Monday, February 4, 2019

Earl Grant

Artist: Earl Grant
LP: Winter Wonderland
Song: "Winter Wonderland"
[ listen ]
Song: "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"
[ listen ]

I'm still annoyed with myself for skipping the entire month of December here, and not getting to post any holiday records. But since we finally got a big batch of snow today that basically brought the entire city of Seattle to a standstill, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to pop in and post something wintry with sleigh bells! 

True, this 1965 MCA-15001 Earl Grant LP (you probably remember it as MCA-236) is technically a record for the yuletide holiday, but Earl does throw in a few tracks that aren't about Santa, the baby Jesus, or about December 25th in particular. They are simply about freezing your ass off in the snow, which is what we're all doing here in Seattle today!

Earl Grant, born in Idabel, Oklahoma in 1931, is an incredibly talented musician who, sadly, died in a car crash at the age of 39. And even though I realize it's absurd to focus on his sexuality (he was gay—who cares!), you have to admit it's fascinating, and rather surprising, that in 1958 Earl himself came forward to declare that he was "versatile" upon the release of his very first LP! 

[ Earl Grant: January 20, 1931 — June 10, 1970 ]

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