"Jingle Bells" - Part 85 - Gisele!

 

We meet up with another popular female vocalist of the 1950s - Gisele MacKenzie, the Canadian-born star of TV's "Your Hit Parade!"

Here's her version of "Jingle Bells" on Vik Records (a subsidiary of RCA Victor) in 1957:

That's a fun arrangement. Love the "Mush!" at the end!

The flipside of that single is this novelty number:

Santa's avoirdupois really takes a beating here, with Gisele really emphasizing "fat" quite strongly!

Gisele MacKenzie recorded "Too Fat for the Chimney" in 1957, but the song had been around since 1953, as we heard in Teresa Brewer's version from that year. 

I don't think it was typical for a song that had been around for a couple of years but didn't garner too much attention to be released as a new single, but there you go!

Interesting that it was written by Irving Gordon, best-known for "Unforgettable," the great Nat "King" Cole hit from 1951!

"Billboard" gave the two sides a favorable review in the November 25, 1957 issue, acknowledging that "Too Fat" was revived:

I always find it interesting to follow the path of certain recordings as they're issued and reissued in different formats and Gisele's version of "Jingle Bells" got around a little bit.

In addition to the single, it also appeared on this Vik EP in 1957:

"Too Fat..." didn't make the EP, but it was included on the LP, also from 1957:

The the album was re-released in 1959 on the parent RCA Victor label, with a slightly altered cover:

There was also this promo 45 rpm record, which I'm guessing was from 1957:

RCA loved the red and green type on white labels for the Christmas promo records!

Since I'm always trying to connect everything, Gisele MacKenzie and Jo Stafford are at most one degree apart as they at one point alternated as the female vocalist with Bob Crosby on his "Club 15" radio show:

Gisele on the left, Jo on the right

Gisele's biggest hit was "Hard to Get" on "X" Records (another RCA subsidiary) in 1955:

I think people these days think that there was a seismic shift in popular music about 1955 with "Rock Around the Clock" and the like elbowing out the pop vocalists, but Gisele's number-two hit shows it was more gradual!

Gisele was also a talented violinist and she often performed duets with her mentor, the not-quite-as-talented Jack Benny!

Here's a fun clip:

Lots of fun!