Julius La Rosa at Christmas

The terrific singer Julius La Rosa never made a Christmas album, so my pal Ernie and I are doing our best to fill the void. We've collaborated on a 15-song playlist of holiday tunes from the vocalist's long career.

This is an enjoyable listen - La Rosa was one of those singers who were excellent at the outset of their careers, and remained so for a long time. He was skilled at all types of material - from ballads to novelties - and had a beautiful voice, particularly so in the early years.

We start our collection with a Christmas EP from 1953, and end it with a single from 1981.

Christmas EP

La Rosa's first seasonal records come from the time of his early fame, 1953, and hit the market just after his feud with former employer Arthur Godfrey became a cause célèbre. Godfrey was the biggest thing on television at the time, and La Rosa was his star attraction. But Arthur ran his show a bit like a plantation. He thought that Julius was getting too independent - La Rosa had actually hired an agent! This made Godfrey's face as red as his hair, so he fired Julie - on the air. People took sides, and most were sympathetic to La Rosa.

Ironically, the singer's Christmas EP hit the shops at the same time as Godfrey's own holiday LP, which featured a song by La Rosa (discussed next).

La Rosa was already an established recording artist when the EP came out. He had become the first artist signed to the new Cadence label, set up in 1952 by Archie Bleyer, the bandleader on Godfrey's show. The two had immediate success with "Anywhere I Wander" and then with "Eh, Cumpari," the rare novelty that is actually memorable, mainly because of La Rosa's engaging performance.

The Christmas EP includes four of the most well-worn religious numbers associated with the season, freshened by La Rosa's strikingly good singing. He was assisted by the Columbus Boychoir in "Adeste Fideles." Bleyer conducted. This transfer is revamped from one I offered many years ago.

December 1953 - La Rosa 'hasn't changed'

The Christmas Song

Godfrey's Christmas LP was a purported family affair, with all his featured artists - the Mariners, Janette Davis, Lu Ann Sims, Frank Parker and Marion Marlowe, Haleloke and the McGuire Sisters, along with La Rosa and Bleyer leading the band. Note that Santa Arthur called his assistants the "Little Godfreys." 

La Rosa's number on the LP is "The Christmas Song," which he handles well.

Cadence Singles

La Rosa went on to record three songs for Cadence that could be considered holiday fare - the first only in the broadest sense. "The Big Bell and the Little Bell" is a children's fable so charmingly done by Julie that I didn't want to leave it out.

Cadence and La Rosa issued a two-sided Christmas single in 1955. "Jingle Dingle" is the tale of another one of Santa's helpers, who must number in the thousands by now. The second side, "Campanelle," is more interesting. As you may have guessed, "Campanelle" is "Jingle Bells" in Italian, with La Rosa singing in both that language and English. This is a much better record than it has any right to be - very joyful and fun.

October 1955

Winter in New England

After moving to RCA Victor in 1956, Julie had an opportunity to show off his considerable ability on a few romantic ballads, along with the usual novelties and quasi-rock numbers. "Winter in New England" is a superior song by Robert Arthur and Jack Wolf. Lyrically it is nothing new (the usual tale of going back home), but is sensitively handled by La Rosa and band leader Joe Reisman, aided by an mellifluous recording. Composer Robert Arthur was the longtime music director for Ed Sullivan's television show, where La Rosa regularly appeared. (The download has a Cash Box cover photo of Sullivan and La Rosa.)

We All Need a Little Christmas

By 1966, La Rosa had moved on from RCA, cycled through the Roulette and Kapp labels, and ended up with M-G-M. The next holiday item in this collection, "We All Need a Little Christmas," appears on his LP You're Gonna Hear from Me, titled for André and Dory Previn's song from Inside Daisy Clover.

"We All Need a Little Christmas" is from Jerry Herman's score for his big Broadway hit, Mame, where it was introduced by Angela Lansbury and company. Noisy and simplistic, the song is also catchy and amusing. La Rosa shows off his range through his commanding performance, but is let down by an awful recording, both boomy and indistinct, so different from the superior RCA product above. Don Costa conducted.

Sing Noel with the US Navy Band

Ernie contributed the balance of the program from his vast archive, starting with this rare program of Christmas songs with the United States Navy Band, produced for promotional purposes, likely in the 1970s. La Rosa was a Navy veteran - and in fact was discovered by Godfrey in 1951 when he was still in uniform and singing in officers' clubs.

The Navy LP is a high quality production with La Rosa featured on four songs. The record starts off with the self-explanatory "Julie's Christmas Melody," in a fine arrangement.

La Rosa also is heard in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town," one of the few readings of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" that I can stand, and "Nature Boy," which I never thought was a holiday song, but who am I to argue with the Navy.

This is a well-performed and produced record, and Julie is in good form.

A Christmas Gift

Our program concludes with another rarity from Ernie's vast collection - "A Christmas Gift" from 1981. It's an unknown but lovely song, enhanced by an accomplished Torrie Zito arrangement.

The 45 label says the song is from a new LP, but I've never seen a copy of that album and wonder it ever was issued.

In addition to the songs described above, the download includes many ads, articles and brief reviews.

My thanks to Ernie for both contributing to and instigating this collection. (Make sure to visit his site for an overwhelming variety of Christmas music.) Let me note that some of the singles come from the vast Internet Archive.

I hope you will enjoy the La Rosa collection as part of your Christmas listening - and that you all have a wonderful holiday!