[78-L] Xmas Music

[Tom]

I just visited iTunes, so that I could listen to White Christmas and it's the 1947 version that we all know and which is played the most on the radio, by far. In my view, the 1947 recording is far superior to the version from the movie although this stuff is, of course, very much of a personal taste kind of thing.
 
You could make the same observation with respect to Nat King Cole's recording of "The Christmas Song" where the recording that's the most popular is apparently a later recording than the original, earliest recording, which you often find on budget compilation CD's showing that track on them, although it's always the earlier recording, which isn't as good as the one on Nat King Cole's Xmas music album.
 
I'm still looking for other early (say WW II era or thereabouts, earlier if possible) recordings of what I'd call "A" side Xmas music recordings, comparable to the recordings of "Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant" by Edith Piaf; "O Holy Night" by Robert Merrill; "Isn't It A Shame That Christmas Comes But Once A Year" by Jimmy Durante; and "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Judy Garland, which I've just added to my iTunes Xmas music playlist.
 
Other Xmas music carols from that era, which I've been able to download from iTunes are: "At The Christmas Ball" by Bessie Smith; "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby (and several other of Bing's Xmas music recordings as well); "Jingle Bells" by Benny Goodman; "Santa Claus Bring My Man Back" by Ozie Ware & Duke Ellington's Hot Five; "Winter Wonderland" by Ted Weems & His Orchestra; and, of course, the great Xmas music recordings by Louis Armstrong (although I think they were recorded later) like "Christmas in New Orleans"; "Christmas Night in Harlem"; "Cool Yule"; and "'Zat You, Santa Claus?". Same thing with Louis Prima's recording of "What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swingin') -- great Xmas music track, though I'm unsure if it dates to the WW II era or post-WW II era.
 
Other "A" cut suggestions?
 
Thanks for all the great ideas.
 
And Merry Christmas!
 
Tom


--- On Thu, 12/25/08, Bertrand CHAUMELLE <chaumelle at orange.fr> wrote:

From: Bertrand CHAUMELLE <chaumelle at orange.fr>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Xmas Music
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Date: Thursday, December 25, 2008, 2:58 PM

About "White Christmas", the Decca version, it's not clear to me.
DLA3009B is the commonest version, found on Decca 18429, etc. But where 
can you find the first take ?

BC
Le 25 déc. 08, à 20:21, David Lennick a écrit :

>
> Margaret LEINHART (not Lenhart) sings on one side, I'll Capture Your 
> Heart (the
> one with Fred Astaire). All the other Holiday Inn songs are solos by 
> Bing,
> recorded May 25-June 1, 1942..no female voice on White Christmas 
> except in the
> movie (and on Sountrak 112, and that was just a good guess on my part 
> about
> Martha Mears).
>
> dl
>
> Bertrand CHAUMELLE wrote:
>> Margaret Lenhart was on the Decca sides.
>>
>> Martha Mears recorded the soundtrack (on LP: Sountrak STK112)
>>
>> Bing introduced "White Christmas" on the "Kraft Music
Hall", Christmas
>> 1941.
>>
>> BC
>> Le 25 déc. 08, à 10:53, Taylor Bowie a écrit :
>>
>>> Thanks for the info,  David.  Of course I know that movie
soundtracks
>>> were
>>> not issued to the public in the 40s,  but many of them are
available
>>> to the
>>> public today and I have heard them on sound systems in public
places.
>>>
>>> I have to admit that I never played the record in the album set
and 
>>> had
>>> somehow always assumed that it was the same as the one we hear all

>>> the
>>> time
>>> on the radio every Christmas.
>>>
>>> I met a woman here in Seattle some years ago named Margaret
Lenhardt
>>> (sp?)
>>> who either dubbed for Reynolds in the movie,  or is on the Decca
>>> album...anyone have the right info on that?
>>>
>>> It's early Christmas Day here in Seattle,  and so far no more
>>> snow...sorry,
>>> Bing!
>>>
>>> Taylor B
>>>
>>>
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