A Christmas Yuleblog

Okay... you're probably saying to yourself "Self, that cover looks awfully familiar. Have I seen that somewhere before or have I just drank too much eggnog???" Before you dial up the EggNog Anonymous hotline, this identical cover was used as an alternate of The Murk Family's Christmas album. It later appeared as an alternate cover for Mickey Rooney's Christmas album (but if you saw the other cover, you'd understand why this one was used... you've been warned!). When I saw this album at a thrift store in Chicago, I was half tempted to pass it up - who needs yet another Christmas organ album and I don't need a THIRD album with the same cover in my collection. Or did I? I read the back and kept asking myself "Why does the name Frank Pellico ring a bell?" I added the album to the pile and continued on my merry way (you can never beat 25 cents for an LP). Only after I left the city limits of my former hometown and got back to my curr...

This was found at a local garage sale several years ago and the cover totally hooked me. It looked promising (lots of titles listed - in hi-fi!) and I gladly paid my 50 cents. Then I dropped the needle... A pretty standard Christmas organ album. There was a serious glut of Christmas organ albums between then and now along the sharity network and I couldn't bring myself to share this one out. One track was shared last year as a part of the 2007 Yuleblog Sampler and I decided to share the rest this year. I wish I had more on Patricia Wilde (Google turned up nothing) but it did yield some info on Acorn Records thanks to the folks at Both Sides Now. It seems Acorn Records had problems with its grammar and spelling - I urge you to check out the Acorn link; it's a hoot! Patricia Wilde - Christmas Carols In Percussion Happy listening... Capt

William Ballard Doggett was born February 16, 1916 in Philadelphia. At age nine, Doggett wanted to play the trumpet but since his family could not afford one, his mother introduced him to the organ. Four years later, Bill was being hailed as a child prodigy. When he was fifteen, Bill formed his first combo called "The Five Majors". While attending high school, he found work playing in the pit orchestra at the Nixon Grand theater with the Jimmy Gorman Band. He eventually inherited Gorman's fifteen-piece orchestra at the height of the Big Band Era After he sold the band to Lucky Millender, he stayed in contact with Millender - writing arrangements and playing piano. Then in late 1942, Doggett joined the Ink Spots and became the group's arranger and pianist. He recorded five singles with them during a two year period before heading out on his own again. Bill toured and recorded with several of the nation's top singer and bands. Among these were Johnny Oti...

Back in 2006, this was one of the first albums I ever shared out - posted this over at FaLaLaLaLa.com . Then last year, I posted it here at the yuleblog. I ended each post with the same comment: "This is the MONO copy... I'd love to find this in STEREO". As you can tell by the picture above, I indeed found the STEREO copy I'd been searching for. Read more about Bob Ralston and find both copies for your listening pleasure... Capt

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. Starting with a great album I reviewed called " A Christmas Sampler (Westminster Records) " (which featured several tracks from Liebert), Ernie...

Since the beginning of LPs at the end of the 1940s, there has probably been more Christmas organ albums released than any other single musical instrument. There are amazing Christmas organ albums (see Jimmy McGriff , Ethel Smith , or Earl Grant ). There are decent Christmas organ albums (see Ken Griffin , Larry Ferrari , or Eddie Layton ). There are terrible Christmas organ albums (see Hanna-Barbera or Alexander Goodrich ). From November 2005 to now, I've collected nearly 25 Christmas organ albums, easily making it the largest subgenre in my collection. So why am I adding this new organ CD to my collection? Brother, I wasn't about to miss this one from Rhoda Scott! I first heard about Scott when I reviewed Ton Rückert's 2003 & 2004 Christmas Comps back in March, 2007. Ton had used the song "Winter Wonderland" in his 2004 Christmas comp. My comment at the time was: GREAT JUMPIN' ICEBERGS! Rhoda Scott's 'Winter Wonderland' is a ...

From an infamous Kermit Schaefer blooper: "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 Jes...

This one almost had me in its tentacles. eBay had several copies tempting me to spend $20 or more to get my own LP. Thankfully, I checked out the cool wax. Brainwerk runs the fun sharity blog entitled " Check The Cool Wax " whose great Christmas comp I reviewed here earlier this year. Last November, he posted this album and I was able to scratch this one off my list. By the looks of the cover, it promises to be a fun, fun album. Fast Freddy Flintstone on the stalagmite organ, Snagglepuss pickin' the bass, Huckleberry Hounddog on the chimes, and don't forget Magilla Gorilla on the triangle! But we're putting the cartoon horse before the cartoon cart. We have to go back to 1939 for the beginning of this story. On the backlot of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stood the animation studio where William Hanna and Joseph Barbera first met. They had an instant rapport and set to complete their first collaboration - a 1940 cartoon called "Puss Gets The Boot"...

Three years ago, The King of Jingaling at FaLaLaLaLa.com offered one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time. Two years ago, I downloaded not one but two fantastic albums from our friend Ernie (not Bert) (which were re-offered last year). These three albums were recorded by the late, great Eddie Dunstedter and I never reviewed these albums at the yuleblog. I promised Ernie that these albums would be the first ones to get the yuleblog treatment after my return from acting. However... the almighty Google keeps referring to Ernie's posts when you enter the name of Eddie Dunstedter and there is surprisingly little about the man online for research. The few online facts that I found? Dunstedter discovered the vocal group The Merry Macs back in 1926, was the musical director of several radio shows back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and has one movie credit to his name - the music score for the 1953 schlock horror movie " Donovan's Brain " (with futu...

I wasn't going to share this album out because who needs another Christmas organ music LP? This album and I have a long history. I found it earlier this year when I located just the record alone at a local Goodwill store. The album cover turned up much later. The front cover was in great shape. The back was hideous. Watermarks, coffee mug rings, a small food stain... was it food? It took me forever to clean it up in Photoshop. Why all this for a Christmas organ album? When you see the name "Sy Mann" on the back cover, you tend to overlook little details like coffee and food stains! For those who don't know who Sy Mann is, let me quote from a review I did back in August of an album I got last Christmas from our friend Ernie at his incredible blog Ernie (not Bert) (which he just upgraded to STEREO ! WOW!): "But organ music in the hands of Sy Mann, then it becomes something that deserves special attention. If the name Sy Mann sounds familiar, that's ...

This album (my last repost of the 2006 downloading season) was originally offered at FaLaLaLaLa.com last December. To quote from I wrote a year ago: "Bob Ralston came from a show biz family: his mom was the 13th employee hired by Walt Disney – she was the voice of Minnie Mouse! "After his formal music training ended, he played six nights at week with the Freddy Martin Orchestra from 1959-62 at the Coconut Grove in Hollywood. "When that stint ended, he was approached by Lawrence Welk to be a pianist / organist / arranger for his Champagne Music Makers in 1963. It was a job he held until Welk and company went off the air in 1982 and continues to hold as arranger / organist for the occasional Welk reunion road show that tours the US. "Today, Ralston presents five one-hour pops concerts each month in an intimate (40-seat) setting at his home in Granada Hills, CA. In addition to these regularly scheduled programs, he offers custom concerts to bus tours that vi...

Well... how do I follow up from yesterday's longwinded but true story? How about a shortwinded true story about the album (or albums) in this yuleblog entry? Around this time last December, I went on one of my first power Christmas album searches throughout the Fort Wayne area and found this copy (pictured above) by Earl Grant. The album cover (in good shape) stated this was a re-release and the record was in excellent shape. I can't remember what I paid for it but I knew it was a steal. With album in hand, I went to my local Kinko's to create color copies of the covers so I could transfer them over to my computer at home. I arrived home with the copies but left the album at Kinko's! I immediately called the store and they couldn't find the album on the glass or around the workstation! I was depressed beyond belief! I called the following day (different shift, different people) and got the same answer. Two weeks passed and I found myself back at Kinko...

Last year at FaLaLaLaLa , I began my career in Christmas sharity. One of these shares was a 45 single of "Winter Wonderland" and "Up On The Housetop" by Ken Griffin that I had just acquired from my in-laws record collection. If you look at the Rondo label of " Winter Wonderland ", the credited songwriter is Irving Berlin! Fact checking wasn't a huge priority in the music industry back in the 1950s obviously. When I typed out the description for that record, I didn't know who Ken Griffin was. I did some Google searches for background information and the like. At the time, I stated that Ken released two Christmas albums: + Christmas Organ And Chimes (Rondo-Lette A-40), 1950/1951 + The Organ Plays At Christmas (Columbia CL-692), 1959 Some new research informs us that Griffin did indeed release a Christmas album entitled "Merry Christmas (Organ And Chimes)" (Rondo RLP-10) in 1951. It was a 10" LP that I haven't found... yet...

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'...

In a yuleblog entry yesterday , I mentioned that Christmas organ music was now the largest subgenre in my collection. As I thumbed through the remaining stack of albums that I downloaded at Ernie (not Bert)'s blog last year (a mere 12 remaining from a tower of 35+ CDs), yet another CD stared at me containing Christmas organ music. But organ music in the hands of Sy Mann, then it becomes something that deserves special attention. If the name Sy Mann sounds familiar, that's because he was one of the main forces behind " Switched On Santa " - one of the top five Christmas albums of all time. Mann's musical education began quite young - at the age of six to be exact. His sister would hit wrong notes on her cello as she practiced and Sy would correct her by playing the right notes on the family piano! Sy was studying music at New York University when World War II began. He quickly enlisted and spent most of his four year stint in the Army either composing, ar...

As I type these words, my mind is playing tricks with me. You may not know it but this addition to my Christmas music collection is a very significant one and I'm not sure how to react to it. The largest subgenre in my collection was Hawaiian Christmas music. Thirteen albums. Solo artists like Don Ho and Willie K. Groups like The Waikikis, The Blue Hawaiians, and Na Leo Pilimehana. Lush cover art like The Mahaka Sons "Christmas Day In Hawaii Nei" or crazy cover art like the 49th State Record Co's "Santa's Gone Hawaiian". If you didn't catch it, I said this WAS the largest subgenre. Christmas organ music skyrocketed to the top this year. From November 2005 to present, I have added TWELVE different organ albums to my collection. Looking at my albums-to-be-shared-at-Christmas pile, there's another three Christmas organ albums awaiting addition to my collection. This is not counting the half dozen or so Christmas organ albums I'll probab...

I was originally planning to post a stereo version of " Woody The Woodchuck - Christmas Sing Song " today, ending my Christmas in July celebration. However, the album you are looking might be my vinyl find of the year. It carries much significance because it was much sought after (by me at least), involves our good friend Ernie (not Bert), and in ways crystalizes what our royal highness, the King Of Jingaling, wanted to do when he started FaLaLaLaLa.com . You might be scratching your head wondering what I'm talking about but go with me here... read on and all will be revealed. Ethel Smith was a graduate of Carnegie Tech who majored in music and language (she was fluent in French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and German) whose talents at the piano led her to movie houses, theaters, then vaudeville tours. Along the way, she worked at department stores demonstrating organs and became so proficient that she strictly played the organ from then on. Around WWII, she tour...

This album comes from the great download catch of 2005 from the blog of Ernie (Not Bert) . To quote from Ernie: Tonight's LP is from the well-known duo of Buddy And Bunny Burden. You say you've never heard of them? How can that be? Perhaps you didn't hang out in Gatlinburg in the sixties. "OK, so these two might not be a household name, but after you listen to their record, you might decide to spread their name a little further afield. I have yet to figure out exactly what Bunny brings to the table. "Sure, she looks nice there on the cover, but there's not a peep from her on this record. She's not even mentioned on the back cover. And did I mention I think Buddy is wearing the same tuxedo that my dad was married in? "Of course he didn't have the snazzy haircut. And if you know anything more about these two, please drop me a line. Thanks! I'm sorry to report that after much searching and Googling, I couldn't find anything about ...

When Ernie offered this very album at his blog many months ago, my heart nearly skipped a beat... in 3/4 time! To quote from Ernie's original post: "Once upon a time, everyone had a piano in their home. Later, people had organs in their homes. Nowadays, we have CD players and TVs and iPods and Sega. "But back to the organs for a sec. This LP was designed to help sell those organs. I don't know if this was given away to customers, or sold in the organ stores, or what, but the ultimate goal was to get you to buy an organ from Kimball so that you could play like the artists on this record." One of my uncles went out and did exactly that one year. He was lured into a local mall outlet where the salesmen, resplendent in their polyester slacks, sat behind desks and occasionally behind a keyboard to show you the ease of playing the organ. After selling you an organ, they ask "can you play?" If not, they would sell you "how to play the organ"...

Outside of the Philadelphia area, many people probably haven't heard of Larry Ferrari. This talented chap played the organ at several differnt Philly churches and on many local Philly television shows. "The Larry Ferrari Show" began on Sunday nights in 1954, with Larry looking directly into the camera, playing pop favorites on the organ, and ending each show with a religious selection. His final broadcast was in 1997 - a remarkable 43 year run for a guy and his organ! This album was created in the early 1960s and features Larry playing his favorite Christmas songs on the Rodgers Theatre Organ. If you ever roller skated to Christmas organ music at any point in your life, this is what it sounded like! Each song has that wonderful Wurlitzer sound to it and Larry plays a mean organ! This is especially true in the several medleys performed on the album. He zips through "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Jingle Bells", and "Frosty The Snowman"...