FaLaLaLaLa

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The Mike Sammes Singers with Organ and Chimes
White Christmas
Compose S98032
1969

SIDE ONE:

01-1. Deck The Halls 3:10
02-1. Silver Bells 3:46
03-1. Hark The Herald Angels Sing 2:45
04-1. Away In A Manger 2:43
05-1. White Christmas 3:00
06-1. As With Gladness Men Of Old 2:46
07-1. The Carol of The Bells – We Wish You A Merry Christmas 2:37
08-1. Joy To The World – Oh Come All Ye Faithful – Silent Night 5:43
09-1. O Little Town of Bethlehem – It Came Upon The Midnight Clear 3:36
10-1. Oh Christmas Tree 0:45
11-1. We Three Kings of Orient Are 0:56
12-1. Now Light 1000 Christmas Lights 1:04

SIDE TWO:

13-2. The Twelve Days of Christmas 3:22
14-2. Winter Wonderland 3:27
15-2. The Christmas Song 3:58
16-2. Go Tell It On The Mountain 3:30
17-2. O Christmas Tree 3:10
18-2. Do You Hear What I Hear 2:38
19-2. Ding Dong Merrily On High 3:49
20-2. Here We Come Awassailing 6:15

Liner Notes:

The Mike Sammes Singers, who appear weekly on The Tom Jones television show, are one of the most popular vocal groups in the world.

On this album they combine their talents with those of Dennis Johns, the brilliant organist, arranger and musica director to provide a selection of music which brings fresh excitement to well-loved Christmas carols.

Thoughts From The King:

Here it is — the final Featured Album of 2004 and my favorite Christmas record of all time.
Back in the early nineties there was a version released on CD that included only 8 of the 24 songs (in 20 files here because of medleys). You can get it on Amazon (and maybe you should so they’ll release it properly). There are also 2 Australian releases of the album on a small label called Rainbow. They seem to be fairly hard to find. One doesn’t have all the tracks and the other changes the sequencing and cuts a few of the medleys (fading songs out, etc.).

So here you get the original album in all its glory. Becuase it’s so special, I encoded the MP3′s at 160 instead of our standard 128. There’s some record noise on the last track on each side that I did my best to minimize, but it’s still there.
As I probably mentioned before, the most notable appearances by The Mike Sammes Singers were on I Am The Walrus and The Long And Winding Road by a somewhat obscure Liverpudlian quartet…. To get the full scoop, check out the SpaceAgePop website.

These arrangements just kill me! They are ingrained in my subconscious and I almost can’t hear any versions of these songs without injecting Sammes’ treatments in my head. Try to listen to any version of White Christmas after hearing this without singing “May your days be merry…” before the final line. I dare you!

My four year old daughter still doesn’t understand why other versions of Deck the Halls don’t start with the Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la that this does.

Spread this album far and near! Make it heard! If this record becomes as vital a part of others’ Christmases as it is of mine, then this site will have accomplished its mission.

(Then again, you may not like it. So be it.)
Enjoy!