The Twelve Inches of Christmas

This December will (hopefully) find us working our way through the last pile of Christmas LPs (at least until I discover more under the bed, in the attic, under my desk, etc.).

We start this series with another disc from my Grandmother's collection. As I've mentioned before, my grandparents lived in rural West Virginia, so the entertainment options for a city boy were slim (swatting flies, trying to tune in the one TV station that barely came in, or listening to LPs on the Silvertone console stereo).

Though this is a Christmas album, the slim selection of LPs lead to it being a candidate for play any time we were visiting. Side two is typical holiday schmaltz, but side one has a couple of finger-snappin' hep-cat-groove variations on Christmas standards, including the opening highlight "Nutty Jingle Bells" (which to my ears is a pretty silly Louis Armstrong knock-off, but fun none-the-less) (also arranged by my favorite space-age pop guy, Dick Hyman).

Al Hirt - The Sound of Christmas

Nutty Jingle Bells
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause/Here Comes Santa Claus
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Sleigh Ride
Silver Bells
The Christmas Song
Santa Clause is Comin' To Town
Deck The Halls/Good King Wenceslas/We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Ave Maria
What Child Is This?/Oh Little Town of Bethelehem/It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
O Holy Night
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Joy To The World/O Come, All Ye Faithful
We Three Kings/The First Noel


Consumer warning: This album has sort-of been reissued on CD, but 5 tracks have been left off.