangements...

A delightful and stirring group of selections, and I think I'd better upload the zip (I knew I'd forgotten something).  Uploading helps immeasurably with the downloading part, I've found.

Two more Shawnee LPs to come, and thanks again to Brad.

DOWNLOAD: Tidings of Joy-The Shawnee Choir (1975)

lee

More Christmas singles on the way. No, wait--they're already here.

You know it's going to be great Christmas playlist when the first track is called Memoirs of a Christmas Tree.  This narrated number is literally that--an account of the Christmas experience from the perspective of the tree.  Who would have thought to consider the holiday from the tree's fir-specitve?  Well, "Bud O.J.," for one, whose real name is Bud Auge.  The Hep label, determined to keep things unconventional, coupled Bud's number with Christmas in Heaven, a title which someone just had to lay down on wax at some point--it was inevitable.  Red Harper is the singer, and Howard Pine was the writer.  In fact, that was was even more inevitable than I realized--a quick Google check brings up a number of Christmas in Heavens.  You're probably thinking CIH is about some crazed snowman who takes over Santa Claus Land and makes it winter all year round, just so he never melts--but it's actually about, well, Christmas in Heaven.  A dream thereof.  Discogs says 1966 for the year, but two other sources say 1964, and I'm going with them.  So, what can I possibly offer as a follow-up to these two gems?  Well, I found 25 more singles sides (single sides?)--some "new," some old favorites, and the rest stuff that expired at Zippfile.  None manage to be as delightfully weird as our two opening tracks, though a few try.

Dick Byron's Jingle Bells, backed with Deck the Halls/Up on the Housetop, is one of the first Christmas sides I ever featured--maybe all the way back in 2005.  I recall that getting a good rip was a challenge with my 2005 set-up, which included a Dual 1229 turntable, but the only challenge this time was splicing out the clicks from the big crosscut on Side B.  I really love this rendition of Bells--I'd put it in my Top Five.  And it can't be pointed out often enough that Deck the Halls is actually Deck the Hall (singular).  Get with it, people.  

Of course, when you have a terrific 45 rpm picture sleeve, and the responsible party is Pickwick, you just know the music is going to be lousy.  And "The Cricket Choral Group"'s Santa Claus Is Coming...is pure junk-label cheapness, with recorded-in-a-broom-closet fidelity.  I have no idea who the actual artist--a country singer--could possibly be, and I doubt Gene Autry ever sounded quite this inadequate.  The flip side, Ding-A-Ling Dong, is pretty charming, however. Cricket elected to master it at a much lower volume, just to remind you to never expect a quality product when they're the folks demanding your money.  And I had to add lots of treble to SC Is Coming to unmuffle it.  Ahhhh, Pickwick.

Then we get the Music City Chorale, courtesy of Holiday Hits, a Hit Records sub-label, with Hit Label's own Bob (Little Green Apples) Russell leading the group on (oh, no--not again) Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.  I did a label scan, but only then did I realize how awful the labels look--something slipped during the printing process, I guess.  (That, or my glasses need to be switched out.)  

Then, who but the Meijer Choral Group, with A Michigan Christmas Card?  Who, I ask you?  The K-Mart Choraliers?  (Hm.  Actually, it's Kmart.  Sorry.)  Now, we do hear something like a choral group on the A side, but the B side is an instrumental--yet the Choral Group is credited there, also.  Double royalties?  Very well-produced side (from 1985), and pretty pleasant.  I was expecting something painful, so I was very relieved.  The sleeve is classic, as you can see (in the top row).  And it has a sing-along reverse sleeve:

 

I do not know who the Robinettes were, besides Robin Hood Records' default "house" singers, or whatever they're called--they're good, and the record really swings.  It has a genuine big band sound--nothing "neo" about it.  The best file I've ever gotten from this seven-inch vinyl 78.  Probably had a pic sleeve, though my disc came by itself.  Linn Sheldon ("Barnaby," left) was a famous TV children's host in Cleveland, who my sister remembers tuning in--I never caught him on the tube, but you can just tell he had just the exact right touch.  Both of his 1958 sides--Boofo Goes Where Santa Goes and Rabbits Have a Christmas--are delightful and beautifully done.  Novelties for all ages.

From 1951, Lawrence Joy gives us a square dance rendition of Jingle Bells, something that, if we're honest with ourselves, we all need.  Toymakers Song, which may or may not be from 1960 (someone wrote "1960" all over the label, which is why I'm thinking 1960), is a terrific novelty polka number (is "novelty polka" redundant?), while 1980's Where Is Captivity? (Bring Them Home for Christmas) is... ummm... yeah.  It's about the Iran hostage crisis, of course, and it's what I would term "campus folk" Christian music, though there must be a more elegant term.  Sorry for the surface noise--this is an old rip.  I don't know what to say about the lyrics-- maybe I would, if I could decipher more of them.  The chorus certainly (and unfortunately) comes through loud and clear: "Won't you bring them home?  All the world sings, 'Bring them home.'  50 stars are in our tree.  Stockings full of wishes; Bring them home for Christmas."  Be the only person on your block who has this 1980 file.

Discogs has this to say about Frank and Jack, the guys behind the 1956 'Twas the Night Beore Christmas (Breaking Through the Sound Barrier) and its flip:      .  That's right--absolutely nothing, which is the perfect review for these two "break-in" sides.  I imagine they're of interest to fans of interpolated sound effects (or of vintage tape-splicing), but they're simply not remotely funny.  Feel free to disagree, but I find them aggressively dumb.  And not funny-dumb, like Dickie Goodman.  I hope Santa isn't a Frank and Jack fan, or I might get a bag of coal on the 25th.

The two 1950 Art Mooney sides--The Christmas Choo Choo Train and The Candy Land Parade--are making a return appearance here, after a number of years, I believe.  Both sound like budget kiddie numbers--if the budget labels had had MGM's resources.  Story of a Christmas Tree is no Memoirs--just your typical pre-A Charlie Brown Christmas story of the misfit tree that makes good.  An old theme in children's stories--often, the tree is little (as in the Scultz cartoon) but wins the day, anyway.  An obvious metaphor for the worth of children.  Randi the Handi Elf is a harmless country novelty whose title is sure to amuse middle schoolers.

Merry Christmas (To All the Little Children) is a charming and energetic ditty by Samuel Wright, assisted by the Little Jingle Singers.  Here's Samuel's Discogs bio.  Produced by Phil Medley, even!

DOWNLOAD: More Christmas Singles 2020

Lee

Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (You Come Down From the Stars)

DOWNLOAD: Tu Scendia Dalle Stelle (Recorded in Italy)

(Please see Roberto's comment, in which he provides much background on this record.)

Another repost of track that expired long ago at Zippyfile.  "Homage of Antoniani Orphans of Desenzano del Garda To Their Benefactors" is the translation of the top line on the reverse, according to the sites I visited.  "Antonian male orphanage of the Rogationist fathers" reads the second, and Desenzano del Garda is a resort town in northern Italy.

"A quattro voci dispari" would seem to mean four-part harmony for mixed voices, but I'm assuming this is an all-male choir.  "Dispari" could refer to the age differences within the group.

Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (You Come Down From the Stars) is a 1732 Christmas carol featuring words and music by Saint Alphonsus Liguori of (you'll never guess) Italy.  I've heard a number of other renditions of this carol, but none match this one, which I find totally gorgeous and quite moving, even though the words are all, well, Italian to me.  I have a treble-and-bass-clef version I played in church, but it just doesn't have the feel of this lovely setting.

Here's Pavarotti singing it in 1999: Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle.  Terrific, of course, but I still prefer the version on this semi-flexi disc.  I call it a semi-flexi disc because it's not floppy, like your typical flexi disc/soundsheet, but neither is it as solid as vinyl.  It may, in fact, be atypically thin vinyl.  I have no way to test its composition.

You'll hear about two minutes of a young boy speaking in Italian, followed by the indescribably lovely choral section.  I found this gem in a box of 45s at the local St. Vincent de Paul thrift.  I believe it was protected in a plastic sleeve--I hate to think of how it would have fared, condition-wise, minus the covering.  The photo label sort of catches the eye, no?

More singles on the way.

Lee