"Jingle Bells" Part 61 - Mum's the Word

When listening to the "Primo Scala" version of "Jingle Bells" backed with "The Mistletoe Kiss" from 1948, I mentioned that the records have an old-timey singalong feel.

That type of thing was really popular in the late 1940s. Let's see what that's all about!

That Primo Scala record was an import from England and was popular in the U.S. during the 1948 holiday season. At that point in time if anything was popular in the music business, everybody would jump on it.

But it was too late to do anything about in 1948, but for 1949, we saw that there were some new versions of "The Mistletoe Kiss." But MGM Records took things to a higher level.

MGM had their own exponent of the banjo-ey singalong type of records on their roster in the person of Art Mooney, so he cut this version of "Jingle Bells" for them in 1949:

That really sounds a lot like the Primo Scala version, even down to the singers singing "o'er the hills we go" rather than fields!

And for the flipside, what else but "The Mistletoe Kiss":

Those sides definitely have the same feel as the Primo Scala sides. The banjo, the unison rather than harmony singing and all.

But to give Art Mooney his due, it was really his recording of "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" from 1948 that really made that style commercially viable. Here's that record:

That thing was huge, but it didn't come out of nowhere.

The origins go back to the Mummers Parade, a tradition in Philadelphia to celebrate New Year's Day. 

A popular feature of the parade has long been the string bands, bands that heavily feature banjos and ensemble singing. 

A popular number for the string bands was "Four Leaf Clover" and the Uptown String Band recorded their version for the small Krantz Records label in 1948:

That record caught the ear of Mercury Records, who picked it up for national distribution. But MGM swooped in with Art Mooney's cover version and that was that!

The most famous string band was (is) the Ferko String Band and they actually had their own "Four Leaf Clover" recording in 1948, but we don't need to hear another version!

More to the point, the Ferko String Band cut this version of "Jingle Bells" for Palda Records in 1948:

The flipside doesn't have any singing:

The Ferko string band actually had a top twenty hit in 1955 with "Alabama Jubilee" on Media Records:

1955 was certainly a wacky year!

We'll stay in 1955 and swing back around to Art Mooney for his most lasting contribution to the holiday music canon:

Still amusing! Barry Gordon really sells it!