The Voices of Walter Schumann

Artist: The Voices of Walter Schumann

LP: Christmas Is In the Air! [10" EP]

Song: Side Two: "Wonderful Counselor/Wolcum Yole/Mary, Mary/Winter Wonderland/Adeste Fidelis/Finale"

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There's Christmas In the Air! ...though of course it's been in the aisles at Fred Meyer since the middle of October. According to the notes on the back of this 1951 10" EP, "In creating this album, (Walter) attained an inspired objective in his brilliant career...to assemble and rehearse a group of the finest male and female voices...not for days or weeks, but for years." For some reason that brings this movie to mind, and I can't help but wonder how many wives Walter had, and how many children called him "daddy." Plus you'd think that after rehearsing for years they'd be able to come up with enough material for a full-length LP, and not just a measly 10" record, lovely though it is. Go here to find out what famous TV show theme Walter Schumann composed, and which mesmerizing classic 1950s thriller he scored.

[ The Face of Walter Schumann: October 8, 1913 — August 21, 1958 ]

Ferlin Husky

Artist: Ferlin Husky

LP: Christmas All Year Long
Song: "Jingle Bells"

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Song: "I Wish It Could Be Christmas All Year Long"

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It feels like Ferlin is getting his wish for Christmas all year long here in Seattle this weekend. We've again been walloped with snow! Realizing I had nothing for my feet to traipse around in outside besides dress shoes and tennis shoes, I brushed eight inches of cold white powder off my car this morning and slid it to Fred Meyer. I was surprised and delighted to find that shoppers hadn't snatched up all available winter boots between sizes 8 and 15 in their Friday snowpocalypse shopping spree. I wonder what kind of boots Ferlin used to wear when dashing through the snow, laughing all the way. Wikipedia doesn't say.

[ Ferlin Husky: December 3, 1925 — March 17, 2011 ]

Earl Grant

Artist: Earl Grant

LP: Winter Wonderland
Song: "Winter Wonderland"

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Song: "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"

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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 ]

Johnny Cash

Artist: Johnny Cash

LP: The Christmas Spirit

Song: "Ringing the Bells For Jim"
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Song: "The Little Drummer Boy"
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Once again, I didn't have time to post nearly as many musical Christmas ditties here as I'd hoped to have done before the holiday arrived. Oh well. I've managed to get all my presents wrapped, the lefse is thawing out and I've stuck it in the bag with my three kinds of cheese, four kinds of crackers, and a really, really long baguette. I'm ready to head to the Island. 

I leave you with this pair of tunes from Johnny Cash's first Christmas LP, released in 1963—"Ringing the Bells For Jim" (it was after this incident that they finally put a goddam lock on the bell-tower door) and "The Little Drummer Boy" (a decidedly different version than the one by Alexander O'Neal). Cash is way too dignified to get involved in the "puh-rum-pum-pum-pum" business, leaving that to the ladies, since they actually like that sort of thing. 

Merry Christmas! I hope you have joy.

[ Johnny Cash: February 26, 1932 — September 12, 2003 ]

Alexander O'Neal

Artist: Alexander O'Neal

LP: My Gift to You

Song: "Sleigh Ride"
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Song: "The Little Drummer Boy"
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Little drummer boys are always so sexy! I did some Christmas bin digging this weekend at Jive Time Records, unearthing this copy of Alexander O'Neal's 1988 Christmas LP, "His Gift to Me." Did you know Alexander was front man for The Time...until he got in a fight with Prince and got replaced by Morris Day? This was news to me. More here. "Sleigh Ride" gives a hint as to what Alexander O'Neal and The Time might have sounded like.

[ Alexander O'Neal ]

Heino

 Artist: Heino

LP: Deutsche Weihnacht...und Festliche Lieder

Song: "Still Wie die Nacht" 
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Song: "Medly"
a. "Es ist Für uns Eine Zeit Angekommen"
b. "Kling Glöckchen, Klingelingeling"
c. "Leise Rieselt der Schnee"
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My favorite Christmas vinyl acquisition of the year is probably this 1974 Heino LP that I found at Golden Oldies last week. Heino strumming his guitar and booming "Klingelingeling" is his lovely baritone already puts this one over the top...but then you open the LP gate-fold sleeve and a paper Nativity pops up. Brilliant!

The Mexicali Brass

Artist: The Mexicali Brass

LP: Winter Wonderland

Song: "Winter Wonderland"

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There's currently no snow in Seattle (we had some last Friday morning!), but it is winter now and it's definitely a wonderland outside. I took a break from wrapping presents earlier this morning to take a short Christmas walk to get some Christmas coffee. I'd only gone a few blocks when I unwittingly wandered into wonderland: An elderly man who was cater-corner across the street, dressed in warm winter attire and with a tiny doggie on a leash, was loudly and repeatedly yelling something in a foreign language. I think he may have been Eastern European. As I drew closer, I saw that, in addition to the small dog at the end of his leash, he had five other tiny little doggies with him that were not on leashes. When I saw them, they saw me too and came dashing eagerly and recklessly to my side of the street. All of them were wearing bright doggie-sweaters, each a different color, and they yapped happily while circling around me as I continued down the sidewalk. Passing cars came to a stop in the street so as to not run the dogs over, and the elderly man continued shouting in his foreign language, trying to lure the dogs back across the street and through the door of his large white pickup. It was thrilling to be walking, even for just a few seconds, smack dab in the middle of a winter wonderland: I wonder why one dog was on a leash but the other five were not; I wonder what language that man was speaking; I wonder if all the doggies made it safely into that man's white truck; I wonder where that man found all those cute and colorful winter doggie sweaters; I wonder if he or any of his doggies realize that they totally made my day.

Grupa Wokalna Izabelli

Artist: Grupa Wokalna Izabelli

LP: Zimowe Strofy

Song: "Nad Domem Gwiazda"

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If Grupa Wokalna Izabelli looks familiar, it might be because they're also known as Isabella's Vocal Group, which is also known as The Exotic Trio, which is also known as Tercet Egzotyczny, which I featured here on the blog back at the end of August. I came across that album at Blue Arrow Records in Cleveland during my Ohio road trip last summer, but the group's 1972 "Zimowe Strofy (Winter Stanzas)" LP is one of the things I found at Square Records in Akron a few days later. The lovely and talented Izabella Skrybant continues to perform with her trio today, while enjoying an active life of luxury that includes biking, gardening, yoga, swimming, and hanging out with friends. Izabella wears two false fingers on her right hand—and if I could understand Polish I'd probably be able to find out why—a sledding accident, perhaps? You can read about Izabella Skrybant in Polish here, go here to find some English-language info about her group, and the Polish and English-language LP liner notes are both included below.

[ Izabella Skrybant in 2010 ]