A V-Disc Christmas

This post gathers all the Christmas V-Disc releases I could find - with the exception of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra's material, which is available elsewhere.

V-Discs were produced by the US government for distribution to its troops during World War II. Their contents were taken from commercial recordings, radio transcriptions and even special V-Disc recording dates - all of which are represented below.

The artists we hear include Richard Crooks, Marian Anderson, Claude Thornhill, Andre Kostelanetz, Charlie Spivak, Dick Haymes, Eileen Farrell, Jan Peerce, Nelson Eddy and Dinah Shore.

Christmas V-Discs for the most part used the red and green color motif seen above, although the early issues came out with the standard red and blue regalia.

This set contains 25 cuts, presented in order of their release on V-Disc, except for the final number.

The first Christmas V-Disc came out in 1941, and was a reprint of a commercial recording that the tenor John McCormack had made fifteen years earlier. That recording of "Adeste Fideles" can be found in a McCormack Christmas compendium I put together a few years ago.

Richard Crooks

Our first entry in this collection comes from another tenor, Richard Crooks, who is not as well remembered as McCormack. Crooks come from a time when a popular Metropolitan Opera star - which he was - could also be a favorite on the radio. His performance of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" was taken from a 1941 commercial recording. Here is an article on this fine artist.

Marian Anderson, 1946

Another singer who achieved great popular and artistic success was the distinguished contralto Marian Anderson. Her recording of the "Ave Maria" setting associated with Schubert was done at a special V-Disc session in late 1941. Anderson's first Christmas LP - less well known than her later album - is available here, newly remastered.

Claude Thornhill

I believe bandleader Claude Thornhill recorded his lovely theme "Snowfall" a number of times, starting in 1941. The version on V-Disc comes from a Lang-Worth transcription recorded that same year.

Andre Kostelanetz

The "Christmas Medley" from maestro Andre Kostelanetz is derived from a 1943 broadcast of The Pause That Refreshes on the Air, a title that was taken from Pepsi-Cola's slogan of the time. Baritone Leonard Warren of the Met soloed in "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."

The other side of Kostelanetz' V-Disc presented the Army Air Force Training Command Band with another "Christmas Medley," featuring the sonorous soloist Bob Carroll, then an Army corporal. He has appeared on my other blog a few times, including a recording of "White Christmas" with Gordon Jenkins. This side has a brief introduction by Shirley Temple. These recordings came from a special 1944 Christmas broadcast of For the Record that was later excerpted for V-Discs.

Charlie Spivak

The popular band of trumpeter Charlie Spivak made a set of World Transcriptions that included "White Christmas," later issued on V-Disc. The vocal is by Garry Stevens.

Dick Haymes

Dick Haymes makes his first of two appearances, in company with the Travis Johnson Singers and organist Jesse Crawford. Dick sings "O Little Town of Bethlehem," the Singers take over for "Deck the Hall," and Haymes returns for "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen." These are also from World Transcriptions.

Eileen Farrell

The other side of Haymes' V-Disc has greetings to the troops from Brig. Gen. Joseph Byron, the Ben Yost Choir with "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" and the marvelous young soprano Eileen Farrell with "O Come, All Ye Faithful." She was then on radio; later she would become an opera star. These were taken from the same For the Record broadcast noted above.

Jan Peerce

Also from that session, but issued on a separate V-Disc, Farrell was heard in the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria" and "O Holy Night." They were coupled with the Met's Jan Peerce presenting a Bizet setting of "Agnus Dei."

Nelson Eddy

A December 1945 edition of radio's Electric Hour yielded several songs with Nelson Eddy, a choral group and Robert Armbruster's orchestra. First we have the inescapable and interminable "Twelve Days of Christmas," a greeting from Eddy himself, "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" from the choir, "Gathering Clouds" from Eddy, "Silent Night" from the choir, and the "Hallelujah Chorus" from one and all.

Dick Haymes then returns with a spoken greeting, "Silent Night" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful," backed by Gordon Jenkins' orchestra.

Dinah Shore

To complete the package, I've added a song that is really more suggestive of the season that truly a part of it, simply because I like both the tune and the singer. This is Dinah Shore's 1944 version of "Sleigh Ride in July" with Al Sack's orchestra. It's a Burke and Van Heusen song that V-Disc took from Dinah's commercial recording.

LINK

Marian Anderson: the Complete 1947 Spirituals

I have previously offered two collections of spirituals by the eminent contralto Marian Anderson. One LP collates her 1952 recordings in that genre. The other, an EP, provides a selection from a 1947 session.

Portrait by
Everett Raymond Kinstler

I recently acquired a 10-inch LP that includes all the 1947 recordings. It forms the basis of today's post. (Full disclosure: I reused three of the EP transfers because the smaller disc was in better shape than side 1 of the LP.)

At the time of recording, Miss Anderson was 50 years old, and her voice had lost little of the power and lustre and none of the expressiveness that had made her famous. These recordings, made with her long-time accompanist Franz Rupp, are spellbinding.

I am sending this one out (as the the deejays used to say) to my friend DonR, who is a great fan of Marian Anderson.

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Marian Anderson in Brahms and Mahler

Here are two uncelebrated but nonetheless remarkable performances by contralto Marian Anderson, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.

Marian Anderson

This 1950 LP contains the third of her three recordings of Brahms' Alto Rhapsody, and what may be her only recording of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder.

RCA has never re-released the Brahms, and I believe the Mahler has only appeared in a reissue series devoted to conductor Pierre Monteux.

Fritz Reiner's conducting generates notes, staves and whirligigs

In the superb Alto Rhapsody, Miss Anderson is beautifully supported by a recording orchestra conducted by Fritz Reiner, then at the Metropolitan Opera, and the men's voices of the Robert Shaw Chorale. Her earlier (and better known) versions date from 1939 (with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy) and 1945 (with the San Francisco Symphony and Monteux).

Monteux also leads his San Francisco band in the Mahler song cycle. Monteux did not conduct Mahler regularly - and this appears to be his only recording of that composer. His rendition is understated, which is perhaps not a fault in this wrenching composition. Miss Anderson's warm voice is well suited to this approach.

Pierre Monteux

The Mahler comes from a February 1950 session in the War Memorial Opera House; the Brahms is from an October 1950 date in the Manhattan Center. The sound from San Francisco is good; from New York even better.

My previous Marian Anderson posts were devoted to spirituals and Christmas carols.

Note (August 2023): these recordings are now available in ambient stereo.

Spirituals from Marian Anderson, Plus Reups

The response to my first post of a Marian Anderson record was enthusiastic, so here is another of the great artist's early LP - and if anything, it is even more treasurable.

This 10-inch album collates the 11 spirituals that Miss Anderson recorded for RCA Victor in May 1952, with her longtime accompanist Franz Rupp at the piano.

Marian Anderson and Franz Rupp in 1951

You will not find a more impressive or satisfying record. The contralto's voice is perfection, her control is complete and her involvement in the material is total. The effect is stunning - it is no wonder she was one of the most famous and beloved singers of the time.

Please note: As a complement to this LP, I have also posted an EP collecting four spirituals that Miss Anderson recorded for Victor in May 1947. You can find it on my companion singles blog. The recordings on both records were done in RCA's New York Studio No. 2, and the resulting sound is very good.

Excerpt from a 1941 ad

Reups

Also for you today, several reuploads, all remastered for better sound. Three are by a few of the fine postwar bands that are something of a specialty on this blog.

Ralph Marterie - Dancing on the Down Beat. The Marterie band is little noted today, but the trumpeter led a skilled and powerful ensemble that played a variety of styles most effectively. This LP dates from 1952.

Ralph Marterie - Marterie Moods for Dancing. Another from the Marterie men, this example from 1951; again, very worthwhile.

Ziggy Elman - Ziggy Elman (M-G-M E535). Speaking of wonderful bands, Ziggy had one, led by his powerful trumpet. This LP collects singles from 1947-50. (Note: you'll need to make some allowances for the sound on this one.)

Woody Guthrie - Talking Dust Bowl. The same era, but much different music The seminal folk singer and some of his most famous records, including "So Long (Dusty Old Dust)," on this early LP.

Marian Anderson's First Christmas LP

Today's holiday offering is in response to a plea from reader Musmad. He wrote, "I'd like to put in a request for Marian Anderson's first Christmas album, made in 1952, with Franz Rupp at the piano - a 10-inch RCA LP that has always eluded me. It was made a decade before her still-available seasonal disc with chamber-orchestra accompaniments by Robert Russell Bennett. If you have it I would be grateful for an upload - as I have been on so many previous occasions."

As sometimes happens with requests, I already had the record in the queue for transferring, so here it is for Musmad and for all interested.

The second Anderson holiday LP that Musmad mentions was first issued only a few years before the eminent contralto's 1964 retirement. This earlier album, made when she was about 54, finds her in perhaps fresher voice. The singing is strong and intonation secure, underpinned by her characteristic dignity and depth of feeling.

As Musmad noted, Miss Anderson is accompanied by Franz Rupp, who was her regular pianist from 1940 until her retirement. As might be expected, he is deferential to his distinguished partner, and the piano parts for most numbers can best be described as minimal. Things pick up for the instrumentalist on the second side with Alphonse Adam's "Cantique de Noël" and for the two succeeding songs, which are the only items on the program that could be considered unusual.

The two pieces, "Angel's Song" and "Hallelujah," come from a newly published song cycle "The Blessing," by Frida Sarsen Bucky. They are attractive numbers, and Miss Anderson apparently liked the work of the composer, a refugee from Hitler's Germany. She had recorded one of Bucky's songs for RCA in 1945, and they would collaborate on a children's record for Folkways in 1963.

Details about the Bucky works and the recording itself are scarce. RCA's liner notes are devoted to a reprint of a Time magazine article from December 30, 1946. (The cover to that issue is above.) I've only been able to locate recording data for four of the titles, which come from April 1951 sessions in RCA's New York Studio No. 2.

The label's sound is well balanced but boxy. I have applied an ambient stereo effect to add a bit of air to the proceedings.

LINK to 2025 remaster

Marian Anderson and Franz Rupp