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Post by java on Dec 6, 2015 23:29:44 GMT -5
The Frank Sinatra Show, 1957, Christmas special with a guest appearance by Bing Crosby.
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Post by nathanfan1 on Dec 7, 2015 12:54:33 GMT -5
Java, what a wonderful gift you're sharing here! Not only is the music a special treat, but the background info on the artists and songs is fantastic! I especially enjoyed the history behind the Carpenters song. I owned that on a 45!
I wanted to share too. A few years back I came across a holiday movie that's become my favorite for the season. It's called The Christmas Card and is based on a true story of a woman who touched a serviceman's life with a holiday card she sent overseas. It features Ed Asner and the characters are delightfully entertaining. I think it's available on Amazon for right around $5. A treat for the whole family!
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Post by java on Dec 8, 2015 2:22:30 GMT -5
Java, what a wonderful gift you're sharing here! Not only is the music a special treat, but the background info on the artists and songs is fantastic! I especially enjoyed the history behind the Carpenters song. I owned that on a 45! I wanted to share too. A few years back I came across a holiday movie that's become my favorite for the season. It's called The Christmas Card and is based on a true story of a woman who touched a serviceman's life with a holiday card she sent overseas. It features Ed Asner and the characters are delightfully entertaining. I think it's available on Amazon for right around $5. A treat for the whole family! Thank you! Love listening to Karen Carpenter singing Christmas songs and thanks for the movie recommendation. Here's the trailer for The Christmas Card. |
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Post by java on Dec 8, 2015 2:33:14 GMT -5
Often cited as the #1 Christmas song in the UK, this catchy tune is actually a sad conversation between an Irish-American Broadway couple discussing their relationship. Life, love, Christmas, and the NYPD, seems fitting to include it here although it may be a tune more appropriate for Martha.
The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl, "Fairytale of New York". Track #4 from the album, "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" (1987).
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Post by java on Dec 9, 2015 2:25:25 GMT -5
Thanks to castlekat for introducing me to this song. Yes, there are gaps in the great jukebox playing in my mind and that's alright because I will forever be loading new music til the end of my days. Anyways, I never could figure out why this 1949 song is considered part of the Christmas genre, never once mentioning the holidays, other than the festive lyrics and having been popularized by Bing Crosby in 1950, seems anything he touches turns into a Christmas theme. But, it is Dean Martin's version that really brings the holiday spirit home for me. Dean Martin, "Marshmallow World". Track #6 from the album, "The Dean Martin Christmas Album", 1966. You can order the mp3 album but if you want a CD you'll have to order the reissued new album title, "A Very Cool Christmas", import, 2008. Live broadcast, December 19, 1968. The original 1950 song, "A Marshmallow World", by Bing Crosby. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2015 15:15:34 GMT -5
Sweet of you to tag me, java. I just can't believe I've heard something you haven't!   *cheesy grin* It's a fun, jolly tune! Going to be tapping my toes as I sing it all the day! Thank you for spreading the love and cheer here! I, for one, appreciate it very much. A bright spot amidst all the concern for our beloved show. And reminds us what really matters.  |
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Post by java on Dec 10, 2015 1:54:50 GMT -5
Originally a sad song, it was a then 21 one year old Judy Garland at the start of the production for "Meet Me in St. Louis", who along with co-star Tom Drake and director Vincente Minnelli, insisted on changes to the lyrics before the world was introduced to, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", in 1944. Here are the original lyrics. Here's the scene with the revised lyrics and a happier tune. In 1957, Frank Sinatra said to song writer Hugh Martin, "The name of my album is A Jolly Christmas. Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?" In 1963, that album was reissued as "The Sinatra Christmas Album". It is track #1 from the CD on Amazon (1994). And I have to include my favorite version from Diana Krall and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Track #8 from the album, "Christmas Songs" (2005). |
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Post by java on Dec 10, 2015 23:46:48 GMT -5
One of my favorite "new" Christmas song discovery, this one was written for British Telecommunication giant, Vodafone, for the 2005 Christmas season.
The Water Babies, "Under the Tree". CD single release 2005 (UK).
The commercial.
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Post by java on Dec 13, 2015 1:24:20 GMT -5
In 1945, Bob Wells and Mel Torme worked on a Christmas song, "Merry Christmas to You", to take their minds off a blistering summer, thinking of "Chestnuts roasting", "Jack Frost nipping", "Yuletide carols", and "Folks dressed up like Eskimos", all written on a notepad. Eventually, these words became, "The Christmas Song". This sorta explains why I listen to Christmas music in June.
The recording is interesting. In June 1946, the Nat King Cole Trio made the first recording.
In November 1946, Nat wanted strings added and a second recording was made against the objections of Capitol Records.
In August 1953, an orchestra was added.
And finally on March 30, 1961, the final and definitive version is recorded in stereo. Track #1 from the album, "The Christmas Song", 1961.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2015 20:51:30 GMT -5
The Frank Sinatra Show, 1957, Christmas special with a guest appearance by Bing Crosby. Absolutely DARLING! Have watched twice now! Nostalgia gets me every time. So heart-warming, in every way, for this Christmas & vintage-loving girl. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2015 20:51:52 GMT -5
Can't wait to see what else you will share! |
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Post by Fjordmom on Dec 14, 2015 19:27:46 GMT -5
I've been mulling over what Christmas song I would include, since Christmas has ALWAYS been a favorite of mine...and there are so very, very many genres of music that I love...so here it is....Pat A Pan by Mannheim Steamroller... I play the soprano and tenor recorder, so this is very dear to my heart, not only because I love the melody, but because I know how fr*ckin' hard it is to play this well, the fingerings are soooooooo hard. I love the the added nuances that Mannheim brings to this "simple" Christmas carol....
A description of the song's background by Chip Davis of Mannheim:
"A young boy receives a drum for Christmas, and it becomes his favorite posession. He falls in love, impressing the girl with his drumming skill, then goes to war (WWI, I think) as a Brigade drummer. He dies, stepping on a mine, I think, and all that's recovered is his drum, which is brought back to his wife and newborn son. When the son is old enough, he receives the drum.
Pat-a-Pan actually means, literally, pound a drum. This is Chip Davis' explanation."
Pat A Pan
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Post by Fjordmom on Dec 14, 2015 19:44:13 GMT -5
And, sometimes, serendipity strikes....I had never heard this song by Mannheim, and absolutely love it!!! It really reminds me more of a medieval-type song, which is a time when recorders featured more prominently...I think there are kazoos in here, too!!!!!! (Yes, my recorder ensemble buddies and I have been known to employ kazoos on occasion). LOVE THIS SONG! Again, my utmost admiration of the person playing the recorder (I think it's probably a sopranino) !!!!!
From Wikipedia:
Fum, Fum, Fum (/ˌfʊm ˌfʊm ˈfʊm/ fuum fuum fuum; Catalan: [ˈfum ˈfum ˈfum]) is a traditional Catalan Christmas carol.
It is thought to have originated in the 16th or 17th century. The word "fum" means smoke in Catalan, and it may simply refer to the smoke rising from a chimney as seen from afar, or, as indicated in the New Oxford Book of Carols, "may imitate the sound of a drum (or perhaps the strumming of a guitar)".[1] It is not typical of Spanish tradition but rather of Catalan tradition. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) defines "fum" as "to play upon a fiddle," quoting Ben Jonson, "Follow me, and fum as you go."[2]
One source, the Musical Heritage Society insert 3428 (Christmas Songs From Around the World), indicates that "fum, fum, fum" is an onomatopoeia imitating the noise of a rocking cradle, and that the rhythms come from the Sardana, a courtly dance which originated in Catalonia and the Provence.
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Fum Fum Fum - Mannheim Steamroller
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Post by Fjordmom on Dec 14, 2015 21:27:14 GMT -5
And what would Christmas be without "What Child Is This"? (Featuring alto recorder)
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
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Post by Fjordmom on Dec 14, 2015 22:09:14 GMT -5
Have always loved playing this song on tenor recorder....this is anEXQUISiTELY GORGEOUS version by The Piano Guys!
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
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*cheesy grin*
