This EP was given to me by my in-laws when they were cleaning out their closets. It was a popular record in their house at Christmas time and knew I might enjoy this. ARE YA KIDDIN'?
Okay... if this looks familiar, you can thank our friend Ernie for that - his devotion to finding most of The Three Suns Christmas catalog and sharing it at his blog is legendary. He could very well be the Fourth Sun!
I originally thought Ernie had offered this EP at one time or another but it seems that this EP was never offered. So to complete his collection (and the other Three Suns Christmas completists out there), I'm offering it in honor of the hardest working man in Christmas sharity show business - the one and only Ernie (Not Bert).
By the way, Ernie has started sharing out all new stuff at his blog - you'd better insure your clicking finger first and head over there. Best of luck with the 2008 downloading season!
At first glance, this may seem to be "just another Christmas organ LP". However, if you know your Christmas organ music like our friend Ernie (not Bert), then you know how totally wrong that statement is.
First, let us travel back to an earlier time - December 9, 2005 to be precise. It was on this date that Ernie posted his first Dick Liebert Christmas LP - a great album entitled "The Happy Hits Of Christmas" showcasing Liebert's virtuoso on the organ he called home for many years at the Radio City Music Hall in NYC.
If Ernie never posted another Liebert album ever again, this would have been more than sufficient. But come onnnn... this is Ernie we're talking about! Back on December 3, 2006 (scroll down to the very bottom and work your way up), Ernie had himself a field day with Dick Liebert.
I probably lost about 50% of my readers who are clicking on all those links. Which is why I'm hesitant to post this next link. However, it's for the album I'm reviewing at this very moment so I'm forced to post the link (and watch more readers head for Ernie).
Want further proof that all roads lead to Ernie? Try a Google search on Dick Liebert and look at the second link provided.
There's not much out there on Dick Liebert which is a pity. This is a man who was hired by Radio City Music Hall to be one of its main organists shortly after they installed the famous WurliTzer organ - a job he held from the 1930s well into the 1960s.
What's left are these amazing albums - including the Westminster LP pictured above. What's different about this album from all the rest is Liebert wasn't playing with a home field advantage. This album was recorded behind the Mighty WurliTzer at the Byrd Theater in Richmond, VA.
Is everyone back from clicking all those links? Does everyone have this downloaded? Good...
TRACK REVIEWS:
1.) Sleigh Ride If there was ever a song made for the Mighty WurliTzer, it's this one... amazing sound!
2.) White Christmas Liebert plays this rather solemnly but the genius of Irving Berlin shines through.
3.) Winter Wonderland If you don't pick up on the theme from the get go, this one's a little rushed and muddled.
4.) Jingle Bells Liebert starts this one on a trot, slows down the tempo at the 1/2 mile marker, then finishes fast and strong to the wire.
5.) I'll Be Home for Christmas I swear I heard a theremin in here - ghostly version that grows on me with repeated listenings!
6.) Parade of the Wooden Soldiers Whenever I hear orchestral versions of this song, I'm immediately turned off by it. Whenever I hear this song on the organ (especially the WurliTzer), it takes on a whole different quality I tune into. Wonderful stuff.
7.) The Skater's Waltz Images of roller rinks, ice ponds, Olympic figure skaters, several cartoons, and some bad TV variety magicians come to mind when I hear this song. I want this song played next as a "couples only" skate.
8.) Home for the Holidays Man, this one had me singing along... follow the bouncing ball, folks!
9.) Santa Claus is Coming to Town The song has all the feel of Santa's workshop as elves get ready for the big day.
10.) Christmas Fantasy - O Little Town of Bethlehem / Silent Night / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Three standards linked together. The best part for me is the improvisation Liebert plays as he links "O Little Town" and "Silent Night" - virtuoso stuff!
This is a fine album by Liebert done very early on in his recording career. The Christmas albums he recorded for RCA Victor remain the absolute summit of his days with Nipper and the gang. I'm very partial to "The Happy Hits of Christmas" as Liebert's best work - although I haven't heard the album with all them Rockettes on it so I reserve judgement.
But you can't go wrong with this album. Lots of fresh sounds, wondrous arrangements, and with Liebert at the WurliTzer, you're in for one heck of a ride.
Thanks for keeping the memory of Dick Liebert alive Ernie!
Once again, here is another rescued piece of vinyl from the collection of Ernie (not Bert). This was part of three albums Ernie shared with a Latin feel (heck, just look at that title above!) and this was downloaded on November 30th, 2006 at 8:50 AM.
To quoteth Ernest:
"I guess I should try to squeeze one more Latin-tinged Christmas album here before I move on to something else. This little goody was recorded by a missionary in South America, and he fills it with local songs for the holidays, as well as some familiar Christmas tunes. There is some narration on there as well, my favorite bit being the introduction at the beginning of the LP. That part may make my Christmas CD this year."
Beyond that, good people, there's nothing on the Internet about Bruce Woodman.
However, the narrator Ernie alluded too has a massive presence online. His name is Luis Palau and has been an evangelist for more than 40 years. The author of nearly 50 books, Palau's radio broadcasts in both English and Spanish are heard by millions more on over 2,600 radio stations in 42 countries.
Strangely enough, there is nothing at his website or in his bio that even mentions Bruce Woodman. Therefore, the only info (and mug shot) we have on Woodman is the back cover:
TRACK REVIEWS:
1.) Luis Palau - Introduction 1 "Yes, that's right. It's Christmas time... We would like to take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to transport you to the many lands south of the border." - Sounds like something you'd find on one of Eddie G's comps.
2.) Bruce Woodman - Come All, Ye Shepherds A standard carol with a hint of Latin lilt... Bruce's fine baritone voice shines.
3.) Bruce Woodman - Silent Night Take one tuba, organ, piano, and blend together in equal parts. Still not very Latin.
4.) Luis Palau - Introduction 2 Palau recites the same story Linus used to tell Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about.
5.) Bruce Woodman - En La Noche Los PastoresVelan (The Night Watch Of The Shepherds) Using authentic Latin instruments and singing in Spanish, this song pumps up the Latin content by about 200%.
6.) Lois Hat Vasconez - There's A Song In The Air More like a song in the organ... Vasconez plays beautifully but is it Latin? Judging by my Mexican ears, no.
7.) Luis Palau - Introduction 3 Fifteen seconds of Luis introducing Bruce and his baritone horn.
8.) Bruce Woodman - Salvador Admirable (Wonderful Savior) Just adding the Spanish title to a standard carol doesn't make it Latin. This is getting depressing.
9.) Luis Palau - Introduction 4 Luis announces the arrival of the Three Wise Men and the next song by Bruce.
10.) Bruce Woodman - Blessed Palestine A song about Israel done in a light Latin lilt. This could either be classified as Latin or Israeli music.
11.) Bill Fasig - What Child Is This? Organ and chimes version - I'm still waiting for the maracas and marimba...
12.) Bruce Woodman - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear Bruce is back with his baritone horn... and I'm looking for some Tito Puente or Celia Cruz to pep me up.
13.) Luis Palau - Introduction 5 "The next Christmas song is a hymn with a message for our time..." Uh-oh.
14.) Delores Baklenko - It's Christmas Time The first 1:30 of this song is wonderful - not heavy on the Latin or message but the images it conjures is magical. It then switches gears and becomes a song about the manger, baby Jesus, the arrival of the savior - never capturing the magic of the first 90 seconds.
15.) Bill Fasig - The First Noel Bill plays us out on the organ... please pick up your church bulletins and drive safely.
Of the three Latin flavored albums Ernie shared, this album is the worst of the lot. Woodman must have used a Toledo scale on this album - if it got too heavy with Latin lilt, he stripped some of that distinctive sound away, leaving a shell of "Latin" music.
Ernie shared out two other Latin albums of note. The first is CancionesdeNavidad (Spanish Christmas Carols) by a fellow named William Clauson. During the 1950s, Clauson made a name for himself importing music from around the world and presenting it to the nuclear families of the Eisenhower era. This one's just a step above the Woodman album... but not that much.
The second album is Natal No Brasil - an authentic Christmas album from South America. Pick any song from this one and it contains more Latin lilt than Woodman's album altogether. This is the one I would choose from the three - it holds up after several listens.
Checking my notes, I discovered in early 2007, I downloaded several other Latin albums:
Yesterday I was scrounging around in a Goodwill store and found this album - which freaked me out because I was due to write about it today - talk about coincidence!
This was yet another album brought to us by our pal Ernie (downloaded at his blog on November 29th, 2006 at 11:57 PM). Ernie was going through a Latin phase at the time - the other Christmas albums he shared around this time were from Menudo and Charo!
If you're still wondering "who is Jose Melis?", then take a trip with me to a time when there were only five channels on your B&W television.
Jose Melis was born in Havana, Cuba on February 27, 1920. He aspired to be a classical pianist and this took him to the Havana Conservatory of Music. When he was 16, he arrived in the United States and attended the Longy School of Music at first, then the Juilliard School of Music in New York. While he attended Juilliard, Melis began appearing in clubs around New York as a lounge pianist.
World War II broke out and the draft claimed Jose in 1943. His musical abilities were put to good use as the musical director for the USO's New York City branch. This gave Melis his first taste of show business and he played for many of the major stars who volunteered at the Stage Door Canteen.
It was at this club where Melis met a young comic fresh out of the Special Services named Jack Paar. The two hit it off well and they remained in touch over the next several years. When Paar got a shot on radio, he asked Melis to be the musical director. It wouldn't be the last time Paar asked Melis that question.
Paar was the host of two TV game shows - Up With Paar (1952) and Bank On The Stars (1953) and Melis was along for the ride. Their TV career looked bleak when CBS called and asked if they would be interested in a "Today" type of show in the morning. Entitled "The Morning Show", it went on the air in 1954 - their newsreader was Walter Cronkite!
After a failed radio show for ABC in 1956, Paar and Melis were ready to call it quits. They had been together for ten years and weren't getting any big breaks either in radio or TV. That changed when Paar appeared on several episodes of Jack Benny's TV show and made an impression on NBC.
NBC offered Paar "The Tonight Show" in 1957 - which had been floundering since Steve Allen's departure as host. Paar again asked Melis to be the musical director. They grabbed a desk, a few chairs, and set up a format that has been copied on nearly every talk show since.
The show became a phenomenon - the first water-cooler show in TV history. People were staying up late to watch and Paar made sure Melis played a vital part. Paar put Melis' orchestra on the stage - rather than in the pit - and he included Jose in the on-camera patter that became one of the trademarks of the show.
This new exposure brought Jose a recording contract through Seeco Records, a label devoted to Latin music. Melis recorded several albums for Seeco ("The Many Moods of Jose Melis", "Tonight - Jose Melis", "The Jack Paar Show - And Other TV Themes"), including the album you are looking at.
Throughout his career, many people mistook Melis for that other famous Latin musical genius / wizard Esquivel. Whereas Esquivel's music was gigantic, bold, and overwhelming, Melis' music was more sedate, structured, and soothing.
This album is just that - there are accents and flourishes but nothing that goes overboard. Melis plays it cool and calm on such songs as "Winter Wonderland", "Silent Night", and "Adeste Fideles" but doesn't forget to have fun on songs like "Sleigh Ride" (titled "Sleigh Bells"), "Jingle Bells", and "Toy Piano" - yes, a real toy piano was used!
However, the most endearing songs are the two on which Jose talk-sings. "The Story Of Christmas" was first performed on "The Morning Show" four years prior to this recording. Every Christmas since, Melis got mailbags full of requests to repeat the song - this being in the days when everything went out live (no reruns, no TiVo).
The other song is "Merry Christmas Music" - written with his guitar player especially for this album. Melis reminds us that Christmas would be nothing without the music. Amen.
Each one of these are touching - Melis' accent adds to the charm and he holds you spellbound with its simple melody. These will find a home down the road on my annual Christmas CDs.
Several years after the release of this album, Melis switched to Mercury Records and released several other albums while moonlighting as Paar's musical director. It was around this time that the emotional Paar was feuding with Walter Winchell and famously walked off his program over the term "water-closet".
Melis stayed with Paar until the end of their tenure on "The Tonight Show" in 1962. Melis went out on his own, appearing in nightclubs and concert halls alike. He eventually went on tour with Mel Torme, then Frank Sinatra on several occasions. His popularity began to wane and Melis settled into retirement.
In the mid-1970s, he suffered a serious vision loss followed by his hearing a decade later. In 2003, he moved from Bronxville, New York - the very same house he'd lived in since the "Tonight Show" days - to Sun City, Arizona where his son Michael cared for him. On April 7, 2005, Melis died from a respiratory infection.
Melis was the original Paul Shaffer - thanks for sharing this with us Ernie!
If you take a blood sample from our friend Ernie (Not Bert), you'll find 80% red blood cells, 10% white blood cells, and 10% vinyl. This was downloaded on November 29, 2006 at 1:54 PM from his blog and nearly two years later, I'm getting around to reviewing it - sheesh!
Back in the late 1940s, MGM - the movie studio with the roaring lion - created their own record label. For a time, they were the only movie studio with its own record label. By the mid-1950s, television had so badly eroded the box office that other movie studios needed new streams of revenue.
In 1957, Paramount began its record label and Warner Bros. were undecided as to start its own label. That changed when Dot Records signed then-WB star Tab Hunter to its label. Even though Hunter had an iron-clad exclusive movie contract with WB, without a record label, Tab was free to sign with Dot.
Sure enough, plans for Warner Bros. Records went into high gear and in March, 1958 - the first record on the new label came out. WB had reclaimed Tab hunter and his new single "Jealous Heart" (ironic, huh?) was released - the only charting record for the entire year!
Another mistake from the get go was ignoring rock n' roll. WB decided to go with pop, jazz, classical, spoken word, folk and gospel (see Clint Walker below).
Christmas releases for Warner Bros. in 1959 included George Greeley's "22 Best Loved Christmas Piano Concertos", the Guitar's Inc. "Guitars At Christmas", Ira Ironstring's "Ira Ironstrings Orchestra Plays Santa Claus", and the album you're looking at now.
To quote Ernie:
"This LP came out in 1959, and features the stars from then-current TV shows produced by Warner Brothers. The Warner Bros. record label was brand new at the time, and they were putting out all sorts of interesting stuff. (After you've downloaded it, look closely at the back label. They had so little product out at the time, they were recommending other companies records on their jackets!)"
BIO LINKS / TRACK REVIEWS:
1.) Efrem Zimbalist Jr. - Adeste Fideles Zimbalist's voice is astoundingly good (that led to other non-Christmas recordings). Majestic.
2.) Warner Bros. Stars - Deck The Halls All the assembled stars on the cover merge as one to sing a few choruses.
3.) Connie Stevens - Away In A Manger Breathy rendition from cutie Connie. She and Edd Byrnes had a HUGE hit the same year with "Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb"!
4.) Edward Byrnes - Yulesville This song still has enough charm to give me a smile. That charm is almost used up. Next...
5.) Peter Brown - Winter Wonderland Great voice and a snappy version of this song! He later starred with Pam Grier in "Foxy Brown"!
6.) Ray Danton - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen This guy could give Thurl Ravenscroft a run for his money. Another majestic song!
7.) Poncie Ponce - Mele Kalikimaka Kazuo Kim sings again! Poncie got his start on "77 Sunset Strip", then moved over to "Hawaiian Eye".
8.) Eddie Cole - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town The older brother of Nat (listen and feel the similarities), this was recorded near the end of Eddie's career - it swings, baby!
9.) Bob Conrad - White Christmas I dare you to knock the battery off his shoulder... Robert Conrad sings marvelously - too bad we didn't get to hear more of that in "Wild Wild West" or "Baa Baa Black Sheep"!
10.) Dorothy Provine - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow! From 1958 to 1968, Dorothy starred in many films and a great singing voice to match - then she got married and retired. This is a gem - she sounds a little like Dusty Towne from "SCTV"!
11.) Clint Walker - Silver Bells A bonafide member of "The Dirty Dozen" singing a Bob Hope Christmas song! Remarkable! This was after Clint's walkout from Warner Bros. (see Ty Harden below) and his first album for WB - a gospel album entitled "Inspiration".
12.) Roger Moore - Once In Royal David's City With his lordly British voice, Sir Roger narrates this song to great effect. The name is Templar... Simon Templar.
13.) Warner Bros. Male Chorus - Star Carol I'm not sure if Clint, Roger, Bob Conrad, or Edd Byrnes sung on this - but whoever did does a nice job.
14.) Ty Hardin - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear This guy's Wiki entry is a trip - as for his singing... you gotta read this guy's Wiki entry. It's a trip!
15.) Warner Bros. Stars - We Wish You A Merry Christmas Several choruses of this ol' favorite from everyone on the cover and presto! End of album!
Ernie said in his initial review "If you don't find something in here to love, you may as well quit looking." I agree. I especially liked hearing 007 recite his story, Dorothy Provine, and Eddie Cole.
Most of the artists on this album sing well and the arrangements don't subtract or detract from their singing. And then there's Ty Hardin...
It's hard to imagine from these beginnings came the colossus known as Warner Music Group. As for MGM and Paramount record labels, they're long gone but the WB survived.
It seems on November 26, 2006 at 1:11 AM and again on November 26, 2006 at 1:13 AM, our good friend Ernie was in a Christmas disco kind of mood. Which is fine by me because on several occasions here, I've openly admitted that I have a guilty pleasure for all forms of Christmas disco.
Shortly after I began this blog in January, 2006, I reviewed my first Christmas disco album - The Salsoul Orchestra's "Christmas Jollies II". Several months later, I did another review for The Mistletoe Disco Band's "Christmas Disco" with a bonus - this was the very FIRST album I ever shared here at the yuleblog (does that tell you how I feel about this genre?).
With the addition of these two beauties (thank you Ernie), I now own nine Christmas disco albums. Not counting the disco album I intend to share at Christmas (more on that later). Turning on the disco ball...
This is what Ernie wrote about the first album:
"Today you get some disco Christmas! First up is Holiday People-Holiday Disco (Universal Spectaculars USL 101, 1979), from the height of the disco exploitation era. There is very little about this LP that's redeeming. It's because of cheap knock-off albums like this that the whole disco backlash began.
"Everybody may like a little Saturday Night Fever or Disco Inferno, but when they started to crack out nameless tune after nameless tune using nameless bands and beats that came stock with your Casio keyboard, it all went south.
"Not that I remember any of that, I was too young to know what was going on at the time. But as I got older, I figured it all out. Or at least I thought I did. Anyhow, enjoy these nameless musicians performing these public domain Christmas songs as best you can."
Despite my love for Christmas disco (good and bad), this one is riding the fence. Any song is an adventure. It could start off with disco strings, then the wha-wha guitars will take over and ride it for a while. Add some disco singers singing partial lyrics - "You'll go down in hissssss - tooorrrrrrrr - rreeeeeeeeeeee".
WHOAA... as I'm typing these words, the album is playing the background and son-of-a-gun! Can it be? Is it really? I wouldn't put it past it... Checking...
After much comparison, I've just discovered that "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", "White Christmas", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", and "Auld Lang Syne" are completely original Christmas disco songs on this album by Holiday People.
The remaining tracks are recycled instrumentals that were also used on Mirror Image's Disco Noel and The Mistletoe Disco Band's Christmas Disco:
So this is the THIRD Christmas disco album in my collection using the same tracks... groovy. The Mistletoe Disco Band has another album entitled "More Christmas Disco" that I don't own (yet) and it probably uses these other tracks from the Holiday People album. But who knows?
Okay, I'm more bummed than finding out that the roller boogie night at my local rink were cancelled.
I need some good Christmas disco (that's the very definition of an oxymoron, no?). I'm talking Salsoul Orchestra style disco, not Charo style. Can the second album featured here be what I am looking for? I've got a bad case of "Saturday Night Fever" and it needs to be quenched!
Ernie, can you help? From his original notes on "Christmas Disco Party":
"Did I hear you say you wanted more Christmas disco, only better this time? Well, how's about some original tunes, and some semblance of originality? Sound good? Here's a group with no name performing Christmas Disco Party (Classic Christmas CCR 1941, 1979).
"I stuck the name Max Fagen on these tracks, since he seems to show up the most in the credits, but there really is no group name listed anywhere on the LP. I don't know why I like this album better than the other. Something just strikes me as a lot better. At least they tried to write some original music. Some of the titles are familiar, but they aren't really the songs they pretend to be."
TRACK REVIEWS:
1.) Santa Claus Is Disco'n To Town How can you argue with a song with such wisdom like "He's got the moves that will loosen your blues"?
2.) All I Want For Christmas Is A Disco Beat Doesn't everyone want a disco beat for Christmas? Anyone? "Gotta have a little drums!"
3.) Jingle Bell Disco Rock Is it "Jingle Bells" or "Jingle Bell Rock"? About fifteen seconds in, you'll hear a great disco version of "Jingle Bells". Man, this is fantastic!
4.) Dancin' In A Winter Wonderland Expecting a disco version of "Winter Wonderland". Instead, you get a smooth, contemporary original Christmas song - WOW!
5.) What I Want For Christmas (Is Just To Have You Here) This is the song they would play at the rink, lower the lights, and announce "couples only". Another great original!
6.) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Nope. Nothing like the version heard on the trio of albums above. About to break into Travolta-like dance steps!
7.) The Beat Moves On Not Christmas, but it's a good disco instrumental.
8.) Rock Around The Christmas Tree (With Me) Another Christmas title - but you get another original Christmas disco song!
9.) (Gonna Have A) Disco Christmas Party This one's my favorite - you can expect this one to be played at my next Christmas gathering!
I'll put Christmas Disco Party up against anything the Salsoul Orchestra ever did. This is one great Christmas disco album - oxymoron's be damned! I would love to see this album get re-released with more on Max Fagen, the song composers, etc. This album has a lot going for it.
But because it's Christmas disco, no one's gonna re-release it. Which is a shame. So thanks Ernie for rescuing this one. You are hereby awarded the B.G.E's Award for the prolongation and preservation of Christmas disco.
And if you think Holiday Disco is bad, just wait until Christmas. For I have obtained what could be the WORST Christmas disco album of all time and I intend to unleash it to the world.
Last week I went to a local Goodwill store that is phasing out their vinyl (sad, I know). Amongst the Barry Manilow and Christian evangelist LPs was this very album you are looking at. I picked it up for the princely sum of 75 cents and chuckled all the way to the car with this one.
I knew that sometime this week I was going to review this very album - downloaded from Ernie (Not Bert) again on November 26, 2006 at 8:36 PM. When Ernie posted this album, he also posted the following:
"I asked everybody the other day if they wanted to request anything, and got a few responses. Some of them were good ones that I'm going to work on, some stuff that I already had in the works, at least one item that I had already shared, and a couple of things that I can't share because they are on CD.
"But the very first request came from none other than my father. He wanted to hear an album that we had when I was a little kid. And you can't say no to dear old Dad, no can you.
"I remember this record from when I was little. After putting it on the turntable, I was able to sing along to every single song, even though I had no clue as to what some of them were. (Some of the titles are a little funny. They may have been trying to make you think you were getting a different song, or maybe avoid paying royalties. it is on Premiere, after all.)
"Be sure you leave a little comment thanking him for this one if you download it. It's really pretty good. Sounds like a typical Premiere label patch job though. Could be three or four different lead singers on here, and who knows how many actual bands. But it's nice stuff."
I wish there was more info out there for Premier Albums (356 W 40th St, NY, NY). This budget label has many Christmas albums out there in the vinyl bins - some good, mostly bad. These are the same people who brought you Christmas albums from Jesse Crawford, Al Goodman & His Orchestra, and Woody The Woodchuck.
Not much other info out there on Slim Boyd & The Rangehands either I'm afraid. Either Boyd and the band fell off the face of the earth and were never heard from again or this was a pseudonym for a talented bunch of studio musicians. Lee Hartsfield of Music You Won't (Possibly) Hear Anyplace Else posted several tracks of Boyd from other budget albums (click here and here to see those).
TRACK REVIEWS:
1.) Go Tell It On The Mountain More barbershop quartet than country & western, it's still a nice rendition.
2.) On December 5 and 20 Ditto on the barbershop. Interesting song, though.
3.) Wagon on Christmas Add some guitars, bass fiddle, and rework a vintage folk song, and presto! Instant country.
4.) I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day I'm guessing they never sung this one on the range back home... but iffin they did, this is what it would sound like!
5.) Jeanette Isabella That's "Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella"... whoever's singing the lead can pass for Perry Como!
6.) Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Not as good as Gene Autry's original version but it can pass for a generic C & W version of "Rudolph".
7.) The Night Before Christmas This guy sounds a little like Tennessee Ernie Ford! I really enjoyed this telling of "A Visit From St. Nicholas"!
8.) A Santa Claus Greeting No, the song's actually called "When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter". Like many other budget labels, Premier changed the title to avoid paying licensing & royalty fees. Santa says "Naughty, naughty!"
9.) Have A Merry, Merry Christmas This sounds familiar - did someone else record this song? Either way, it's a fantastic waltz tempoed country song - my favorite on the album!
10.) Silent Night The Perry Como soundalike is back - simple acapella version with mixed choir to start, add some strings in the middle, and it ends the album prettily.
If you were to enter Slim Boyd & The Rangehands Christmas on Google, you'll find many sites online selling this album (don't pay too much for this one!).
Or you can go digging in your local Goodwill or Salvation Army vinyl bins and wind up finding it there (before its too late). This way's so much fun and you'll be rescuing a lonely piece of vinyl to boot.
Or you can visit Ernie and get this album for your listening pleasure - just make sure you leave a comment there for his dad and for Ernie.
Either way, you're not gonna have a bad time with this album. Slim and the boys do a competent job and I'm sure you have fun listening.
Continuing with my list of Christmas albums I've downloaded since 2006, this was left mouse clicked on November 26, 2006 at 5:20 PM from Ernie (Not Bert).
So Ernie searched deep into his stacks and stacks of untracked Christmas vinyl and whaddya know? He actually had the entire album that Lee's tracks came from. Ernie's got the fastest turntable in the west and transferred the album you are looking at.
Ummm... :-)
There's nothing out there online (with the exception of Ernie's original post) about this album. I Googled "Halo Records Nashville" but came up empty there.
Ha ha. (<--- nervous laugh) Hey! How about a niceeeee back cover shot? Yeah, that's it! Let's put that back cover shot up here... that'll fill some space!
What a great back cover, huh? Ain't it somethin'? The way the black and the white blend into... umm... black and white... Yep, that's a beaut of a back cover.
What now?
Oh, the music?
TRACK REVIEWS:
1.) Bobby Russell - The Christmas Song Straight up rendition with touches of countrypolitan. Russell's got good pipes.
2.) The Singleton Singers - 12 Days Of Christmas A pretty bland version with a solo piano and lots and lots of voices. Something to fill out the album maybe.
3.) Buddy & Bunny Burden - Christmas Card (Organ Instrumental) The back cover says its an instrumental but there's Bunny (in a breathy voice - g-r-r-r) reciting. Now Buddy's lounge singing... who wrote this back cover?
4.) J.T. Adams & The Jordanaires - It's Christmas Time J.T. does a fine job with this song but Elvis' backing group really makes the song. Gots to remember this one!
5.) Bill Purcell - Silent Night Hey, back cover writer! That's Bill PURSELL! Organ and chimes version... yep, like we haven't heard THAT before... check out his Top Ten hit that Ernie also featured at his blog!
6.) Bobby Russell & The Music City Boys Chorus - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Like song number one, this one's got moments. The kids are a nice touch.
7.) Prissy Reed / Margie Singleton / Ray Walker & The Jordanaires - Jingle Bells I knew Margie could sing but how about Mrs. Jerry Reed? Sounds like they're having fun (I think I am too...?)
8.) Buddy & Bunny Burden - Christmas Polka OPA! Nothing like a polka played on the Kimball organ with a great duet from B & B! My favorite track on the album!
9.)The Music City Choir - Deck The Halls I never knew "Deck The Halls" could be played to a funeral organ beat. Man, this is horrible!
10.) The Don Les' Harmonicats (featuring The Marine Band "Blues Harp") - Hark The Herald Angels Sing What a way to go out on! Nothing like some mouth organ and blues harp to get you in the Christmas mood! These guys released a FULL Christmas album and son-of-a-gun, whaddya know? Ernie featured that one too!
I just re-read the title again and it clearly states "Something For Everybody". A truer statement was never spoken. There are some hits and some clear misses with this album but I still had a fun time listening.
This won't be the first album I'll pull out at Christmas. Nor the second. Or third. Fourth?
This will be the 853rd album I'll listen to at Christmas, guaranteed!
Over the past several weeks, I've looked at albums I received as Christmas presents last December or purchased around the same time. Starting today, I am dusting off an old, OLD list of all the Christmas albums I've downloaded over the past TWO years. This list was started in August, 2007 but was called to a stop a month later due to my hectic schedule at the time.
This album was downloaded on November 26, 2006 at 4:55 PM EST from the blog of (you guessed it) Ernie (Not Bert). Since 2006, I've probably downloaded more than 200 albums from this guy so get used to seeing his name and handiwork around here for the next several.
It seems I was one of the lucky ones who got this downloaded. Or did he send it to me? I forget... In any case, Ernie discovered that this album indeed was released on CD (click here - it didn't work for me) and stopped sharing the album, FYI.
The next time you're at a Super Bowl party and really want to impress people with your acumen of football trivia, or if the game is ultra boring and you want to liven things up, or if you're a useless fount of knowledge like me (and you're used to stupefying looks on people's faces), try this puzzler:
Who is the artist or group who has performed more times than anyone else at Super Bowl halftime? Gloria Estefan? With two performances, it's a good guess. Carol Channing? She was there twice too - the question is why?
The group you're looking at has entertained at halftime a record four times (1976, 1980, 1982, and 1986). It's a dubious record that's unlikely to be broken. Here's a YouTube video of the 1976 performance (skip ahead to 1:30 if you dare):
NFL Films once captured a meeting that NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle had in his office concerning the Super Bowl's halftime show. Rozelle stated plainly: "There are three words I never want to hear again... Up With People."
Started in 1965, Up with People was founded by J. Blanton Belk as a positive voice for young people. Its initial cast had 140 performers that made its debut at a summer convention on the quaint island known as Mackinac in northern Michigan. From 1966 to 1967, the group began to branch out, picking up more performers along the way, and touring globally.
In 1968, the group officially became Up With People and continued to sing anywhere, anytime. Since then, almost 20,000 young men and women from more than 89 countries have been included in the group. One member went on to bigger and better things - her name was Glenn Close!
At Christmas, 1968, the group decided the time was right for a Christmas album. The multitude assembled into a Hollywood recording studio and recorded fourteen songs - ten of which are original songs!
This album is undeniably Sixties - the sound, the pop beat, the smell of dacron and polyester. At times, it goes so overboard that you will need scuba equipment to simply breathe.
There are fun Christmas songs ("Jingle Bell Beat", "A Present For Santa"), traditional carols ("Away In A Manger", "O Little Town Of Bethlehem"), and at times preachy songs ("Pat's Poem", "Up With People") with a hint of Christmas that makes them qualify for this album.
Overall, I liked the album and the soloists (Debbie Kirkpatrick, Linda Blackmore, Pat Ector) did a fine job when the spotlight shone on them. The group singing is very reminiscent of a hip Mitch Miller & The Gang and the 60s sound is a true flashback.
There are alumni associations all over the world and I would love to hear from some of the members who had a hand in this recording.
Up with People has visited 3,600 communities in 38 countries, nearly 3 million hours of community service have been performed by Up with People students, and 450,000 host families around the world have welcomed Up with People students to their homes. It continues to tour and take its uppity message around the world.
THIS JUST IN: The official website shop of Up With People states:
"Up with People does not currently have CDs for sale. We are preparing to release approximately 400 songs from our catalog that will be available for digital download through iTunes, Rhapsody, and other web-based music stores. We will even have a selection of Up with People Ringtones for you to download. Please check back for more details."
At first glance of this album cover, the gentlemen seated on the couch looks more like a high school principal or shop teacher than a world renowned orchestra leader.
Nevertheless, these two fantastic offerings were presented last year at Ernie (not Bert)'s blog within a two day span of time.
I juggled my schedule of downloads around a tad bit to feature both on the same day. Today is Mr. Swing And Sway Day!
The first album, "Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye", was offered on November 25, 2006. It was originally released at Christmas, 1960 by Decca Records.
The second "album" (pictured to the right) is actually a collection of 45 singles from 1951 and boxed up in a festive cover entitled "Christmas Serenade" by Columbia Records.
Not bad for a guy who received a degree in civil engineering while playing in small time bands throughout college.
After Sammy left college with his degree, he found his true calling in music. He quickly began his own orchestra and began his recording career just as the Big Band era was beginning.
Riding the wave of popularity brought on by Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and others, the "sweet" sound of Kaye's orchestra was ringing up jukeboxes and cash registers across the country. The famous trade publication Variety was the first to issue the moniker "Swing And Sway With Sammy Kaye" - for a time, "Swing And Sway" was the actual name of the orchestra!
Kaye was a shrewd businessman and found new ways to promote the orchestra; radio, movies, and live concerts. One night, Kaye quickly thought of a fun promotion called "So You Want To Lead A Band?", inviting an audience member to come onstage and take a crack at leading a song. The promotion stayed with the act.
Around 1950, Kaye signed on with Columbia Records and saw the potential in a new medium called television. Sammy quickly negotiated a TV contract and began his television show. It wasn't a big hit and "The Sammy Kaye Show" left the airwaves in the summer of 1951. It was during that same summer that Kaye began recording Christmas songs for his "Christmas Serenade".
Whenever I post a yuleblog entry here, I listen to the songs or album for the first time as I type. And while listening to these Sammy Kaye songs, I am struck by the strange mixture of styles I've picked up on. Several songs are eerily reminiscent of Fred Waring while others could be mistaken for Guy Lombardo.
However, when Sammy reaches into his bag of tricks and presents some fun arrangements on the pop songs ("Frosty", "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", etc.), the music leaps from the speakers and you find yourself tapping your toes and smiling - very warm stuff. There's something guaranteed to make you smile on one of these 11 songs from 1951.
A few years later (maybe?), Columbia collected the best of all these singles and issued a FULL LP called "I Want To Wish You A Merry Christmas". By this time, Sammy was still fronting his orchestra, playing across the country and around the world. Columbia and Kaye parted ways and Decca Records snapped him up for their label.
This brings us to 1960 when Kaye released his second Christmas offering called "Christmas Day With". The production values over time had improved and it sounds like, upon first listen, that Kaye and Co. are here in the room with me.
However, the "sweet" sound of Sammy is in full bloom and tends to drag much of the Christmas music on this album. The standard carols are treated with such care and reverence that there's not much room for any fun.
When the first song on your album is "White Christmas" and given a tempo not much faster than a funeral, you're in for a long ride. "Twas The Night Before Christmas" could have been fun but the arrangement features one solo voice with very little accents from the orchestra or choir. "Christmas Child (Loo, Loo, Loo)" is a pretty song but again nothing memorable. Two extended medleys and "Silent Night" round out side one.
Side two has some energy from note one, as evidenced by "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas" - a fun version indeed. "Rudolph" has pretty much the same arrangement as on the 1951 single (choir starts, orchestra finishes), just reversed (orchestra starts, choir finishes). "Silver Bells" is quite solemn while Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" is one of the standout tracks on the album - a hint of things to come for Sammy Kaye.
"Let It Snow" somehow works with the Swing And Sway sound - quite nice actually. The final song, "(Joyeux Noel, Buona Natale, Feliz Navidad) A Merry Christmas (To You)" is a wonderful waltz around the world at Christmas time and you'll find your head bobbing with the tempo.
This album suffered from the Sammy Kaye "sweet" sound at times. Upon hearing other album releases at the start of the 1960s, Decca Records and Sammy himself thought so too. Kaye hired Charles Albertine, the man responsible for reinventing Les and Larry Elgart's sound throughout the 1950s, and gave him carte blanche. What followed was considered by some Sammy Kaye's very best work, extending his recording career by almost a decade.
Sammy Kaye began focusing on live performances and toured everywhere with his beloved orchestra throughout the 1970s. In 1979, a young bandleader named Roger Thorne was the opening act for Sammy Kaye. Sammy was rather impressed with Thorne and asked him to join his orchestra which he did.
Over the next several years, Kaye taught Thorne all about the music and business side of leading an orchestra as they continued to tour. With his health declining due to cancer, Sammy decided to hand the baton to Thorne in 1986 and retire.
The following year, Sammy Kaye succumbed to cancer. However, Roger Thorne is still leading the Sammy Kaye Orchestra and the famous "Swing And Sway" sound continues on...
UP NEXT: What I downloaded on November 26, 2006 at 4:55 PM
"While our game is being temporarily delayed, let us listen to our organist in the center field stands as he entertains you while diddling on his organ."
Back on November 26, 2006, our friend Ernie posted this one at his blog under the title "Better Layton Than Ever". After downloading this and having the album sit on my hard drive for nearly a year, I'm finally listening to it and writing about it!
And after doing some quick research on Eddie Layton, I'm ready to play ball!
Layton was born in Philadelphia in 1925, studied music as a child, and was studying meteorology in college when World War II broke out. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy, Eddie was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Lindhurst, New Jersey. A chance encounter with a Hammond organ would soon change his life forever.
After World War II, he fell in love with the Hammond organ and soon began studying under the tutelage of the one and only Jesse Crawford (he of the hundreds of budget Christmas albums that clutter vinyl bins everywhere).
Layton was so adapt at playing the Hammond organ that he was able to find effects and little known features on the instrument. This convinced the Hammond Organ Company to retain him as a demonstrator for its stores over the next 50 years!
In the late 1940s - early 1950s, Layton was playing all around New York City as an organist, played at Radio City Music Hall (where he rubbed elbows with George Wright and Dick Liebert),and found a home on the radio in various soap operas of the day on CBS Radio.
Around this time, he began recording for Mercury Records, quickly becoming their star organist. He released a number of albums between 1956 and 1963 covering a wide range of music. If you want to hear some of these tunes, WFMU's 365 Days Project just posted an entry all about Layton.
After leaving Mercury Records, he signed with Epic and chose as his first project this Christmas album you see here before you. Layton carefully chose both traditional and popular Christmas songs - sometimes weaving several into one.
Released for Christmas, 1964, it's a good Christmas organ album - a notch above many of the Christmas organ albums I've gotten in the last two years. Eddie does a masterful job keeping it light, fun, and above all, Christmas-ey.
His medley of "Rudolph / Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is the standout on the album. Having a mad xylophonist run up and down the scales is a nice touch inbetween some great swirls on the Hammond organ. Other tunes worth a listen include "Let It Snow", "Silver Bells", and his version of "O Holy Night" that's powerful and clocks in just under two minutes!
Layton released several other albums for Epic Records in the mid-1960s when fate knocked at the door. The New York Yankees were under the ownership of CBS and they remembered their house organist. They offered Eddie the prime gig of playing the house organ at Yankee Stadium during home games which he declined at first, having little knowledge of baseball game and driving a car.
The Yankees promised him limo rides to and from his house (for an organist!) and he agreed to a one game tryout in 1967. That one game gig stretched into a career spanning over 36 years, eventually winning him jobs playing for the Knicks and the Rangers. Layton played his last version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" on September 28, 2003 with a capacity crowd cheering his name.
Better Layton than ever, indeed!
UP NEXT: What I downloaded on November 25, 2006 at 6:34 PM
Our next album comes to us from the wonderful online kingdom known as FaLaLaLaLa. The King of Jingaling, FLLLL's gracious, generous, and benevolent ruler featured this album.
(I was awake at 1:30 AM on November 24th, 2006 when I found this online. Many times throughout the downloading season, I'll find myself staying up later, even waking in the middle of the night for 30 - 45 minutes searching for new stuff. I really need to learn how to do RSS feeds!)
The King has shared many fantastic albums over the years at FLLLL. While I offer gems like Alex Houston & Elmer, he offers gold. Not fool's gold. Real gold.
His albums are always a cut above the rest because of the immensely intriguing stories behind the albums themselves.
Last month, The King offered the famous "NORAD Tracks Santa" LP, released at the height of the Cold War. Several years ago, it was The Rhodes Kids whose album was produced by a bonafide porn peddler.
At first glance, you'd think this album is another "cut it quick, get it out, make a Christmas buck" type of album. That's where the King's sharp eye separates himself from the rest.
While doing research on the album, he discovered that this very album was the follow-up to this immensely popular Christmas album:
Perhaps the greatest budget Christmas album of all time, no less! With this in its favor, you're thinking this album has a great chance of being good. Maybe great.
In their attempts to be "hip" and "now" back in the new decade of the 1970s, they decided to go with a medley format - the album itself has six tracks and 20 songs advertised on the front. Adding the usual mix of horns, bouncy beat (enhanced by a very 1970s bass guitar), and choral arrangements adds to the fun, giving the music an overall "Now Sound" feel.
The last word on this album? I'll let the King tell you in his own words:
"But there is something enticing about these folks trying to make centuries-old carols up-to-date. There is a sense of freshness in their approach. They're not just coasting through the old arrangements. The bass gets groovy in a few places, the music swells. You wanna shake your hips a little. It's a bit "Up With People" in places, but fun and warm and charming."
Somewhere in this wide world, someone grew up listening to this album at Christmas. It's always fun to find people offering their thanks for reconnecting with those precious childhood Christmas memories. That's one of the reasons why The King of Jingaling created FaLaLaLaLa - still the best Christmas music resource on this planet.
UP NEXT: What I downloaded on November 24, 2006 at 9:25 AM
Way back on December 15, 2005, Ernie (of Ernie Not Bert) first posted this album at his blog. How I missed it the first time, I'm not sure but I spent a few days smacking myself in the head over my failure to download.
Ernie reposted the album (you da man, Ern!) and I got my copy last year on November 23rd, 2006.
For those who only Buck from his days on "Hee Haw", here's the quick story:
Born Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. in 1929, he grew up on a Texas farm whose family mule was named Buck. At the age of three, he announced to the family that his name was Buck too. No one thankfully objected.
While working as a truck driver in the late-1940s, Owens found himself driving through the picturesque San Joaquin Valley in California on his way to Bakersfield. The beauty of the land convinced Buck that this was the place where he wanted to settle down and did so in 1950.
Meanwhile, up in the state of Oregon, a girl named Susan Raye was born in 1944. While she attended high school, she discovered her flair for singing. She auditioned for a local radio station and got a job as a disc jockey. This led to work on television on a Portland TV station where she hosted a show called "Hoedown".
While Raye was finding her voice, Buck found his. He gave up his truck and became one of Capitol Record's busiest session musicians, recording for the likes of Tennessee Ernie Ford, Faron Young, Gene Vincent, and Del Reeves. Just as Buck was getting ready to launch a career for himself, something happened.
A new music craze called "rock-n-roll" hit and Owens took to it immediately. If you're searching the record bins and come across an obscure rockabilly hit called "Hot Dog" by Corky Jones, grab it. Buck recorded it under that name and it was the only rockabilly song he ever released!
In 1959, Buck launched his country music career. At the time, Chet Atkin's "countrypolitan" sound was the main thing - lush strings, Mitch Miller-like background vocals, and slow ballads accompanying crooners like Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, and Patsy Cline. Also known as the Nashville sound, it dominated country music, slowly made in-roads onto the pop charts, and left a void for authentic country music.
Buck created the Bakersfield sound. Two Fender Telecasters, both picking and not strumming, a big backbeat, lots of steel pedal guitar, and a hot fiddle thrown in for good measure. The sound was totally unique and it filled the gap that the Nashville sound abandoned. A former bandmate of Buck's (who coined the name Buckaroos) went on to have his own established career with the Bakersfield sound. His name was Merle Haggard!
Back in Oregon, Susan Raye was singing in clubs, at fairs, and took any singing job she could take. She was still waiting for her big break. It would be some time before it would happen.
Buck Owens & His Buckaroos' had a string of hit after hit, peaking with his 1963 #1 hit, "Act Naturally". Owens was so influential in country music that the Beatles took notice, covering "Act Naturally" on their "Help!" soundtrack album in 1965.
At Christmas, 1965, Buck released his first Christmas album. Entitled "Christmas With", it's a perfect mix of Buck, the Bakersfield sound, and Christmas all wrapped into one. With such songs as "Blue Christmas Lights", "It's Christmas Time For Everyone But Me", and Buck's signature "Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy" to complement the standards, it's a great album of country and Christmas.
The following year, Buck released his live "Carnegie Hall Concert" album which captures Buck conquering New York City. For his next "live" album, Owens travelled to the metropolis of Tokyo, Japan where his music was immensely popular. "Buck Owens & His Buckaroos in Japan" was the first country album recorded outside of the United States and was a huge international success in 1967.
In 1968, Buck decided to record a wholly new Christmas album. "Christmas Shopping" features mostly original Christmas songs. Some of these songs are beautiful sentiments of Christmas ("Merry Christmas From Our House To Yours"), others are tongue-in-cheek ("Christmas Shopping"), even a country/tragedy song ("All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy". Some fans of Buck's prefer his first Christmas album to this one. Not me. This is the one I reach for.
Later that same year, Jack McFadden, Buck's manager, travelled to Oregon and caught a show featuring Susan Raye. He was so impressed he invited her to travel to Bakersfield to audition for Buck himself. She made the trek to Bakersfield, Owens loved her style of singing, and promptly invited her to join him on tour. Raye had gotten her big break.
At Christmas, 1968, Buck & His Buckaroos' took a trip around the moon. They recorded a special cassette for the crew of Apollo 8 for their orbital mission. If you find a space documentary called "For All Mankind", you'll hear a snippet of the recording.
Around this time, Buck began co-hosting "Hee Haw" on CBS and began recording with Susan Raye. Many of their singles were hits on the country charts, including "The Great White Horse", "Togetherness", and "We're Gonna Get It Together" as well as solo singles that were moderate successes on the country charts. Raye's popularity was on the rise and she soon joined the cast of "Hee Haw" as well.
In 1971, CBS pulled the plug on "Hee Haw" but the show was picked up for syndication. Both Owens and Raye stayed with the show while working on their recording careers.
Raye's first top ten hit in 1971 was "Willy Jones", a song written by Buck. She followed it up with "L.A. International Airport", another top ten country hit that reached #53 on Billboard's Top 100. This song became a certified international hit when it reached #1 in Australia. Raye had become a full fledged country star without ever stepping foot in Nashville - just like Buck and Merle.
This 1971 Christmas album you see contains a mere ten songs; three songs are from "Christmas With", the other seven are off "Christmas Shopping". The addition of Susan Raye adds a new dimension to these tunes with her rich voice expertly handling both lead and background vocals. Buck and Susan fit together quite nicely and after hearing just Buck sing these songs repeatedly over the years, this is a wonderful new way to hear them again.
Raye's career continued to flourish during the early 1970s. She had her biggest solo hit in 1972 with "(I've Got A) Happy Heart" which reached #3 on the country charts as well as another top ten hit with "My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own", a Connie Francis cover. Her success continued through 1974 which fate stepped into both Raye's and Owens door.
Don Rich, longtime guitarist, harmony partner, and best friend of Owens, died in a motorcycle accident. Rich's death caused Buck to semi-retire from recording and ended his collaboration with Raye. Raye signed with United Artist Records and continued to record, never again having the same success as when she recorded under Buck. She retired in 1978 to devote more time to her family.
Buck tried to revive his country career. In the late 1970s, he recorded several albums (in Nashville of all places) and the results were not well received by Buck's longtime fans, the country charts, country radio, even Buck himself. By the mid-1980s, he was no longer recording and was forever known as a a country comedian on "Hee Haw". Owens quit the show in 1986 after co-hosting for nearly 17 years.
Susan Raye had decided at this time to head back to college. She received her degree in psychology and tried to strike gold again in the music industry in 1985. She recorded two albums and charted a few singles but instead of building on that, she took her college degree and began working successfully as a psychologist.
Around this time, a young country singer named Dwight Yoakam came along. A total disciple of the Bakersfield sound, he asked Buck to help him record a song entitled "Streets Of Bakersfield". It went to #1 and Buck was back on the music scene again.
Owens had shrewdly bought back all his published rights from Capitol Records in 1974, all remaining copies of his albums in Capitol warehouses worldwide, and controlled his music like a hawk. No music of Buck's was on the shelves for nearly 15 years. He began reissuing his albums through a deal with Sundazed Records and began performing again. While on the road, Owens began selling original, shrink-wrapped copies of his albums at premium prices (clever, clever guy!).
Throughout the 1990s, Buck divided his time between Bakersfield and the road. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1996 and at decades' end, he celebrated his 70th birthday with a reunion concert of the original Buckaroos at Buck's Crystal Palace in Bakersfield.
Susan Raye made her final public appearance (to date) at the 75th anniversary of the Los Angeles International Airport on August 6, 2003. She sang "L.A. International Airport" naturally with a Bakersfield band backing her up. She continues to work as a psychologist.
Well into his 70s, Buck was still appearing on stage. Such was the case on March 24, 2006 when he joined his bandmates for a chicken-fried steak dinner before a show at the Crystal Palace. He wasn't feeling well and was planning on skipping then show when Buck encountered a group of people from Oregon. They had driven all the way down to see Buck that very night.
Buck told a friend "if somebody's come all that way, I'm gonna do the show and give it my best shot. I might groan and squeak, but I'll see what I can do." Buck Owens died the following day of a heart attack in his sleep.
Country Music Television ranked him #12 in their "40 Greatest Men In Country Music" special in 2003 (why so low?) while voting "The Buckaroos" the 2nd greatest country music band of all time.
If you get a chance to buy Buck's two solo Christmas albums, they're well worth the money. And this little gem is great to hear Susan Raye in her prime.
UP NEXT: What I downloaded on November 24, 2006 at 1:30 AM
On first glance, this album has potential (any album with the RCA "Living Stereo" banner is a plus).
As you look down, you'll notice the song titles, the cute Christmas graphics, but not one artist listed on the cover - a sure sign of trouble. If you're too lazy to check the back cover, you probably wouldn't have purchased the album.
Thankfully, Ernie (from Ernie Not Bert) studied this album carefully and with his keen collector's eye saw the gold within and posted it on November 23, 2006.
As Ernie explained in his original post:
"The only problem is that parts of this record have been released on CD. Several years ago, they took the Esquivel solo tracks, as well as the tracks on which he backs the Skip-Jacks, mixed in some LP tracks that had a holiday theme, added a rather merry non-holiday B-side, a couple of tracks by a famous swing-revival DJ featuring a voice-over from the bed-ridden Esquivel, and called it an Esquivel Christmas album.
"It's short, but great. So that means I can't share 6 of the 12 tracks with you. Trust me, the remaining six tracks are well worth your time. The remaining tracks all feature Ray Martin And His Orchestra, and most of those feature lead vocals by Mimi Hines. She does a great job using several different voices to make each song sound a little different."
Ernie knows what he's talking about, folks. These six tracks are just plain phenomenal. Mimi Hines and Ray Martin aren't as space-age trippy as Esquivel but they're just as much fun.
You'd swear that was a six-year old girl singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" or "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" but it's Hines singing it to perfection! Then marvel at her brassy adult voice on "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Baby". Granted, "Santa Baby" isn't as sultry as some the other versions out there but it's nice to hear her jazz spin on the number.
Ray Martin's two contributions are lush, stylish, and easy fare. On both songs ("Winter Wonderland", "I'll Be Home For Christmas"), Martin mixes it up between the choral group and strings taking turns on the melody as if he's inviting you to sing in the instrumental breaks - 1950s karaoke?
Overall, a great abbreviated album. I just have to get the Esquivel album out, add the missing tracks, and voila!
UP NEXT: What I downloaded on November 23, 2006 at 6:41 PM
