Ella Logan

Ella Logan will be forever associated with Finian's Rainbow, having introduced "How Are Things in Glocca Morra" on Broadway in 1947. Logan also recorded most of the songs from that Burton Lane - E.Y. Harburg score in 1954, for this Capitol LP.

Ella Logan and David Wayne

The Glasgow-born Logan was a veteran singer when she came to Broadway. She made her debut in 1930 in London, and was a club singer in the US, even appearing in several films and shows before hitting it big in Finian's Rainbow.

When this Capitol recording session was taking place, Logan was planning to be involved in an animated version of the show, along with such luminaries as Frank Sinatra. That version was never completed (although the songs were recorded), but this, apparently unrelated LP still came out in 1955.

Logan was a very self-assured, but mannered singer. If you like her vocals on the original cast LP, you will be sure to enjoy this album, which is in a similar style. The fussy arrangements are by George Greeley. The sound is excellent.

Chistmas Chimes

Church of St. Mary Magdalene

A final post before the holiday - familiar carols played on the chimes with organ and brass. The percussionist here is a famous one - at least as famous as an orchestral timpanist can get. He is James Blades, who recorded the "V for victory" tattoo heard on English broadcasts during World War II. (It was the letter V in Morse code, three dots and a dash, corresponding to the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.)

Blades takes to the chimes on this recording, made in London's Church of St. Mary Magdalene in  1952. I don't think chimes work that well with other instruments, so I can't pretend this gave me much pleasure, but I know others will disagree. Despite the self-praise for the sound on the back of the LP, it really is just adequate, even for that long-ago time.

Blades lived a very long time, to age 97, and must be the only timpanist to write an autobiography - which I read many years ago.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Carols by the Bach Choir

The Bach Choir is a large amateur ensemble that has been performing in London since 1875. Reginald Jacques was its conductor for 32 years.

Reginald Jacques

This present disk is one of its first recordings. The entirely conventional program of carols was inscribed in June 1950. The location was London's Kingsway Hall, a famous but now demolished venue for choral and orchestral recordings. Many great sounds were captured there; unfortunately this is not one of them. While the performances are perfectly fine, the sound is frustratingly opaque. Enjoyable enough, but not what it ought to be.

The impressively named Osborne Peasgood, sub-organist at Westminster Abbey at the time, handles the accompaniment.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!

Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois

Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois (the Little Singers of the Wooden Cross, also known as the Little Singers of Paris) were formed in 1907 by Paul Berthier. They were led for nearly 40 years by Mgr. Fernand Maillet, who directs the proceedings on this record of Christmas songs from France and other lands.

Mgr. Maillet

The cover photo above is a still from a film called Moineaux de Paris, in which the choir appeared. There is a clip from the movie on YouTube, in which the choir sings for a minute and a half and Mgr. Maillet speaks for four. I can't believe this was considered fascinating film making, even in 1952, but the good curé apparently liked to talk: he introduces all the songs on this record. I have banded his intros separately.

Even though the cover still is from 1952, this LP didn't come out until 1960. It was recorded in November of that year, possibly in the suitably resonant Salle Wagram, where the choir made other records.

The Christmas Music Box

Cook Records was a quirky label of the 1950s and 60s that was known for good sound and esoteric repertoire. If I think about the Cook releases in my own collection, I can come up with recordings of steam locomotives and steel bands - and this collection of the sounds of antique music boxes.

Emory Cook

Emory Cook was also a very early experimenter with stereophonic sound, even to the extent of inventing his own "binaural" system with two grooves on the same record. (He is demonstrating the binaural system in the photo.)

Regina music box

The record at hand is not a binaural LP. It is an atmospheric mono recording of music boxes in the collection of George and Madeleine Brown. True to his code, Cook did not edit out the mechanical noises of these devices, and the clacking and clunking is a little distracting for those of us listening at home and not watching these machines in action. But the tunes are nonetheless charming - even though some of them have little to do with Christmas ("Stabat Mater"??).

On the back of the record, there is a key to what music boxes you are hearing, but the descriptions are inexact and there are no photos. So while I have included photos of several of these boxes in the download, I am not certain that these are the exact models you are hearing. But least it will give you an idea.

The Sportsmen Carol at Christmas

Capitol records put out this Christmas album in 1949, at the same time it issued the Jimmy Wakely set posted a few days ago.

These were among its first LPs, and they were brief, with their six songs replicating the three-record 78 and 45 albums that came out at the same time.

Here we have an entirely conventional program of Christmas material. The album is titled "Carols at Christmas," but this is only loosely the case. While carols do not have to be religious, "Wassail" is a drinking song that doesn't fit well with the stained glass on the cover.

The Sportsmen would have been very familiar to any American within earshot of a radio in 1949. They were a mainstay of Jack Benny's popular program, and appeared on several other shows as well. Their specialty on Benny's show was popping up in unlikely places to sing about the merits of sponsor Lucky Strike cigarettes, often to the star's disgust. This kind of loony vernacular surrealism was one of the main sources of humor on Benny's program. You can hear how it works in a Christmas audio clip included in the download. In this scenario, Jack is Christmas shopping in a department store, and the Sportsmen are elevator operators who sing about the wonders to be found on every floor (including plugs for Lucky Strikes) while ignoring Benny's loud demands to be let off on the mezzanine.

On the Capitol record, the Sportsmen are accompanied by organ. As with the Jimmy Wakely record, this is probably played by Buddy Cole, who was recording Christmas music on organ for Capitol at the same time. The other connection with the Wakely LP is that Thurl Ravenscroft and Max Smith of the Mellomen (who accompany the cowboy singer) were former members of the Sportsmen.

A Mennonite Christmas

The Mennonite Hour was on radio in the US for many years, starting in 1951, and was at its zenith when this recording was made circa the late 1950s.

The program was primarily music, and as was the practice at that time, it was entirely choral - no instruments.

In this 10-inch record of Christmas hymns, we hear male, female and mixed ensembles. The familiar material generally comes off well, although the more difficult music makes the men in particular uncomfortable.

The music is directed by J. Mark Stauffer, who also was responsible for the music on my previous post of a Mennonite revival meeting. The sound is reasonably good.