FaLaLaLaLa

From our friend over at The Yule Ghoul:

Could it be that the rumored 1968 Christmas single by Walter Ghoul’s Lavender Brigade’s Oliver Crumb has finally surfaced?  Because I refuse to let reality stand in the way of a good thing, I believe that it has… and with jangly guitars aplenty. The B side Marshmallow World,  sadly, has been scratched beyond repair.

As promised, here is the final and complete 2009 ADVENTure In Carols.

If you’ve already download the individual tracks, you may download a ZIP file with all of the artwork (booklet, jewel case insert) plus a PDF of all of the blog posts (with links intact).

Or if you want you can download the entire package with MP3 files plus the artwork listed above.

I have to give extra special credit where it is due—to Mr. Jared Chapman whose artistic touch really enhances the whole collection!

01 – Deck The Halls – Tijuana Brass and Voices
02 – Do You Hear What I Hear – The Mike Sammes Singers
03 – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer/Jingle Bells/Where Did My Snowman Go – Big Ben Banjo Band
04 – Red Cheeks and White Whiskers – Blue Barron and His Orchestra
05 – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town – Arthur Treacher
06 – Sweet Nutcracker! – John Klein
07 – Song of Christmas – Jack de Mello
08 – Let It Snow – Buckingham Strings
09 – We Need A Little Christmas – Dinah Shore
10 – Winter Wonderland – MUZAK
11 – One Little Tree – The Longines Symphonette
12 – We Three Kings – The Jack Brokensha Quartet
13 – The Christmas Song – The Four Aces
14 – Christmas Is – The Harry Simeone Chorale
15 – Dancing Snowmen – The Blenders
16 – Here We Come A Caroling/Deck The Halls/We Wish You A Merry Christmas – The New Christy Minstrels
17 – Outer Space Santa – Lawrence Welk’s Little Band
18 – The Sound of Christmas – The Cricketones
19 – Jingle Bells – The Organ Orchestra
20 – Have A Merry Merry Christmas – Slim Boyd and his Rangehands
21 – The Christmas Waltz – David Rose
22 – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – The Skipjack Choir
23 – A Holly Jolly Christmas – Living Voices
24 – Hamau! Na Anelá (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing) – Webley Edwards
25 – I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day – The London Sound 70 Orchestra and Chorus

Download Art ONLY.	Download Music & Art

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from FaLaLaLaLa.com!

Here we reach the end of the 2009 ADVENTure in Carols.  And so we hear the bells this Christmas Day.

I discovered this album thanks to my friend, Randy (PDMan in the FaLaLaLaLa forums).  It’s a collection of three LP’s that are just fantastic with 1970’s Now Sound Christmas joy!  I shared it out last year, so go get it.

And then also use the image below to download this 25th track from the 2009 ADVENTure In Carols.

I would also like to take this opportunity to officially unveil the cover for the 2009 collection.  This year’s artist is the oh-so talented Jared Chapman.

I think you’ll agree that he managed to capture some of the magic and wonder of the Christmas season.

So give me a few days and I’ll have the full CD booklet and tray insert artwork.  Then I’ll put all the tracks and the artwork in one file to download.  (I’ll also include a file with just the artwork for those who have downloaded all the tracks.)

If you’re looking for some festive ambience for your Christmas Day celebration, look no further than the original classic WPIX Yule Log.

Sure, there are many imitations, but this is the real deal, and the soundtrack is just the kind of classic holiday fare we love here at FaLaLaLaLa!  I’ve got my TiVo all set to record it to watch tomorrow.

Directly from TheYuleLog.com, here’s where and when you can see The Yule Log in your area:

New York/WPIX ~ 4am-6am & 9am-1pm
Philadelphia/WPHL ~ 9am-12pm
Washington, D.C./WDCW ~ 8am-10am
Seattle/KCPQ ~ 5am-10am
Miami/WSFL ~ 9am-11am
Denver/KWGN ~ 5am-9am
Denver/KDVR ~ 5am-7am
Sacramento/KTXL ~ 4:30am-9am
St. Louis/KPLR ~ 8am-12pm  
Portland/KRCW ~ 5am-9:30am
Indianapolis/WXIN ~ 4:30am-9am
Bloomington/WTTV ~ 4:30am-6am
Hartford/WTIC ~ 9am-11am
Grand Rapids/WXMI ~ 3:30am-4:30am
Harrisburg/WPMT ~ 5am-10am
New Orleans/WGNO ~ 5am-7am
Chicago/WGN-9 ~ 2:30am-7am

National coverage on Cable and Satellite TV:
WGN America ~ 8am-11am (EST)

And we all owe Chip Arcuri much thanks for keeping the Yule Log spirit alive!

The voice of Paul Buchanan (of The Blue Nile) is magic to me. It is about yearning and disappointment and regret and hope. It’s sophisticated yet raw.

Hearing him sing Silent Night is just a sublime experience. I hope that on listening you will agree.

The album that this comes from, Seasons of Light, is still available on CD (though it’s pricey). The only place I’ve found it for download is Napster. It’s a really eclectic and interesting mix.

Listen to this track on Napster:

Christmas Eve tends to make me thoughtful and reflective.  It is a reminder that at each moment the world is about to change and that a miraculous moment is always at hand.  We just have to look for it where we least expect it—in a manger in Bethlehem, in a brilliant star, in an excited child, in ourselves.

Take this day, this moment, this celebration of light in the darkness to see the miracles all around you.  And if you don’t see any, then it’s up to you to make them.

Then you, too, can hear the angels sing….

And tomorrow, Christmas Day, we’ll post the final song of the ADVENTure In Carols.

The full 25-song download with CD booklet, etc. probably won’t get finished until the weekend so that I can enjoy Christmas Day with family and friends.

I’m a sucker for vocal harmonies, from doo-wop to Queen to Beach Boys to choral works.  Human voices that blend seamlessly are just magic.

Anita Kerr knew how to get voices to blend.  She and her singers were constantly busy providing their signature sound to records throughout the 60’s and 70’s.  That group produced two Christmas albums—Spend This Holiday With Me and Anita Kerr’s Christmas Story: The Angel in The Faded Blue Jeans (both now sadly out of print after being available at Anita Kerr’s website).

Anita Kerr also arranged and conducted the singers on most of this great collection from 1965 (which you can download here at FaLaLaLaLa).  On this one she conducted while Cameron L. Mullins did the arranging.  Take a listen.

And be sure to come back each day between now and Christmas to get a new free song download.  And then show up on Christmas for the full CD booklet/artwork.

Living Voices
The Little Drummer Boy
RCA Camden CAS-911
1965

SIDE 1
01-1 Medley: Jingle Bells / Sleigh Ride     3:31
02-1 A Holly Jolly Christmas*     1:55
03-1 Medley: Silver Bells / Little Christmas Tree Waltz*     3:31
04-1 Be A Santa*     2:17
05-1 Pine Cones and Holly Berries (with It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas)     2:35

SIDE 2
06-2 The Little Drummer Boy     3:35
07-2 Do You Hear What I Hear*     3:38
08-2 I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day     2:26
09-2 Blue Christmas     2:01
10-2 What Are You Doing New Years Eve     2:56

LINER NOTES:
Woe to the Ebenezer Scrooges among us and fie on the Santa scoffers! This is the happy time, the wonderland time, when we will turn on all the bright colored lights in the world and ring all the bells. We will find an old dapple-gray and sleigh to spirit us through the frosted, icicled, snow-covered wonderful world. We will carry home evergreen and sprigs of holly. We will hang up mistletoe and feast on oyster stew.  And—we will sing the holiday songs. So, come on. Bring your best girl or best beau.  Bring the children. Pull up a crackling fireplace and join the Living Voices in this happiest and coziest of Christmas albums.

Meet your old favorites again—the familiar "faces" of Jingle Bells and Sleigh Ride and Silver Bells. Welcome new friends like Pine Cones and Holly Berries, Be a Santa
and A Holly Jolly Christmas. Carol to your heart’s content to the time-treasured Do You Hear What I Hear and be caught up in the wonder of The Little Drummer Boy.  Look ahead to What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve. It all spells the gaiety and infinite warmth of the holidays.

This is music for gift wrapping and cookie baking, and snowfall watching and tree trimming … an album for this holiday season^ for the next, and for years to follow … a traditional joy for you and your family.

A long, low bow is in order for Anita Kerr, whose wonderful arrangements completely capture the enchantment of these songs, and to the Living Voices, who sing
them with love and heart and affection.  And so can you.     1965

*Arranged by Cameron L. Mullins

A&R Coordinator – Ethel Gabriel

Recorded in RCA Victor’s “Nashville Sound” Studio, Nashville, TN

Recording Engineer – Jim Malloy

THOUGHTS FROM THE KING:
Well, I figured that since I’ve been gradually letting this out piece by piece (several tracks having appeared on previous ADVENTure In Carols) I might as well share the whole album.

It’s most notable, perhaps, for the work of the great Anita Kerr, who conducts the singers and arranges most of the tracks.  While the singing does retain some of her signature sound, what seems missing most is her own voice (though it may be present in there somewhere, it’s certainly not as prominent as in her own work).  Anita recorded several albums with/as Living Voices during her career.

The instrumentation on this is relatively simple—piano, guitar, bass, vibes and drums (mostly with brushes)—so the overall is feel is relatively mellow and intimate.  This contrasts with the lush sounds that Living Voices produced when paired with the Living Strings.  I like the casual, warm feel of the whole affair here.

So, add this to your collection and enjoy the Living Voices.

Now when this song was first written for the film, Meet Me In St. Louis, it was much more maudlin, sort of a Christmas “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow it’s all downhill”.  The more depressing lyrics have been dropped (though some recordings still use them) but there’s still a bittersweet quality to the tune.

Maybe I had this in mind following yesterday’s massive site problems (which shall hereafter be known as “The Nightmare Before Christmas 2009”).  Anyway, this version by The Skipjack Choir (which is the B-side to the great novelty song “The Chicken Are In The Chimes”) just jumped out at me.

Now I’m not sure if The Skipjack Choir is at all related to The Skip Jacks who sing on Esquivel’s Christmas tunes (Merry Xmas From the Space-Age Bachelor Pad ), but the singing certainly hints in that direction.

I have to thank FaLaLaLaLa stallwart stubbysfears for finding/ripping/sharing this little item.  (Head over to the forum for the original rip, the above mentioned A-side plus some other gems….)

And be sure to come back each day between now and Christmas to get a new free song download.  And then show up on Christmas for the full CD booklet/artwork.

From the folks at Nickelodeon.