Outside of the Philadelphia area, many people probably haven't heard of Larry Ferrari. This talented chap played the organ at several differnt Philly churches and on many local Philly television shows. "The Larry Ferrari Show" began on Sunday nights in 1954, with Larry looking directly into the camera, playing pop favorites on the organ, and ending each show with a religious selection. His final broadcast was in 1997 - a remarkable 43 year run for a guy and his organ!
This album was created in the early 1960s and features Larry playing his favorite Christmas songs on the Rodgers Theatre Organ. If you ever roller skated to Christmas organ music at any point in your life, this is what it sounded like!
Each song has that wonderful Wurlitzer sound to it and Larry plays a mean organ! This is especially true in the several medleys performed on the album. He zips through "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Jingle Bells", and "Frosty The Snowman" so vividly I expected to look outside and see snow, Christmas decorations, and reindeer in my lawn (actually I do... my neighbor's still haven't taken down their Christmas gear yet!).
This was an especially good year for Christmas organ albums for me. I've collected in the past six months:
- Jimmy Smith - Christmas '64
- Two Ton Baker - Christmas Party
- Bob Ralston - Christmas Hymns & Carols
- Lenny Dee - Happy Holi-Dee (a full stereo version)
- Dick Leibert - The Happy Hits Of Christmas
- George Wright At The Wurlitzer Pipe Organ - Merry Christmas
- A Kimball Christmas
- Jimmy McGriff - Christmas With
The good folks over at the Department Of Records blog were kind enough to post this album over at FaLaLaLaLa.com last December. If you hurry over to the DOR blog, you might catch a Christmas MP3 leftover or two. Thanks DOR!
On to the next new Christmas album in my collection...
Capt
