Jo Stafford Christmas 45s

I recently acquired this Christmas EP that pairs Jo Stafford with frequent collaborator Gordon MacRae. For this post I've coupled the EP with a number of Christmas songs Stafford recorded in the 40s and 50s. Paul Weston directed the ensembles on all these records.

The EP is from 1955, although recorded in 1949, and combined the soloists with choir in two medleys of familiar carols. It was unreissued until a CD several years ago that combined it with a Stafford Christmas LP from the early 60s. That later production, with multitracked vocals, Hammond organ, and electric guitar, is the aural equivalent of an aluminum Christmas tree. It may be the worst thing ever done by the Westons that wasn't issued under the names Jonathan and Darlene Edwards or Cinderella G. Stump.

The 45s include a Capitol release of White Christmas and Silent Night, originally from 1946, an excellent version of the Christmas Blues from 1953 (see below), and a 1952 duet with frequent partner Frankie Laine on the country tune Christmas Roses.

Christmas with Dorothy Collins

When I decided to start a blog nearly two years ago, one of my inspirations was my friend Ernie of the blog Ernie (Not Bert). And it so happens that the first record I ever shared was this one - with Ernie in December 2007. I didn't even know how to upload music then; Ernie had to explain it to me.

So now I offer it here with a tribute to the genial Ernie, who has started on his annual frenzy of Christmas shares, which is not to be missed.

This 1958 LP features the long-time star of US television's Your Hit Parade, who in later years became a Broadway star in Sondheim's Follies. She's a fine singer, and this is a very good if quite conventional Christmas record.

Collins was married to Raymond Scott during the 50s, and many of her records were arranged by that maestro. Not this one - the tasks are handled here by Hollywood orchestrators Nathan Van Cleve and Joseph Lilley, and very well, too.

(By the way, Ern, this is an improved transfer!)

REMASTERED VERSION - DECEMBER 2014

Christmas in Leipzig, 1955

We begin the Christmas season with this live recording made in Leipzig's St. Thomas Church in 1955, with the famous boy's choir of that church directed by Günther Ramin.

This was to be the last Christmas concert led by Ramin, who died in 1956. Successor to Bach as cantor of the church and leader of a choir that was formed in the 13th century, Ramin was a central figure in the musical life of the city during the Nazi and then Communist regimes. And as the notes to this recording say, for Leipzig residents, this particular concert was "the epitome of Christmas, especially in the serious war and postwar years."

Similar to the King's College Choir featured here last Christmas, the St. Thomas choir is the product of a choir school, with 80 boys aged 10-19.

I believe the recording on this Cantate issue from circa 1960 is derived from a radio broadcast, as are the Bach cantata recordings that have been issued more recently from Ramin and his choir. Here is a link to an excellent article on Ramin, the choir and those radio broadcasts.

NEW LINK

I Love Melvin

Two of the young stars of Singin' in the Rain got their own movie after the success of the earlier film, and while it was not the hit that Singin' was, it did well and is well-remembered.

The songs on this 1953 soundtrack LP are good - if not as good as the music from its predecessor. They are done nicely by the enduringly likable Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, with an assist by young Noreen Corcoran.

The music is by Josef Myrow, who had a short but notable career in Hollywood, with songs for Three Little Girls in Blue, Mother Wore Tights, the French Line and Bundle of Joy. Here he is paired with the prolific lyricist Mack Gordon. None of the songs here were big hits, but elsewhere Myrow was responsible for some very popular numbers, including You Make Me Feel So Young, Somewhere in the Night and Give Me the Simple Life.

The sound here is good, allowing you to enjoy the typically polished M-G-M arrangements (by Skip Martin) and performances (led by Georgie Stoll).

REMASTERED VERSION

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

It's time for something different from the diet of symphonies, singers and musicals that have been on the menu here lately. So here is the powerful-voiced gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe on an early 1950s LP made for Decca.

Tharpe was an early crossover artist - in two senses. She crossed over from gospel music to sing with jazz bands, and she crossed over to achieve considerable success among white audiences. This LP is an example of Decca attempting to broaden her appeal among the new audience for folk music that had been created by such artists as Leadbelly, Josh White and the Weavers. Tharpe's repertoire here includes the most well-worn gospel songs (Amazing Grace, Rock of Ages) and the liner notes are by folklorist Alan Lomax.

When this LP was made, Tharpe's greatest successes were behind her, but she had not lost a bit of her skill. The melismatic singing style that she represents has been enduringly influential - almost to the point of being unendurable as today's singers compete to cram as many notes as possible onto one syllable. Few if any of today's vocal phenoms can compete with her power and presence, captured well on this record.

Unfortunately, this pressing has seen much use over the years - and while Sister Rosetta's voice is undimmed, it also is accompanied by some unwanted noise, for which I apologize in advance.

REMASTERED VERSION - OCTOBER 2014

Portraits by George Siravo

Here by request is George Siravo's circa 1956 LP, Portraits in Hi-Fi. Siravo's records have shown themselves to be quite popular hereabouts, much to my surprise.

This album comprises Siravo compositions, and for some reason he ventures into what I would have to assume is deliberately trite material on several cuts. Not sure what the point of that is.

Nor can I tell you what is supposed to be happening on the cover. The unspoken assumption seems to be that all women are housewives, and they are getting dressed up for a portrait. But what of the man? If he is a painter, is he supposed to be Siravo himself? And if so, why is his coat four sizes too large and his hair and beard so odd?

Enough of this pointless musing (I hear you saying) - on to the sounds. I have to tell you, then as now, when you speak the words "hi-fi" to an engineer, he eagerly plugs in the reverb unit. So here, Siravo's music is bathed in an echo that only Mantovani could love.

However, I will say the LP was in excellent shape. and admit that I enjoyed the music a great deal - there is much here to like. I just wish someone had hidden the reverb machine. (Also the xylophone.)

Bernstein and the NYPO in Venice, 1959

A while ago, I wrote about the original musicals presented on US commercial television in the 1950s. Classical music also had a presence on commercial TV back then, and its face and voice were those of Leonard Bernstein, then the music director of the New York Philharmonic.

I remember seeing Bernstein on the television program Omnibus when I was just a wee Buster. He later made a series of programs sponsored by Lincoln and then Ford. Four of the programs in that series were issued on promotional LPs by Ford's advertising agency, Kenyon & Eckhardt. The particular program represented by this record was presented on CBS in November 1959.

The agency didn't do such a good job with the record production, though, and the sound is subfusc. Little Buster with his 3-inch tape recorder might have done as a good a job taping the thing off his parent's Philco. Big Buster has done his best to compensate in the transfer, and the results are at least listenable.

As I know from personal experience, having met him once, Bernstein was a magnetic personality, and that comes through on this record. He is an eloquent speaker, convincing even when superficial - and I dare say that goes for his music-making as well. Here you get a bit of the Marriage of Figaro overture and two-thirds of a Mozart piano concerto, along with as much commentary from the conductor.

While Bernstein is not a favorite of mine, his influence and importance are undeniable and his charisma unmistakable.

REMASTERED VERSION - MARCH 2015