Ira Ironstrings - Plays Santa Claus (Christmas Music For Those Who Have Heard Everything)

I have been a collector of Christmas music and CDs for nearly 22 years. I have close to nearly 800 CDs in my collection (with another 125+ awaiting review here throughout 2007).

I'm not the brightest bulb in the box (I readily admit that).

When I heard about this Christmas album for the first time two years ago (you've NEVER heard about this one?) at Ernie (not Bert)'s blog, I put it on my list and never actively searched for it (I know, I know...).

Last year as the Christmas season wound down, I remembered I had about $15 left in my PayPal account and used that to purchase this on eBay.

This album was released in 1959. Rock-n-roll had pushed conventional pop music off the charts for good and if it didn't have the Elvis sound, it didn't sell. Along came Ira Ironstrings.

With titles like "Ira Ironstrings Plays for People with $3.98", "Ira Ironstrings Destroys the Great Bands", and "Ira Ironstrings Plays with Matches" (that's too funny!) and the right mix of light comedy, amazing performances from studio musicians, and offered by Warner Brothers as an antidote to doo-wop and rockabilly, the darn albums sold en masse!

Music industry people marvelled at the popularity of the albums and began to wonder: Who is Ira Ironstrings? 

(Click on the link, read the "SpaceAgePop.com" entry on Ironstrings, and come back. I'll wait.)

To quote from the liner notes of this CD:

"It can now be told that Ira Ironstrings was really Alvino Rey. You see, at the time when Warner Brothers released the Ira Ironstrings albums, Rey was signed to Capitol Records. Hence, Warner Brothers couldn't announce who Ironstrings really was.

"You might remember Alvino Rey as the musical director from the 1960s TV show "The King Family Variety Show" with the King Sisters (to whom Rey was married to sister Louise!). He was also known mostly for his "talking" pedal steel guitar playing in everything from big bands to small combos."

Speaking of liner notes, the original liner notes were reprinted as well:


Collector's Choice Music re-released this album in 2003 after being out of print for many years. My hope is they continue to re-release the Ira Ironstrings albums.

This Christmas album is a veritable house on fire from beginning to end, new musical surprises at every turn, and completely vibrant in every which way. Bassoons, vibraharp, ragtime piano, duck calls, brass sections afire, banjos that leap out of your speakers, Dixieland jazz, sections of songs that remind you of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, chimes, hot drum playing throughout.

Give me what they were drinking in the studio when they recorded this! If you think I'm exaggerating, you need to listen to this for yourself. After one or two listenings, you'll be gushing about this album a la Niagara Falls!

Quite simply, this is one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time. If you can listen to this one without cracking a smile or tapping your foot in rhythm, you need to consult a doctor. Rapidly.


UP NEXT: The most controversial Christmas release of 2006. And you get to put your two cents in!


Capt

Comments

Ernie said…
This was the album I most wanted to share out on my blog, until I discovered that it was on CD. But I suppose that's a good thing for those without the vinyl.
1/19/2007 02:15:00 PM
CaptainOT said…
I failed to mention that Ernie's original blog entry that I linked contained his scan of his LP cover.

That's why I posted the liner notes from the CD - a somewhat complete set of cover scans!


Capt
1/19/2007 05:54:00 PM
mom2gr8girl said…
My dad and uncle played some of the percussion on this album. I remember his stories of the recording session. It just isn't Christmas without this album. I heard it every year throughout my life.
10/26/2008 12:13:00 PM
Unknown said…
I was 17 years old in December of 1958 when I walked past MUSIC CITY in Minneapolis,MN. This album was playing on the loudspeaker onto the street. I was so captivated by the wonderful sounds that I bought the vinyl then and there. We have transferred it to tape,CD and now I just downloaded it to my laptop computer. This is the album I have played for the past 56 years
to kick off the Christmas Holiday. My kids got to hate it but as they got older they really looked forward to Ira Ironstrings for the Holidays. WAJ
12/03/2014 05:50:00 PM
JimRKY said…
I first heard this album as a reel-to-reel "pirate" in the early 60's...when my age was still in single digits. I fell in love with it. As a baby I had fallen asleep beside the bass drum of a Dixieland drummer in a sea-side club in MA as a regular thing - and later became a percussionist myself - still loving Dixie (and playing everything). I thought i had lost this album several times, but digital presence is (thankfully) forever!
7/10/2018 04:17:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Christmas Yuleblog Sampler - 2011

Image
Merry Christmas! We've had quite a year here - digitizing all of our Christmas music, a radio show , and remastering yuleblog samplers past.  But I can't complain.   Taking the nine months to get every album and MP3 onto my hard drive (and an external hard drive for backup) was the best decision I may have made in my Christmas life.  To have every song at my fingertips saves me time and led to discoveries of songs I never knew I had.  I thought that what the CD was supposed to do but that only shows you how far in the past I was living. The radio show was very satisfying.  The folks at the radio station were very supportive and thrilled with the end results.  Will it happen again next year?  I'm hopeful but only time will tell.  Lots of things are in store at the station...  Okay... enough about you Capt...  where's the samplers? During a break in digitizing in June, I went back and remastered the Yuleblog Samplers from 2008 and 2009.  Every 45
Read more

2001 Playlist

The 2001 playlist: 1.) 2001 intro My usual intro with the Flat Duo Jets on "Jingle Bells" mixed together with " Also Sprach Zarathustra ". 2.) Monty Python - Christmas In Heaven I waited years to use this one... it fits perfectly leading off the CD. 3.) Wayne Newton - Jingle Bell Hustle At the time, I thought this was the worst Christmas disco song ever (see 2008 below). 4.) Casey Kasem - American Top 40 Christmas bumper (No. 3) Found on Napster (the pre-legal days) from one of Casey's old radio programs. 5.) Dale Monty & The 2x2's - The Lil' Endless Summer Boy Take a surf guitar version of "Little Drummer Boy" and "Wipeout". You get this track. 6.) The Surfaris - A Surfer's Christmas List The same group who originally did "Wipeout"! Great Christmas surf track. 7.) Sleepless in Seattle - Meg Ryan listening to Christmas radio "Coming up, 'Jingle Bells' backwards!"
Read more

Bruce Woodman Presents Christmas Carols With A Latin Lilt

Image
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 30 th , 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 radi
Read more