audio archives

It's all Greek to me

2012-01-29T18:45:00.004-05:00

The subtitle ("A Salute to New York's Bouzoukee Casbahs") made this one irresistible to me for posting purposes. You should grab a copy just for the "hip" liner notes. Apparently there is a much-more-difficult-to-find volume two, as well, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for that.

Bebi Stergiou & the Alector Anatolian Ensemble: Greek Town, USA--A Salute to New York's Bouzoukee Casbahs; Alector ALP-5004

Nina Na'I
Manoula Tha Figo
Moustafa
O Haros
Makria Sou Liono
Never On Sunday

S'Agapisa St'Alithia
Ela-Kane mou parea
A Modern Widow
Our Romance
Pastourma
Bebi's Lament

Cold Beer Goodbye

2012-01-04T11:26:00.003-05:00

One Show, One Night, Good God!

Here's what will allegedly be the final version of Cold Beer Hello from The V-Roys NYE 2011 show, with Gentlemen Jeff Bills showing off his two-hand tapping technique.

You Can't Shake Knoxville

2012-01-03T22:02:00.014-05:00

Knoxville music near-gods The V-Roys got the band back together one last (?) time for a New Year's Eve 2011 show twelve years after they last performed. Memories were refreshed, minds were blown, legends were confirmed.

Some relevant links:
metropulse.com - best-knoxville-band-ever
The V-Roys wiki

Here's my audience recording from the 10th row. (no, that's not me "whooo!"-ing all the damn time - it was the guy next to us.)

The V-Roys New Year's Eve 2011 @ the Tennessee Theatre
________________________________________________________
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Industrious

2011-12-27T10:11:00.014-05:00

Here's a portion of a show from an odd cavernous concrete venue in downtown ("Nowtown") Maryville (Murvil) TN that was calling itself The Industry. I think that for most of its short existence it was a dance club ("Industrial Dance", no doubt). It was in a large corner building on W Harper and N Cusick streets on the side facing McCammon Ave. (the building for a long time was the home of the Van Metre School of Dance, though on a different floor).

We had to provide our own PA, which was likely leftovers from the Sea 7 States PA, but I don't remember what we used for mains, since I didn't own any at the time. Based on the feedback I'm guessing that we had random volunteers manning the board.

I remember this show being a lot of fun, despite the technical problems. This was likely one of our first 2-5 shows. Unfortunately, the camera battery died shortly into the show, so we get a song or two and then short excerpts from the rest of the show. I guess we either didn't bring the power cord or no one thought to look in the case for it.

You'd think by this time I'd realize that wearing all dark clothes on stage means you can't be seen in the video.

The Thirteenth Generation @ The Industry Maryville TN 9-20-91

26 Bonus Round

2011-12-23T22:58:00.012-05:00

We'll conclude this years 25 Days of Blogmas with a bonus day gathering together some stray singles that have been collecting in a pile.

First up is a double holiday 12" single from George Thorogood on lovely Christmas red vinyl. This 1983 release was produced by one of my faves - Dave Edmunds.

Next is a 1983 12" single that gives me a chuckle. It's theoretically a double-sided/equal billed affair, with Jingle Bell Rock appearing on each side sung by a different member of a famous musical duo. When the duo is Hall and Oates, however, there is definitely an imbalance of famous-ness.
The label on the (otherwise blank) sleeve says "Seasons Greetings 'Jingle Bell Rock' Side 1: From Daryl, Side A: From John" (I see what they did there) but the actual disc says "Side A" on Daryl's side and "Side B" on John's side. Uh-oh!

Next up is country mainstay Johnny Tillotson with two 1966 Christmas originals.

We conclude this Blogmas with Jose Ferrer's 1960 recording of Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus backed with Santa's Marching Song, which may feature the A-side performer's children.

Christmas Singles Assortment

George Thorogood - Rock and Roll Christmas/New Year's Eve Party

Hall and Oates - Jingle Bell Rock (Daryl)/Jingle Bell Rock (John)

Johnny Tillotson - Christmas Country Style/Christmas Is The Best Of All

Jose Ferrer/The Ferrers - Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus/Santa's Marching Song

25 The Border Brass - Tijuana Christmas

2011-12-23T22:44:00.009-05:00

Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass was mighty popular and influential in its time.
Here's one tribute.

The Border Brass - Tijuana Christmas (1968)

01 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
02 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
03 What Child Is This
04 Deck The Halls
05 Jingle Bells
06 Tijuana Christmas
07 Jolly Old St Nicholas
08 Christmas Bells
09 The First Noel
10 Silent Night

24 The Longines Symphonette - The Sweet Voices of Christmas

2011-12-23T11:39:00.006-05:00

Other than the cool period cover art, I didn't have much initial interest in this album, as I was expecting a schmaltzy wash of strings and kids voices. While a fair percentage of it is that, the rest is fairly-economically-arranged versions of these Christmas warhorses as sung by a very pro children's choir with a couple of nice instrumentals thrown in that rival those of more well-known traditional Christmas instrumental performers (Frosty is particularly nice, with an assortment of instruments taking turns taking the lead).

The Longines Symphonette - The Sweet Voices of Christmas

Angels We Have Heard on High

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Sleigh Ride

O Christmas Tree

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Oh Come Little Children

Frosty the Snow Man

Beautiful Saviour

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Silent Night

23 The Guideposts Treasury of Christmas Hymns

2011-12-22T20:01:00.003-05:00

My Mom (God rest her soul) loved her Guideposts magazine, so I'll dedicate this post to her.

The Guideposts Treasury of Christmas Hymns (1977)

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM - TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL/ AWAY IN A MANGER - LAWRENCE WELK
IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR - THE KING FAMILY
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING - PAT BOONE
O HOLY NIGHT - GEORGE BEVERLY SHEA
MARY'S LITTLE BOY CHILD - EVIE
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAINS - RICHARD & PATTI ROBERTS
LITTLE DRUMMER BOY - RALPH CARMICHAEL ORCHESTRA & CHORUS
SILENT NIGHT - KOREAN CHILDREN'S CHOIR
SILVER BELLS - JIM ROBERTS & NORMA ZIMMER

A Brief Commercial Interruption

2011-12-21T14:22:00.008-05:00

My free year trial for data hosting has expired, so I'll be paying for storage to keep all of these interesting audio links alive. (Y'all have downloaded over 50 GB of Christmas tunes this month!)

If you have enjoyed the stuff on this site I'd be most appreciative if you could drop a tip of any size in the tip jar (AKA "donate" button) found in the Links section to the right on the main page, or below each post (if I've managed not to muck up the html formatting). That will keep me from stealing from my kid's piggybanks.

The frog family thanks you, too.

22 The Five Choirs of Good Samaritan Episcopal Church - Music For Christmas

2011-12-21T12:13:00.006-05:00

OK, technically I shouldn't be posting this yet. If you know any Episcopalians (and I do know some Episcopalians!) you know that they take their liturgical calender seriously, and it's not Christmas season until Christmas day (it's currently Advent, for those wondering). That means you don't sing Christmas songs until Christmas day, either.

This double record set from this Philadelphia church came to me missing disc two (sides two and three) so today we only get sides one and four. The set is packaged in a hefty gatefold sleeve, the inside two pages of which are completely blank. Maybe it's supposed to remind the listener of snow.

The included choirs are The Adult Mixed Choir and Friends, The Men and Boy Choir, The Girl Choir, The Children's Choir, and The Youth Choir. William Evans conducts and Richard Alexander accompanies on the organ (according to the liner notes, which differ from the front cover).

The Five Choirs of Good Samaritan Episcopal Church - Music For Christmas

Side One
O Come, All Ye Faithful
The Snow Lay on the Ground
The Messiah, part one

Side Four
The Messiah, conclusion

21 The Christmas Collection

2011-12-19T18:30:00.005-05:00

Ten swinging songs from the vaults of Prestige Records, 1953-1970
A very cool yule listen.
(This pressing is a little rough).

The Christmas Collection - Prestige 1988

1. The Christmas Song, Dexter Gordon
2. Greensleeves, Bill Smith Quartet
3. Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Paul Bley Trio
4. Merry Christmas Baby, Don Patterson
5. The Christmas Song, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
6. The Christmas Song, Gene Ammons
7. White Christmas, Bobby Timmons
8. Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
9. Winter Wonderland, Bobby Timmons
10. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Don Patterson

20 Sounds of A Thousand Strings - Play For Christmas

2011-12-19T14:46:00.010-05:00

This album was originally released in 1959 (with different cover art) and has apparently been reissued a number of times since (each time with different cover art).

As you might expect with a name like 1000 Strings, it's the definition of syrupy: good background music for your cocktail party, perhaps, but not something for active listening.

The artwork on this reissue, however...yeah! That's what a Christmas LP should look like!
The rainbow "STEREO" is hep, as well. (The reverse of the sleeve is a boring Crown Records discography).

Sounds of A Thousand Strings - Play For Christmas

Silent Night
O Come All Ye Faithful
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
White Christmas
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Deck The Halls
Joy To The World
The First Noel
Good King Wenceslas
Holy Night
We Three Kings

19 Ralph Carmichael - 'Specially For Shepherds

2011-12-19T13:16:00.008-05:00

I'm not certain that this was "contemporary" even by 1977 standards - I guess it's the drums that made it contemporary. Mostly it makes contemporaries the Carpenters sound like acid rock.

Ralph Carmichael - 'Specially For Shepherds: A Contemporary Christmas Cantata

Part I: The Prophets:

The Sign

The Prince of Peace

A Great Light

The Prince of Peace

Shining Bethlehem

Prophet Trio

Unto Us A Child Is Born

Part II: Mary

Gabriel's Commission

Greetings Mary

Whatever Could He Mean

He Shall Be Called God's Son

He Shall Be Great

Questions (How Can This Be)

Nothing Is Impossible

Here Am I

I Must Tell Elizabeth

I Knew It

Sing Out My Soul

Part III: Joseph

I Can't Believe It

Dear Mary

Your Worries Are Through

The Sign (Reprise)

We Will Walk Together

The Road to Bethlehem

Shining Bethlehem (Reprise)

Unto Us A Child Is Born (Reprise)

Part IV: 'Specially for Shepherds

A Light In The Sky

Most Joyful Nes

How Will We Know Him

Just One Look

Glory To God In The Highest

I Found Him

Glory to God In The Highest

18 North Central High School - Festival of Carols

2011-12-18T19:06:00.011-05:00

This is my second LP posting from NCHS. The previous years version is here.

I have two copies of this, so if you appear on the disc and have lost your copy in the last 45 years, drop me a line. We'll work something out.

As on the previous disc, an assortment of school ensembles appear: the Counterpoints, the Music Men, the Girls Ensemble, the Descants, the Bell Choir, the Madrigals, the Capella Choir, the Girls Concert Choir, and the Symphonic Band (though the last didn't rate a picture on the cover, apparently).

North Central High School - Festival of Carols 1966

The Twelve Days of Christmas
Jingle Bells
O Come, O Come, Emanuel
Pin A Star
The First Noel
Hear The Sledges
Sing Gloria
Hodie! Christus Natus Est
O Rejoyce Ye Christians Loudly
Torches

A Christmas Festival
African Noel
Carol of the Birds
Winter Wonderland
Holiday
The Ballad of the Holy Child
We Wish You The Merriest

17 New York Harp Ensemble - A Pastoral Christmas

2011-12-17T11:04:00.004-05:00

As you might expect from the title, this is a very mellow listen. Build a fire.

New York Harp Ensemble - A Pastoral Christmas

Christmas symphony / Giuseppe Valentini (5:33)
Prelude in E-flat minor, S. 853 (from The well-tempered clavier, book I) / Johann Sebastian Bach (4:08)
Adagio / Pietro Nardini (6:12)
Pastoral symphony : from Messiah / George Frideric Handel (4:21)
Largo and vivace from the Christmas concerto : Concerto grosso in G minor, op. 8, no. 6 / Giuseppe Torelli (3:54)
Largo from Concerto no. 5 in F minor, S. 1056 / Johann Sebastian Bach (3:02)
Sinfonia pastorale / Giuseppe Tartini (7:34)
Largo from the Concerto grosso for unisono violin and four harps / Alessandro Marcello (7:10).

16 Mitch Miller - Christmas Sing Along With Mitch

2011-12-16T14:35:00.004-05:00

Not a huge fan of Mitch (from his label exec days) but the man knew how to ride the gravy train that he created. I can't be bothered to look it up, but he may have done 100 of these "sing-along with" albums.

Mitch Miller - Christmas Sing Along With Mitch

1	Joy to the World 1:52
2	Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 2:26
3	What Child Is This? 2:05
4	We Three Kings of Orient Are 3:51
5	It Came upon a Midnight Clear 3:54
6	Silent Night 4:23
7	Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly 1:46
8	God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 2:05
9	O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) 2:24
10	The First Noel 3:26

15 Julie Andrews - Songs For Christmas

2011-12-15T22:05:00.004-05:00

Our Miss Poppins splits this album with the Mistletoe Children's Chorus, one side each.
The background picture on the cover is excellent.

Julie Andrews - Songs For Christmas

Julie Andrews:

Silent Night

O Little Town of Bethlehem

O Come All Ye Faithful

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

What Child Is This?

Mistletoe Children's Chorus:

Jingle Bells

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

O Christmas Tree

Up on the Housetops

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

14 Holiday Greetings From The Epic, Portrait, and CBS Associated Families

2011-12-14T21:18:00.006-05:00

I've been keeping this as a personal exclusive to use on mix tapes for two and a half decades now, but it's time to share the wealth. This disc consists entirely of holiday greetings from the named record companies for use on radio (see artist list below). It's kind of a cheap pressing, so it's not the best dub ever. Still, you can't go wrong with multiple Ozzy and Weird Al Christmas greetings.

Holiday Greetings From The Epic Portrait and CBS Associated Families (1987)

Greg Allman

Ana

Big Trouble

Bill Carter

Cheap Trick Greeting #1

Cheap Trick Greeting "2

Cherrelle Greeting #1

Cherrelle Greeting #2

Angela Clemmons

Charlie Daniels

Mary Davis

Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine

Fabulous Thunderbirds

David Hallyday

Hiroshima

Insiders Greeting #1

Insiders Greeting #2

Tuesday Knight

Krystol

Lion

Aimee Mann (from 'til tuesday)

Teena Marie Greeting #1

Teena Marie Greeting #2

Kathy Mathis

Ozzy Osbourne Greeting #1

Ozzy Osbourne Greeting #2

Ozzy Osbourne Greeting #3

Quiet Riot Greeting #1

Quite Riot Greeting #2

Radiators

REO Speedwagon

S.O.S. Band Greeting #1

S.O.S. Band Greeting #2

Dan Siegel

Charlie Singleton

Survivor

Robert Tepper

Wa Wa Nee Greeting #1

Wa Wa Nee Greeting #2

"Weird Al" Yankovic Greeting #1

"Weird Al" Yankovic Greeting #2

"Weird Al" Yankovic Greeting #3

"Weird Al" Yankvoc Greeting #4

"Weird Al" Yankovic Greeting #5

Pia Zadora

13 Goodyear - The Great Songs of Christmas Album Two

2011-12-13T20:31:00.006-05:00

Lots of orchestration and choirs here in this 1962 edition of the Goodyear Great Songs series.

Goodyear - The Great Songs of Christmas Album Two

1. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Percy Faith

2. O Little Town of Bethlehem - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

3. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear & Coventry Carol - Eileen Farrell

4. Away in a Manger - Andre Kostelanetz

5. Joy to the World - Percy Farith

6. The First Noel - Nelson Eddy

7. Sleep, Holy Babe - Eileen Farrell

8. The Holly And The Ivy - Norman Luboff Choir

9. O Come, All Ye Faithful & Silent Night - Earl Wrightson

10. Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly - The Philadelphia Orchestra

11. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - Andre Previn

12. Angels We Have Heard On High & Good King Wenceslas - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

13. Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy & Waltz of the Flowers - New York Philharmonic

14. Toyland & March of the Toys - Andre Kostelanetz

15. O Tannenbaum & Here We Come A-Caroling - Norman Luboff Choir

16. Jingle Bells - Nelson Eddy

12 Goodyear - Christmas Is

2011-12-12T21:27:00.008-05:00

This is the 12th in the Goodyear Christmas LP series, and the second not to bear the "Great Songs of Christmas" name. This is a remarkably un-hip set for 1972.

Unfortunately, this disc came to me naked/unjacketed, so it's a bit worse for wear.

Goodyear - Christmas Is (1972)

Christmas Is (The Hillside Singers)

Winter Wonderland (Jo Stafford)

White Christmas (Frank Sinatra)

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Judy Garland)

What Child Is This (Vikki Carr)

Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Tony Bennett)

The Christmas Song (Barbra Streisand)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (Bing Crosby)

I'll Be Home For Christmas (Doris Day)

O Holy Night (Andy Williams)

Jingle Bells (The Mills Brothers)

Silver Bells (Patti Page)

Merry Christmas Darling (The Carpenters)

Silent Night, Holy Night (Julie Andrews)

Christmas Is (The Hillside Singers)

11 Firestone - The Wonderful World of Christmas 2

2011-12-11T10:17:00.009-05:00

Back on the road again! I'm calling this part of the tire series, even though nowhere on the actual album is Firestone listed - it's only on a sticker on the shrink wrap.

This disc has a mean scratch, so unfortunately the opening Merle gets some skips.

It's all country on this disc (well, country-disco in the case of the Donna Fargo track) and fairly good as mid-70's country goes. Even C. W. McCall gets a chance to talk his way thorough a Christmas story. Ray Price has the best performance, though it's not a Christmas song. I actually like the Fargo track best, just for its sheer over-the-top-ness.

Firestone - The Wonderful World of Christmas 2

White Christmas (Merle Haggard)

The Sweetest Song (Pat Boone)

What Child Is This (Dinah Shore)

Blue Christmas (Glen Campbell)

Noche de Paz/Feliz Navidad a Todos (Freddy Fender)

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Donna Fargo)

New Snow on the Roof (Glen Campbell)

Jingle Bells (Merle Haggard)

Away In a Manger (Loretta Lynn)

Amazing Grace (Ray Price)

Sing Silent Night (C.W. McCall)

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, O Come All Ye Faithful (Jimmy Dean)

10 Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir - Here a Christmas

2011-12-10T17:38:00.006-05:00

While I assume that there are no Truth-In-Labeling laws that apply to Christmas records, if they exist, this album is a clear violation. Yes, there are bells, and Dorothy Shaw directs them. Christmas songs? Not so much. Four tracks out of thirteen, to be exact. [The liner notes suggest that the theme of the album is related to [paraphrased] "memories of the places around the world where the choir has performed at Christmas." I rather suspect the theme is more like "we've got this bunch of leftover recordings, how can we package them together in some semi-coherent way?"

Oh, it's also got a commercial stuck in the middle of it.

My tolerance for bell choirs is directly proportional to the Christmas content, so this is rather a disappointment.

Dorothy Shaw Bell Choir - Here a Christmas ...There a Christmas

Tomorrow
Send in the clowns
Texas
America, the Beautiful
I Left my Heart in San Francisco
Overture to Carmen
Brazil
Ave Maria
In a Manger
Tu scendi dalle stelle
Silent night
March on, Bahamaland
Carousel Waltz

Sea 7 States (almost) on the (Un)radio

2011-12-10T16:18:00.007-05:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought that this video existed somewhere in the archives.

This is some pre-air silliness and rehearsal/recording preceding a live session on Knoxville's WUOT-FM "Unradio" program.

The audio seen being recorded in this video was previously posted here.

The audio of the actual broadcast as well as a description of the session was previously posted here.

Sea 7 States on WUOT-FM "Unradio" (pre-air)

09 Christmas on the Border

2011-12-09T18:39:00.007-05:00

Not bad, but not a classic. Slightly spicy.

Christmas on the Border

1. O Come, All Ye Faithful -- John Kevin Mulkey
2. Children, Go Where I Send Thee -- Greg Gordon
3. Joy To The World -- John Kevin Mulkey
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen -- Gary Chapman
5. Go Tell It On The Mountain -- Greg Gordon
6. The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy -- Jhonny Neel
7. Up On The Housetop -- John Kevin Mulkey
8. O Holy Night -- John Kevin Mulkey
9. I Wonder As I Wander -- Gary Chapman
10. What Child Is This? -- Ardello Gomez

08 Christmas With Colonel Sanders

2011-12-08T20:54:00.005-05:00

Hmm, what's wrapped up in that bucket-shaped package?

Chet spins a nice Jingle Bell Rock here (could have done without the singers) and Lorne is always in good voice (and double ditto for doing without the singers).

Christmas With Colonel Sanders

Out of the East (Charlie Pride)
Sleighride (Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops)
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (John Gary)
Good King Wenceslas (Morton Gould/RCA Symphony Orchestra)
O Holy Night (Kate Smith)
Mary's Little Boy Child (Harry Belefonte)
Jingle Bell Rock (Chet Atkins)
Merry Christmas Neighbor (Lorne Greene)
My Favorite Things (Peter Nero)
The First Noel (Sergio Franchi)
I'll Be Home for Christmas (Lana Cantrell)
Carol for Another Christmas (Henry Mancini & his Orchestra)

08 Christmas Wishes

2011-12-07T23:18:00.004-05:00

I tend to think of the 60's and vinyl when I think of Christmas compilations, but here's a cassette from 1990. The catch, of course, is that all of the tracks on this release were already 20-30 years old at the time of its release. It's all pretty smooth on here - Bennett to Goulet to Mathis to Vinton on side one, for example. It's a nice background tape for late night, a fire, and some eggnog, I suppose.

Christmas Wishes

(see art for track listing)

06 Christmas America

2011-12-06T20:49:00.005-05:00

This is the sort of jingoistic thing that drives me crazy. Christmas is not a specifically American holiday. IMHO there's no reason that a Christmas album should start out with sleigh bells and "amber waves of grain." That being said, there are a couple of decent tracks on this (short) album: you can't go wrong with the trio of Nat, Ella, and Dean, and Peggy, Tennessee, and Bing fill out the second side pleasantly. Even Dinah has a nice rendition of Silent Night, though I could do without the cooing backup singers. Maybe I'll edit out the Hollywood Pops bookend tracks and have a nice short set of decent Xmas songs.

Christmas America

Side One:

1. Christmas America, Part One - The Hollywood Pops Orchestra & Choir / Sid Feller

2. White Christmas - Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians

3. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole

4. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing - (Trad.) - Ella Fitzgerald

5. Winter Wonderland - Dean Martin

6. Over The River (And Through the Woods) - The Hollywood Pops Orchestra with the Mitchell Singing Boys / Sid Feller

Side Two:

1. There's No Place Like Home (Especially Christmas Eve) - Glen Campbell

2. The Christmas Waltz - Peggy Lee

3. My Favorite Things - Tennessee Ernie Ford

4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Bing Crosby

5. Silent Night - Dinah Shore

6. Christmas America, Part Two - The Hollywood Pops Orchestra & Choir / Sid Feller

05 Allen Pote - A Reason To Rejoice

2011-12-05T00:58:00.008-05:00

This musical by Allen Pote and Carole McCann (who just passed away this September) dates from 1976, and apparently still gets performed by youth choirs today. There don't seem to be any other recordings of it (based on an admittedly brief google search). Here it is performed by The Joyful Noise, a group of high school singers formed by Pote in Houston, TX.

The composers describe this musical as "mov[ing] through lyrical melodies to the upbeat rhythms of today." Though the Sex Pistols released their first album in 1976, don't expect any of those kind of "upbeat rhythms" from '76 - it's strictly soft rock as the upper limit of upbeat. The use of flute gives it a feel of the more pastoral Jethro Tull moments at times. The finale gives us a bit of tamborine-driven Fifth Dimension-ish pop/soul (and a short drum solo).

Allen Pote - A Reason To Rejoice

Hallelujah (Kristen Philbrook and Tom Merrill, soloists)
All Things Bright and Beautiful
The Song of Advent (Mike Lazo, soloist)
Is This The Savior?
Mary's Lullaby (Kristen Philbrook, soloist)
Teach Us, O Lord
I Am The Vine (Kirby Lee, soloist)
Easter Song
A New Law In The Land
A Reason To Rejoice

04 Alexander Goodrich - Organ and Chimes Christmas

2011-12-04T00:29:00.004-05:00

Nothing dramatic or experimental here, just what the title says - organ and chimes. We do get away from the church organ and into something a little more pop (a Lowery, perhaps) on Jingle Bells featuring an overdub from what I presume is a real accordion (or something from the organ effects tabs).

We had a couple of these type albums when I was growing up (usually one at home and one at my grandparent's house) and invariably they were what got played late Christmas Eve right before bed time. According to the Sears price tag on my copy, we paid $3.57 for this album.

This one is no better nor worse than any of the (probably) hundreds of similar organ and chimes albums (although the Jingle Bells is starting to grow on me). There are several different versions of this album out there, and a similarly-named one (Organ and Chimes at Christmas) with a different track listing.

A quick google search for Alexander Goodrich turns up no biographical information, leading me to surmise that he was likely someone moonlighting under a pseudonym (probably an keyboardist signed to another label). That's my theory, anyway.

Alexander Goodrich - Organ and Chimes Christmas Favorites

Diplomat Christmas Records XS-1713

1) Joy To The World

2) Hark The Herald Angels Sing

3) Jingle Bells

4) It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

5) Tannenbaum

6) O Holy Night

7) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Side 2

1) O Come All Ye Faithful

2) The First Noel

3) Away In A Manger

4) O Little Town Of Bethlehem

5) Silent Night

6) Auld Lang Syne

03 Tennessee Ernie Ford

2011-12-03T10:47:00.004-05:00

I have a soft spot for ol' Tennessee. I've owned a 45 of 16 Tons for as long as I can remember (I think that it originally belonged to my Mom), and I have coal miners on all branches of my family tree. Even so, a double-record set of him doing Christmas songs is a bit much (but the 16 Tons of Boogie CD is highly recommended).

This set has been reissued in various forms through the years, but AFAIK none of them exactly match this version.

A Tennessee Ernie Ford Christmas Special Capitol Records STBB-485

Sing We Now of Christmas

O Christmas Tree! (O Tannenbaum)

The Little Drummer Boy

Angels We Have Heard on High

Caroling, Caroling

Good King Wenceslas

The Virgin's Slumber Song

The Twelve Days of Christmas

What Child Is This

Away in a Manger

O Come All Ye Faithful

Lottle Boy King

Slumber Song of the Infant Jesus

Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

Good Christian Men Rejoice

The Wassail Song

The Friendly Beasts

He Is Born, the Holy Child

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

White Christmas

02 A Music Box Christmas

2011-12-02T09:51:00.008-05:00

This is kind of cool - 18 recordings of the Ipod of the 19th century, the music box. These are not your tinny jewelry box music boxes, either - some of these are the hi-fi units of their day, offering some remarkably-unexpected bass response. These are recordings of music boxes from the collection of New York antique-shop owner Rita Ford (sadly, it appears that the retail shop has closed, but they still have an online presence). Ms. Ford passed away in 1993.

A Music Box Christmas

Silent Night Holy Night
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Zu Bethlehem Geborend
Monastery Bells
O Tannenbaum
O Sanctissima
Spin Spin
O Holy Night
Ave Maria
Adeste Fidelis
Still Still Holy Melody
Jesus Lover Of My Soul
The First Noel
Ihr Kinderlein Kommet
The Holy City
Lobe Den Herren
Jingle Bells
Silent Night Holy Night

EDIT: apparently this has recently been issued on CD. You can get it at any fine online retailer, I'm sure, but check your local record shop first (while you still have one).

01 A Country Christmas

2011-12-01T21:21:00.010-05:00

Well, let's kick off the 2011 25 Days of Blogmas with some material that's not repeated endlessly on other Xmas compilations. Honestly, not much on here that I would listen to regularly, save for the Pride and Willie. And really, RCA...eight songs on an album? Ho Ho Humbug.

A Country Christmas RCA 1982 AYL1-4812

A1	Charley Pride	Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow	1:47
A2	Leon Everette	Every Time I Hear Blue Christmas	2:28
A3	Louise Mandrell, R.C. Bannon	Christmas Is Just A Song For Us This Year	3:43
A4	Razzy Bailey	Peace On Earth	4:27
B1	Alabama	Christmas In Dixie	3:28
B2	Jim Ed Brown, Helen Cornelius	Fall Softly Snow	3:07
B3	Steve Wariner	Noel, Noel	2:45
B4	Willie Nelson	Pretty Paper	2:23

Smersh it up again!

2011-11-05T18:24:00.006-04:00

This is one of two cassettes that Smersh sent me when I wrote to them and offered to play them on WUTK. The first is here. This one appears to be something of a compilation/collection of early recordings. I don't recall if I played any of this tape on the air.

Smersh - This Is What You Missed

No Polish Jokes Allowed

2011-11-04T00:10:00.004-04:00

This is a rather odd album. The rather plain jacket doesn't really hint at the strangeness within.
Urszula Bogumiła Dudziak-Urbaniak is (according to wiki) a leading Polish jazz vocalist.
The backing tracks here are really good, if you're into that jazz-fusion stuff (I'm mostly indifferent to it unless it's got a lot of funk mixed in). On top of it, however - well, let's just say that Yoko Ono has a lot for which to answer, and not all of it is as good as the B-52s.

In certain moods I kind of like this, but you just can't depend on those moods.

Urszula (Arista AL 4065 1975)

Papaya*
Mosquito
Mosquito Dream
Mosquito Bite
Just The Way You Are

Sno King
Butterfly
Zavinul
Funk Rings
Call me Monday

*from wikipedia: In 2007, Dudziak's classic 1970s song "Papaya" saw a resurgence in popularity in the Philippines where it was regularly featured in a local noontime TV game show Pilipinas, Game KNB?. A favorite track for Filipino drag queens as lip-synch material in the '70s gay disco/bar scene, the song then saw a revival when a TV host danced to the tune, helping to spread the popularity of the song to Latin America and the US. The dance has then been featured in several news programs, including MSNBC, and Reuters. On 21 March 2008, the dance was featured on ABC's Good Morning America, where the hosts also danced to the song.

The Tape of Good Hope

2011-10-21T12:36:00.017-04:00

Just a couple of graphically-interesting artifacts for this post.

First up is this "Quadrasonic" cassette, which, since it's blank, can hardly claim to be quad.
[I suppose that it's quad in the same way that today we see headphones that are "digital ready."]

Great graphics, though.

Next up is a classic Sony design, in the mid-century Modern red and black palette.

Unfortunately, the cassette inside didn't match the Sony j-card, but it was this fab orange/green/reflective silver ensemble from Soundcraft:

Here comes Ampex with a very staid, nee professional design:

It's nice that they left the choice of designating sides up to you, the recording professional.

Lebotone wanted you to share your recordings, so they thoughtfully enclosed the (very cheap) tape inside an easily-addressable cardboard shipping box:

A nice touch is the hub-locking insert, to keep the reels from loosening during shipment.

Saving the best for last, here's the Pop brand:

The case matched:

The scans really don't do justice to the Pop cassette colors.

Note: If you are a cassette collector (and I know there are many of you out there) and you're interested in obtaining any of these, contact me through the comments.

Fiesta, then Siesta

2011-10-14T21:04:00.007-04:00

I love that the musicians are called Flamenquistas.

Fiesta En Espana (Audio Fidelity Inc., 1957)

1. Allegrias
2. Sevillanas
3. Farruca
4. Eligia A Manolete
5. Granainas
6. Por Alegrias

7. Zapateado Tanguillo
8. Por Soleares
9. Ojos verdes
10. Dolores la Petenera
11. Por Seguiras
12. Fandango

This post is by request. I hope it provides a transcendent moment.

Hello Brandon, Manitoba, Canada!

2011-10-11T00:42:00.005-04:00

Hello to the northern neighbor blog guest who visited every page of this blog for 20-60 seconds yesterday!
I hope what you were searching for was found! Drop me a line in the comments if you couldn't find it.

And for that searcher from Oklahoma - I have no idea why that search led you here, and you should be ashamed of yourself!

Polka In The Eye With A Sharp Stick

2011-10-10T21:15:00.012-04:00

The Eddie Forman Orchestra started in 1968, when Eddie was still in high school. They're still going. This album came out in 1985 (I would have guessed it was much earlier). To me (and to many folks that I've played it for) it sounds more like a mariachi band than a polka band. It's probably the two trumpets (the Tijuana Brass lineup) that give it that flavor - video clips on the website of the current band only show one trumpet and that band does not have the obvious mariachi influence/sound. [Yes, I am aware that sources claim mariachi descended from polka.] On this disc the lineup is: Eddie Forman (accordion, piano, vocals), John Nowak (trumpet and vocals), A. J. Lankarge (drums and vocals), Tom Staba (bass and vocals), Dave Soares (trumpet), and Bill Palo (clarinet and sax). This is pretty good - good enough that it deserves better cover art than the generic style that it has.

The Eddie Forman Orchestra - E.F.O.

1.	Tour of Poland Polka	2:39
2.	I Wanna Be Polka	2:54
3.	Life At War Polka	2:41
4.	Young Man Oberek	2:23
5.	I Can't Tell My Heart Polka	1:52
6.	Saxo Polka	3:12
7.	Hot Dogs & Cabbage Polka	2:49
8.	Stop & Think It Over Polka	2:54
9.	Open The Window Polka	2:53
10.	Mary's Cooking Pierogi Oberek	1:53
11.	Girls From Chicago Polka	3:02
12.	Lillian's Polka	1:37

Hit Sounds of the Wrong Generation

2011-10-10T11:28:00.007-04:00

A bit ago we had a post of a knock-off hits-of-the-day album (The Best of 66). Today we get an even cheaper version, with a no original hits, some name artist covers of other name artists, and a plethora of easy-listening re-recordings by "The Sounds of Our Times", "The Hollyridge Strings", and a guy named "Tartaglia." I'm certain that this type of album didn't fool the fans of the original songs/performances, so I can only assume that it was meant to
1) appeal to the older crowd wanting to dip their toes into the "hip"; or
2) fool the parents who were buying something for their too-young-to-shop-on-their-own kids.

I'll give it this: the Peggy Lee "Spinning Wheel" is way better than the BS&T hit version.
Bobby Gentry's "Son of a Preacher Man" holds it's own, too.

Hit Sounds Of The Young Generation

Flies Time

2011-10-06T22:04:00.006-04:00

Here's a band thrown together for a battle of the bands at the old (Alumni) gym at Maryville College in mid-80's. I think I got called into this very nearly last-minute. This video can serve as a musical and sartorial counter-lesson to bands just starting out. Special recognition should go to the camera persons, who evidence a magnificent grasp of cinema verite and the avant-garde.

Tempus Fugit @ MC

I played with Bud Watts (drums) and Gary Spears (lead guitar) in another one-shot cover band sometime shortly after this. I recall that our set list included Jump, Owner Of A Lonely Heart, and Beat It.

Hits and Misses

2011-10-02T22:20:00.016-04:00

I've run across quite a few of these "hits" albums recently - the covers list hit songs and hit song performers, but the two do not necessarily correlate. For example, on this album there are two Simon and Garfunkel hit songs (Homeward Bound and Cloudy), and S & G definitely perform on the album, but the song that they're performing is not one of the aforementioned hits (it's an album track from the year before). Hit-makers The Cyrkle and Chad and Jeremy also perform - but not their hits. OTOH, Paul Revere & The Raiders (Just Like Me), Billy Joe Royal (Down In The Boondocks [really from 1965]), Bob Dylan (I Want You) and The Byrds (Hey Joe [not the hit version by The Leaves from 1966, of course, but at least a legitimate Byrds release]) show up with their original recordings because they were signed to Columbia Records, the label putting out this LP. Columbia also had on its roster The Brothers Four, Chad and Jeremy, The Cyrkle, John Davidson, The New Christy Minstrels, and The Pozo-Seco Singers - check the track listing below and see if it all starts to make sense...

Of the non-normal tracks here, I actually like The Byrds version better than that of The Leaves (but I worship at the Byrdsian altar), and the New Christy Minstrels' Boots is so cheesy that it approaches greatness (it doesn't hurt that the backing track is smokin'). The rest are just meh, with the exception of Help performed by The Brothers Four, which is so wrong, so ill-arranged, so badly performed, so ill-felt and stiff, that it goes beyond bad, past so-bad-it's good, circles back around bad again (waving stiffly as it goes by), and settles into so-bad-it's-worse.

Various Artists - The Best of '66 Volume One

Side 1

The Brothers Four - Help!

The Byrds - Hey Joe

Chad & Jeremy - Homeward Bound

The Cyrkle - Cloudy

John Davidson - You Don't Have To Say You Love Me

Bob Dylan - I Want You

Side 2

The New Christy Minstrels - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Pozo Seco Singers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

Paul Revere & The Raiders - Just Like Me

Billy Joe Royal - Down In The Boondocks

Simon & Garfunkel - We've Got A Groovey Thing Goin'

Jewel 1960-2011

2011-09-28T09:37:00.013-04:00

The Rev. Julia Lynn "Jewel" Quinton, 51, of Lawton, Oklahoma, died suddenly Wednesday, September 21, 2011, while visiting friends in Knoxville TN. (see below for full obituary)

I first met Jewel during a Maryville College Interim class in the winter of 1981/82 (I think). I don't remember what the class was, but we met in that first room off the patio entrance to the left in the classic Frank Lloyd-Wright - inspired Fine Arts Center (shame on MC for tearing down those two beautiful and unique buildings, though I admit that the flat roof was a big problem). I had been recording little song ideas/demos using a couple of cassette decks, but I didn't really write lyrics. During the course of the interim class Jewels mentioned that she had written some lyrics about a friend's crazed bunny. I showed up at class the next day with a cassette player and a little demo of a song idea to play for her. After a quick listen she decided that she liked the concept but that she needed more space in the song for her lyrics (you'll understand what that means when you hear it). I went back home and spend a few days tweaking the structure and arrangement to accommodate her requests, and presented her with a new demo that next week.

I think by this point the band was already together working on material for an upcoming coffee house (generally popular covers of the era - Super Freak, Jessie's Girl, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, etc.). With the exception of one member, all of us were MC students: Julie Humpert (guitar), Dave Denshaw (drums), Kevin Crothers (bass, vocal), Lisa Yacks* (sax, flute), Mark Beyer** (cowbell, vocal), Danny Cartilidge (guitar, vocal) [Danny wasn't an MC student, but he was the son of a faculty member - shout out to Dr Cartlidge!]. Mark drifted out of the band after this performance.

The MC coffee houses moved around campus a bit. The first one I played (with a band doing Fleetwood Mac covers) was in the dining hall, while a later one was in the old Alumni Gym/barn. The two represented here today took place in the spacious (and reflectively glass and brick-enclosed) confines of the Lloyd dorm first floor lobby.

We led off with our original, Suicide Bunny, with guest vocalist Julie Quinton:

Johnny Radical and the Stereo Anarchist Regime - Suicide Bunny

Other (bad cover) songs were played, but we'll gloss over that and skip to the next coffee house, where we again invited a guest to perform with us, in this case raconteur and the evening's compere Tom Hudson, who treated us to a stylish re-imagining of Stairway To Heaven:

Johnny Radical and the Stereo Anarchist Regime - Stairway To Heaven

Unfortunately the cassette recordings didn't age very well, and what is heard here is about the best that I could coax out of them when I found them in a box about a decade ago.

I'm not sure if this is how Julie would want to be remembered at this late date (we all surely have our "interesting" college stories) but it is what it is, and I'm proud to have been a part of it.

If this was her first performance (and her nervousness makes me think that it might have been) then I'm doubly proud to have helped kick-start her performing career.

*does not appear on Suicide Bunny

**does not appear on Stairway To Heaven

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funeral services will be conducted 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 28, 2011, in the chapel of Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home in Union City TN. Burial will follow in Terrace Hill Cemetery in Troy TN.

The family will receive friends at Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.

Jewel was born March 31, 1960, in Takoma Park, Maryland, daughter of Dolores (Walsh) Quinton of South Fulton and the late Eugene Brown "Jack" Quinton. Rev. Quinton was a graduate of Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. She was a recording artist who published her own CD "One True God" and was often called upon to share her gift of music for worship at countless gatherings, churches, and conferences.

Jewel served under and was prayerfully supported by The Missionary Church International. Although her ministry and life was well traveled and far reaching for the past several years, she has lived and served in Oklahoma. In her early years among the Native American families, she was taken as a daughter by the late John and Marlene Haumpy. This is considered an honor among Native Americans. In the same manor, Jewel developed many friendships which led her to take Jason Stick as a brother. Sue Oyebi took her as a daughter. She was well known throughout the area for service and music. She was a blessing to all she met and will be remembered for her servant's heart.

In addition to her mother, she is survived by two sisters, Laura Quinton of Orlando, Florida and Lisa Morgan and her husband Joseph of Dresden three brothers, the Rev. John Quinton and his wife Gail of Dresden, Kenneth Quinton and his wife Lana of Sturgis, Kentucky and Bill Quinton and his wife Heather of Union City; and several nieces and nephews Nicholas Quinton, Brock Quinton, Katie Quinton, Sarah Quinton, Luke Quinton, Noah Quinton, Magan Wills, Alayna Owens, Joe Werner, Dillon Quinton, Levi Owens and Myra Morgan.

Her many children like Jewel herself belong to others. She loved them nurtured them and influenced them in a Godly way that will be known for generations. Matthew 19:14

In lieu of flowers or in memory a donation may be made to The Mission Church International in Jewel’s name for her neediest children.

Well, isn't that special?

2011-09-25T22:55:00.004-04:00

This is a very special episode of Charles T. - a little sexism, a little racism, and a lot of unintelligibility.

Highlights: "That's what the womens in the world are for, to bear the children," "there were homersexuals and lez-bins in those days," "women having sex with horses," "I thank God I've got a white wife, I thank God I ain't got no colored, or Mexican, or Chinese or any kind of women....he wants us to stick with our own kind," "we've still got lez-bins."

Sounds of the Holiness 04 with the Reverend Charles T Wilson

The Holy-heck-what-is-that? Trinity

2011-09-16T19:28:00.010-04:00

The third in our series with Holiness radio preacher Charles T. Wilson as heard on Alcoa's WMDR in the early '90's.

Highlights: "I'm prophesying' that we're gonna have a bad weather this year," a song from Mrs. Wilson, Rev. "basso" Wilson, and Mama Wilson (the classic of these tapes), some testifying from Mama (who feels good this week), another trio song (with complaining baby accompaniment), Charlie God-God-Goddard of Louisville, a solo song from Charles, and a fairly subdued (by his standards) sermon from the Rev.

Sounds of the Holiness 03 with the Reverend Charles T Wilson

A long time ago in a bar far, far away....Rock Wars

2011-09-04T22:16:00.017-04:00

This 1980 album is the result of an extensive battle of the bands conducted by Knoxville AOR station WIMZ-FM 104.5 (formerly country station WBIR). The winner (The News) got a full side (five songs), while the runner up (Balboa) got three songs and the third-place finishers (Spellbound) got two songs, all recorded, presumably at the radio station's expense (or trade-out) at Thunderhead Sound Studio in Knoxville.

Based on their sound and photo, The News appear to be a run-of-the mill bar band picking up a few affectations of the nascent new wave (primarily in the band-naming department) while basically churning out generic blues/boogie.

Spellbound doesn't get a lot off room to show off their variety with only two songs, but there's enough of an experimental element in their songs that I'd be interested in hearing more from them.

Balboa, on the other hand - well, what could I possibly write about Balboa that hasn't already been said? They are in many ways the foundation upon which 30+ years of a lively music scene has been built. ~~Two of their songs on this album appear to be the same recordings that appear on their self-titled EP.~~ [Edit: Hector informs me that I am incorrect, and a quick examination of the Balboa EP shows that there are no songs repeated. I'm not sure what I was thinking, particularly since I had the EP on the turntable within the last few months.]
(I like that they included the booking agent in the band picture).

Side One
The News
1) Now and Then
2) Just Treat Me Right
3) It's Gonna Come Back On You
4) Babe, It Ain't No Use
5) By The Tracks

Side Two
Balboa
1) Single Sound (T. Hill)
2) I Can't Stand It (H. Qirko)
3) Is This It? (T. Hill)

Spellbound
4)Annie
5) Shady Lady

Recording Engineer: Ron Passmore
Mix Engineer: Ron Passmore except Balboa mixed by Terry Hill

Rock Wars (TH 1075)

John Sewell gave a nice remembrance of the Rock Wars live battle in Metro Pulse back in the day.

preach on

2011-09-02T12:37:00.009-04:00

Today we get a second visit to "radio land" with the Reverend Charles T. Wilson. This show features an extended segment with his "muver", who sings and preaches a little bit, as well as a fairly-rare extended solo vocal performance from the Reverend himself. His listenership must be going up, as he spends almost a minute and a half "sending the program out" to the named list.
Phrase of the week: "Men jumpin' in bed with different womens"

Sounds of the Holiness 02 with the Reverend Charles T Wilson

AM in the AM

2011-08-31T11:27:00.018-04:00

Radio station WEAG-AM 1470 (founded in 1957) was an important part of my life as a kid - my dad had it on in the car every morning when he drove us to school (AM radio only, speaker in the center of the dash) listening to the Jerry Collins Show. In between big band tunes, Jerry (not even sure if I've spelled his name correctly) would stand on the sidewalk in front of the JCPenney in Midland Center and interview folks as they strolled by doing their shopping. [As a kid I was thrilled when, while shopping at JCPenney one day, I discovered on the front wall the mic jack that Jerry used. Yes, I was a weird kid.] By 1985 Walker Johnson had purchased the station, changed the calls to WMDR ("The Music Doctor") and gone Top-40. By the time that I was involved in the station (early '90's) the format was easy listening. Now its calls have again changed (WBCR) and it's a mostly satellite-fed far-right religious format.

One of the more interesting programs during my brief tenure at the station was a Sunday morning time slot that was sold (very cheaply) to a local preacher - "Sounds of the Holiness, with the Reverend Charles T. Wilson". Rev. Wilson (of Louisville, TN) would show up in the studio accompanied by various and sundry members of his extended family - wife, children, mother, mother-in-law, infants - and he would preach and they would (in various combinations) sing a cappella. Occasionally Rev. Wilson would add his rather pitch-erratic basso to the vocal mix as the spirit stuck him. I believe that musicologists would call these various vocal performances, er, "folk" or "primitive art."

Rev. Wilson's preaching leaned towards the old-timey fire and brimstone - what I can interpret of it, that is. Between his accent, his, er, dental care issues, and his specific religious jargon, I can get about every second word, on average. What does slip through are an occasional gem that I've endlessly sampled for mix tapes over the last two decades - "A woman's place is to stay home and take care of the children, praise galeah" (sp?), "Charlie G-G-Goddard", "I praise God that my shoes fit", "I'm glad to be the husband of one wife/don't need two wives", "my Muver", and a dozen various verbal tics, Glossolalia, and random made-up words.

When I was younger my friends and I found these tapes (I have several) endlessly amusing.* As an older (and in some ways more mellow) person I can listen and feel some more compassion for Rev. Wilson and his family and their sincerity (despite his atrocious religious beliefs). The family looked pretty much as you will probably imagine when listening - typical East Tennesee rural poor. Despite the low cost of the two half-hour time slots each Sunday (7:30 and 10:30) paying for the time was constantly a struggle - in this program you can hear him ask, as he often did, that cans and papers be left in front of his trailer in Louisville so that he can recycle them to pay for his airtime.

With a name as common as Charles Wilson, you can expect that the internet doesn't turn up anything useful. I'll bet that he's still alive, though getting up there. If you know any more about him, please drop me a line in the comments.

Sounds of the Holiness 01 with the Reverend Charles T Wilson

*OK, I admit, I'm still amused.

Piccolo Spoleto Sacred Harp Charleston 2011

2011-08-22T15:46:00.011-04:00

Gage Hall, Charleston, SC.

For technical reasons a few of these sessions are incomplete (and the singing school is non-existent).

Charleston+SC+Sacred+Harp+Piccolo+Spoleto+May+2011+-+Session+02

Charleston+SC+Sacred+Harp+Piccolo+Spoleto+May+2011+-+Session+03

Charleston+SC+Sacred+Harp+Piccolo+Spoleto+May+2011+-+Session+04

Moose on the Loose

2011-08-15T21:09:00.004-04:00

The only thing that I know about this band is that they are from the Chattanooga area, and I only know that because one of my mates (all from Chattanooga) in Sea 7 States gave me this cassette back in 1986. It's been shuffled in boxes from garage to garage since I left TN in 1993, so it's a little worse for wear, but still enjoyably listenable. There do appear to be a couple of recent live recordings from Musical Moose available on youtube (I emailed the contact person listed with the videos but got no response).

Musical Moose - Moose on a Hot Tin Roof
(see above for track listing)

Smersh mouth

2011-08-06T23:36:00.009-04:00

This is another musical item that I bought unheard out of the back of a magazine (possibly the Village Voice) in 1983. Smersh (not the Russian secret agency) was Mike Mangino and Chris Shepard. According to discogs: Beat studio guru Mike Mangino (Pink Noise, Pop-Tarts) and Chris Shepard (Pop-Tarts) formed Smersh as an experimental big-beat techno/industrial project and began releasing cassettes in 1981. Smersh recorded improvised cuts every Monday night, released countless cassettes on their own label, Atlas King, and were featured on more compilations than you can track down. They never played live, never played the same track more than once. This is their second album. (I will post the first when I find it.)

I played at least one track from this cassette-only release ("X, X, X, Going On L") on both WUTK-FM and WUOT-FM (Unradio) more than once.

Smersh - Hothouse Flowers In A Cool Culture (1983)

01 Children's Suspense Theatre

02 X,X,X, Going On L

03 Slugs

04 Don't Go Home Part 2

05 ......Shadow

06 Vertigo

07 Beach

08 The Hustle [yes, it's a cover!]

09 Jungle Bonnie

10 Not Talking Back

11 From A View To A Kill

In the Mood...for Tequila?

2011-08-05T22:54:00.005-04:00

By the time that I seriously started listening to the radio, Herb Alpert was basically off the charts and off the air. No one in my family owned any Tijuana Brass records, but somehow I ended up with this 1966 album: Something New - The Glenn Miller Orchestra Under the Direction of Buddy DeFranco translates The Tijuana Brass Hits. For me, these are the correct versions of the songs, and the actual Tijuana Brass versions (with their measly handful of trumpets) sound thin. Yeah, I know, it's a character flaw. The drumming is really good on this, too. I like this (probably a reissue) album art better than what is probably the original (see below), though I feel sorry for the guy pushing the piano and the guy with the double bass over his head (and what's that guy in front playing? A cheese pizza?).

Something New - The Glenn Miller Orchestra Under the Direction of Buddy DeFranco translates The Tijuana Brass Hits

1 A Taste Of Honey

2 What Now My Love

3 I'm Getting Sentimental Over You

4 Whipped Cream

5 Tijuana Taxi

6 Zorba The Greek

7 The Lonley Bull

8 Mexican Shuffle

9 The Third Man Theme

10 Spanish Flea

Probably the original album art:

Blues Cruise (and Chews)

2011-07-24T23:35:00.008-04:00

I've been lucky enough over the past few months to play a series of gigs accompanying guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Hector Qirko. One such gig took place over the weekend of July 9th and 10th in Greenwood, SC for the Greenwood Festival of Discovery and Blues Cruise at the R3 Bistro. This audio is from a flip cam, which obviously comes equipped with an omni mic, since you can hear the diners at least as well as you can hear the band at which it was pointed. It was a fun gig.

Hector Qirko with Kevin Crothers - Greenwood (SC) Blues Cruise - 7-10-11-Set 01

Hector Qirko with Kevin Crothers - Greenwood (SC) Blues Cruise - 7-10-11-Set 02

Here's a two-song video excerpt of the same gig.

O, Boe Is Me

2011-07-24T19:41:00.010-04:00

According to The New York Times Bert is "America's leading oboe recitalist" (a field no doubt crowded with singles of competitors), so who am I to argue with the paper of record?

Still, this may be the only time you'll see the words "sensual", "soulful", and "oboe" in the same sentence without the words "completely" and "not".

Humbert Lucarelli - Sensual Sound of the Soulful Oboe (Jonella Record Company JRC-1, 1981)

1. Elegie

2. Pachelbel's Kanon

3. Polovetsian Dances

4. Theme From Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto Number 2

5. Aranjuez (Mon Amor)

6. Shubert's Serenade

7. The Pearlfishers

8. Londonderry Air

9. Romance

10. El Condor Pasa

11. Playera

12. Barcarolle

13. Loving Eyes

14. Estrellita

OK, after a couple of listens, I have to admit that this is not bad: kind of cinematic, and good late at night.

The Great White Way over to the left and then over to the right

2011-07-23T23:18:00.011-04:00

As often evidenced on this blog, I have a severe weak spot for the detritus of the early "Hi-Fi" era: ping-pong stereo, exotica, bachelor pad music, etc. Dick Schory is one of the prime practitioners of the "Stereo Action (The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow)" genre, with at least fifteen LPs to his name, including this one from 1961. Of the several Schory albums that I own, this is (to my ears) the weakest, but that is likely because I have little taste for show tunes (beyond Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music).

The art on the whole series is fab, but this disc is especially nice, with an extra-thick die-cut outer sleeve and a colorful insert that peeks through the opening. The liner notes are far more extensive than can be reproduced here, with technical notes on the recording and individual paragraphs about each musical piece.

Dick Schory's Percussion and Brass Ensemble - Stereo Action Goes Broadway (RCA LSA-2382)

Heat Wave
Seventy-Six Trombones
Keep-A-Hoppin’
Bali Hai
It’s Legitimate
Slaughter On Tenth Avenue
Hernando’s Hideaway
I Got Rhythm
Camelot
Show Me
The Sound Of Music
El Sombrero

Three For The Price of...Almost None

2011-07-17T00:26:00.004-04:00

Here's a nice thrift shop score - a three disc loss-leader set from Warner Brothers (Warner/Reprise PRO-423, 1970). Loss-leaders were albums sold cheaply (usually $2 for a two-disc set) by mail to promote the label artists. They were generally promoted on the inner sleeves of Warner Brothers albums. This is the only three-disc set of the series. For those of you who own record changers, side 1 is backed with side 6, side 2 with side 5, and side 3 with side 4 for smooth 1-6 flow. More information here about the whole series. The eight-page included booklet is choice, as well, with a rambling 1970 style and short write-ups about each song/artist.

Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Sides 01-02

Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Sides 03-04

Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Sides 05-06

A1	John Gordon, Larry Lipades –	Radio Spot: It's The Plastic	0:60
A2	Faces, The –	Real Good Time	3:59
A3	Black Sabbath –	Paranoid	2:50
A4	Little Feat –	Strawberry Floats	2:21
A5	Hard Meat –	Smile As You Go Under	3:04
A6	Fleetwood Mac –	Tell Me All The Things You Do	4:10
A7	Jimi Hendrix –	Stepping Stone	4:05
B1	John Simon –	The Elves' Song	4:32
B2	Ry Cooder –	Alimony	2:11
B3	Randy Newman –	Let's Burn Down The Cornfield	3:03
B4	Gordon Lightfoot –	Me And Bobbie McGee	3:38
B5	Jimmy Webb –	P.F. Sloan	4:00
B6	Performance –	Harry Flowers	4:00
C1	John Gordon, Larry Lipades –	Radio Spot: Chip Dip	0:60
C2	Little Richard –	I Saw Her Standing There	2:37
C3	Grateful Dead, The –	Sugar Magnolia	3:15
C4	Van Morrison –	Call Me Up In Dreamland	3:52
C5	Kinks, The –	Apeman	4:06
C6	Arlo Guthrie –	Valley To Pray	2:47
C7	Beach Boys, The –	It's About Time	2:56
D1	Youngbloods, The –	It's A Lovely Day	2:35
D2	Jeffrey Cain –	Hounddog Turkey	2:56
D3	Lovecraft –	Love Has Come To Me	3:11
D4	Sweetwater –	Just For You	9:20
E1	Captain Beefheart –	Lick My Decals Off, Baby	2:38
E2	Mothers Of Invention –	Directly From My Heart To You	5:17
E3	Alice Cooper –	Return Of The Spiders	4:25
E4	Frank Zappa –	Would You Go All The Way?	2:30
E5	Beaver And Krause –	Spaced	3:51
E6	Pearls Before Swine –	The Jeweler	2:40
F1	Beaver And Krause –	Sanctuary	1:43
F2	James Taylor –	Lo And Behold	2:34
F3	Harper's Bizarre –	If We Ever Needed The Lord Before	2:57
F4	Van Dyke Parks –	On The Rolling Sea When Jesus Speak To Me	2:25
F5	Persuasions, The –	It's All Right	3:25
F6	Turley Richards –	I Heard The Voice Of Jesus	7:05

Oil Drums - Makes Sense

2011-06-21T23:21:00.006-04:00

Here's a post that combines two of my favorite musical things: odd cover songs and corporate sponsorship of LPs. No date on this disc, but based on the contents it's likely mid-1960's.

A short history of the Esso/Trinidad Steel band is here.

Esso Steel Band - On Top

Side One
Wood In The Fire
The impossible Dream
Voices of Spring
Lara's Theme
Wings of a Dove

Side Tho
Love Is Blue
Dock of the Bay
Eine Kleine
Man and a Woman
Mr. Walker

The Caboose Gets Loose

2011-06-14T00:57:00.013-04:00

Here's a slightly non-traditional bluegrass band album from 1981. Besides the influences sneaking in from 70's pop and rock, it is an Ambisonic Recording (i.e., early surround-sound format). Unfortunately, i don't own any Ambisonic decoding gear, but it sounds fine in stereo.

Loose Caboose - Stay All Night (AMB 5203)

Stay All Night
Someday Soon
Peaceful Easy Felling
Dancing In The meadow
Hobo's Lullaby
Johnson Boys
Kickin' Mule

I've Just Seen A Face
Over The Waterfall
If He's Gone
Midnight Flyer
Sweet Baby James
Orange Blossom Special
Wee Wee Pot

A story from their reunion show 22 years later that also gives details about the formation of the band:

http://www.review-mag.com/archive/590-599/599/LooseCaboose.htm

Trini Meeny Miny Moe

2011-06-06T23:05:00.009-04:00

Here's something refreshing as the heat of summer starts to roll in - Trini Lopez shilling, I mean, being a bonus for buying frosty Fresca. In case you kids can't figure out why that hole is there in the top triangle, it's because back in the day we bought our drinks in glass bottles, and this item hung from the neck of the bottle in the carton. Yes, the fourth track is a commercial jingle.

Trini Lopez - Sings His Greatest Hits

A-Me-Ri-Ca
Kansas City
If I Had A Hammer
The Blizzard Song

And there arose from the Sea, Seven States

2011-05-21T08:22:00.006-04:00

Jumping on the bandwagon here today!

This 4-track recording dates from 1988 or '89, when Sea 7 States was for the second time between drummers. We spent a Saturday goofing off recording, doing some demos of originals and this cover. With the addition of my Korg drum machine, I got to be the full rhythm section.

This remix comes from 2001, when I was trying to get the back catalog mixed and digitized in case the then-current cancer difficulty got me. In retrospect, I should have worked a little harder to tame that Korg.

Sea 7 States - Rapture

You couldn't spell Charleston without "we"

2011-05-18T22:58:00.005-04:00

Here's a bit of a mystery. There's no date on the disc, and a (admittedly brief) search turns up no information on the performer (Dee Dee Geraty) or two of the authors (Pat Wardlaw/Beverly Geraty) other than two possible name matches in some documents referencing some local schools, but Robert Cathcart* (often working with Fud Livingston) is a fairly-well-remembered songwriter in the Charleston area. As heard on this B-side, “Springtime in Charleston” (1947) won first place in a contest held in 1947 by the Charleston Challenges during the Azalea Festival.

Dee Dee plays acoustic guitar and sings in a light soprano these two songs extolling the joys of Charlestowne/Charleston.

Dee Dee Geraty - Olde Charlestowne/Springtime In Charleston

*Donation Announced for Charleston Jazz Initiative

The family of Robert Spann Cathcart Jr. donated a collection of photographs, manuscripts and more than 50 songs (including music manuscripts and recordings) composed by Cathcart to the College of Charleston Charleston Jazz Initiative. The Jazz Initiative is a jazz history and research project administered jointly by the arts management program, School of the Arts, and Avery Research Center. Cathcart was a well-known songwriter in Charleston during the 1920s-1960s. Donation of the collection, which had been organized by Paul Cathcart, the songwriter‚s Atlanta-based son, took place during a formal program held on Tuesday, November 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the McKinley Washington Auditorium at the Avery Research Center, 125 Bull Street.

Robert (Bobby) Spann Cathcart (November 25, 1909 – June 27, 1992) was born in Charleston to Dr. Robert S. Cathcart, surgeon, general practitioner, and professor of surgery at The Medical College (now MUSC) who was instrumental in the building of Roper Hospital. Dr. Cathcart was a son of Col.William R. Cathcart, C.S.A., who fought with distinction at Fort Sumter. Bobby’s mother, Katherine Morrow Cathcart, was descended from families that founded Birmingham, Ala. Cathcart met his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth Hamilton Seabrook, in Charleston. They married in April 1936 and had five children – Elizabeth Seabrook, Robert Spann III, Paul Hamilton, William Richard and John Temple.

As a young child, Cathcart’s musical abilities were encouraged by his mother and Elizabeth O’Neill Verner, prolific artist and mother of his good friend, Dave Verner. One year, as a birthday present for young Bobby, his mother invited the Paul Whiteman Orchestra to perform at their home. The orchestra, a popular band of the day, was performing a concert in Charleston.

Over his songwriting career, which spanned the decades from the 1920s – when American popular song was flourishing – to the 1960s, Cathcart wrote 62 songs. During these years, he wrote songs about the war (“I’m Dreaming of a Soldier”), love and politics, as well as humorous songs and others that extolled the virtues of his beloved Charleston and South Carolina (“I Left My Heart in Charleston”). The best known are those wherein he collaborated with others. These included six songs composed with Joseph (Fud) Livingston, his friend and prolific instrumentalist, songwriter and arranger. The most famous of these collaborations is “Springtime in Charleston” (1947) which, together with their “Saint Michael’s Chimes,” won first and second place, respectively in a contest held in 1947 by the Charleston Challenges during the Azalea Festival. “Sandman’s Lullaby” (1948) was another collaborative work with Livingston and Hank Fort, Nashville native, singer, actress and songwriter.

By 1947, Cathcart conceived a musical comedy about a mulatto who was sadly rejected by both races. The musical includes songs written exclusively by Cathcart and was later completed in 1968 by Ernest Travis, leader of the Charleston Rebel Band at that time. Titled “Lowcountry,” it was never produced.
Cathcart’s own songs often did not have the orchestration, presentation and exposure that professional, nationally known musicians brought to his collaborative efforts. Nevertheless, his songs remain an important collection of Charleston‚s musical and cultural history.

The Robert S. Cathcart Collection will be of interest to cultural historians (particularly those concerned with Charleston and southern history), musicians (notably composers and songwriters), playwrights, ethnomusicologists, musical theater directors, curators and archivists. The collection will be housed in the Avery Research Center archives as part of the Charleston Jazz Initiative Archival Collection at the College of Charleston.

For more information on the collection, contact Avery's archives at 843.953.7609 or Karen Chandler at 843.953.5474 or chandlerk@cofc.edu.

To inquire about donating to the Charleston Jazz Initiative, contact Ashley Smith at 843.953.5348 or smithaj@cofc.edu.

http://news.cofc.edu/2009/11/23/donation-announced-for-colleges-charleston-jazz-initiative/

Buying a house in Dunes West of Mt Pleasant, SC was the worst housing decision that I have ever made.

2011-05-18T18:02:00.001-04:00

Buying a house in Dunes West of Mt Pleasant, SC was the worst housing decision that I have ever made.

I Left My EP in San Francisco

2011-05-09T20:56:00.012-04:00

Here's one of my favorite random ordered-from-the-back-of-a-magazine music purchases of the 80's. It's a compilation EP featuring three San Francisco bands, with each band sharing a member or a few with each other band. The most well-known player is Steve Mckay, who played sax on The Stooge's "Funhouse." We've got a little bit of several things: some 80's impending nuclear apocalypse, some new wave, and some silly Da-Da.

Various Artists - Seaside Curios

Artichokes - Nothing
Steve Mckay's Carnal Kitchen - Ground Zero
Ibbilly Bibilly - Thinking All The Time
Ibbilly Bibilly - Squompy

cross-continental tribute

2011-05-06T22:49:00.007-04:00

Here's a Berkeley, CA band paying tribute to New York graffiti artist Michael Stewart who (according to the sleeve notes) "was beaten to death by New York City Transit Police for spray painting the subway." The A side is a spiffy little new wave rocker, while the B is a little more muted.

The Stickers - Party On The Streets of New York/She Jilted Johnny (1984)

I live in a car (down by the river)

2011-05-01T21:08:00.007-04:00

This is one of my favorite poppy tracks that WUTK had in rotation back in the day. The single came out in 1983, but was still in rotation when I started doing regular air shifts in 1984. The Wrong Band was from Nashville, so that makes them "localish." Here's a short blog post about them on The Other Side of Nashville.

The Wrong Band - I Live in My Car/Wrong Song

Locker? I Don't Even Know Her.

2011-04-14T00:08:00.008-04:00

In the early 80's I started semi-randomly ordering singles that I saw in magazines such as Trouser Press, The Village Voice, OP, etc. I'll be featuring a few of these in the coming days.

Here's a peppy little new wave single from Mr. Brown Records (1980).

Westside Lockers - Fuchsia Rayon/Song For America (S. O'Neil)

Who's Your Mama?

2011-04-13T19:10:00.010-04:00

Here are a couple of singles that came out of Knoxville recording landmark Big Mama Studios.

First up is the Walker Brothers with their 1978 country-influenced single "I Never Meant To Love You/ Too Much Lovin' (both written by Tim Barrus).

Walker Brothers

Next up is the R&B sound of Player's Choice and their single "Message In The Music/Message In The Music (Instrumental)" (written by Jan Lomax). No date on this one, but based on the label artwork it's likely somewhat later than the Waters Brothers disc.

Players Choice

What's New, Man?

2011-04-10T11:34:00.022-04:00

I met Chris Newman back in the summer of '80 or '81 (it's all starting to blur together) when he and I (and his brother Jeff) all worked as ride operators for the log flume at Silver Dollar City (soon to become Dollywood). At that time Chris wanted to be an R & B singer. We kept in contact (the two brothers played on my rec league basketball team for a couple of seasons) and a couple of years later Chris asked me if I would help him record some demos. He showed up at my house with a handful of country songs that he wanted to record (so I sent the Motown rhythm section home). Using the sound on sound function of my Teac reel to reel we put together a 4 or 5 song demo tape for Chris to use to shop for gigs, etc. At some point circa '85 or '86 I played one of the songs on my Blast From The Past show on WUTK-FM (I claimed it was a lost Byrds-era country-rock hybrid).

I got kind of musically busy by the mid 80's and only sporadically had contact with Chris. Eventually we ran nto each other and he slipped me a cassette and this single. Chris had hooked up with Nashville gospel producer Joel Gentry and his Skylite label to create a series of southern-style gospel recordings.

I can't find the cassette any more, but I recently uncovered a stash of local 45s, including this one from Chris. To my ears, the A side is the uptempo winner. The B side is good as well, but marred by the anti-science/anti-evolution portion of the lyrics (as well as a weird vocal tic that I have never heard him use on any other recording. Maybe it's something that his producer suggested).

Chris, if you're out there, gimme a shout!

Chris Newman - Singin' Shoutin' Praises To The Lord/Undivided Attention

Inside Youth Culture

2011-04-08T19:35:00.004-04:00

I have to confess - I have no idea who the band (86) is on this single from 1984. None of the names of the songwriters (Koshewa, McNeilly, Schenk) rings a bell. They are published by Bent Music (ASCAP).

This is release number three from OHP Records. The sound is a little muddy (maybe a cassette four track?) - I broke my own blog rule and applied a little EQ to it to try to make it more listenable.

86 - Youth Culture b/w Inside

More inanimate object love

2011-04-06T22:52:00.003-04:00

Here's another in the "early Knoxville alternative music 7" record" series.

The Manboys appear to be three brothers (or perhaps just three guys selected for the band because they have the last name): Nathan, Bill, and James Dungan. Hector Qirko produced the single which was released in 1982 as OHP001 on OHP Records of Knoxville, TN (more from OHP in later posts). The B side is my winner on this disc - a fast ska tune that is an ode to a postage stamp.

The Manboys - Waiting in the Wings/You're a Stamp

Video killed the ...er, 45 RPM star?

2011-04-03T13:21:00.006-04:00

I first encountered the excellent song "Stop Sign" on WIMZ-FM's Waves show hosted by Jeff Huggins (I still have the cassette somewhere) but I didn't realize that it was by a local band until I stumbled across the 45 a couple of years later (likely at WUTK-FM). Even later I discovered a second single/EP by the band. The five songs on two discs show an interesting blend of (or perhaps struggle between) the nascent New Wave and artier prog-rock stylings (similar to artists like Roxy Music and 801).

I only know for certain one of the members of the band, but the names listed as songwriters on the five tracks are P(aul) Jones, J Davis, K Daverman, and D Griffith. No dates are listed, but this is very early 1980s. Recorded at Big Mama's Studios in Knoxville.

Video - singles

Stop Sign
Prelude To Dreams
Holly
My Mind
Blue Jean Censors

Knock knock. Who's there? Beatles!

2011-03-27T23:29:00.009-04:00

I love this sort of thing (this sort of thing being knock off albums) and I especially like knock-off Beatles albums. Fairly obviously designed to fool parents trying to buy the latest English sensation for their kid too young to shop for him/herself, they range from execrable to not bad. This one is somewhere in the middle, with the actual Beatles covers being the least interesting.
I especially appreciate the way that they incorporate Beatles suggestions ("whooo", "holding your hand", etc.) into their "original" songs. Apparently this collection of tracks has been released under a couple of different band names/album titles, including Billy Pepper & the Pepperpots and The Pop Machine.

Beats!!!! - The Merseyside Sound
Stereo Spectrum Records SDLP-170 (Pickwick International, Inc.)

I Want To Hold Your Hand
This Is What I Mean
Tell Me I'm The One
Joshua
Maybe I Will
I Saw Her Standing There
Seems To Me
Got To get Another Girl
Your Kind Of Love
There I Go

"In Authentiphonic Stereo Process"

apply topically

2011-03-15T22:42:00.007-04:00

This might be the only internet mention of this single (I was only willing to go about ten pages into Google, though). Cathy Kinsman put out an album in Canada in 1981 (the A side of this 1980 single was on the album) but it's the B side that caught my eye first - it's a current events song about the Iran hostage crisis of the late 70's. [edit: further perusal of the listed credits on the album indicates that maybe The Hostage Song (Fly Free Away) lost its topical title when the album came out (as the hostages had by then been released) and was included as simply Fly Free Away.] She's got a thing about flying, apparently. Make of that what you will.

Cathy Kinsman - The Hostage Song (Fly Free Away)/Flying So High

How Children Were Punished in the 60's

2011-02-20T23:37:00.000-05:00

While this LP has been in my family for as long as I can remember (residing in my Grandmothers console stereo) before playing it recently I did not have any memory of its contents. After playing it...it still doesn't ring a bell. Still, it's got a cool cover, with the three disembodied heads of happy children, what appear to be three organ pipes just standing around, and a book of music drawn by someone who once might have seen some actual sheet music but who otherwise doesn't know anything about music. Seriously, that first measure has 2.5 beats, the second has 5 beats (and a staccato half note), the third measure has four beats, the fourth has - well, I can't count the beats, because there are some random dots (a colon, maybe?) in there that wouldn't normally mean anything, and there's also a random floating sharp. I won't even get into the incorrect note drawings.

These are mostly very short retellings of the classic fairy tales with musical accompaniment (including what appear to be original mini-songs).

I kind of like the square dances bit, and I sincerely hope that Punchy The Clown was the theme song for a TV show (but I can't find anything on the intertubes to confirm or deny that hope).

Children's Hour of Songs and Stories - Bravo Theatre Players & Orchestra (International Award Series AKS-112)

The Story of Cinderella
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Robin Hood
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Alice in Wonderland

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
Square Dances For Children
Punchy The Clown
Peter Pan

The Moon's The North Wind's Cooky

2011-02-19T22:59:00.015-05:00

Until I picked this album out of a pile (based mostly on the artwork) I had never heard of Vachel Lindsay. Do yourself a favor and look him up, if for no other reason than being able to win the Jeopardy category "Poets Who Committed Suicide By Drinking Lysol." Wikipedia notes that he "is considered the father of modern singing poetry, as he referred to it, in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted," and that's what we have on this posthumous 1958 album. As Vachel died in 1931, you can expect somewhat less-than-perfect audio quality from the original recordings. Fortunately the words are included, though the album can certainly be appreciated by just letting the sound of the words wash over you. (As for the words themselves - The Congo, particularly, is still a controversial piece. I suggest some additional reading to get the full context. Consider the period in which it was recorded.)

Vachel Lindsay Reading The Congo, Chinese Nightingale, and Other Poems (Caedmon TC 1041)

Poems:

The Congo
The Flower-Fed Buffaloes
The Mysterious Cat
General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
The Moon's The North Wind's Cooky
The Chinese Nightingale

From the rear cover:

Fa So La-La Means I Love You

2011-02-18T10:29:00.007-05:00

Piccolo Spoleto 2010 saw its first-ever Sacred Harp singing at Gage Hall. Well-known singers from the eastern seaboard, the southern US, and overseas joined together with an overflow crowd to sing this traditional a capella music (see fasola.org for details). This is not a rehearsed performance - a rotating cast of song leaders (volunteers from the singers) calls a song from the book and then leads it. Thus, every Sacred Harp singing is different.

I long-ago promised to post these tracks, but they went into hiding on a crashed hard-drive for a while.

This is music best experienced live (it's a surround-sound experience - maybe I'll remix them into quad someday), but these are pretty decent recordings.

Charleston Sacred Harp at Piccolo Spoleto 2010 session 01
Charleston Sacred Harp at Piccolo Spoleto 2010 session 02
Charleston Sacred Harp at Piccolo Spoleto 2010 session 03
Charleston Sacred Harp at Piccolo Spoleto 2010 session 04

Merry Christmas to All

2010-12-25T14:37:00.006-05:00

It wouldn't be Christmas without some tunes from Conniff.
This has been reissued on CD, but the running order is different, (and possibly the versions, as well).

The Ray Conniff Singers - Christmas With Conniff

1. "Here Comes Santa Claus" 2:25
2. "Winter Wonderland" 2:39
3. "Rudolph,the Red-Nosed Reindeer" 2:13
4. "Christmas Bride" 2:53
5. "Sleigh Ride" 2:31
6. "Greensleeves (What Child is This?)" 2:32
7. "Jingle Bells" 2:45
8. "Silver Bells" 2:30
9. "Frosty the Snowman" 2:21
10. "White Christmas" 2:49
11. "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" 2:29
12. "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)" 2:49

Roger, Roger.

2010-12-24T21:41:00.007-05:00

Great cover art on this one - front and back. It's a big ol' thick gatefold cover, as well, with some liner notes and the complete lyrics to the included songs.

Roger Williams With The Concert Grand Orchestra Directed by Frank Hunter & Marty Gold - Christmas Time (Kapp KS-3048, Stereo, 1959).

Roger Williams - Christmas Time

1. Silent Night
2. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
3. Winter Wonderland
4. We Three Kings Of Orient Are; The First Noel; Away In A Manger; Angels We Have Heard On High
5. Deck The Hall
6. Adeste Fideles
7. White Christmas
8. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
9. Christmas Song
10. O Holy Night; Joy To The World; It Came Upon The Midnight Clear; O Sanctissima
11. Jingle Bells
12. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

What a Bunch of Brassholes

2010-12-23T21:49:00.002-05:00

The Annapolis Brass Quintet -The Spirit of Christmas Brassed

Crisp English Carol Medley/Adeste Fideles/Joy to the World/El Cant Dels Ocells/Swiss Chansons/The Twelve Days of Christmas/O Come, Emanueal/O Spanish Medley/The First Nowell/Good King Wenceslas/O Holy Night/Von Himmel Hoch, Da Komm'ich Her/We Wish You a Merry Christmas

annapolisbrass.com

Report from the war zone

2010-12-22T18:19:00.006-05:00

Here's a wounded veteran of the hi-fi format wars - the 7" 45 RPM "album" set.
This set is on beautiful translucent red vinyl.

Robert Shaw Conducts Christmas Hymns And Carols Volume II 45 RPM Album

Robert Shaw conducts Christmas hymns and carols, vol. 2: The Robert Shaw Chorale – Robert Shaw, dir.
RCA Victor « Red Seal Records » WDM 1711 [45rpm x 4, mono, 17cm]
RCA Victor « Red Seal Records » LM 1711 [LP, mono]
RCA « Victrola » VIC 1509

Band 1
1. I saw three ships
2. O Tannenbaum (in German & English)
3. Allons, gay, gay bergeres
4. The holly and the ivy
Band 2
1. Fum, fum, fum (in English)
2. Hacia belé va un borrilo
3. Ya viene la vieja
4. La virgen lava pañales
Band 3
1. The cherry tree carol
2. Mary had a baby
3. So Blest a Sight
Band 4
1. How unto Bethlehem
2. A virgin unspotted
3. The twelve days of Christmas

—

Band 5
1. Good King Wenceslas
2. The boar's head carol
3. Christ was born on Christmas day
4. How far is it to Bethlehem
Band 6
1. March of the kings
2. Here, mid the ass and the oxen mild
3. Touro-louro-louro
Band 7
1. Carol of the birds
2. O magnum mysterium
Band 8
1. What child is this
2. Masters in this hall
3. Break forth, o beauteous, heavenly light
Performers:
The Robert Shaw Chorale
Evelyn Aring (soprano), Yvonne Ciannella (soprano), Marjean Moore (soprano), Louise Marale (soprano), Lois Winter (soprano), Florence Kopleff (contralto), Russell Hammer (tenor). Clayton Krehbiel (tenor), Russell Oberlin (tenor), Farrold Stephens (tenor), Walrer Galjour (baritone), Calvin Marsh (baritone), Thonas Pyle (baritone), Peter Maravell (bass)
Robert Shaw, cond.

Recording site and date:
Unknown (Manhattan Center, New York City, USA ?) [ca 1952];
Rel.: 1952 (RCA), 1970 (Victrola)

The 45rpm release includes four discs: Nos 49-3947, 49-3948, 49-3949, 49-3950.
Also called "Merry Christmas from Robert Shaw", "Christmas Greetings from Robert Shaw" and in 1970, "Now We Go A-Caroling: A Christmas Sing-In". A subset of this recording, with some additional tracks, was released as "Songs for Christmas Time". This recording is included in the Musical Heritage Society/BMG 1994 re-issue called "Christmas with the Robert Shaw Chorale". (from Robert Shaw Discography: www.rainwaterreptileranch.org/scr/rs.html)

You gotta have faith

2010-12-20T18:33:00.005-05:00

I believe that "lush" is the word that we're looking for here.
This is another one that I likely won't listen to on my own time, but look at that art!

Percy Faith - Music Of Christmas

Joy to the World
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night)
Deck the Halls (Welsh)
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Good King Wenceslas, (Piae Cantiones, 1582)
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (adapted by W. H. Cummings from Mendelssohn's Festgesang for the Gutenberg Festival)
The First Nowell (English)
Work(s) Medley: Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming / O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Cantique de Noel for voice & orchestra, "O Holy Night"
Work(s) Medley: The Holly And The Ivy / Here We Go A-Caroling
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (English)
O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fidelis)

North Central High School (IN) 1969 - Ring Christmas Bells

2010-12-19T22:48:00.006-05:00

As far as I can determine North Central High School is located in Indianapolis. I was initially led astray by an Illinois address printed on the label, but that turns out to be the address for the "producer" of this disc, Elvis Hughes, who had his office in Carmi, Ill. (According to one Flicker site, he was much later found naked, tied up and murdered in a nearby town and it remains an unsolved case.)
I don't have a good picture of the disc, but here is the producer's Caddy (and presumably his house) circa the time this album was released:

The disc itself is very good, particularly considering it's a high school production. It appears to be a sampling of all the various choral and music groups of the high school: the Girls Concert Choir, the Descants, the Counterpoints, the Madrigals and Deb Tones, the Music Men, the Girls Ensemble, the Bell Choir, the Orchestra, the N.C. Orchestra, the A Capella Choir, and the Symphonic Band. I have two other discs from NCHS - 1967 (A Festive Christmas) and 1966 (Festival of Carols), so if you're a NCHS alum of one of these ensembles and want your moment of blog fame, contact me in the comments and I'll post those discs, too.

Anyone with more information about this series should feel free to contact me in the comments. How long did this series run? What was the selling price? Where were they recorded? How much will you pay me not to scan and publish the pictures from the back cover?

North Central High School (IN) 1969 - Ring Christmas Bells

Carol of the Bells
White Christmas
African Noel
Gloucestershire Wassail
Coventry Carol
Go Down To Bethlehem
The Gift Carol
Sing Noel
A Christmas Festival

The Bells of Christmas
In Excelsis Deo
The Straw Carol
As It Fell Upon A Night
Merry Christmas One And All
Ring, You Merry Chime
Ring, Christmas bells
Allelujia: Exultate Jublate
Pat-A-Pan Suite

Jingle Bell Jazz

2010-12-18T22:30:00.005-05:00

This album was originally issued in 1962 (with different artwork) and then reissued in 1973 (with the art pictured above). My cassette comes from 1980, so it got another reissue later. Eventually it was combined with a second jazz Christmas album and it was released on CD. Unfortunately, on the CD version some important songs were cut.

This is a dub of the original running order.

Jingle Bell Jazz

A1	Duke Ellington - Jingle Bells
A2	Lionel Hampton - White Christmas
A3	Chico Hamilton - Winter Wonderland
A4	Carmen McRae - The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
A5	Pony Poindexter - Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
A6	Paul Horn - We Three Kings of Orient Are
B1	Dave Brubeck Quartet - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
B2	Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Deck Us All With Boston Charlie
B3	Herbie Hancock - Deck the Halls
B4	The Manhattan Jazz All Stars - If I Were a Bell
B5	Marlowe Morris - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
B6	Miles Davis - Blue XMas (To Whom It May Concern)

Handel With Care

2010-12-17T22:04:00.001-05:00

Here's something older than all of the other Christmas music* on the blog!

(*OK, technically it's not strictly only Christmas music, but it's become almost inextricably-linked with Christmas performances - at least the first part and the famous chorus, anyway).

Great-looking cover art, as well.

Homburg Symphony - Handel's Messiah

Kurt von Baum conducting the Homburg Symphony

Hallelujah

Every Valley Shall Be Exalted

O, Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion

How Beautiful Are The Feet of Them That Preach the Gospel of Peace

Why Do the Nations

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye My People

He Trusted In God

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

The Trumpet Shall Sound

Amen

A Good(two)years later

2010-12-16T23:36:00.004-05:00

Still in the "parent's music" mode for Goodyear in 1967.
The cover art gets a nice style update, though.

Goodyear - Great Songs Of Christmas Volume 7

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Tony Bennett)

Toyland (Sally Ann Howes)

The Christmas I Spend With You (Robert Goulet)

Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly (The Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell Conductor)

Do You Hear What I Hear (Diahann Carroll)

The Christmas Song (Tony Bennett)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Steve Lawrence)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (The Brothers Four)

The First Noel (John Davidson)

The Lord's Prayer (Barbra Streisand)

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (The Harry Simeone Chorale)

Home for the Holidays (Jerry Vale)

O Little Town of Bethlehem (Sally Ann Howes)

Let Me Be the First (To Wish You Merry Christmas) (Steve Lawrence)

Patapan (The Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell Conductor)

O Come All Ye Faithful (Jerry Vale)

Here We Come A-Caroling (The New Christy Minstrels)

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (John Davidson)

Christmas Is (The Harry Simone Chorale)

Silent Night (The New Christy Minstrels)

It Was a Very Goodyear (This title is a retread)

2010-12-16T22:56:00.004-05:00

Goodyear - Great Songs of Christmas, Album 5, By Great Artists of Our Times
Columbia Special Products #CSP 238 Stereo

From right before they started getting some moderately-hip performers, this is heavy on 60's "parent's music", though Sammy is swingin'.

1. O Holy Night - Andy Williams
2. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Andre Kostelanetz
3. Caroling, Caroling - Anna Maria Alberghetti
4. Jolly Old St. Nicholas - Maurice Chevalier
5. Little Drummer Boy - Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra
6. Star Carol - Anna Maria Alberghetti
7. We Three Kings Of Orient Are - Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing / Angels We Have Heard On High - Andre Kostelanetz
9. Silent Night - Maurice Chevalier
10. The Lord's Prayer - Richard Tucker
11. Sleigh Ride - Steve Lawrence & Eddie Gorme
12. The Twelve Days Of Christmas - Dinah Shore
13. O Little Town of Betheleham - Richard Tucker
14. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming - Diahann Carroll
15. Some Children See Him - Diahann Carroll
16. O Come All Ye Faithful / The First Noel - Danny Kaye
17. Silver Bells - Doris Day
18. Jingle Bells - Sammy Davis, Jr.
19. It's Christmas Time All Over The World - Sammy Davis, Jr.

smoooove

2010-12-14T18:17:00.004-05:00

A pretty mellow affair from Beach-Boy-For-A-Blink-Of-An-Eye Campbell in this compilation of previously-recorded tracks released in 1985.

Glen Campbell - The Night Before Christmas

1. The Christmas Song
2. Blue Christmas
3. White Christmas
4. Pretty Paper
5. Silent Night
6. I'll be Home for Christmas
7. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
8. The Night before Christmas
9. There's No Place Like Home.

Orchestra, Glee Club, and Soloists!

2010-12-14T07:38:00.008-05:00

Great Norman Rockwell cover on this one.
This Waring is much peppier (and therefore much better) than the caroling one posted a few days ago, at least on side one.

Fred Waring And The Pennsylvanians - Twas The Night B efore Christmas Decca DL 8171

Jingle Bells

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (maybe the strangest version ever - recommended to Spike Jones fans)

Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)

Beautiful Saviour

The First Nowell

O, Little Town of Bethlehem

Carol of the Bells

Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night)

Oh Gathering Clouds

Silent Night

(and I wish I had this version of the album)

2010-12-12T23:28:00.002-05:00

Here's a little something for you traditional Christmas hymn singers on a Sunday.

George Beverly Shea - Christmas Hymns

O Little Town of Bethlehem

I Wonder As I Wander

Go Tell It on the Mountain / Put Christ Back into Christmas

O Men from the Fields

Once in Royal David's City

Away in the Manger

O Holy Night

Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne

Sleep Precious Babe

The Birthday of a King

Silent Night

but we digress...

2010-12-11T22:54:00.007-05:00

Dry Branch Fire Squad - On Tour

Here's a good little indie bluegrass album from this long running band.
I could have done without the cornpone humor, but that's part of the shtick.
As far as I can tell this album isn't commercially available - it's not even listed on their website.

Label: Gordo 001
Release Date: 1985

A-1. Hot Corn, Cold Corn

A-2. Dak's Nursery Song

A-3. Lonesome River

A-4. Radio S-A-V-E-D

A-5. Touch the Hem

B-1. Bluegrass Breakdown

B-2. Black Lung

B-3. Whitehouse Blues

B-4. Fox on the Run

What Are you Waring Today?

2010-12-11T16:32:00.007-05:00

I was born in Pennsylvania, but didn't stay around long enough to get anything more than a genetic love of the Steelers. I like to think that if I had grown up there I would have run across Fred and his band, perhaps in some VHF hall. [Oh, and the Waring Blendor? (sic) Named after Fred].

Today's selection comes from a cassette that MCA put out in 1992, which is a reissue of the 1966 album.

Fred Waring His Pennsylvanians - A Caroling We Go

A Caroling We Go

Carol, Brothers, Carol

Away In The Manger, What Child Is This, Come Dear Children

Some Children See Him (Soloist: Jim Wheeler)

Bright, Bright the Holly Berries

Mary's Baby

Be Joyful, Be Merry

Season's Greetings (From A Caroling We Go), Christmas Roundelay

O Listen to the Angels' Song

Angels We Have Heard on High, O Come O Come Emmanuel, Jubilate Deo

It Was A Night of Wonder

King Herod's Black Decree

I Wonder As I Wander

Caroling, Caroling

2010-12-10T18:45:00.012-05:00

This is one of the first volume (1963) in RCA's "For A Musical Merry Christmas" series of privately-distributed albums. (Volume Two (BF Goodrich) was posted last year.) It seems that there are at least two versions of this album. The BF Goodrich version (pictured) seems to be the most common. The version that I have states "Specially Produced for Acme Markets by RCA Victor" on the rear. The BF Goodrich version shares only three exact tracks with this version (The Ames Brothers, Eddie Fisher, and Jam Peerce) though they share five artists.

Acme - For A Musical Merry Christmas

Good King Wenceslas - The Ames Brothers
O Little Town of Bethlehem - Mario Lanza
The Little Drummer Boy - Hugo and Luigi Children's Chorus
We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Marian Anderson
Silent Night - Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra and Chorus
The Twelve Days of Christmas - The Ralph Hunter Choir

Angels We Have heard On High -The Robert Shaw Chorale
The Nutcracker Suite: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy - Leopold Stokowski and His Symphony Orchestra
Gesu Bambino - Jan Peerce, Tenor; The Columbus Boychoir
The Christmas Festival - Boston Pops Orchestra. Arthur Fiedler, Conductor

Drove right past Thursday

2010-12-10T18:23:00.006-05:00

Wow, I had the whole day off Thursday and still managed not to post.

Here's another in the Firestone Christmas LP series.

Firestone - Your Favorite Christmas Music Volume 6

Jack Jones • Roberta Peters • Vienna Choir Boys With Irwin Kostal Conducting TheFirestone Orchestra And Chorus (I didn't know that Firestone had its own orchestra! I assume the folks from the plant got paid overtime to rehearse after they got off their shift on the tire building drum.)

Medley: Christmas is Coming/Adeste Fideles/Angels We Have Heard On High
The First Noel
O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree)
O Little Town of Bethlehem
And The Glory of the Lord
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
This is That Time of the Year
Medley: Fum, Fum, Fum/O Come, Little Children/Deck The Hall
Dance of the Christmas Doll
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Alleluia
Silent Night
Medley: Christmas Is Coming/We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Dinah? Sure!

2010-12-08T22:10:00.003-05:00

With a little help from Chevrolet Dinah Shore gets a four song 33 RPM 7" EP of Christmas songs to add to her discography.

She's just so nice and friendly sounding.

DINAH SHORE - SEASON'S BEST FROM YOUR CHEVROLET DEALER

SILENT NIGHT
THE COVENTRY CAROL
YOU MEET THE NICEST PEOPLE
JINGLE BELLS

Blogmass gets some get up and (cit)go

2010-12-07T23:31:00.006-05:00

I thought (based on my admittedly fairly-limited sample size) that branded Christmas albums went out of style after the 70's. Well, here's one from reasonably-recent history - 1995. Of course, by the 90's vinyl was fading fast, so this one's on cassette.

Citgo Country Christmas

1. Christmas Time -- John Anderson
2. Winter Wonderland -- Randy Travis
3. Blue Christmas -- K.T. Oslin
4. I Only Want You For Christmas -- Alan Jackson
5. Mary, Did You Know? -- Kathy Mattea
6. Country Christmas -- Ricky Van Shelton
7. What Child Is This? -- The Judds
8. Frosty The Snowman -- Sammy Kershaw
9. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! -- Lorrie Morgan
10. Tennessee Christmas -- Alabama