"Jingle Bells" - Part 82 - The Singing Rage!

As we continue with "Jingle Bells," we come across one of Jo Stafford's main competitors fro the top female vocalist of the nebulous post-big band/pre-rock & roll period: Patti Page!

Patti was extremely popular and prolific recording artist, so it must come as no surprise that she has a number of Christmas songs in her discography.

Her first Christmas LP was the ten-inch "Christmas with Patti Page" on Mercury Records in 1951. It included her version of "Jingle Bells":

The flipside of the 78 from the set was "Christmas Choir":

Patti was a natural for a song like "Christmas Choir" as many of her records featured the new-fangled technique of multi-tracking her voices.

Mercury had fun with the labels, as the "Christmas Choir" label saying the vocal is by "Patti Page, Patti Page, Patti Page, Patti Page" to let us know how many Pattis are on there!

I don't know too much about the logistics, but I don't think just anybody could pull off the overdubbing, so it shows Patti's talent that she was able to sing harmony with herself.

The main competitors of the technique at the time were Les Paul and Mary Ford and we all know what a technical whiz Les was!

I had mentioned before when talking about Mabel Scott's record of "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" that Patti Page had recorded a version of that sing in 1950 as the incongruous flipside of her mega-hit "The Tennessee Waltz."

Mercury Records apparently thought about it and reissued "The Tennessee Waltz" with a non-holiday flipside. But since they already had "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus," they reissued that in 1951:

I think Patti's version is fine, but I like Mabel's better.

For the flipside of the reissue, they plucked "Christmas Bells" from Patti's Christmas album:

I really like that one a lot and it's long been on my early 1950s holiday playlist!

The original issue of Patti's Christmas album was the ten-inch version shown above, but in 1955 Mercury released an augmented version as a 12-inch album with what I think is a great mid-century modern looking cover:

I totally want to hang out with Patti at a Christmas party there!

Just a note that Patti was about ten years younger than Jo Stafford, so while the Big Band Era was still going on when she started her career and she did sing with Benny Goodman at one point, Patti came to fame as a solo artist with her records on Mercury rather than having made a national reputation as a band singer.

Patti switched from Mercury to Columbia Records in 1964 and recorded a new Christmas album (with a not particularly original title!) for her new label in 1965.

It included a new arrangement of "Jingle Bells":

Patti sounds good, but I can't really say I dig the children's chorus. I like it better when she accompanies herself!

The album yielded this inspirational song:

With a remake of "Christmas Bells" on the flipside:

As with most remakes, I prefer the original, but these newer recordings sound very much like what you would hear in the mid-1960s on the family stereo!

Before we go, we do need to hear "The Tennessee Waltz":

No wonder Miss Page was all the rage!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 81 - Whatcha Know, Jo!

We continue just a little longer with the Perry Como connections as we check out a version of "Jingle Bells" from his co-star on "The Chesterfield Supper Club," the great Jo Stafford!

This cut is from her 1964 album on Capitol Records, "The Joyful Season":

That features multi-track recordings of Jo's voice, so the album is actually credited to the Voices of Jo Stafford!

She was no stranger to multiple voices, as she first rose to fame in the early 1940s as a member of the Pied Pipers vocal group with the Tommy Dorsey band and often featured vocal groups on her solo records.

"The Joyful Season" is a solid album and features snappy accompaniment from a combo lead by Jack Marshall.

In keeping with the "Jingle Bells" theme, Jo included that song as the intro to her version of "Winter Wonderland" from her 1956 "Ski Trails" album on Columbia Records featuring the Starlighters vocal group and backing from Jo's husband, Paul Weston:

Such a great sound!

We continue to go backwards as we hit 1955 for Jo's album "Happy Holiday" as she reaches back to her Tommy Dorsey days for a quick version of "Winter Weather" also with the Starlighters and Paul Weston:

Really fun!

Let's go back even further to 1946 for Jo's first Christmas recording, a hit version of "White Christmas" for Capitol Records:

The flipside is a beautiful version of "Silent Night":

Paul Weston also leads the orchestra on those sides, but was not married to Jo Stafford yet. He had been an arranger with Tommy Dorsey, so he knew Jo from those days. 

Tommy Dorsey conducts Jo Stafford with the Pied Pipers. That boy singer on Jo's left showed promise. Whatever happened to him?

Speaking of Tommy Dorsey, let's go to 1941 for TD's great version of "Winter Weather" on Victor Records featuring Jo as the lead singer of the Pied Pipers:

I think that's just a great record with the band in such good form playing Sy Oliver's arrangement!

I think these holiday/seasonal sides show Jo Stafford's talents quite well, but she also had a wacky side, which is at the forefront of this big 1947 hit by Red Ingle & the Natural Seven on Capitol Records:

That's Jo singing under the alias of "Cinderella G. Stump" with the novelty group Red formed after leaving Spike Jones & his City Slickers. Naturally I love this record!

A further Perry Como connection comes up in that Red Ingle and Country Washburne, the arranger of "Tim-Tayshun") had been longtime members of the Ted Weems band and the romantic boy singer at one point was Perry Como!

I do love making connections!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 80 - Howdy!

We head back to kiddie records land for a version of "Jingle Bells" within the "Howdy Doody's Christmas Party" record set as released by RCA Victor in 1951!

Let's give it a listen:

Does it bother me a bit that the label says it features "Howdy Doody and its creator, Bob Smith" rather than his creator? Yes, it does! I like to think of such characters as real within their world, you know?

In any event, the whole thing is similar to "Mickey Mouse's Christmas Party" in that it features various characters singing songs, although Howdy has more of a storyline.

That seems to capture a lot of the flavor of the Howdy Doody TV show, or at least I presume it does!

The 78 rpm album had a colorful foldout showing a bunch of the characters from the show:

Kids must've loved that!

We of course encountered Howdy Doody before with his very short version of "A Christmas Carol," but this Christmas party story is spread over four sides (or two EP sides) instead of just two sides of the little six-inch Golden record.

Back in the day, I had just one 78 record from the set, which had parts one and four (that was so you could play the sides in order on your automatic record changer by flipping the stack, the other record had sides two and three) and it was still possible to follow the story.

I had to wait until the internet rolled around to finally hear the whole thing!

Mr. Bluster acts very Scrooge-like, although nobody actually compares him to that famous character. 

I had mentioned earlier that he would have seemed to be a good candidate to play Scrooge in Howdy's version of "A Christmas Carol" (rather than Captain Scuttlebutt) but taken in-universe, Mr. Bluster wouldn't want to take place in such holiday events!

The story on "Howdy Doody's Christmas Party" actually reminds me most of "Christmas Dragnet," the wonderful Stan Freberg record from 1953. Was Howdy possibly an influence on Stan?

Anyway, a couple of the songs from Howdy's party were also released on RCA Victor in different versions in 1951 with Howdy joining the popular vocal group the Fontane Sisters:

That's fun and I think this version of "A Howdy Doody Christmas" is a snappy little number to include in one's early 1950s Christmas playlist!

And I do appreciate that Howdy is credited on the label with the Fontane Sisters just like any other artist on the RCA roster!

Speaking of such artists, the Fontane Sisters often worked with Perry Como and together they recorded this popular Christmas number in 1951:

The Sisters really get into the spirit of things with both of their partners!

At some point I'll stop going down the Perry Como rabbit hole, but right now I feel it's my duty to point out that the flipside of "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas" is Perry's recording of "There's No Christmas Like a Home Christmas," which had been released the year before as the A-side of the record with "The Christmas Symphony" on the B-side!

It's a nice recording, so let's give it a listen:

What adds to the intrigue is that RCA's ad for the "It's Beginning" record says it's "2 Great New Sides":

Hey, wait a minute!

Pre-Thanksgiving Bonus!

With a particular holiday rapidly approaching, we sneak in another kiddie record, this time with a Thanksgiving theme courtesy of our singing cowboy pal Gene Autry!

Here, from Columbia Records in 1950, are both sides of Gene's Thanksgiving single:

Of course we associate Gene with Christmas music, but you can see Columbia wanting to branch out to other holidays. But these Thanksgiving characters didn't catch on like Rudolph, Frosty or Peter Cottontail.

"Billboard" was lukewarm on the record in the review from the October 7, 1950 issue:

I can't say I disagree with the review, but I don't think it really clicked with the moppets!

Looking back and over-analyzing kiddie records 70-odd years later is always an interesting proposition, but my take is that "Little Johnny Pilgrim" is vaguely non-PC in that mid-twentieth-century manner and Guffy's story isn't really inspiring, as all he did was not get eaten!

And I don't like the idea of my potential dinner being, sentient, you know?

Points for having "Johnny" in the title of the A-side, though, and I really dig the artwork!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 79 - Oh, Magoos, You've Done It Again!

Still in the 1960s, we stop in the interesting musical year of 1967 for this single of "Jingle Bells" by the psychedelic group the Blues Magoos on Mercury Records:

The choice of the flipside harkens back to the 78 rpm era:

I find it interesting that the label uses the more formal "Coming to Town" vs. the original "Comin' to Town." 

The Blues Magoos were best known for the top five hit "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" from earlier in 1967, so it's not like they were sticklers for grammar!

Here's that song:

They only had the one charting song, so chalk the group up as a memorable One-Hit Wonder!

What do you suppose the popular cartoon character would have thought of his last name being appropriated by such an aggregation?

I think this would be his reaction:

"Jingle Bells" - Part 78 - Sixties Sounds!

We jump back to the mid-1960s with a couple of versions of "Jingle Bells" from popular instrumental combos!

First up is the Ramsey Lewis Trio with this single from their 1964 album "More Sounds of Christmas" on Argo Records:

Here's the flipside, the original tune "Egg Nog":

Solid grooves laid down by the trio. Their two Christmas albums are great!

I must point out that the "Egg Nog" label adds an odd hyphen to make it appear as if the composers were Ramsey and Lewis, but Ramsey Lewis is one guy!

Next we head to 1966, when Booker T. & the MG's released their "In the Christmas Spirit" LP on Stax Records.

Their version of "Jingle Bells" from the album was issued as a single:

The flipside is their spin on a seasonal classic:

Also solid grooves!

Sixties instrumental groups had it going on!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 77 - Andy!

As we continue with "Jingle Bells," it's not too far of a jump from Perry Como to Andy Williams!

Not that I think Andy was really any competition for Perry, but I do think Andy kind of tried to emulate Perry's laid back attitude, cardigan sweater and all, but Andy was more square.

In any event, in the early 1960s it was practically mandatory for an artist like Andy Williams to record a Christmas album, and in 1963 he released the aptly title "The Andy Williams Christmas Album" on Columbia Records.

A standout track was Andy's version of "Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells":

That somewhat awkward title is self-explanatory, as that's "Jingle Bells" as reworked by Kay Thompson, the actress/singer/composer/author and everything else renaissance woman!

Kay Thompson with the Williams Brothers

I've always wondered if Kay did that arrangement of "Jingle Bells" specifically for Andy's album, but it seems unclear. I do know that Kay was a mentor to Andy and her connections were of immeasurable help in getting his solo career off the ground (he had performed with his brothers).

It does seem that Kay wrote the song "The Holiday Season" and blended it with Irving Berlin's "Happy Holiday" for another track on Andy's Christmas album:

Those are a couple of fun tracks!

In addition to her skill as a s vocal arranger, Kay Thompson was a successful author with the adventures of her "Eloise" character.

Of course, Eloise got her own Christmas book in 1958:

Back to Andy Williams, his most famous Christmas track was also featured on that 1963 album:

You still hear that one a lot!

I will say that on the whole I prefer Andy's 1950s records on the Cadence label vs. his Columbia records from the early 1960s on.

He did actually have a Christmas single on Cadence in 1955:

Not a bad record, but neither song went anywhere!

Such are the ways of Christmas music!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 76 - Mr. C!

We just heard Perry Como with "The Christmas Symphony," which leads to the obvious question of whether Perry ever recorded "Jingle Bells." The answer is of course he did!

Here's his 1946 recording issued on RCA Victor as part of the "Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music" album of 78s:

Nice version with solid backing from Russ Case!

That particular album yielded a separate single release with the new song "That Christmas Feeling" on the A-side:

The flipside is a swinging take on a by-then familiar standard:

Both of those sides have been mainstays on my 1940s Christmas playlist for years!

Another one of those retro-type things I feel smart about "getting" is that the backup vocal group was named the Satisfiers because they appeared with Perry on "The Chesterfield Supper Club" and, as we know, Chesterfields satisfy!

Perry Como recorded a lot of other Christmas songs and he also re-recorded some when stereo rolled around, but I think he only recorded "Jingle Bells" the one time.

But, RCA Victor got a lot of mileage out of it!

Perry released a Christmas EP in 1953 titled "Around the Christmas Tree":

The EP's leadoff track was a recitation of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas":

There was also another EP in 1953 with the title "Christmas Joy":

This included a version of "Frosty the Snowman":

The EPs featured backing from Mitchell Ayres, another frequent Como collaborator.

Seven of the songs from the original 78 rpm album were joined with the eight from the two EPs for the 1956 LP release retaining the 78 album title of "Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music":

Then RCA re-released that album with a new cover on their budget Camden label in 1961:

My family had that one (I still have it) and we played it a lot during the holiday season!

Another RCA imprint was the Bluebird label, which had been a lower-priced, but high-quality label in the 1930s and 1940s, but was later used for kiddie records in the 1950s.

RCA went old school and paired Perry's recording of "Jingle Bells" with his 1946 recording of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (which didn't make it onto the LP) for a 1957 release:

Here's "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town":

More solid backing from Russ Case and the Satisfiers!

I think those two songs were first teamed up on as the B-side of a 1953 EP that had "The First Christmas" as the A-side:

That recording had been issued in  as a two-sided 78 rpm record in 1950:

Here it is:

The year 1957 also saw this Australian release with a fun ornament packaging reminiscent of the earlier EPs:

It had "The Night Before Christmas" on one side, with "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman" on the other.

Then from 1958 is this Italian release that put 1946's "White Christmas" with "Jingle Bells" inside the wacky sleeve:

Here's "White Christmas":

That features backing by Lloyd Shaffer and was the only track from the original 78 album not to feature Russ Case.

All of this just scratches the surface of Perry Como's holiday recordings, as he had many other singles and albums.

He looms very large in the Christmas music world!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 75 - Mouse Party!

Sticking with kiddie offerings, we come across a version of "Jingle Bells" included on "Mickey Mouse's Christmas Party," an early 1950s release on Golden Records:

That is a lot of fun with "Jingle Bells" featuring Mickey's and Donald's voices as provided by their official theatrical portrayers, Jimmy MacDonald and Clarence Nash, respectively!

And throw in a little bit of a story and a cameo from Cinderella!

But wait... there's more!

Although those two sides were released as a stand-alone single, they were also part of a larger four-record set issued by Golden Records that expands the story to include additional characters and songs:

That's really a lot of sun and you can see 1950s kids having a blast with their little record players!

I like the meta moment of Goofy telling us to flip the record over as well as us listening to a record of Donald and the gang listening to a record!

The set also had a couple of fold-out pages that show even more characters:

The first page challenges us to name all the characters and I do spot Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Figaro, Gus Goose, Li'l Bad Wolf, Dumbo, Timothy Q. Mouse, and Bongo who are from stories not mentioned on the record.

The mashup of characters from different stories gets especially interesting with the inclusion of the mice from Cinderella tagging along. Mickey and Minnie are mice, of course, but not at all similar to Jaq and Gus!

As I frequently mention, the kiddie record labels often repackaged and reissued their recordings and the single and multi-record versions were reissued in 1955 with the imprint of the "Mickey Mouse Club" TV show.

Here are the sleeve and labels for the single:

And the sleeve for the set:

I think I have all of that straight!

Adding to the intrigue, there was also a single release of "Santa's Toy Shop Song" and "Santa's Toy Shop" on Golden Records in 1950, billed as a Disney item, but not including the famous characters:

That's a fun little record on its own. Maybe predates the Mickey material?

It also had a tie-in Little Golden Book:

Now, of course, I do need to talk about the two "pop" songs that were included in the set!

The song "Jing-a-Ling, Jing-a-Ling" actually has a Disney pedigree, as it's based on a melody from the 1950 Oscar-winning True-Life Adventure "Beaver Valley." It's especially noticeable when a bunch of otters are frolicking around!

However it wound up being adapted into a seasonal tune, there were a bunch of recordings of the song in 1950, including this RCA Victor release teaming the Fontane Sisters with accordionist Dick Contino and backed by Hugo Winterhalter:

And I know "The Christmas Symphony" from Perry Como's 1950 recording on RCA Victor:

Perry gets a chance to sing the song at a much slower tempo, as he had the whole ten inches to work with, but Mickey and the gang only had six!

A lot of fun with lots of characters and songs, with Mitch Miller on hand to wrap it all up in a great package!