Bonus "Jingle Bells" - Yumpin' Yiminny!

Seems about time for a wacky version of "Jingle Bells!"

So, here's Ole Svenson and his Smorgasbord Band with "Yingle Yingle Yumping Beans" on S&G Records from 1950:

Pretty wacky!

Here's the flipside "I Vant a Xmas Drum":

The very end of the record is awesome!

I love Christmas music and I love novelty records, so I'm predisposed to enjoying this record, but there's another reason that it intrigues me...

"Ole Svenson" is really Bernie Jones, a singer/saxophone player who worked with Spike Jones and his City Slickers!

And "Yingle Yingle Yumping Beans" was co-written by former Slicker Del Porter! (Although how did it need four writers when it's already using the "Jingle Bells" melody?)

The Spike Jones connection gives this record some serious cred in the novelty world!

Bernie/Ole played with Spike from 1950-1955 after having worked with Ozzie Nelson's band. I understand he developed the character while with Ozzie.

The Ole Svenson character popped up on a couple of Spike's records, including his 1953 recording of "I'll Never Work There Anymore" on RCA Victor:

That's cute, but it doesn't have the oomph of Spike records from the 1940s. But I always enjoy hearing George Rock and it's great to hear Dick Morgan get a verse too.

Also in 1953, Spike had a concept album on RCA Victor, "Bottoms Up," which featured polkas ostensibly from different countries.

So, who better to sing the Swedish polka, "A Din Skál A Min Skál," than Ole? Here it is:

I feel like the "'Yumpin' Yimminy Fans" thing is a joke I'm not getting!

Del Porter would sometimes come back to the fold for guest vocals and he appears on a few "Bottom Up" tracks including the German polka, "Gesundheit Polka":

That's got a little more oomph and Del's vocals are always enjoyable!

The Ole Svenson character obviously sounds a lot like Yogi Yorgesson, the alter ego of Harry Stewart who broke through to mass popularity with his hit coupling of "Yingle Bells" and "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" in 1949.

The lines get blurred in 1955 when Yogi cut "The Ballad of Ole Svenson" on Capitol Records:

I wonder why Yogi used the Ole Svenson name. There's no particular reason to use that name on this Davy Crockett-inspired novelty. Just an inside joke?

You may recall that Yogi had some records for the same S&G label as Ole before Yogi signed with Capitol.

Bernie Jones kept using the Ole Sveson name on TV and records, including this 1957 album on the Verve label, "Hi-Fi Polka Party" by The Polka Dots Starring Ole Svenson, as produced by Spike Jones:

And since I seem to be doing a deep dive, I'll point out that the melody of "I Vant a Xmas Drum" is the Civil War pro-Union tune "Kingdom Coming."

Arrangers Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan also used the song as the basis for their 1952 hit "Doodletown Fifers" on RCA Victor:

OK, I think that covers everything for now! Whew!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 13 - Yust Nuts!

For lucky part 13 (on the 13th!) of our "Jingle Bells" survey, we get wacky once again, this time with Yogi Yorgesson, the alter ego of of comic singer/songwriter Harry Stewart!

The very title of this take-off on "Jingle Bells" from 1949 tells you about all you need to know:

"Yingle Bells" was actually a big hit in 1949, reaching the top ten on the "Billboard" charts!

The flipside was even more popular, topping out at Number Five:

To me, "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" is a brilliant Christmas novelty single.

It has the wacky Swedish accent, but the comic portrayal of a chaotic Christmas with the family is a universal theme.

Dialect humor was still very popular in the U.S. in the late 1940s and such things ran from good-natured spoofing to offensive racism. I think is solidly in the former category.

I think the key is that you're laughing along with Yogi, not at him.

This particular record was the first that Harry Stewart recorded directly for Capitol Records and was so successful that follow-ups were inevitable.

Capitol combined the two sides of that first single with the two sides of another for the following EP from 1954:

The other single was originally released in 1951 and had these two sides:

Oddly, "The Christmas Party" is shown as "The Christmas Story" on the cover, although it's correct on the label. That song is particularly dated, as such goings-on are no longer tolerated, but it was thought of as good fun at the time.

You can see (hear) that the above two "songs" follow the "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" formula, with Yogi singing the song, then providing a narration in the middle.

Here's a video clip of Harry Stewart as Yogi Yorgesson sing a non-Christmas song:

That's the only "live" footage I've ever seen of him!

That particular song, "All Pooped Out," was one of the releases that Yogi had on the small S&G label in 1949:

That caught the attention of Capitol Records, who picked up Harry/Yogi's contract:

Kind of like being called up to the Show!

The Mrs. is really her!

I had been aware that Harry Stewart had died in an automobile accident in 1956, but what I did not know for a long time was that his widow, Gretchen, later married Jim Jordan, radio's "Fibber McGee," after Marian "Molly" Jordan passed away.

In my little world, Fibber McGee marrying Mrs. Yogi Yorgesson is mind-blowing!

All I can say is that Gretchen must have had a high tolerance for shtick!