A Novelty Christmas

Here is a post mainly concerned with novelty songs of the season.

Slim and Fat Boy/Jelly Belly

We start, however, with a non-novelty, 1948's Christmastime Blues with Slim Seward and Fat Boy Hayes. My excuse here is that I thought it was a novelty when I picked it up. Slim Seward? Must be like Slam Stewart or Slim Galliard, I thought. Not so - it really is a blues record. Slim and Fat Boy otherwise recorded as the Back Porch Boys, or Slim Seward and Jelly Belly Hayes. They were based in New York, and apparently were a cabaret blues act similar to Josh White.

October 15, 1949

Let's move on to one of the most famous Christmas novelty records, Spike Jones' 1949 version of My Two Front Teeth, with a vocal by George Rock. This was a big ole hit, landing Spike (but not Georgie) on the front of Billboard with giant prop teeth. I can't imagine anyone listening to this more than once for each tooth, but my copy is kind of worn nonetheless. The other side, thankfully, is more fun and in better condition. It is called Happy New Year, and has new year's resolutions from Spike, George, Sir Frederick Gas and Doodles Weaver. The humor is quite conventional, but the record seems delightfully anarchic anyway, with its wonderfully choreographed sound effects. I've been a sucker for this sound all my life. This one is in response to a request by our friend David F.

Next up is another novelty that is highly evocative of the post-war era, 1950's I Want a Television Christmas, performed by Mindy Carson early in her career. This was not a commercial record - it was produced by the television manufacturers to stimulate sales and was given away in stores. Mindy rhapsodizes about all the things she would see on her new TV (and all before she's 17, she marvels) - plays, strange lands, etc. No mention of reality shows, wrestling or Jay Leno, who had not been invented. The song is presented in two very similar versions - one with bells and celeste added.

Fontane Sisters

We move on from a television Christmas to A Howdy Doody Christmas, as presented by the Fontane Sisters and Howdy himself. I have to admit I found Howdy a little "off" when I was a youthful Buster, and have not changed my opinion. Take a look at his troupe below and tell me they seem normal. The image comes from the cover of another Howdy Doody Christmas record, available here. This one is from 1951.

Country Washburne

The next item is on the Russell label, which made records for dance studios. Santa Has His Eye on You rather chillingly presents old Nick as a kind of parental spy in the cold war between adults and their offspring, perfectly apt for 1953. The performance by Country Washburne and a small band is quite good. Washburne was a vet of the Ted Weems and Spike Jones bands. Vocalist Marilyn King was the youngest of the King Sisters, but I don't believe she was a full-time member of the family ensemble. There are two versions of the song - vocal and instrumental.

Finally, Jose Ferrer presents the March of the Christmas Toys in his tuneless way. As sometimes happened, he was appearing on the flip side of a record by his wife, Rosemary Clooney. (That song, A Christmas Present to Santa Claus, has been widely anthologized.) Not sure why Mitch Miller kept parading Jose before the listening public as a vocalist. Ferrer was better suited to inpersonating Cyrano de Bergerac - which you can experience on this very blog, in fact.

Howdy Doody and ensemble (click to enlarge)