'tis the Season for Sharity

Here's a little listing I'll try to keep up-dating as the year moves along. Album shares from sources who normally cover other fields of music. Links are to the original blog posts where you'll usually find some background on the album or the share. While there, have a look around, who knows what else may strike your fancy. Be sure to say thanks on your way out to these generous folks.

1. ALDRICH, Ronnie -- Christmas with Ronnie Aldrich
   
2. FEIDLER, Arthur & the Boston Pops -- Christmas Party
   
3. FRANCIS, Connie -- Christmas In My Heart
   
4. GOODWIN, Ron -- Christmas Wonderland
   
5. HIRT, Al -- Have A Merry Little *
   
6. INGMANN, Jorgen -- Swinging Good Old Christmas
   
7. KAEMPFERT, Bert -- Christmas with Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra *
   
8. KOSTELANETZ, Andre -- Stereo Wonderland Of Christmas *
   
9. LAST, James -- Christmas Dancing *
   
10. LUIS GOMEZ MEXICAN BRASS -- Tijuana Christmas
    
11. LYMAN, Arthur -- Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas)
    
12. PAGE, Patti -- Christmas with
    
13. PARADISE ISLANDERS, The -- Christmas In Hawaii *
    
14. REGINA MUSIC BOX MUSEUM -- The Charm of Old Music Boxes at Christmas (Simpsons)
    
15. SINGER ORCHESTRA, The -- Favorite Christmas Songs *
    
16. TORONTO BOYS' CHOIR -- A New Choral Record For Christmas
    
17. VA -- Christmas at Home
    
18. VA -- Christmas Day with Colonel Sanders
    
19. VA -- Christmas in California (Bank of America)
    
20. VA -- Famous Christmas Songs (Uniroyal)
    
21. VA -- A Very Merry Christmas, Vols I to VIII (Grant's)
    

* = latest additions to list

Holmes for the Holidays @ TCM

As you may know, I was inspired to name this blog and my blogger ID by the Sherlock Holmes short story, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle ... a tale that takes place around Christmas ... Christmas and Sherlock ... does it get any better? It sure does on the cable channel Turner Classic Movies with their Christmas/Boxing day schedule of 24 hours of Sherlock.

Holmes for the Holidays @ TCM
Friday, December 25th to Saturday, December 26th 2009

8:00 pm - The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) (@ Amazon), starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Richard Greene and Wendy Barrie.

9:30 pm - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) (@ Amazon), starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce and Ida Lupino.

11:00 pm - The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) (@ Amazon), starring Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely and Genevieve Page.

1:15 am - Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour (1931) (@ Amazon), starring Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming and Jane Welsh.

2:30 am - The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) (@ Amazon), starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Andre Morell and Maria Landi.

4:00 am - A Study in Terror (1965) (@ Amazon), starring John Neville, Donald Houston, Georgia Brown and Anthony Quayle.

6:00 am - 11 more Rathbone/Bruce Holmes films (@ Amazon)
to
8:00 pm

Compilation: Retro Christmas

Posted over @ Ultra Swank is a great 25 track 86MB compilation titled Retro Christmas that I think is a great addition to your playlists. CaptainOT did a review when it first came out. I'll sum up what he said and add my ditto ... great effort! So head on over and snag your very own copy right now.

BTW, you may notice Ultra Swank is another site that has wonderful graphics done up by the very talented BlueHipster. I just love his style. While you're visiting his site, be sure to snag some of his Exotica shares he has posted.

Tracklist:

01. Jack Jones - Sleigh Ride
02. Esquivel - Frosty The Snowman
03. The Hollyridge Strings - Santa's Got A Brand New Bag
04. John Barry - Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown
05. Dean Martin - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
06. Henry Mancini - Winter Wonderland - Silver Bells
07. Eddie Dunstedter - I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
08. John Klein - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
09. Esquivel - Sun Valley Ski Run
10. The Hollyridge Strings - Santa Claus is coming to Town
11. Henry Mancini - White Christmas
12. Burt Bacharach - The Bell That Couldn't Jingle
13. Esquivel - Here Comes Santa Claus
14. The Hollyridge Strings - Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas
15. Henry Mancini - Frosty The Snow Man
16. Al Caiola & Riz Ortolani - Holiday On Skis
17. Ferrante & Teicher and Les Baxter - Sleigh Ride
18. Esquivel - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
19. Dean Martin - White Christmas
20. The Metro Strings - Christmas
21. Henry Mancini - The Christmas Song
22. John Klein - Winter Wonderland
23. Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians - Ring Those Christmas Bells
24. Julie London - I'd Like You For Christmas
25. Stan Kenton - What Is A Santa Claus

Christmas on the Radio

A few years back I became a big fan of Old Time Radio (OTR) and so naturally really liked listening to the Christmas episodes.

Jack Benny, Burns & Allen, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Red Skelton, Edgar Bergen, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Fibber McGee & Molly, Amos & Andy, Abbott & Costello, Martin & Lewis, Ozzie & Harriet, Phil Harris & Alice Faye, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Dinah Shore, Kate Smith, Lucille Ball are some of the names from entertainments golden age that had their own radio shows. And if the names don't ring a bell, perhaps the shows will ... Archie Andrews, Blondie, Dragnet, Father Knows Best, Great Gildersleeve, The Green Hornet, Gunsmoke, Life of Riley, Lone Ranger, Our Miss Brooks, Red Ryder, The Saint, The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, Superman, Tarzan, & Yours Truly Johnny Dollar.

If you, or someone you know is 65+ then these shows will almost certainly bring back some Christmas memories. And if you're under 65 then perhaps like me, you'll fall in love with these pre-television era gems.

If you have newsgroup access, your best bet is starting off in alt.binaries.sound.radio.oldtime or alt.binaries.sounds.radio.oldtime (absro). Be prepared for a very large selection dating back into the 1930s.

If you don't have access to newsgroups, you can still pick up some episodes on the web.

OldTimeRadioFans.com has (on 2009.Nov.09) 6 shows available for free download. [Hint: Root around the site and you'll find more Christmas freebies]

Internet Archive has (on 2009.Nov.09) 6 shows available for free download. [Hint: A little searching and you'll also find more Christmas freebies here]

rand’s esoteric otr has (on 2009.Nov.15) 6 shows available for free download.

The Old Time Radio Fan has (on 2009.Nov.09) 20 shows available for free download.

Check out Old Time Radio Flier 23 @ Squidoo with a whooping 170+ shows (on 2009.Nov.09) available for free download.

Feel free to post links to others sources in the comments.

Arthur Ferrante dies at 88

Arthur Ferrante, half of the popular piano duo Ferrante & Teicher, dies

Arthur Ferrante, one half of the piano duo Ferrante and Teicher whose lush orchestral recordings of 1960s movie themes propelled them to popular and commercial success, has died. He was 88.

Ferrante died of natural causes early Saturday at his home in Longboat Key, Fla., his manager, Scott W. Smith, said Sunday. Lou Teicher died in August 2008 at age 83.

"Although we were two individuals, at the twin pianos our brains worked as one," Ferrante said last year after Teicher's death. ... (continued)

They produced some of my favorite Yuletide albums that I and my family have listened to for years. I could not imagine a Christmas without one of their albums being on our playlist.