A Christmas Yuleblog

In yesterday's post , I gave props to Buster over at Big 10-Inch Record for posting some darn good shares this downloading season. Late last month, I posted an entry that mentioned that two albums I originally had planned on sharing out were already posted to Buster's blog. One of those two albums was this gem of a Christmas album. I was ready to file it away for the winter and move on to other shares when our friend Ernie (not Bert) pointed out in a comment that Buster had posted a high-fidelity copy of the album whilst mine read STEREO! It's commonplace here for me to miss small things like that. Maybe it's the early stages of Alzheimer's... Thanks for bringing that to my attention Ern! Backstory: Marjorie Chandler was born in 1926 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada - just across the river from Detroit, Michigan. She developed a love for music and began singing on radio stations on BOTH sides of the river in her teens. It was also during this time she ado...

The 2009 Christmas downloading season is under way. I'm saddened to learn that my friend Ernie (Not Bert) had a computer hard drive crash and burn (I feel your pain - same thing happened to me five years ago.) Don't fret - his collection is so huge that anything he posts is worth a first or second look. In my case, it's the 203rd look. Two days in and there are new releases all over the place. If you haven't bookmarked it yet, Santas Working Overtime does just that - finding all these new releases and highlighting them faster than any RSS feed can ever hope to do. During these same two days, I discovered that two albums I was preparing to share... were already shared out! The first is this amazing chestnut: Recorded in 1954, this 10" was the first full-length Christmas album for Messrs. Ferrante and Teicher. All of the eight songs on this album were later re-released on their " Adventures In Carols " album from 1956 (available to download...

This EP was given to me by my in-laws when they were cleaning out their closets. It was a popular record in their house at Christmas time and knew I might enjoy this. ARE YA KIDDIN'? Okay... if this looks familiar, you can thank our friend Ernie for that - his devotion to finding most of The Three Suns Christmas catalog and sharing it at his blog is legendary. He could very well be the Fourth Sun! I originally thought Ernie had offered this EP at one time or another but it seems that this EP was never offered. So to complete his collection (and the other Three Suns Christmas completists out there), I'm offering it in honor of the hardest working man in Christmas sharity show business - the one and only Ernie (Not Bert) . The Three Suns - The Sound of Christmas EP By the way, Ernie has started sharing out all new stuff at his blog - you'd better insure your clicking finger first and head over there. Best of luck with the 2008 downloading season! 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...

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...

Yesterday I was scrounging around in a Goodwill store and found this album - which freaked me out because I was due to write about it today - talk about coincidence! This was yet another album brought to us by our pal Ernie (downloaded at his blog on November 29th, 2006 at 11:57 PM). Ernie was going through a Latin phase at the time - the other Christmas albums he shared around this time were from Menudo and Charo ! If you're still wondering "who is Jose Melis?", then take a trip with me to a time when there were only five channels on your B&W television. Jose Melis was born in Havana, Cuba on February 27, 1920. He aspired to be a classical pianist and this took him to the Havana Conservatory of Music. When he was 16, he arrived in the United States and attended the Longy School of Music at first, then the Juilliard School of Music in New York. While he attended Juilliard, Melis began appearing in clubs around New York as a lounge pianist. World War II ...

(Click on image to enlarge) If you take a blood sample from our friend Ernie (Not Bert), you'll find 80% red blood cells, 10% white blood cells, and 10% vinyl. This was downloaded on November 29, 2006 at 1:54 PM from his blog and nearly two years later, I'm getting around to reviewing it - sheesh! Back in the late 1940s, MGM - the movie studio with the roaring lion - created their own record label. For a time, they were the only movie studio with its own record label. By the mid-1950s, television had so badly eroded the box office that other movie studios needed new streams of revenue. In 1957, Paramount began its record label and Warner Bros. were undecided as to start its own label. That changed when Dot Records signed then-WB star Tab Hunter to its label. Even though Hunter had an iron-clad exclusive movie contract with WB, without a record label, Tab was free to sign with Dot. Sure enough, plans for Warner Bros. Records went into high gear and in March, 1958 ...

It seems on November 26, 2006 at 1:11 AM and again on November 26, 2006 at 1:13 AM , our good friend Ernie was in a Christmas disco kind of mood. Which is fine by me because on several occasions here, I've openly admitted that I have a guilty pleasure for all forms of Christmas disco. Shortly after I began this blog in January, 2006, I reviewed my first Christmas disco album - The Salsoul Orchestra's "Christmas Jollies II". Several months later, I did another review for The Mistletoe Disco Band's "Christmas Disco" with a bonus - this was the very FIRST album I ever shared here at the yuleblog (does that tell you how I feel about this genre?). With the addition of these two beauties (thank you Ernie), I now own nine Christmas disco albums. Not counting the disco album I intend to share at Christmas (more on that later). Turning on the disco ball... This is what Ernie wrote about the first album: "Today you get some disco Christmas! ...

Last week I went to a local Goodwill store that is phasing out their vinyl (sad, I know). Amongst the Barry Manilow and Christian evangelist LPs was this very album you are looking at. I picked it up for the princely sum of 75 cents and chuckled all the way to the car with this one. I knew that sometime this week I was going to review this very album - downloaded from Ernie (Not Bert) again on November 26, 2006 at 8:36 PM. When Ernie posted this album, he also posted the following: "I asked everybody the other day if they wanted to request anything, and got a few responses. Some of them were good ones that I'm going to work on, some stuff that I already had in the works, at least one item that I had already shared, and a couple of things that I can't share because they are on CD. "But the very first request came from none other than my father. He wanted to hear an album that we had when I was a little kid. And you can't say no to dear old Dad, no can yo...

Continuing with my list of Christmas albums I've downloaded since 2006, this was left mouse clicked on November 26, 2006 at 5:20 PM from Ernie (Not Bert) . After reposting a fun Christmas album from Buddy & Bunny Burden (in which Bunny appeared on the cover and little else), Ernie read the fantastic blog of Lee Hartsfield called Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else . It seems Lee posted several Christmas tracks where Bunny actually sung. So Ernie searched deep into his stacks and stacks of untracked Christmas vinyl and whaddya know? He actually had the entire album that Lee's tracks came from. Ernie's got the fastest turntable in the west and transferred the album you are looking at. Ummm... :-) There's nothing out there online (with the exception of Ernie's original post) about this album. I Googled "Halo Records Nashville" but came up empty there. Ha ha. (<--- nervous laugh) Hey! How about a niceeeee back cover ...

Over the past several weeks, I've looked at albums I received as Christmas presents last December or purchased around the same time. Starting today, I am dusting off an old, OLD list of all the Christmas albums I've downloaded over the past TWO years. This list was started in August, 2007 but was called to a stop a month later due to my hectic schedule at the time. This album was downloaded on November 26, 2006 at 4:55 PM EST from the blog of (you guessed it) Ernie (Not Bert) . Since 2006, I've probably downloaded more than 200 albums from this guy so get used to seeing his name and handiwork around here for the next several. It seems I was one of the lucky ones who got this downloaded. Or did he send it to me? I forget... In any case, Ernie discovered that this album indeed was released on CD (click here - it didn't work for me) and stopped sharing the album, FYI. The next time you're at a Super Bowl party and really want to impress people with your ...

At first glance of this album cover, the gentlemen seated on the couch looks more like a high school principal or shop teacher than a world renowned orchestra leader. Nevertheless, these two fantastic offerings were presented last year at Ernie (not Bert)'s blog within a two day span of time. I juggled my schedule of downloads around a tad bit to feature both on the same day. Today is Mr. Swing And Sway Day! The first album, " Christmas Day With Sammy Kaye ", was offered on November 25, 2006. It was originally released at Christmas, 1960 by Decca Records. The second "album" (pictured to the right) is actually a collection of 45 singles from 1951 and boxed up in a festive cover entitled " Christmas Serenade " by Columbia Records. Not bad for a guy who received a degree in civil engineering while playing in small time bands throughout college. After Sammy left college with his degree, he found his true calling in music. He quickly began h...

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...

Our next album comes to us from the wonderful online kingdom known as FaLaLaLaLa . The King of Jingaling, FLLLL's gracious, generous, and benevolent ruler featured this album. (I was awake at 1:30 AM on November 24th, 2006 when I found this online. Many times throughout the downloading season, I'll find myself staying up later, even waking in the middle of the night for 30 - 45 minutes searching for new stuff. I really need to learn how to do RSS feeds!) The King has shared many fantastic albums over the years at FLLLL. While I offer gems like Alex Houston & Elmer , he offers gold. Not fool's gold. Real gold. His albums are always a cut above the rest because of the immensely intriguing stories behind the albums themselves. Last month, The King offered the famous "NORAD Tracks Santa" LP, released at the height of the Cold War. Several years ago, it was The Rhodes Kids whose album was produced by a bonafide porn peddler. At first glance, you...

Finally, after nearly two years! Way back on December 15, 2005 , Ernie (of Ernie Not Bert) first posted this album at his blog. How I missed it the first time, I'm not sure but I spent a few days smacking myself in the head over my failure to download. Ernie reposted the album (you da man, Ern!) and I got my copy last year on November 23rd, 2006. For those who only Buck from his days on " Hee Haw ", here's the quick story: Born Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. in 1929, he grew up on a Texas farm whose family mule was named Buck. At the age of three, he announced to the family that his name was Buck too. No one thankfully objected. While working as a truck driver in the late-1940s, Owens found himself driving through the picturesque San Joaquin Valley in California on his way to Bakersfield. The beauty of the land convinced Buck that this was the place where he wanted to settle down and did so in 1950. Meanwhile, up in the state of Oregon, a girl named Susan Raye...