Doris Day- The Doris Day Christmas Record

Here is a good Christmas record for a Saturday; America’s sweetheart, Doris Day.  I paid $1.60 for this release from Harmony Records.  A subsidiary of Colombia, this was originally released by the label in 1964.  Not sure when this reissue came out and quite frankly (if you have not noticed this week’s emphasis on brevity), I really do not care.

For samples, we are going with “White Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland”.  If you are a fan of Day, this album is right up your alley.  If not (what is wrong with you?), still pretty good interpretations of holiday tunes.  Satisfactory.

 

VA- Parade Christmas Sampler

DSCN3526This was $2.

I was really excited about this album because it was a sampler but that excitement wore quick.  I do not know who is singing what on the album.  There is not really much variety here.  There are some choir tunes, strings, instrumentals, and a Bing Crosby-type singer.DSCN3527

For a sample, I went with “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Since it is a organ driven instrumental, I am assuming this is by Milton Page.

 

VA- Soulful Christmas

DSCN3522This was a dollar.  I was real excited about this album but two things killed it.

First, the album was cracked.  In general, I do not do to much inspection for a record I pay a dollar for.  In times like this, that policy bites me in the butt.  As a result, the first three songs on each side are unusable as they skip badly.  I really wanted to play one of the Patti LaBelle tunes but, as a result of the crack, I was unable to.DSCN3523Second and most importantly, this record is what a Lawrence Welk fan would define as soul. There are some good moments but I was thinking this album would sound different. 6a00d8341c85cd53ef01b8d0c2359d970c-800wi

Due to those factors, I went with Jerry Butler’s “O Holy Night” which is not bad but is not what I was expecting.

 

 

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass- Christmas Album

DSCN3148This was $4.00. Like yesterday, Herb Alpert is another artist who I constantly see in the used racks. Some people assume that if an artist or album is being sold in the secondary market, it is because it is bad. In reality, it is because a lot of people bought that album or artist.

alpertlipdamage

Just got back from hanging with my friend Tracy at the Continental Club tonight.  The Lost Bayou Ramblers with Spider Stacy of the Pogues was playing.  It was great hanging out with Tracy as always.  Spider Stacy managed to put in a few different tunes in from last time I saw him including “White City” and the early B-side, “Murshin Durkin”.  Finally, I got to get Spider’s autograph before the show on by Glasgow Celtic jersey, previously signed by Terry Woods and Shane McGowan.  Spider was pretty cool.  I showed him Shane signed it and he got a laugh out of that.

 

DSCN3307

 

 

DSCN3149

This is a pretty good album of the Brass tackling Christmas tunes. A lot of the songs start out traditionally in a slow and sparse way, only to have the Brass’s sound kick in. Also, as compared to yesterday’s album, this relies less on vocals which I think is good.

For a sample, I went with “Jingle Bells”. Starts out slow and traditional but it goes into the trademark Herb Alpert sound.

 

 

Henry Mancini-A Merry Mancini Christmas

DSCN3150This was $3.00. Mancini tends to pop up in the used bins and as a result, I tend to post a lot of his albums. So I found it fitting to post this for the holidays. Due to continual network problems, this is post is coming from Maple Leaf Pub.henry-mancini-04

Because the Pogues used to regularly play Christmas shows, I spend a good deal of holidays in the UK. While there, I noticed that the UK play nothing but holiday songs during this time. Whether watching TV, listening to the radio, going to stores, or walking the streets, you will hard pressed to find something that is not Christmas related. That is probably why most every UK artist has a Christmas song. Two such songs that seem to get a lot of play on that side of the ocean but virtually none at all here are from Slade and Wizard.

On to this album, there is not much to say other than it is what it is. It features a lot of vocal chorus which is ok and probably pretty apt. However, I think it takes away from Mancini’s arrangements and probably would have liked the album more if it had been purely instrumental. On that end, it does have moments of the Mancini sound here and there.DSCN3151

For a sample, I went with a medley of Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  I feel a stop motion cartoon would be appropriate here.

 

DSCN3150