A Christmas Yuleblog

It's not often you see a Christmas album adorned by imitation passport stamps (see the top right corner) or a piñata for that matter but... This intriguing album was downloaded on November 21, 2006 at 12:43 PM from our friend Bongo over at BongoBells (great find, Bongo!). Google picks up a myriad of stuff concerning Hermanos Zavala. The laughable AOL Music site claims you can find Zavala photos, songs, live performances, even music videos. Umm, yeah. Other sites found include " The One Hundred Voices of the Hermanos Zavala " and " Mariachi Los Hermanos Zavala ". The rest is just recycled hash which is a pity. This album is the Spanish equivalent of a Mitch Miller album! A soft rendition of "The Christmas Song", followed by a raucous version of "Sleigh Ride", then a very reverent "Adeste Fideles" sung beautifully in Spanish. It gets better. "Rodolfo el Reno de la Nariz Roja" takes on elements of The Thre...

Why didn't someone think of this before? One song, one CD, many different versions? And with Christmas songs? BONUS! Someone did it, though. Not once, not twice, but THREE times! This is the first of THREE CDs compiled by our friend Bongo over at his BongoBells blog. These three CDs were the very first albums I downloaded from his site and you probably can STILL download these albums if you hurry! Twenty Little Drummer Boys - TRACK REVIEW: 1.) The Harry Simone Chorale I use to detest this song when I was a child because I thought it was repetitive and the Rankin-Bass Christmas special sucked. I have since wised up. 2.) Cuba L.A. Imagine sitting in a Cuban jazz bar in L.A. around Christmas. This is smooooth! 3.) Peter Wood Singers Bongo snagged this from FaLaLaLaLa.com and you can read my yuleblog review here . 4.) RiverTribe An electronica version? Somehow, it fits with this song nicely! 5.) Ten Point Ten An interesting version... a Michael Bolton sound ...

"Ahhh, sweet mystery of life! At last I've found you!" The song "Ah Sweet Mystery Of Life" was utilized in the 1974 movie "Young Frankenstein" at certain climatic moments in the movie (wink wink). However, it was first introduced in the 1935 movie "Naughty Marietta" by Nelson Eddy, the gentleman on the cover of today's album. This amazing Christmas find from 1951 was brought to us from Bongo at his BongoBells blog (say that five times fast!) and you can STILL download this album over there! Nelson Eddy spent much of his childhood becoming a classical trained opera singer. He honed his craft by singing at recitals, theatrical productions, and churches in hopes of bigger and better things. That came in the late 1920s when he became a principal performer with the Philadelphia Civic Opera. His introduction to opera also gave him the chance to study under many of the leading voice/opera coaches of the day. After a successful si...

Here is yet another Christmas organ music album for my collection. If you're keeping score at home, this is the FOURTEENTH album of the organ variety that I've added since last year. Wurlitzers, Kimballs, and Lowerys... oh my! If you've ever thumbed through a stack of Goodwill or Salvation Army albums in one of their stores, chances are you've seen this album. I have seen two different album covers for this one personally and wouldn't be surprised if there were others. Released by Caroleer Records in 1964, this one features one Alexander Goodrich playing your favorite Christmas tunes. I wish I could add more. Google searches lead nowhere on either Alexander Goodrich and Caroleer Records. As for the music, this is about as straight as you can get without an ounce of soul or rhythm. Adding chimes only serve to awaken those who might fall asleep during the tracks. Every public domain song is captured here because chances are Caroleer Records couldn'...

From the back cover of this album: "What happier way to celebrate Christmas? The Festive Sounds of Yuletide have never been captured with greater warmth or charm in this novel album. "Guitars At Christmas" combines the talents of five of America's most distinguished guitarists with the very special, tinsel-like sounds of Christmas: chimes, bells, celeste, music boxes, and many other memory stirring delights. "The sixteen very popular melodies in this album are given soft but stirring interpretations by the many rich "voices" of guitarists Al Hendrickson , Howard Roberts , Bobby Gibbons , Tommy Tedesco , and Bill Pitman . The sound they develop is distinctive enough to stimulate even the most jaded of ears, adding zest and a bubbly newness to the most familiar of melodies. "No small part of the liveli- and loveliness heard here can be attributed to the refreshing accents flowing from the "light as a Winter's night," clear as cry...

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 ...

If you haven't visited Bongobells recently, you're missing out on some very interesting finds (a Nelson Eddy Christmas album? Who knew?). Many of these finds will be reviewed here over the next several weeks. This is the first. Released in 1968 on the Viva label, not much else is known about the Midnight String Quartet other than a one sentence line on the back cover: " The Midnight String Quartet has now arrived at a position of great prominence among the successful instrumental groups of the world. " Hmmm... To understand all of this a bit further, let's take a closer look at the Viva label and the person behind it - a legendary record producer who got his nickname from chewing tobacco. By the age of 15, Snuff Garrett was already working in the music industry as a producer's assistant. Two years later, he was a disk jockey in Lubbock, Texas, hosted an "American Bandstand" type TV show for a time, and moved west to Hollywood to begin...

Earlier this year, I found this album in an antique store in the antique town of Pierceton , Indiana. At first glance, I nearly passed over it because of its non-Christmas title. However, the songs were and I added this to my pile of albums that I was preparing for the upcoming holiday season. Then in July, our friend Bongolong at Bongolong Land offered this album as part of his "Christmas In July" celebration. Earlier this month, Bongolong decided to create a new Christmas ONLY blog entitled Bongobells and is currently offering this album to download. In his first three weeks, Bongo has offered 31 different albums with such diverse titles as: "Ren & Stimpy's Crock O'Christmas" "Mae West - Wild Christmas" "Christmas In The Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album" "Guitars Inc. - Guitars At Christmas" "Jackie Gleason - Merry Christmas" This music box album is one of the TWELVE albums I've downloaded...