1940s Christmas Playlist - Part 15 - "Merry Christmas Polka" (1948)

We have one more song for 1948 in our playlist, and it should dispel all the loneliness from our last one!

Here's Tex Ritter on Capitol Records with "Merry Christmas Polka":

That's a snappy number from Tex. I like the western-style polka!

This recording was new for 1948, but the flipside was Tex's 1945 hit "Christmas Carols by the Old Corral," which we heard before, but let's hear it again:

We had heard that one back here, but it's worth hearing again, plus in the interim I found this cool sheet music for the song:

Tex Ritter always sounded to me like a cowboy who sings, rather than a singing cowboy, you know? And I say that as a compliment!

I think Tex was the only artist to record his "Merry Christmas Polka," but if we sneak into 1949, there was another song with the same title (give or take the "The") that has been recorded quite often.

Here's Dinah Shore with the "other one" on Columbia Records:

As you can hear, it's quite a different song! I did sometimes see Tex Ritter listed has having recorded a version of this one, but it was really that one!

Freddy Martin cut a version with his band for RCA Victor, with future talk show host/entertainment mogul Merv Griffin on vocals:

I took the liberty of adding the little greeting from Freddy on there!

Decca had the Andrews Sisters and Guy Lombardo record the song as well:

Those two acts blend well!

By 1951, the song made its way to actual polka specialist Frankie Yankovic, who recorded it for Columbia with his Yanks:

Now, that's a polka!

The next year, 1952, found the Three Suns with an instrumental take on their "Christmas Party" 10-inch LP:

That does sound like a party!

Lawrence Welk always featured a lot of polkas, so it was inevitable that he would record the song as well, and Mercury Records released his version in 1955:

Odd that the label says it's an instrumental when it's very vocal-oriented!

We do have one more actual instrumental, though, with veteran bandleader Vincent Lopez's quick version from his "Christmas Music" LP on Coral Records in 1957:

That whole album is fun! And dig the crazy cover!

So, the other "Merry Christmas Polka" sure got around!

Jumping back to our starting point of 1948, Frank Gallagher had a song called "Merry Christmas," which was a polka on the flip of his "You're All I Want for Christmas" record on the Dana label:

I think that's the only recording of that song. I presume co-writer Walt Dana was involved with the label!

Now we'll go off the grid a bit and jump to 1963, which is only fifteen years later, but somehow seems like more) for an unrelated song also named "The Merry Christmas Polka" and sung by the great Jim Reeves on his RCA Victor "Twelve Songs of Christmas" LP:

Did I mention before that I totally want Jim's cardigan?

While we're in the 1960s, here's a fun little instrumental by Buck Owens and his Buckaroos from their 1968 "Christmas Shopping" album on Capitol. It's "The Jolly Christmas Polka":

Hey, why not jump all the way to 1992 with "Santa's Polka" by Brave Combo from their terrific album "It's Christmas, Man!" on Rounder Records:

OK, now I'm officially polka'd out!

Christmas 1945 - Part 1 - The Records

Since we landed in 1945 with "The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories," I'm not going to leave for a while!

So, here's a look at some of the notable Christmas records from 1945!

We start off with a cut from Dick Haymes, outstanding crooner of the 1940s who had previously sung with the bands of Harry James, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey - as solid a resumé as anyone!

This is the only recording of this song of which I'm aware:

I think this was recorded in 1944 but released in 1945, so close enough!

Of note is that Ken Darby and Victor Young performed similar roles on both this record and Ronald Colman's adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," also on Decca Records.

Bob Wills fiddles while Tommy Duncan strums.

Christmas of 1945 was significant as it followed the end of WWII. A time for celebration indeed, but this record from Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys shows a different side:

Bob Wills had a great band and singer Tommy Duncan was one of the best Western Swing vocalists ever!

I think this next record is one of those rare gems you come across every now and again.

It's by Mark Warnow, who was leading the orchestra on the "Your Hit Parade" radio show, and vocalist Dick Todd who was also featured on that show. We throw in the fun B-side as well, as it contains a snappy version of "Jingle Bells":

I think that's just great!

Dick Todd was from Montreal and was sometimes called the Canadian Crosby, because he kind of sounded like Bing. I think he does, but I think he sounds even more like Bob Crosby, Bing's brother!

This next record is interesting as the label implies that it's a band led by legendary songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. I don't think of him as a bandleader and I don't know what his contribution to the record other than composing the song would be. Did he play piano on the recording? It's good, though:

Singer Martha Mears is an interesting personality as she did a ton of voice dubbing in the 1940s for actresses who were not as capable in the singing department!

Nice to hear her as herself!

None of the pop songs from above really went anywhere, but I think they all had merit.

This next record didn't become a standard, but it was a huge hit on the Country (then called "Folk") charts. Here's singing cowboy Tex Ritter:

At this point in time, there still wasn't a flood of holiday releases each year, but some standbys did get recorded.

"White Christmas" was only three years old, but already a standard. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians gave it their typical treatment. I see sources that indicate this record was from 1946, but "Billboard" reviewed it in 1945, so here we go:

So totally square, but not unpleasant! Guy Lombardo was really popular for a really long time!

Far more hip (hep?) is this treatment of "Jingle Bells" by the Slam Stewart Quintet:

Great work from Slam, formerly of Slim & Slam of "Flat Feet Floogee/Flat Foot Floogie" fame, and a stellar group including vibraphone master Red Norvo. Love Slam's humming along while bowing!

Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl

Frank Sinatra had preceded Dick Haymes in both the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey bands and they and other former band vocalists were making strong inroads by 1945, crowding out the bands.

Frank had this nice double-sided record of Christmas carols, which I think are from 1945? It should be easier to tell. I like 'em so here they are:

Very nice with the usual outstanding musical direction of Axel Stordahl, who had worked with Sinatra in the Dorsey band.

So, so some good new records for listeners to enjoy while spending the holidays with their loved ones in 1945!

In retrospect, there was a song published in 1945 that became a Seasonal/Holiday standard.

We'll check it out next!