Seasonal Songs - "It's Winter Again" (1932)

Here's another seasonal song, "It's Winter Again," this one from 1932, so it even predates "Winter Wonderland" by a couple of years!

"It's Winter Again" got a handful of recordings when it was published, but unlike "Winter Wonderland," it never got a big revival to transform it into a standard.

But, it's a fun tune, so let's hear it!

First up is Hal Kemp and his Orchestra with vocalist Skinnay (then billed as "Skinny") Ennis on Brunswick Records:

Fun how the arrangement (maybe by John Scott Trotter) sets a seasonal mood. It also may be John Scott Trotter playing the Schroeder-esque "Jingle Bells" notes, as he was the pianist/arranger for the Kemp band from its start as a student band at the University of North Carolina until he left to become Bing Crosby's musical director in 1937.

I like Hal Kemp's records a lot. The style just screams early 1930s to me and the vocals of Skinnay Ennis, another UNC alum, fit perfectly!

You may recall that we heard Skinnay singing the much more famous seasonal song "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" on Bob Hope's radio show back in 1945!

Another fun seasonal arrangement is served up by Felix Ferdinando and his Orchestra on the Crown label:

I like that a lot, but I have to admit that I'm not familiar with Felix Ferdinando or vocalist Al Gaudette. Or Crown Records, for that matter!

I think Felix was the brother of Angelo Ferdinando, whom we heard performing "Winter Wonderland" in 1934. I'd say Angelo won the sibling battle over more memorable seasonal song!

Much more well-remembered than either of the Ferdinandos is Isham Jones, who led a very popular band in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Here's his recording of  "It's Winter Again" with Frank Sylvano's vocal on Victor Records:

The arrangement for that record doesn't try to conjure up a seasonal mood like the first two, but it's really good!

I don't know if it's the work of Gordon Jenkins, but he worked as an arranger for the Jones band before embarking on his highly successful career as arranger/conductor/composer.

Intriguingly, Isham Jones also recorded an instrumental version of "When Winter Comes" with the same arrangement:

Apparently this instrumental version was for "theater use." Whatever the case, I think it's awesome to have the two versions!

A fun seasonal song!

Bonus "Jingle Bells" - Knuckle Down!

It's been a couple of weeks since we've heard "Jingle Bells" and I'm still digging up some interesting versions, so I'll share them on occasion!

This particular version is from Waldorf Music Hall Records in 1955 featuring Knuckles O'Toole:

I think that's a lot of fun!

There's a lot to sort through for a simple little record!

First, there wasn't really a "Knuckles O'Toole" running around back then! That was a pseudonym which I understand was used by a few different musicians, including Billy Rowland, whom I think is the pianist here.

As we had seen back here, the 1950s was full of honky tonk piano players and Enoch Light, the brains behind the impressive sounding Waldorf Music Hall Records label, was always aware of trends in the music business, so he featured Knuckles O'Toole on several records with Waldorf as well as His later Grand Award label.

Similarly, the much bigger Capitol Records had pianist Lou Busch cut several records as "Joe 'Fingers' Carr" in the honky tonk style.

Enoch Light himself had been a bandleader and his band was known as "The Light Brigade," which accounts for the vocal group on the record being called the Brigadiers Quartet!

They weren't an official vocal group either, but various studio singers. I think Artie Malvin might be singing lead here. He was a vocal contractor in addition to his singing and he worked with Enoch Light a lot.

And finally, let's not sleep on the wacky billing on the label:

THE NEW EXCITING JINGLE BELLS Starring KNUCKLES O'TOOLE his Honky-Tonk piano & Orch. plus The Brigadiers Quartet

That's a mouthful!

This 45 rpm single needed a flipside and it has what I think is a great little nugget - "When Christmas Comes to Our House" by Dottie Evans:

Always fun to hear a unique song!

These tracks were included on the 1955 album "When Christmas Comes to Our House" and a bunch of other budget LPs on a bunch of Enoch Light- related labels, often using the same cover photo.

I must point out that I totally want that train set and fire truck!

Seasonal Songs - "Jingo Jango" (1963)

Continuing with the theme of seasonal (not specifically holiday) songs while it's still winter, let's give a listen to "Jingo Jango" by German orchestra leader Bert Kaempfert, as released on Decca Records in 1963:

That is such a fun, jaunty number!

"Jingo Jango" was featured on Bert's album "Christmas Wonderland." Here's the title track:

Nice, but I don't get a Christmassy vibe at all!

The title of said album and song were a play on his big hit "Wonderland by Night" from 1961 (featuring trumpeter Charly Tabor):

Still sounds good!

"Winter Wonderland" - Part 5 - 50s Instrumentals!

We wrap up our look at "Winter Wonderland" with a handful of instrumental versions from the 1950s!

By the time the calendar turned to the decade of the 1950s, "Winter Wonderland" was established as a standard, which led to more recordings in more genres.

We start with cool jazz exponent Chet Baker as part of his Quartet with a 1953 recording on the (aptly named) Pacific Jazz label:

I dig the sleigh bells! I guess Shelly Manne is playing them?

Next up from 1954 is Ralph Flanagan, leading his band with a Miller-esque arrangement from the RCA Victor various artists LP "To Wish You a Merry Christmas":

I think that's a nice record, but I imagine it would have sent Chet Baker and his boys running out of the room screaming!

To show it wasn't totally square in 1954, here's organist Bill Doggett with his R & B take on King Records:

A nice groove!

We move to 1956 with the mellow sounds of Jackie Gleason, from his "Merry Christmas" album on Capitol Records:

So lush and romantic!

Keeping the lushness going, we hit 1957 for this cut by Camarata from his "Winter" album on Disneyland Records:

That's really nice!

If any evidence is needed to show Tutti Camarata's versatility, we only need to listen again to the All Mouse Symphony from the same year:

I'll say it again - that's brilliant!

Still in 1957, we keep the raucousness going with British clarinetist Terry Lightfoot and his Jazzmen on the Columbia label:

"It's Trad, Dad!"

Moving ahead one year to 1958 but a few decades in jazz development, we encounter the modern jazz sounds of pianist Red Garland with his Trio from the Prestige album "All Kinds of Weather":

Still sounds fresh!

To close out the decade, here are the Three Suns with some space-age pop sounds from their 1959 "A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas" on RCA Victor:

That's the Suns' third time walking in "Winter Wonderland," as they recorded a ton of Christmas music!

So, maybe that's two handfuls, but some interesting sounds from the 1950s!

"Winter Wonderland" - Part 4 - Child's Play!

So, we saw how "Winter Wonderland" enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with some successful recordings from 1946.

I presume that's what led to a new "children's lyric" being added in 1947, making the song more kid-friendly.

The most noticeable change is that the singer suggests pretending the snowman is a "circus clown" rather than Parson Brown, as kids are more likely to be thinking of frolicking and playing rather than getting married!

A more subtle change is that the new bird is singing a song, rather than a love song, a distinction lost on most versions that include the children's lyric.

That's for children, all right!

Although the children's lyric seems to have been published in 1947, I can't find a recording that includes them until Rosemary Cooney in 1953 on Columbia Records:

That's quite a nice version and Rosemary includes both the original and children's lyrics, sung with the proper wording for maybe the only time?

That seemed to be a new template for versions of the song, to sing the original lyric first, then the children's lyric the second time through the song.

Johnny Mathis recorded perhaps the definitive vocal version for his 1959 "Merry Christmas" album, also on Columbia. singing both lyrics with the verse in between:

Very fun with a great arrangement from Percy Faith, but Johnny sings "he's singing a love song" instead of "he's singing a song" on the second chorus. Was that a flub?

Another intriguing version from 1959 was recorded by Ray Martin for the RCA Victor various artist album "The Merriest of Pops":

The arrangement is kind of half-vocal/half-instrumental with the chorus only singing some of the lyrics, but using the children's lyrics!

I like it!

Perry Como revisited the song in 1959 for his "Season's Greeting" LP on RCA Victor, sticking with the original lyric:

This new version is taken at a much more leisurely pace than 1946's!

Also revisiting the tune around this time was Guy Lombardo, who included it on a couple of albums for Capitol Records, which he joined in the mid-fifties after 20-ish years with Decca.

Let's listen to the 1960 stereo version from the "Sing The Songs Of Christmas" LP featuring long-time Lombardo vocalist Kenny Gardner:

The idea of that album is that you sing along with the kids who are singing along with Kenny. Not sure if it was really recorded live, but the kids are definitely not on the beat! 

Maybe they should have used the children's lyric!

We continue a bit further into the 1960s with the version that I most identify with the "circus clown"  children's lyric - Robert Goulet's from his 1963 album "This Christmas I Spend with You" on Columbia Records:

My mother was a huge fan of Robert Goulet and I heard that album a lot as a kid! Good thing I like it!

We'll make one more stop before we go for now, with one of the odder variations of "Winter Wonderland," this one from Peggy Lee's 1965 Capitol album "Happy Holiday":

Peggy uses only the children's lyric, but she sings "Santa clown" rather than "circus clown," which kind of makes you go Huh?

Lots of versions have followed with lots of variations. I think Parson Brown is still in the lead, though!

"Winter Wonderland" - Part 3 - The Revival!

So, we heard a bunch of versions of "Winter Wonderland" from the song's initial period of popularity that followed its publication in 1934.

It seems that the song was then largely forgotten, as is the case with most popular songs of the day, as new songs came along. It certainly was a long way from becoming the perennial seasonal standard that it's become.

In fact, I don't the song was recorded for another ten years or so after 1935, but it came back in a big way after WWII was over.

For some reason (maybe post-war audiences were nostalgic?), 1946 saw three new popular versions of "Winter Wonderland" on major labels!

Leading the way was Johnny Mercer on Capitol Records. We heard it back here, but let's listen again:

Nice, mellow vibe from Johnny with the Pied Pipers and Paul Weston's orchestra.

Perry Como had the swingiest take on the song on RCA Victor, which we first heard back here, but it's definitely worth another listen:

That's probably my favorite vintage version. I like how the Satisfiers are billed right up there with Perry!

Decca Records also got in on the act with the original "Winter Wonderland" hit-maker, Guy Lombardo, teamed with the Andrews Sisters:

This was the flipside of "Christmas Island," making for a popular record.

I think the Lombardo band sounds less Lombardo-ish here, giving a nice background for the Sisters.

They include the rarely heard verse in the middle, which is fun!

With these three records all selling well and the business of seasonal records getting bigger and bigger, "Winter Wonderland" was on its way to becoming a seasonal perennial!

RCA Victor was back in 1947 with Sammy Kaye's recording as part of the ten-inch album "Year 'Round Favorites":

That's old school "Swing and Sway" with the singing song title at the beginning and vocalist introduction by Sammy in the middle!

Also in 1947, as we heard here, the small Signature label released a great version by Johnny Long and his Orchestra with vocalist Francey Lane:

Love it!

It took a couple of years for the other major record label, Columbia, to get with the program, but in 1949 they released this fine version by Buddy Clark:

Good backing from the Girl Friends and Ted Dale's orchestra.

This was paired with "Merry Christmas Waltz" and was also recorded at Buddy's last studio date.

Lots of good music in the post-war Winters!

"Winter Wonderland" - Part 2 - The British (Records) Are Coming!

We listened to a number of 1934 recordings of the then-new "Winter Wonderland" and today we continue to 1935, where we find ourselves in merry old England!

There were several outstanding dance bands in England in the mid-1930s and a couple of them recorded "Winter Wonderland" during the initial 1934/1935 period.

We start with Ambrose and his Orchestra on Decca Records:

I think the vocal on that record is by Sam Browne, who worked a lot with Bert Ambrose.

Ambrose's records were also popular in the U.S. but he resisted offers to relocate, enjoying a long, successful career in England.

Another popular British band was led by pianist Lew Stone, who recorded his version of "Winter Wonderland" for the Regal Zonophone label:

The vocal on this one is apparently by Alan Kane, Stone's regular vocalist of the time.

Much less well-known (and not popular enough to get his picture on a cigarette card!) than Ambrose or Lew Stone was saxophonist Harry Leader, although he enjoyed a long career as well. His version of "Winter Wonderland" was on the low-budget Eclipse label:

As I understand it, the Eclipse records were only eight inches (as opposed to the usual ten) and sold at Woolworth stores in England, making them British cousins of the Perfect line!

The shorter running time has the Leader band playing at a quick tempo and the vocal with the group makes for a really fun record! The lower price didn't mean a lower quality performance!

The vocalists may be Sam Browne (moonlighting from Ambrose) and the Carlyle Cousins (who also worked with Ambrose).

Interestingly, the Cousins did get a cigarette card:

These are all the British versions of "Winter Wonderland" from the initial period of the song's popularity that I was able to unearth.

The most famous British bandleader of all was Ray Noble, who moved his operations to the U.S. in 1934, but I don't think he ever recorded the song in question.

While we're over in England anyway, we shall jump ahead to 1948 with this recording by the Squadronaires on London Records:

That's another fun version by the offshoot of the Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra, as led by Jimmy Miller.

Good work by these British bands who compare quite favorably to their American counterparts!

"Winter Wonderland" - Part 1 - The Beginning!

Now that we're done with "Jingle Bells" (for now), I thought I would turn my attention to some other holiday/seasonal songs in between Scrooge-related content.

Let's get started with "Winter Wonderland!"

The song was introduced in 1934, a time when there were really no new seasonal songs. We know "Jingle Bells" was still being recorded, but that was about it until "Winter Wonderland" with words by Dick Smith and music by Felix Bernard came along.

Those songwriters are not well-known except for this one song.

Lyricist Dick Smith

I don't know if Dick Smith wrote any other songs that were recorded, but Felix Bernard did co-compose the 1919 hit "Dardanella," if nothing else of note.

Both had untimely passings, Smith in 1935 and Bernard in 1944, neither seeing their song grow into the the huge seasonal standard it eventually became.

The first recorded version of "Winter Wonderland" was by Richard Himber and his Ritz-Carlton Orchestra with vocalist Joey Nash. Nash had apparently discovered the song and had sang it on the radio with the Himber band prior to recording it at the tail end of a Himber recording session.

Here's that first version on Victor Records:

Sounds good in that "hotel band" style so popular in those just-slightly-pre-swing-era days! I always like the sub-tone clarinet!

I don't think the Himber record made any splash at all, but another popular band came right along to make the song a hit...

The extremely popular Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians cut their version for the new Decca label:

The Lombardo recording was very popular and, to me, represents the band in its element, when its style was most popular and Guy's brother Carmen was leading the vocal trio with his very distinctive voice.

As referenced on the label of the Lombardo record, at some point "Winter Wonderland" made it into the 1934 Ziegfeld Follies. Flo Ziegfeld had died in 1932, but his widow Billie Burke attempted to revive the franchise, with her name noted on the sheet music seen at the top of the page.

Another popular version from 1934 was by Ted Weems and his Orchestra featuring singer Parker Gibbs on Columbia Records:

That's a pretty jaunty version and you have to dig the blue shellac!

Freddy Martin and his Orchestra also cut a version in 1934 with pianist Terry Shand on the vocal for Brunswick Records:

Freddy Martin's band wasn't as established as those of Guy Lombardo and Ted Weems at the time, so his version is more obscure, but it's good!

Those bands were all very popular, but the name Angelo Ferdinando, cool as it is, is way more obscure. He did, however, cut some sides with his Hotel Great Northern Orchestra for Bluebird Records, including another 1934 version of "Winter Wonderland":

The vocalist on that record is the prolific studio singer Dick Robertson, who remains well-known to 1930s music buffs, but by no means the general public!

Another busy studio vocalist of the time was Chick Bullock, who in addition singing with various orchestras was sometimes the leader, such on this 1934 recording of "Winter Wonderland" on the Perfect label:

The Levee Loungers has a ring to a it!

I think Chick's record is the only one at the time to have to include a vocal of the verse. Some of the other records have the band play a bit of it, but since Chick is the leader, he gets more room to spread out vocally than the band singers.

Records such as Chick Bullock's were issued on various labels from the American Record Corporation line in addition to Perfect (Banner, Melotone, Conqueror, etc.) and sold at five and dime stores for a lower price than those on the big labels, not a bad idea considering the Depression.

Chick was a great singer and employed a lot of great backing musicians, so the product was as good as anything on the major labels!

Also on the Perfect (and others) label was another 1934 version of "Winter Wonderland," this one by the Marimba Novelty Orchestra, which was led by xylophone/marimba player Joe Greene:

I don't know who the vocalist is on this one, but he sounds typical for the time. I do like the marimba!

I think those are all the American versions from 1934, so the song was off to a good start!

Next: We go across the pond!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 100 - Stray Tracks!

Wow, I can't believe this is the 100th post about "Jingle Bells!"

We are still more-or-less in contemporary times with my vote for the current King of Christmas - Brian Setzer!

Since the first release by the Brian Setzer Orchestra in 1994, the ex-Stray Cats frontman has released three Christmas studio albums, plus various live albums and DVDs and compilations. He obviously loves Christmas music!

It all got started when the BSO recorded "Jingle Bells" for the soundtrack of the 1996 movie "Jingle All the Way":

That's just a blast!

I didn't see the movie back in  the day (still haven't) and didn't pick up the soundtrack album, but I thought I got the soundtrack version on the "Merry Axemas" compilation from 1997:

Obviously it's not the same recording as this one's an instrumental, although the arrangement is very similar.

Brian then re-recorded the vocal version for his first Christmas album "Boogie Woogie Christmas" in 2002:

That sounds a lot like the soundtrack recording, but it has a few differences.

So, for quite some time, I thought that the 2002 recording was the first with a vocal and that the instrumental was on the movie soundtrack.

Luckily, I wasn't particularly hindered as I went through life under that delusion!

I think I eventually caught on when I came across Brian's 1996 video of the soundtrack recording:

That made me research the situation!

I'm guessing he cut the soundtrack vocal version and the instrumental version at the same sessions back in 1996, as both recordings have the same credits, including producer Phil Ramone.

Here's a more recent clip from 2016:

Always sounds great!

In any event, now that I've reached 100 "Jingle Bells" posts with I-don't-even-know-how many-versions in lots of genres, I'm going to branch out a bit!

But, do you have a favorite version of "Jingle Bells" that I may have omitted?