Anyway, I imagine the many admirers of the Ray Charles Singers will be pleased to see their terrific 1955 Winter Wonderland on offer here. I recall writing at one point that I didn't think I had this record, only to discover that I have two copies. The condition of this one is pristine, as is the music making. And I love the very 50s cover of a very 50s ranch house in the snow.
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| Ray Charles |
This album generally follows the pattern of others in the series. Vocally, the group tends to present the songs as if they were following a scenario, as on a television show. On the instrumental side, the lead instrument is usually Nick Perito's accordion or Tony Mottola's guitar. On a few songs, Dick Hyman on piano is featured, providing some variety.
For songs, there are the usual seasonal standbys - the title song, "Button Up Your Overcoat," "June in January," "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," "Jingle Bells" and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
Interspersed are less familiar items:
- Irving Berlin wrote "When Winter Comes" for Rudy Vallee to sing in the Sonja Henie twirler Second Fiddle. Charles himself has the solo on this LP. (Mary Healy, one of the stars of the film, recorded "When Winter Comes" - her version can be found here.)
- Claude Thornhill's "Snowfall" is well known as an instrumental, less so with the lyrics contributed by Ray Charles himself.
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- Al Bryan and Alfred Gumble wrote "Winter" in 1910 and Charles resurrected it for this LP, counterpointing it with a melody of his own invention called "Theme for Indoor Sports."
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- "When Winter Comes a-Callin'" is a relatively obscure song by Mack Discant and Joseph Meyer. The liner notes say was then of recent vintage.
- "By the Fireside" is also known as "In the Gloaming (By the Fireside)," "gloaming" being a Scots term for twilight. Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Ray Noble wrote it in 1932; Noble's band recorded it with an Al Bowlly vocal.
The vocalists on the recording are Lillian Clark, Kathleen Wallace, Lois Winter, Miriam Workman, Robert Bollinger, Jerry Duane, Edwin Lindstrom, Eugene Lowell, Arthur Malvin, Alan Sokoloff, Michael Stewart and Eugene Steck.
The sound on this record - and the performances - are excellent.
With Winter Wonderland we complete Ray's traversal of the seasons. Here are the others:
LINK to Winter Wonderland
21 comments:
Oh I'm thrilled to be the first (of who will be many) to thank you for this one, Buster! As you may recall when you shared "Autumn Nocturne", I was already speechifying about this one, which has been dear to me since childhood. Like you, I have 2 vinyl copies of this, on which I worked for weeks to digitize and clean up every pop and scratch, and "remaster" the sound to my liking. I listened to that until our friend Ernie shared a copy that sounded about like mine, except, mercifully, his remedied an unrepairable scratch mine had on "Overcoat". Yours sounds the best of all, and I will cherish it for the rest of my days. In a shoe box somewhere in my own "back room" lies a REALLY old cassette tape I made with a patch cord and a turntable at my parent's house, when I returned home one Christmas and wanted to capture the audio of the very platter I grew up with, because as we all know with really old, cherished records, the clicks and pops are part of your memories. I'll never get rid of that souvenir, but the copy you have just shared will be the one I'll always enjoy. And I loved the notes, which of course yielded some new and interesting info. Thanks for kicking the season in the sweetest way possible.
GREAT!!!
Thanks for completing this series Buster! Now you can move on to their other, non-seasonal records, the ones about love and marriage, etc.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
mike - Thanks for sharing your memories with us! This is exactly the kind of response I like to evoke. It makes it all very worthwhile.
Thanks, gimpiero!
Ernie - I have one ready to go!
Keek - You are very welcome!
Well, OVERsharing, hehe, but such is my enthusiasm and delight.
I look forward to adding this to my Christmastime rotation! Thanks also for the word "twirler" to describe a Henie pic. Variety-speak or an original? - Jeff M
Jeff - I am sure I poached it from somewhere!
I love this SO much, cuz unless you're really lucky, who has everyday friends to have this sort of exchange with?! Most real-world friends think pop-culture/culture sponges like us speak a different language. (Um, we do). When's the last time someone here made a casual, throwaway "Sonja Henie twirling" reference in a real-life conversation? Maybe don't answer that, LOL.
Great! Looking forward to it.
This one is probably my favorite of the two Ray Charles Singers Christmas-themed albums because it sounds more like the stuff Ray regularly would put out both on here and later Command Records than the Here-We-Come-A-Caroling album, which is more standard choral carol singing in the style of the Norman Luboff Choir. Still looking for a physical copy of this one, though.
musicman - Agree completely.
mike - I am happy when anyone understands my arcane references.
This one has been a favorite ever since I first heard the use of the lyrics,
"This is nothing Santa sent
She's my heating element
Come and meet
My lady radiator"
Oh Ray, I'm always be grateful you occasionally continued this kooky streak on your Command label releases....
And agreed about the actual RCS holiday album lacking like the genial vibe of the group. It's disappointing after this quite enjoyable lp.
Also, I always thought the guy was oddly horizontal on the cover art, like he had just slipped into a (possibly eggnog-induced) coma.
petlod - Yeah, these seasonal items are special! Also, you are right about the cover. It looks like she is trying to revive him.
It's a delight to be able to complete the quartet - many thanks as always Buster and all the best of the season to you
Hi Phillip - Thanks, and happy holidays to you as well!
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