Dragnet - The Christmas Story


The story you're about to read is true...

As a kid growing up in the 1970s, I was a Jack Webb fan. I loved watching reruns of "Dragnet 1967, 1968, etc". I was equally mesmorized by "Adam-12", "Emergency!", and an obscure Webb produced show called "Project UFO".

I loved his staccato delivery, the way he walked (he put his coat on with the coat tree attached), and his quick editing style. Get a VHS copy of any "Dragnet" episode and press the fast-forward button - the flash frames will give you a buzz similar to alcohol on an empty stomach.

After I had began my obsession with Christmas music, I wondered if Jack Webb did anything related to Christmas. One of the first eBay auctions I ever won was for a U.S. Navy LP that featured Webb doing some spots for the Navy in 1998 (our friend Ernie posted this at his blog last year).

When Basic Hip - the granddaddy of all sharity sites - first offered this album back in 2001 or 2002, I quickly grabbed a copy but the back cover wasn't included. I kept searching eBay and kept losing auctions - three times I nearly had this thing! I wanted the BACK COVER!

I finally snagged this in 2006 - but I couldn't get a clean copy. So I went to Studio 1102 here in Fort Wayne and they did their best to get it digitalized. At long last, I'm proud to present the famed lost back cover and my copy of the album.

Just the tracks, ma'am:


Dragnet - The Christmas Story


Happy listening...


Capt

Comments

Anonymous said…
This is great! Didn't even know it existed. Thanks for sharing.
11/24/2008 07:57:00 PM
CaptainOT said…
Dan - Thanks for the comment!


Capt
11/25/2008 06:48:00 PM
Buster said…
Can't wait to hear this one. Christmas with Jack Webb! What could be better?
11/26/2008 12:44:00 PM
CaptainOT said…
Buster - Christmas with Julie London? Xmas with Sgt. Friday is gonna be pretty hard to top!

Thanks for the comment!


Capt
11/27/2008 07:57:00 AM
Anonymous said…
Hi Captain,

Thanks for all your efforts.

It's important to me to date these Christmas albums whenever possible :-)

It looks like this recording was a 10 inch LP from 1953.

PS: Captain, what are your all time top 5 or 10 (desert island)Christmas albums?

Hitparade
11/27/2008 09:58:00 AM
CaptainOT said…
Hitparade - The year on this one is 1954.

Top five desert albums (subject to change):

1.) A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

2.) Christmas Cocktails (1996)

3.) Custom comp of Stan Freberg's Christmas output

4.) Merry Christmas From The Sonics, The Wailers & The Galaxies (1991)

5.) Tie: The Three Suns - A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas (1959) & The Ventures Christmas Album (1965)


Capt
11/29/2008 05:19:00 PM
the jazzman said…
Just wandered in by chance and found this lost treasure. Thanks.
12/13/2008 12:18:00 PM
CaptainOT said…
Jazzman - Over 200 people have listened to this and you're the fourth person to leave a comment. So thanks for wandering in!


Capt
12/13/2008 02:09:00 PM
KL from NYC said…
I wandered in, too (either very late or very early) and I'm glad I found this. Thanks.
6/26/2009 02:33:00 AM
Ted Hering said…
This is the second time I've ever come across this record. The other copy I saw was at Ray Avery's Rare Records (Glendale, CA) in the 1960s.

The story was lifted from the Dragnet radio/TV show (the story appeared on both media), but this performance seems to be re-done just for this record.

(The TV version appears on the occasional DVD box set, titled "The Big Little Jesus.")

Does your record list the cast members? I remember Herb Vigran played the hotel clerk on the TV version.
12/07/2009 08:53:00 PM
Anonymous said…
I have this album. RCA Victor "LPM 3199, production number 999".
2/19/2011 06:45:00 PM
Jim said…
Hi there - Any chance you could re-up this one?
Many thanks in advance.
4/17/2018 12:35:00 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Santastic II - Clausome!

Image
Welcome to Mash-up Saturday! Today we look at four different Christmas online comps that feature the handy work of DJs and mixers from around the world to create brand new takes on your favorite Christmas music. For those not wise in the ways of the mash-up, this phenomenon may have gotten its start way back in the classical days. Composers used to rework other compositions and used the term "variations on a theme by..." Fast forward to the 1960s. Dickie Goodman was breaking new ground with his break-in records. A gent by the name of John Oswald began experimenting with fusing two pieces of music using tape and scissors. The BBC TV show " I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue " featured a segment entitled "One Song To The Tune Of Another" that featured crude forms of the mash-up. In the 1970s, Frank Zappa began picking out basslines and other samples from music into his own. Club and disco DJs began mastering the art of the mix board. A company named
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

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