We time-hop back to 1948 with this snappy version of "Jingle Bells" by Jimmy Wilber and the Little Band featuring the Three Jills on Radio Artist Records:
I think that's pretty fun! A lot of hyperbole on the label!
What's intriguing, however, is the flipside of the record which is the sort-of-cult song "Let's Light the Christmas Tree":
Intriguing in that there's not exactly an artist credit on the label. It shows who's involved, but who is by, you know what I mean?
But also intriguing for, as we see, the writer of the song, Ruth Lyons, plays piano on the record. She was a legendary radio/TV pioneer in the Cincinnati area and is perhaps whom they mean by "your radio friend!"
"Let's Light the Christmas Tree" is best-known (such as it is) from the 1957 recording on Fraternity records by Ruby Wright, who sang on Ruth's "50/50 Club" TV series.
Here's that record:
And the flipside, also penned by Ruth Lyons:
That's a lot of merrys in there!
I must point out that this Ruby Wright is not the daughter of country music stars Kityy Wells and Johnnie Wright - that's a different Ruby Wright!
Anyway, the Lennon Sisters also had both songs out as a single (on the Brunswick label) in 1957. Here are both sides:
Interesting that they leave out a couple of merrys on the label!
Ruth Lyons "sang" one of her Christmas songs on this Columbia release from 1960:
She sort of talk-sings, and it's a fun (if pretty corny) performance, but you can see why she gave the vocal duties to Ruby Wright on this other songs!
Swinging back around to Jimmy Wilber and the Little Band (and the Three Jills), here are both sides of another 78 on the Radio Artists Records label:
Pretty fun! But I can find no information about Jimmy Wilber at all! Zilch!
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