Jimmy Wakely - Christmas On The Range
On occasion when I work with my friend Joel, we grab breakfast at a downtown Fort Wayne eatery called "Cindy's Diner" - serving the world 15 people at a time. Inside, they still operate authentic Seeburg counter jukeboxes and around this time every year, they put in several different Christmas 45s. One in particular is "Silver Bells" b/w "Christmas Candy" by Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely. Every time I eat there, I make sure to listen to that B-side - a very good, underrated Christmas song that deserves more radio airplay. This little tune on Cindy's jukeboxes led me to investigate Jimmy Wakely and made me wonder if he had any other Christmas material. Wakely was born in Arkansas in 1914 and loved listening to country & western tunes while growing up. He also took a love for movie westerns and singing cowboys. Jimmy was discovered by Gene Autry, who asked him to join his "Melody Ranch" at the beginning of the 1940s. He stay...