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"

[ listen ]

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 ]

Teen Challenge Addicts Choir

Artist: Teen Challenge Addicts Choir

LP: Teen Challenge Addicts Choir

Song: "The Addict's Plea" (soloist: Andrae Crouch)
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Song: "He Included Me" (soloist: Laura Lee Myers)
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Song: "I Cannot Tell It All" (featuring: Gordon Woods & Gale Stalhman)
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Song: "Psalms 40"
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It's mystifying that executives at Word Records, "The Finest Name In Sacred Music," would have given the go-ahead for the release of an LP that features a graphic depiction of somebody (with a tattoo, naturally) actually shooting up on the front cover. But voilà! Imagine what they'd stick on the front of their LP by the Teen Challenge Sex Addicts Choir. 

Produced by gospel legend Andrae Crouch and released in 1968, this record includes notes and artwork that confirm once and for all that yes, all drug addicts do indeed carry a switchblade—even Laura Myers, the young housewife who became addicted to prescription pills. Thank God she exchanged her switchblade for a chance to go solo on the lovely-ish "He Included Me."

Leonard Cohen [1934-2016]

Artist: Leonard Cohen

LP: Songs of Love and Hate

Song: "Avalanche"
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It's been a sad, grueling week. First there was that election thing, where my country swerved so violently and suddenly to the right that I almost fell off. Next I find out Leonard Cohen is dead, and then I learn that my wonderful high school choir/jazz choir teacher, Roger Stansbury, has also passed away. And then Robert Vaughn, one of the Men From U.N.C.L.E., ups and follows the both of them out the stage door. Calgon, take me away!

[ Mr. Stansbury and the 1987 West Valley High School Jazz Choir — Yakima, WA ]

[ Robert Vaughn: November 22, 1932 — November 11, 2016 ]

Leonard Cohen

[ September 21, 1934 — November 10, 2016 ]

We will miss you, Leonard.

The Raymond Rasberry Singers

Artist: The Raymond Rasberry Singers

LP: He Doeth All Things Well

Song: "Drive Him Away Lord"
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Song: "The Chariot's Coming"
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If you ask me, some record stores should be required to call themselves 'record museums' instead. These are the stores that stick prices on their LPs that are so hilariously high, you just have to assume the people running the shop have never stepped inside another regular record store before—and they've certainly never browsed through the dollar vinyl at any of their local neighborhood thrift stores.

When a store's barrel-bottom 'bargain' price for an LP is $8 and you're asked to fork over $10 or more for thrift store staples like this one, or this one, or this...well then you're not actually in a record store at all. You're in a museum. Sadly, you might actually find really neat records in the bins at the museum—like this one for example, or this one—but they'll be priced at $45, $75, or even $100, which of course no normal person should ever be willing to pay. You'll often find a date included on the LP's price tag that shows when the record was put into stock, so you can see for yourself that these outlandishly-priced records have been languishing in the bins for six, seven, or eight years or more, with nobody getting to hear them. And since the prices are never reduced, you can return there six, seven, or eight years later to marvel at the exact same vinyl exhibit that will still be on display. I hate record museums, and I just want to slap the morons who run them.

If you're the record-hoarding curator of a record museum, but you actually do want people to purchase and enjoy the music in your store, it's an easy problem to fix. Just ask the guy who runs Black Dot Records in Buffalo, a terrific little vinyl boutique on the northwest side of town. You'll find arrival dates on the price tags of the used records there, and if an LP has been in the bins for 10 months or more, it's automatically 50% off. If an album has been sitting in the bins for over 15 months, then the discount is 75%. It's smart, it's simple, it's fair, and it gets the records out of the store and onto people's record players at home. If I lived in Buffalo, I would always start my record hunting here. 

[ Black Dots Records' discount pricing structure ]

This 1960 gospel LP by The Raymond Rasberry Singers had been at Black Dots since January of 2016, so I didn't actually get a discount. But it was marked at just $3.99 anyhow, so they're not peddling their vinyl at museum-piece prices to begin with. There's no listening station available, but Josh, the owner of the place, offered to play some tracks from the albums I was interested in on the system in the store. I knew I'd be buying Ray Rasberry's record two seconds after the needle hit the groove, since I'd struck gospel gold!

The Raymond Rasberry Singers on YouTube:

[ "No Tears In Heaven" ]

[ Black Dots Independent Record Boutique — Buffalo, NY ]

Christmas In Italy

Artist: Various

LP: Christmas In Italy

Song: "La Ninna Nanna a Gesù (Lullaby to Jesus)" 
Performed by: R. Lipparini, Tenor w/ Cleva, Soprano e Coro
[ listen ]

Song: "Buon Natale (Merry Christmas)"
Performed by: Coro di Alunne della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe 
accompagnate dal Complesso Speciale del Pistoia
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It's that time of year again—when poor families all across Italy have to hock their furniture in order to provide a decent Christmas meal. I read today that, because of the Internet, stores in countries all over the world now have to participate in Black Friday discounts on the day after Thanksgiving—even though they don't even celebrate Thanksgiving! I bet the Internet has also pretty much destroyed the Italian tradition of the old, witch-like Befana who comes down the chimney with toys at Christmas, described in the liner notes on the back of this 1957 "Christmas In Italy" LP. On the other hand, the Web has probably also helped Italians realize that eating capitone marinato every year during the holidays isn't such a great idea after all, no matter how much wine you try to cover it up with. Buon Natale!

Capital City Chorale

Artist: Capital City Chorale

LP: Teens On Parade

Song: "My Heavenly Father" 
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Song: "Follow, I Will Follow Thee" 
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Song: "Teens Leading the Way" 
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Speaking of people who seem a lot older than they actually are, why is it that when Midwestern teenagers turn to Christ and then start singing, they suddenly sound like they're pushing 40?

[ 1960s Teen Hairdos On Parade ]

Harry Simeone Chorale

Artist: Harry Simeone Chorale

LP: It's Alaska
Song: "We're On Our Way/Come See a Land"
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Song: "It's Alaska"
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Well I've packed my fishing pole, my canoe and my harpoons; I've put the cat out and left a note for the milk man because today I'm going to Alaska! I need to find a land where my children can grow. I'll be getting to Alaska via something called the Ruby Princess, which I'm worried may be a little like being trapped in the Southcenter Mall with 3,000 other shoppers for an entire week. I've posted this record before, but now it has entirely new meaning. Bon voyage!

[ The other Ruby Princess. ]