A Christmas Yuleblog

Received an interesting package at the P.O. Box a few weeks ago.  Inside was an advance copy of a Christmas album (in a clear DVD case) from a band I had never heard of before. The cover letter read thusly: I quickly added December 3rd to my calendar as I sat down trying to figure out more about this band.  From their bio : CB&J has been performing their distinctive style of folky swing since the spring of 2005. They released their first full-length album, “Love and Circumstances” in November of 2006. Their second and most recent album, “Custom Made For You,” was released on December 12th, 2008. In addition to headlining many shows, Christabel and the Jons has also performed at numerous festivals in the US including Bonnaroo, Riverbend, Bele Chere, Blue Plum Festival, Shakori Hills Festival, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, and Sundown in the City. They’ve also opened for many national acts including The Brazilian Girls, The Be Good Tanyas, The Red Stick R...

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...

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...

To modify an anonymous quote that has become famous: "Never judge an album by its cover". Earlier this year, I was surfing through the holiday album listings at eBay when I discovered this album. I was shocked two different ways - the first being that I was able to track this album down at a reasonable price, the second was that stupefying cover. Let's start at the beginning to fully understand this. George Mitchell had come from a musical family - his grandfather was a well-known Scottish choir master and both of his parents were singers as well. He learned piano at an early age and during World War II, he organized military choirs and made a name for himself throughout the armed forces. After the war, Mitchell went to work for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and organized radio choirs and shows utilizing his own handpicked glee club entitled "The George Mitchell Choir". As television began its ascent in popularity over radio, Mitchell be...

This is the last of four new Christmas releases that I received at my P.O. Box that I'm reviewing this week. Ironically, this was one of the first of those four that arrived. It's been sitting patiently while I reviewed Emmanuel Shall , Kevin Koelbl , and Silvia Fleming , eyeballing me the entire time, tempting me with its artwork. To quote the press sheet: "Since 2004, The Hipwaders have performed their own original Christmas songs along with their 'wader-ized' versions of Christmas classics. Finally, the band got around to recording their original compositions for the holidays. "Christmas music has traditionally always been "family music" and The Hipwaders carry on this tradition with their songs celebrating all aspects of Christmas with a special admiration for Santa Claus and his exploits. Some say The Hipwaders 'exploit' Santa - but that's for you to decide..." Indeed it is... and I must admit, I'm pretty intrig...

My thoughts exactly, Grommit! A few weeks ago, I posted an update that got quite a bit of response both online and off. More updates are in the works as well as reviews of several upcoming Christmas releases that arrived at my P.O. Box. However, there was one package that stood apart from the rest. There was no return address and no post office markings anywhere on the envelope. The presumably Pitney-Bowes label had no evidence of its origin. I could post a photo of it but after reading the cover letter, I won't. The cover letter was informative. The Times New Roman font was utilized, printed from MS Word (again presumably), and was left unsigned. I suppose I could go all "CSI" and dust for fingerprints and DNA while doing my best David Caruso impersonation but I won't. The text of the letter: " Hey Capt! Long time reader here - love the blog! You are putting on a Christmas play and I wish you have a great run! I've been involved in the...

In March of 2007, I travelled to Chicago sans wife & kids to search through the bowels of Chicago thrift stores, flea markets, and rare record stores to search for Christmas LPs for my collection. This past weekend, I travelled again to Chicago sans wife & kids to do the exact same thing. Upon learning the news, the Chicago River turned green with envy (keep reading). My weekend trip began last Friday and I stopped at various flea markets and antique stores along the Lincoln Highway from Fort Wayne to Chicago. I walked away with two Christmas albums (both have been shared out by our friend Ernie (Not Bert) - keep reading). After getting to Illinois, I went to a thrift store location that two years ago had just opened, had one entire corner of their store reserved for LPs, and yielded a good portion of the titles I shared out last year. Upon my return this year, their selection was reduced to an eight ft. folding table with about 10 milk crates full of LPs. Sadly, I ...

I can explain. I'm reviewing Christmas albums that were given to as presents last year. So if you're thinking that I went to my local music store of choice and plunked down good money for this CD, guess again. This was presented to me by one of my wife's aunts at a family gathering last Christmas Eve. As I unwrapped it knowing full well it was a Christmas CD, I began to wonder what new release it could have been. Harry Connick Jr.? Sheryl Crow? Brian Setzer's umpteenth Christmas album? Aretha Franklin? The Fleshtones? Melissa Etheridge? "Cameo Parkway Holiday Hits"? When I laid eyes on the green and purple cover and the familiar " American Gramaphone " logo at the bottom of the cover, in an instant I knew. I had to fight back the piercing shriek of terror that was building inside me. "Ohhhhhhh... wow!" I exclaimed. My wife's aunt was pleased at my reaction. "Their new Christmas CD!" I politely thanked h...

This was a Christmas present given to me by my son Alex. In the past, Alex chose several Christmas albums ( Oh Santa (Yep Roc) , Gene Autry ) to give to my on December 25th but instead chose a DVD on my Santa list. My Santa list contained several DVD titles and several that I asked for were under the Christmas tree. I'm attempting to lose weight as a New Year's resolution (40 lbs. by my 40th birthday in June) and these will be used while exercising on the stationary bike or treadmill. Back in September, I discovered this DVD would be hitting shelves in October. At first, I was pretty psyched. A full DVD full of vintage Christmas clips from the Mighty Carson Art Players and Johnny himself, I thought. Last December, I posted a YouTube video that had a clip from his 15th Anniversary show that contained a pretty hilarious Christmas clip. My friend Stubbyfears informed in the comments that he had seen the DVD and wished there were more clips like the one I had posted. ...

From time to time this Christmas season, I'll be posting some amazing videos that have been rescued by people like us and posted at the mecca of all things wonderful and obscure - YouTube . I invite you to add a fun comment, witticism, clever remark, or observation in the comments section provided. Any comments deemed worthy of repeating will be included into this entry where all the world will see it. For those who lived through the year 1968 and survived, they received a Christmas present 40 years ago today. The year started off with the Tet Offensive that changed the whole outlook on the Vietnam War. The USS Pueblo was captured off North Korean waters and its crew was held and beaten for most of the year. Across the sea, Paris students threw riots that stopped the country cold. In Czechoslovakia, reforms are attempted during the "Prague Spring" only to be crushed swiftly and cruelly by Soviet tanks and troops. LBJ decides not to seek another term as Presiden...

From time to time this Christmas season, I'll be posting some amazing videos that have been rescued by people like us and posted at the mecca of all things wonderful and obscure - YouTube . I invite you to add a fun comment, witticism, clever remark, or observation in the comments section provided. Any comments deemed worthy of repeating will be included into this entry where all the world will see it. When I began searching for YouTube Christmas videos a while back, these next three were among the first ones on the list. They are a series of theater ads that movie houses and drive-ins would show inbetween their showings and trailers to their audiences: Some of these came from the excellent compilations entitled " Hey Folks! It's Intermission Time " from Something Weird Video - there are some amazing ads on here if you like these sort of nostalgia. What do you think? Capt

From time to time this Christmas season, I'll be posting some amazing videos that have been rescued by people like us and posted at the mecca of all things wonderful and obscure - YouTube . I invite you to add a fun comment, witticism, clever remark, or observation in the comments section provided. Any comments deemed worthy of repeating will be included into this entry where all the world will see it. Earlier today, I posted two albums with connection to my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Continuing with that theme, I scanned the YouTube dial to find any videos with a similar connection to the Summit City and came up with quite a few vids. The first is of a well known and loved three-story tall Santa Claus that's been hanging in downtown Fort Wayne for decades: This mammoth display used to hang off the Wolf & Dessauer department store in downtown Fort Wayne eons ago and was rescued from the trash bin two decades ago - click on the links for more info. Our n...

Heino is the most successful German folk (Volksmusik) singer of all times. His characteristics are the blond hair, the omnipresent dark shades and the clear, baritone singing voice. He has sold more than 30 million records in the last 30 years and has become one of the most beloved and famous persons in the German speaking part of the world (98% of all Germans know him - only surpassed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl - 99%). This album was released in 1969 and it's an epic. Side one is one gigantic Christmas medley (nineteen songs - nineteen minutes in length, all in German!). Side two is a collection of religious Christmas songs (all in German again). Heino - A Festive German Christmas If you're not a big fan of Christmas carols, religious Christmas songs, but still want your Heino for Christmas, then this video is for you - all 23 minutes of it! Thanks to Anna-Lena Lodenius for finding this: The Blonde One reportedly went on a farewell tour recently so who knows ...