Jan August - Christmas Favorites


I found this album at Beverly Records in Chicago back in March of 2006. Upon examination, I saw some deep scratches that thought would give me fits.

When I played it on the turntable, the scratches soon gave way to craters. Several tracks needed assistance and despite all my efforts, I couldn't get clean recordings of them. I featured one of the tracks ("Santa Claus Is Coming To Town") for my 2007 Yuleblog Sampler and I thought that was that.

However, eBay came to the rescue and I picked up a replacement copy there. This one was in excellent condition and I was able to get side one recorded (at long last!).

I've come to really like this album - it's just a plain piano playing Christmas tunes and August does a fine job. Here's a Liberace album for those who didn't want to be seen purchasing Liberace albums!


Jan August - Christmas Favorites


Happy listening...


Capt

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ahhh..Beverly Records: "If we don't have it, it hasn't been printed!" My wife repeatedly threatens me with divorce if I even so much as breathe the name of that store.

The last time I was there, I spent $25 for Danny Kaye's first album on 78. Gold..pure gold.
12/09/2008 08:42:00 PM
Anonymous said…
Captain

The Mercury Album Discography dates this album: "MG 20160 - Christmas Favorites - Jan August [1956] Issued in monaural only."

Jan August had two top 10 hits:
"Miserlou" (7-December 1946) and
"Bewitched" (8-July 1950).

Hit Parade
12/09/2008 10:53:00 PM
Anonymous said…
i love your blog...what a find!!!
il mooking for the will downing christmas love and you cd...can u help please!

merry xmas!!!!!
t-
12/10/2008 10:08:00 AM
CaptainOT said…
Tim - You should see their WALL of Christmas albums - I spent nearly two hours going from A to Z.

Hit Parade - You came through again with another year! Thanks so much!

T - The Will Downing CD is available everywhere online and at your local retail stores. Happy hunting!


Capt
12/10/2008 01:14:00 PM
Anonymous said…
Cap'n.. you shouldn't oughta told me that!

HONEY...where's the checkbook?
12/10/2008 06:48:00 PM
Anonymous said…
Thank you for this upload. I have an original vinyl album - Canadian release. I bought it around 1958. It's a great album and every year, at Christmas time,it's one of the first LPs I listen to. Although my vinyl copy is still in good condition, now, thanks to you and your Blog, I'll have it on CD.
Merry Christmas!
A Canadian with lots or records
12/11/2008 10:49:00 PM
CaptainOT said…
Anon - Thanks for checking in from the Great White North! Stay tuned... I just found an alternate cover that I'm gonna try to post before December 25!


Capt
12/12/2008 04:25:00 PM
Anonymous said…
My dad used to play this album each year when we decorated our tree. My mom still has the original album, and my sister picked it up at a records dealer some years ago but I never found a copy. It has unmeasurable sentimental value to me, so I was ecstatic to find this on your blog. Thank you!
12/09/2010 01:22:00 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 ...
Read more