100 Golden Voices Sing at Christmas, or Golden Voices of Christmas (Premier XMS-13; 1965)

 

At Discogs, this LP is listed as 100 Golden Voices Sing at Christmas, by The Golden Voices, which is so classically redundant, we have to wonder if this is a rack jobber effort.  And, sure enough, it is--good ol' Premier, with good ol' Premier stereo.  Otherwise known as monaural, except the right and left channels are EQ'd a little differently.  I summed the channels, which produced a halfway okay mono signal, though with too much echo and harshness in the high freqs. These tracks probably sounded fine before some idiot decided to make them sound more... what?  Up to date (1965)?  In all fairness, he or she was most likely doing as ordered.

Who are the Golden Voices, 100 or otherwise?  From the notes: "Non-professionals who started in a small New England village, years ago."  Okay.  Furthermore, the Singers "plied their way from community to community donating the beauty of their talents to their neighbors."  Before long, they "were beckoned to other parts of the country to thrill and delight people from Maine to Florida, from Atlantic to the Pacific."  Shouldn't Premier Albums, Inc. at least given them a back cover photo?

Is that their real story?  Probably as genuine as the "stereo," but who knows?  Meanwhile, this LP exists with at least three jackets, and I'm guessing neither of the other two editions offer real stereo.  Meanwhile, there's the Tuskegee University Golden Voices Choir, founded in 1886, though this is obviously not them.  For one thing, they'd be on a legit label, with a cover that doesn't scream "Cheap."

Not that cheap necessarily means bad--I find the cover art well done, and it's impossible not to love the oft-used Premier "A Merry Christmas From (name of purchaser)" Santa art:

The performances are terrific, suggesting a group which did not start as "non-professionals," and great to have Christians Awake, Once in Royal David's City, and The 12 Days of Christmas in the sleighlist, not to mention the gorgeous alternate melody for Angels from the Realms of Glory.  It's driving me nuts that I can't place the tune.  Given the level of sound doctoring, the monaural sources for 1965, and the unusual skill of the choir, we have to assume this is older material arbitrarily repackaged.  I'd love to find these outstanding performances in genuine mono. 

DOWNLOAD: 100 Golden Voices Sing at Christmas (Premier XMS-13; 1965)

Silent Night

The Wassail Song

Christians Awake

Once in Royal David's City

As With Gladness Men of Gold (sic)

Angels of (sic) the Realms of Glory

Oh Come All Ye Faithful

The 12 Days of Christmas

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

The Holly and the Ivy

Ave Maria

Lee

Merry Shellacmas, Part 3! I'd Like to See My Mom for Christmas, Hallejuah Chorus (Arthur Pryor, 1908), Vom Himmel Hoch (1904!), Richard Crooks, and two groove-wrecked goodies

 

DOWNLOAD LINK:  Merry Shellacmas, Part 3!

So, a 1933 The Star of Bethlehem whose lyrics can be understood!  I did my best with the 1910 recording thereof, but it proved next to hopeless.  (Hm.  What does "next to hopeless" mean?  It's like those snarky websites which reluctantly concede that the "precise" meaning of the Establishment Clause is not known, when the simple reality is that we either know or we don't know.  There aren't degrees of knowing/not knowing.)  Anyway, the two 1933 Richard Crooks restorations sound great, and of course I'd say that, since I made them.  And I hate to have to point this out, but it seems necessary: None of my rips are from Internet Archive (which goes without a "The," apparently).  It's against my blog policy to present anything but my own work.  But, of course, that is my personal, totally subjective position.  There's no right/wrong or true/false when it comes to a belief statement.

So, the truly burning question: Which involves more work--finding the right response curve and parametric EQ tweaks, or tracking down a recording date?  Well, sometimes the latter is the bigger challenge.  As with the Victor Concert Orch.'s 1939 March of the Toys (below), that marvelous Victor Herbert light concert work.  There were at least three candidates, including a 1927 vocal version (part of a medley) and a "Music of" album of (I think) 1927, also.  But this is clearly from a 1939 radio broadcast.  Or, rather, for a broadcast.  Because I doubt it was recorded from the radio--quite often, transcription discs were provided for broadcast purposes, which makes all the more sense when we realize that programming was often staggered during the days of this and that network.  Back when "live" didn't necessarily mean "live."

And... three astounding Arthur Pryor band performances, with both Handel and Tchaikovsky rendered in unreal, day-at-the-races tempi.  How the band so much as survived the course with Hallelujah Chorus and Overture Miniature, don't ask me.  That both sound fresh, and on recordings over a century old, is astounding.  Wait, I already used that word.

I'd Like to See My Mom for Christmas--an indispensable holiday standard of the weird variety, and not because of its theme (totally holiday-appropriate) but because it verges on creepy. Simply put, because our modern celebration of Christmas is all about family, it is nothing but fitting that lost loved ones be included.  But not literally!  There's a difference between "I miss my mom/girlfriend/dad" and "I expect visitation any time now."  Leave the ghost stories to Charles Dickens.  Oh, and songwriter Edgar Unger also wrote the oft-recorded Put Christ Back Into Christmas (same year: 1951).

My Christmas Symphony (1912) rip initially had me wanting to ditch the results, but it doesn't sound all that bad.   Not on second listen, anyway.  But there's no hope for the 1923 William Jennings Bryan holiday message, which I only managed to make listenable after 90 minutes of work.  And it's odd when a 1923 voice recording is lacking, but William sounds like he's in another room.  ("William, move closer to the horn... Oh, never mind.")

As far as I know, Emile Waldteufel's Skaters waltz wasn't intended as a holiday regular, but neither was Julius Fucik's Entry of the Gladiators intended as a circus match (as far as I know).  So there.  And I love this 1926 recording, which was trimmed for its inclusion on an RCA Camden reissue--thus, I was surprised when I first heard this unedited take.

1920's Kiddies' Patrol/Kiddies' Dance remains a fun "descriptive" novelty, with incredible work by the Brunswick Concert Orch. (an all-pro "house" band, no doubt), and the surface hiss is easily overcome by the vocal and musical moments.  Was the 1920 experience of this 78, "It sounds like children inside the cabinet!!"?  Or, "Hm.  Better check and see"?

The Trinity Choir's 1911 Joy to the World is a marvelous performance of a hymn which never grows old (to my ears, at least).  Like Jingle Bells, Joy is a repeat-play wonder.  And it is a hymn and not a carol, for those who value that distinction, and I've frankly forgotten its story.  Long credited to Handel, it is now (I believe) regarded as derived from Handel.  Meaning, it's not by Handel, and yet it is, sort of.  There'll be a quiz after this post.

The Paul Whiteman "potato head" Christmas record is one of the great novelties of the season--it's simply the fact that "Pops" made such a record in 1928, and one blessed with two expert charts (by Bill Challis and Ferde Grofe, respectively).  Superbly smooth, and we've heard far worse.  At this very blog, in fact.

Oh, and the 1904 cornet choir playing Vom Himmel Hoch (under its Norwegian title) sounds uncannily good 119 years down the line (and I love the chorale setting), and I'm glad my copy is a 1914-1925-period reissue, audio-wise.  Martin Luther's Vom Himmel Hoch is one of THE holiday classics, but don't tell Mariah Carey.

Please forgive the blank composer fields.  I forgot to tag them in advance (which involves a separate app), and if I fill in those fields now, I'll have to redo all of the file images.

March of the Toys--Victor Concert Orch., Dir. Nathaniel Shilkret, 1939

Silent Night, Holy Night (A: Challis), Christmas Melodies (A: Grofe)--"Pops" and the Gang, 1928.

Hallelujah Chorus--Arthur Pryor's Band, 1908

Joy to the World (Watts/Handel/Not Handel)--Trinity Choir, 1911

Kiddies' Patrol--Christmas Eve/Kiddies' Dance--Christmas Morning--Brunswick Concert Band, 1920

Vom Himmel Hoch (Fra himlen hoit kom budskap her)--Cornet quartet with organ and bells, approx. 1904

The Star of Bethlehem (Adams)--Richard Crooks, Orch. c. John Barbirolli, 1933

The Holy City (Adams)--Same

I'd Like to See My Mom for Christmas (--Bob Jones With the Williams Sextette, 1951

The Skaters--Waltz (Les Patineurs)--International Concert Orch., Dir. Nathaniel Shilkret, 1926

Nut Cracker Ballet (Dance Characteristique)--Arthur Pryor's Band, 1911

Overture Miniature (From "Casse Noisette")--Same, 1912

The Lord's Prayer--William Jennings Byran, 1923

Christmas Symphony (F.X. Chroatal)--Prince's Orchestra

Lee

Another rescued post--Atypical Christmas singles. "Ghost on Christmas Eve," "Buzzy, the Christmas Bee," "I Wish You Christmas," and more!

 

From 2021, and I see that slow-arriving winters were already happening.

So, an Alfred Burt LP on Word that promises stereo but delivers mono.  And whose first side is a reissue of 1954 Columbia tracks.  It's all gotten me dizzy.  Or maybe it's my sinuses in this atypically warm December weather...  Anyway, I was behind on my Alfred Burt knowledge, which has been bumped up considerably.

Speaking of atypical, here are (let me count them) eleven atypical, other-than-normal Christmas sides that I've offered over the years--my favorites from that category.  I guess that Buzzy, the Christmas Bee would have to top the hive, though there's the weird Ghost on Christmas Eve, plus the dreadful Dear Lord and Santa Claus.  The latter is one of those "My Lord, why did they make this?" sides.

I was able to include a label image with each track, but this was only possible via my media player because the "album" field was different for each track.  This compelled Groove Music to treat these as separate tracks, and so I was able to insert separate images.  Whenever and wherever my media players see a single album name, then I'm stuck with a single image.  This may be unique to the process of exporting tracks from my MAGIX program, though.  Like today's tracks, it may not be something typically experienced.

1980's Where Is Captivity (Bring Them Home for Christmas) of course refers to the Iran hostage crisis. And the 1956 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Breaking Through the Sound Barrier) is an example of a totally unsuccessful "break-in" (or "break-in"-esque) record.  "Break-in" sides are supposed to be dumb but funny, and this side is, in my opinion (and it's only my opinion!), stupid.  But it's also plenty weird, and so I'm including it.  But I think it helps us appreciate Dickie Goodman all the more.  Hearing something done wrong can be an education.

I Wish You Christmas is a real "Huh?" title to me, and maybe I'm simply not enough of a poetry person or something.  I mean, when you're wishing someone a Christmas, you need to include an adjective.  Merry, Happy, Jolly, Lousy--whatever.  Meanwhile, Duke Mitchell was the father of Jeff and Sue Mitchell, and Duke is best known as one half of a fake Martin and Lewis team which starred in the really terrible Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. (1952).  From that title, it's hard to tell that the movie stinks, but trust me.  Lugosi clearly did not want to be in it.  Now, I have listened who-knows-how-many times to Buzzy, and I forget whether or not Buzzy performs any actual function for Santa and his team.  Any useful function, that is (besides buzzing).  He doesn't sting--I caught that much--but typically Santa's sidekicks, however off the bee-ten track they may be, have some specific duty, and I don't know what Buzzy's is.  Discuss amongst yourselves.

And, this time, I've added 1958's God's Christmas Tree, an oddity penned by Sid Lippman (Too Young, "A"--You're Adorable), perhaps not weird within the context of the pop-sacred genre of the 1950s but odd in its low-rent How Great Thou Art celebration of the miracle of the natural world.  Creation as God's "Christmas tree"?  A strained analogy which places the number more squarely in the "Christmas all year" category.

And, wow--one strange side for each of the twelve days of the holiday.  And, sorry about #15 for #12--it's a glitch Windows 10 isn't allowing me to correct.

DOWNLOAD:  Atypical Christmas Singles

Buzzy, the Christmas Bee--Jeff and Sue Mitchell

Elizabeth the Christmas Queen--Buddy Pastuck, the Roller-Skating Cowboy; 1978

I Don't Believe in Santa Claus--The Staffords

The "Let-Me" Song (Carroll)--Irene Carroll; 1956

Ghost on Christmas Eve--Allen and the Lads (1965-ish)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Breaking Through the Sound Barrier)--Frank and Jack, 1956

The Ain't-Not Tree--Radio City Music Hall Chorus (Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 1963)

I Wish You Christmas--Mary Fran Warren; 1981?

Memoirs of a Christmas Tree--Bud O.J.; 1966

Dear Lord and Santa Claus--Biddle (Bo) Peep

Where Is Captivity? (Bring Them Home for Christmas)--Lisa Wargo and the St. Peter's Children's Choir of Lorain, Ohio; 1980

God's Christmas Tree--Southwest High School Choir, 1958

Lee

More holiday Shellacmas (plus, a mini-Mervmas)! Another post rescued from "ban"-nation.

DOWNLOAD: Merry Shellacmas, Part 2 (The budget edition)

A revised 2020 zip and text, though only slightly so.  Gone are Merry Christmas Polka (featured last post) and my hopeless 1901 copy of The Holy City.  Maybe, at some point, I can give that another try, but it is demonstrating its age, to put it mildly.  1901 78s do that, sometimes.  And I found an electrically recorded The Star of Bethlehem 12-incher (for later), meaning we can together discover the lyrics.  The 1910 recording sounds like a hand held over the singer's mouth.

Two helpings of Merv Griffin, with 1949's Merry Christmas Polka, apparently a cover of the version by The Andrews Sisters and Guy Lombardo (Frankie Yankovic recorded it in 1951), and Snowflakes, with The Fontane Sisters and Freddy Martin's Orchestra (1951).  The Gilmar Christmas Favorites 78 is clearly a reissued Tops label release (big clue: "Tops All-Star Orchestra and Chorus"), complete with not-so-good fidelity (I think the tracks are reissues of reissues of reissues).  The Record Pak Christmas EP is cheap-label fun that sounds way better in this present (2020) rip than any of my previous tries.  The Ottar Agree Quinette's Santa Claus Polka, from 1926, sounds very 1926--and very polka.  Very polka-1926, we might say.  I just now found it listed in an ethnic discography at Google Books, and the discography confirms the year, which I had figured out using the matrix number.  

The United Artist label is actually the Bell label--or a subsidiary thereof, and all I know about Bell is that it was a Hawaiian label.  Not the famous Bell label.  Organist Edwin Sawtelle was a Waikiki Theater fixture (if you want to Google-search him, use both spellings of theater--"-er" and "-re"), as was the Waikiki Theater's Girls' Chorus.  This one's for Diane!  I would have included the flip, but it was badly worn, so I passed.  Frankie Carle and His Orchestra's The Winter Waltz is nothing other than Émile Waldteufel's 1882 Les Patineurs Waltz, aka The Skaters' Waltz, with words added.  The label says, "with vocal," but we get a good-sized sing-along chorus.  So why not "with vocal chorus"?  Maybe someone accidentally left off the "chorus" part.  It's always fun to hear pre-Mitch Miller sing-along sides.  There are many out there.

Enjoy!  Download link up topside.

TOPS ALL-STAR ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS (Gilmar RX 100, 78 rpm)

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Frosty, the Snowman

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Jingle Bells

White Christmas

Silent Night

O Come All Ye Faithful

Deck the Halls

VARIOUS

Blue Christmas--Jeri Shannon w. Ralph Berger Orch. (Record Pak I-539; 78 rpm EP)

Auld Lang Syne--Same

I'll Be Home for Christmas--Jerry Smith w. Ralph Berger Orch. (Same)

Adeste Fidelis (sic) (O Come All Ye Faithful)--Same

Jingle Bells--Edwin Sawtelle, Waikiki Theatre Organ w. W. Theater Girls' Chorus (United Artist LKS 86)

The Winter Waltz--Frankie Carle and His Orch., unknown vocal, 1950

Merry Christmas Polka--Merv Griffin and the Martin Men, Freddy Martin Orch. (Promo vinyl 78, 1949)

Snowflakes--The Fontane Sisters and Merv Griffin w. Freddy Martin Orch., 1951 (78 rpm)

Lee

What's Christmas without "Merry Christmas, from Line Material"?

1949 sleeve (above) and disc (below)

So, since workupload decided my LM posts should be banned, that must mean that... workupload is run by idiots?  Or that the Ambrosian Singers collectively complained?  Hm.  Which proposition is the more probable one?  Anyway, my 2019 post, with all the sides in a single zip file.

Here's info on Line Material, if you want to read about the company.  (Or maybe not, since the site seems to have changed.)  I'm sure there's more material (no pun intended) out there regarding LM, but for our purposes, what matters are the marvelous Christmas sides they produced as giveaways for their employees, starting in 1957 and ending in 1962.  I'm also including a giveaway from 1949, with narration by Jim Ameche, though it's a very standard affair and nothing remotely like the elaborate, joyous productions to come.  Also, their 1956 The Magic of Christmas (kindly donated by Ernie), which isn't all that bad, and which ends this playlist. I didn't want to place it first, since it hardly compares to the 1957-1962 efforts, which were arranged by London-born John McCarthy (1919-2009), best known for his Ambrosian Singers Christmas sides.  I wonder if the superbly professional singers on these 45s are those same folks.  From 1961 to 1966, the Ambrosian Singers were known as the London Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and it's possible their services exceeded the holiday give-away record budget of LM at this point, since the last McCarthy LM side is the 1962 Let's Trim the Christmas Tree.  It could have been recorded the year before.  It's interesting that the Singers' increased status corresponds with the end of McCarthy's services to LM.  I feel bad for all the kids who, after six years of enjoying Christmas giveaway sides of a major-label quality, had to go without.  That must have been a bummer.

These are new rips (note: as of 2019).  I had been reposting my c. 2007 rips, but these should be an improvement, as I used my 1.0 mil mono stylus and VinylStudio declicking.  I've also acquired clean copies of every side but the 1962 title, which isn't all that nicked up--just moderately.  Nearly all its surface noise is no more.

If you haven't heard these before, you'll very possibly be surprised by the stunningly good quality of performance and production.  I consider it highly improbable that any other company's holiday sides came anyplace near these.  Oh, and, "Merry Christmas... from Line Material.  Merry Christmas... from Line Material. (Repeat till fade)."

UPDATE: And the King of Jingaling has the 1956-1962 LM accompanying-book scans here (save for 1957): LM books. Many thanks to Brad!

DOWNLOAD: Line Material Christmas singles, 1949-1962.


Santa's North Pole Band, 1957
The Sounds of Christmas, 1958
The Kinds of Christmas, 1959
Santa's Factoree, 1960
The Day That Santa Was Sick, 1961
Let's Trim the Christmas Tree, 1962

Keeping Christmas--Don Amache, 1949.
The Magic of Christmas, 1956


Lee