I tried to stay away from the Christmas organ & chimes albums this year. I have several boxed up and I passed on quite a few while searching the vinyl dustbins around my home. However when this one came around on eBay this past year, I jumped at the chance to... ahem... hear the bells!
This album was released on Word Records back in 1959. At the time, several Christmas albums were released utilizing that under appreciated instrument - the carillon bells. For more on the carillon, here's a search for several albums I've reviewed, and links to another, and another, and one more. However, this album is quite different than most.
The instrument played here is the symphonic carillon aka the "electronic" carillon. Invented by Paul Rowe of Maas-Rowe Carillons, this was the first carillon organ to employ struck metal "miniature bells" to produce an authentic live bell sound.
Add Del Roper to the mix. Born into a religious musical family, he was a pro on the pump organ by the age of 8. His musical education took him to Denver (where he learned the drums, percussion, the marimba, and the vibraharp) and eventually California where he played at various churches, public concerts, radio stations, and symphony orchestra.
At the beginning of the 1950s, Roper began to associate himself with the carillon and became a "music engineer" for "a major manufacturer of organ chimes and carillons" (quoting from the back cover verbatim). He soon went into hiding for fear of his life (just seeing if you were paying attention!).
On this album, Roper's many musical talents are put to work. However, it's the Amazing Masons that sealed the deal for me:
Adding these two fun people to the mix can make any album or party even more special, wouldn't you agree?
Known throughout the world for their Swiss hand bell virtuosity, the bells you see in the picture date back to 1847. The pure sound these instruments make is just the icing on the cake. Mix in Roper's skilled arrangements of songs (blending all the sounds perfectly) and this is a top rate Christmas organ album!
The album pretty much sticks to the standard Christmas carol fare - after all, Word Records was, is, and always will be a religious label. All the favorites are done in a reverent yet jovial way. However, the very first song is a medley of "Jingle Bells & White Christmas" (two secular songs on a Christian record label?) that is worth the price of admission - great stuff!
To quote Scrooge: "Clash, clang, hammer; ding, dong, bell! Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash! Oh, glorious, glorious!":
Del Roper & The Mason Swiss Bell Ringers - I Heard The Bells
Happy listening...
Capt
In March of this year, I added my first Christmas carillon album. Two months later, I purchased my second Christmas carillon CD.
We now fast forward to today and here is the third Christmas carillon album for my collection! Recorded in 1955, this one features a gent by the name of Paul Mickelson.
Not much is known (or at least available online) about Mickelson's early life. We do know that he was a talented musician and a devout Christian by the time he was asked by Billy Graham to join his evangelical ministries as an organist in 1950.
In 1953, Billy Graham Ministries released a 78 RPM entitled "Wonderful Peace" that features Mickelson playing Christmas carols on side two. If any can locate a copy of that one, please let us know!
Two years later, Mickelson got a recording contract from RCA Victor. He released two albums in 1955; the first was Inspired by the lush sounds of Jackie Gleason, Mantovani, and the like, Mickelson gathered his orchestra and recorded his first LP "Sacred Songs With Singing Strings" (Christian elevator music? WOW!). The second album was this Christmas album you see before you.
This album gives us 25 (yep, twenty-five) tracks - most under 1:30 in length. And as the cover states "Paul Mickelson Playing Symphonic Carillon And Vibraharp". They ain't lying. Mickelson mixes it up, one track strictly a carillon rendition, the next strictly vibraharp, the next a combination of both. If you think he stops there, wait. Mickelson adds just strings in some tracks, others a full orchestra.
It's jumbled, it's simple, it's dynamic, it's blase, it's festive, it's vibrant, it's over?, it's never lacking for diversity, that's for sure!
My favorites included "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" (strictly on the carillon), "Joy To The World" and "Away In A Manger" (carillon / vibraharp combos), "Deck The Halls" (strictly strings), and "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" (strictly vibraharp). The standout track is "Jesu Bambino" where Mickelson combines all these elements into one very nicely done song.
Mickelson had found his calling. He wanted to continue to record Christian music. In 1957, he said goodbye to the Billy Graham Ministries and focused on his last album for RCA: "The Music Of Paul Mickelson: Orchestra With Singing Strings". In 1958, he became vice-president and music director at Word Records, where he orchestrated albums for many Christian artists in addition to producing several instrumental albums of his own. Some time in 1959, he helped an artist named Ralph Boggs record a Christmas album entitled "Love Came Down At Christmas"
Mickelson then founded Supreme Records in Glendale, California in 1961. He helped more Christian artists to record albums (including Pat Boone) and still found time to release his own instrumental albums as well. Renaming his orchestra "The Supreme Strings", he released dozens of albums with the number 20 in the title ("20 Inspiration Favorites", "20 Symphonic Songs Of Inspiration", and one Christmas album entitled "20 Christmas Favorites").
Supreme Records was sold to Zondervan Books in 1973 and Mickelson presumably settled into retirement (not much out there online I'm afraid). Mickelson lived a good long life and died at the age on 73 on October 21, 2001.
This album was downloaded over at BongoBells - and whaddya know? It's STILL available to download over there! Thanks Bongo!
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
In a previous post, I mentioned that Christmas carillon music was beginning to become a subgenre in my Christmas collection. I also mentioned in the same post about the origins of this album:
"Last December, I've began searching my local Goodwill, Salvation Army, antique stores, vinyl resale shops, and garage sales for unique Christmas music that I can digitally transfer over.
"I found a RCA Victor "Living Stereo" album cover entitled 'A Christmas Sound Spectacular' by John Klein at a local Goodwill (no record enclosed unfortunately) that piqued my interest. Thankfully, I found a site that sells this very CD and ordered up a copy."
The site mentioned above is Schulmerich Bells of Sellersville, PA. Not only was this album recorded at their factory back in 1959, they used the 1,453-bell Carillon Americana, the largest carillon in the world at the time, for the recording with two manual keyboards on the carillon and a pedal clavier controlling all the bells (and at different pitches!).
John Klein was an organist, pianist, and musical director for radio dramas and documentary movies. His talents took him to Europe where he played many music festivals and the Brussels World Fair (where he played the carillon twice a day) in 1958. Klein owned a nearby antique store in Rahns, PA when he was asked to participate in this project.
In the previous album of Christmas carillon music I reviewed, it was simply a sound engineer standing in a garden, recording the carillonneur playing Christmas music.
This album is completely night and day from the other album. It adds an orchestra, chorus, and arrangements that keeps you guessing. Don't be surprised if you actually get this album and hear elements of Jackie Gleason, Henry Mancini, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Esquivel, and Billy May. All these elements greatly add to this album and can make for a definite change of pace.
Two standout tracks are "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "Frosty The Snowman" thanks in large part to their fun, fast arrangements. The other standout track, "Winter Wonderland", benefits from its big band feel and the carillons themselves which add a snowy touch to the song. If there was an instrument more perfectly suited for "Winter Wonderland", it's the carillon... I checked the window several times to see if snow was falling!
I'm glad I found the cover back in the Goodwill months ago... you can't go wrong with this album!
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
Here's a new subgenre of Christmas music that I've added to my collection - Christmas carillon music.
Last December, I've began searching my local Goodwill, Salvation Army, antique stores, vinyl resale shops, and garage sales for unique Christmas music that I can digitally transfer over.
I found a RCA Victor "Living Stereo" album cover entitled "A Christmas Sound Spectacular" by John Klein at a local Goodwill (no record enclosed unfortunately) that piqued my interest. Thankfully, I found a site that sells this very CD and ordered up a copy.
I then found this album over at Vinyl Orphanage last December when they shared a bunch of wonderful Christmas albums.
Down in Lake Wales, Florida is the Bok Tower Gardens (now Bok Sanctuary) - a sprawling area of bliss established by noted American author Edward Bok and designed by the famous landscape artist Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr.. After the last garden was planted and watered, Bok sensed something was missing. Looking at the sky, he envisioned a great tower with carillons that would ring gentle music through the whole area.
Since its completion in 1929, the Bok Tower has had only three carillonneurs - Anton Brees from 1929 to 1967, Milford Myhre from 1968 to 2004, and William De Turk from 2004 to the present.
Recorded in 1985, Milford Myhre plays a standard set of traditional Christmas music that features old standards like "Good King Wenceslas", "Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella", and "Silent Night". My favorite track on the album is "Carol Of The Bells" for obvious reasons. There is a song on the album entitled "Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance?" that is dull and boring but gets a mention for "Best Song Title On The Album".
Overall, it's a nice change of pace that lasts for about 15 minutes. Any further prolonged listening will make you go insane, causing you to either reside in a bell tower or climbing one with a rifle looking to pick people off.
When I get the other Christmas carillon album that I ordered - "A Christmas Sound Spectacular" - expect a full review (lock the guns now).
THIS JUST IN: Pastor McPurvis informs me that since this album is still for sale at the Bok Tower Gardens gift shop, he removed the album from Vinyl Orphanage. Try e-mailing the gift shop to get the album.
On to the next new Christmas CD in my collection...
Capt
