A Christmas Yuleblog

To honor Marc Bird 's memory, I'm posting various Christmas VA hospital records ranging from 1953 to 1976. This is the 1976 VA album. The Vietnam War had ended the previous year when the evacuation of Saigon began with the playing of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" on the remaining American radio station in Vietnam. The VA had its hands full when this album was released to vets recuperating from Agent Orange, post-tramatic stress disorder, and depression. So their decision to really class up this album for Christmas and the Bicentennial gets my vote for the best produced album of this series. The Hollywood Pops Orchestra leads off with a mix of patriotic and Christmas songs. They have three other songs later in the album. Big name stars? You bet! Peggy Lee, Wayne Newton, Buck Owens, Charley Pride, John Davidson, and Glen Campbell all contribute to the fun. One month prior to this album's release, President Gerald Ford was defeated by Jimmy Carter in...

This is the next album in sequential order. I posted this album last year so click here to read more about it (if you haven't already). Capt

To honor Marc Bird 's memory, I'm posting various Christmas VA hospital records ranging from 1953 to 1976. This is the 1966 album. LBJ has gone in with two feet into Vietnam and the divisions in the USA are beginning to deepen. As the war expands, so does the production from the VA. What started in 1953 with one track, this has now expanded to 25 tracks (with venerable Guy Lombardo as master of ceremonies) and many top name stars to add their two cents. Jo Stafford and Mitch Miller are back again, along with first timers Al Martino, Frankie Laine, Nancy Wilson, Jan Garber, and two guys named Hope and Crosby. Bob and Bing's 1966 contribution was reused twice by the VA - the following year in 1967, then again in 1976! Two songs on the album - Jo Stafford's "Merry Christmas" and The Andrews Sisters'"Christmas Island" - both in trunicated forms. But it's Bill Driver, the then-VA Administrator who gets the royal prize - an introduction ...

To honor Marc Bird 's memory, I'm posting various Christmas VA hospital records ranging from 1953 to 1976. Flash forward to 1965. Lyndon Johnson is Commander-in-Chief now and starting to escalate the Vietnam War. Compared to the Higley records of a decade earlier, the size and scope of the Christmas VA albums have escalated as well. With background music throughout, we are greeted by our host for this record who just ambled in off the "Bonanza" set - Lorne Greene. He quickly introduces many of the celebs on this record (Jo Stafford, Burl Ives, and "the MAN" Mitch Miller) and we're treated to full versions of several songs. If you listen and find several points when the music quickly cuts out or changes to fit the mood of the track, that's not a result of my editing. That's how it played out on the album. Rather disorienting. Christmas 1965 Veteran's Administration Hospital Program Happy listening... Capt

To honor Marc Bird 's memory, I'm posting various Christmas VA hospital records ranging from 1953 to 1976. This is the 1954 VA album - one side, total time 5:40. Our friend and then-VA Administrator Harvey V. Higley is back on hand to wish recuperating veterans a Merry Christmas. However, Higley invited some special surprise guests for this recording. We get to hear Jack Benny ("Now, look fella!), Barbara Stanwyck (whose track took nearly a full day to record thanks to a deep scratch), and Danny Kaye ("Peruvian pumpkin pies...") to greet the vets. Top it off with an excerpt of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and the groundwork for future VA Christmas albums was laid. Christmas 1954 Veterans Administration Hospital Program Happy listening... Capt

In the middle of 2007, an eBay seller listed a slew of Veterans Administration Christmas records for auction. I won two of the records (including Christmas 1971 which I shared out last year) while the rest didn't sell. The seller was located in Marion, IN - 45 minutes from my home. I asked if he would be willing to meet me in Marion to settle up and possibly get a look at the other albums. He agreed to do this at his booth in a local antique store. This is how I met Marc Bird. Marc was an admitted pack rat, music lover, and keen collector of the rare and obscure. His booth overflowed with records and CDs that he lovingly created, crafted, and sold. For instance, back in 2004 when John Kerry was running for President, Bird was the guy who had copies of Kerry's old garage band and sold them online - Kerry himself wrote to Bird asking for several copies! I spent an afternoon with him and the stories just poured out of this guy. The best story was of a local Marion radio s...

Imagine it's Christmas, 1971. You are a US veteran convalescing in a VA hospital at Christmas time and seeing the after effects of the prolonged Vietnam War. Your daily routine consists of awaking in your hospital bed, nurses wheeling in your meals, therapy for most of the day. You can then watch television, read in the library, or listen to the soothing sounds the overheard speakers pipe in. This album is one of several that I was very fortunate to purchase from Marc Bird of Spindle Records . Bird has been compiling rare and obscure music of the doo-wop era, the novelty era, and the psychedelic era and offering them at his site. Did I mention he's got some Christmas CDs over there? Tennessee Ernie Ford is your host on this 16 minute program. He get the Big Guy out of the way quickly - President Richard M. Nixon takes time out of his busy covering up schedule to thank the injured vets for "buying time" for lasting peace. We are then treated to many celeb...