tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post5963004058803688202..comments2024-02-29T05:15:17.460-05:00Comments on Christmas TV History: Christmas Records, Part 1Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-45672232866977362412019-01-13T10:20:10.900-05:002019-01-13T10:20:10.900-05:00There was also a Christmas record made of the soun...There was also a Christmas record made of the soundtrack of the well-known and received Tennessee Ernie Ford Christmas special THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS first broadcast on Dec. 22, 1963 (the DVD of the show is available via the Tennessee Ernie Ford website). The record is long out of print, but there is a CD available of it now. The show was noteworthy for two things: (1) There were no commercial breaks during the show, and (2) The last part of the show was highlighted by a 20-minute stylized animation of the Christmas story based on the bible narrative and accompanied by music sung by the Roger Wagner Chorale. (As a side note, the tape of the show had been lost for 30 years when it turned up in a box in the garage of Ernie ford's manager. It was then restored and shown for the first time in over three decades at the Museum of Broadcasting in Beverly Hills in 1996, where I was fortunate enough to see it. It brought back memories of watching it when I was a kid.)Tom Quigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12959628996361620134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-2670674824416074122018-01-30T10:31:47.682-05:002018-01-30T10:31:47.682-05:00Thanks Jeff. More coming soon--some you may even r...Thanks Jeff. More coming soon--some you may even recognize!Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06332977249074073942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-58592161922641058342018-01-30T10:31:22.267-05:002018-01-30T10:31:22.267-05:00Isn't this fun!? Thanks Joe.Isn't this fun!? Thanks Joe.Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06332977249074073942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-15283984947954723692018-01-30T10:30:53.566-05:002018-01-30T10:30:53.566-05:00Thanks Patrick! More coming soon!Thanks Patrick! More coming soon!Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06332977249074073942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-42206581733832911732018-01-30T10:29:14.291-05:002018-01-30T10:29:14.291-05:00Rusty--THANKS so much for speaking up. Giving it a...Rusty--THANKS so much for speaking up. Giving it another listen, I think it IS the 1950 recording. Dixie Lee is here--she's a part of the sketch with her sons and Bing playing Santa Claus for them on Christmas Eve. Listening this time, I more clearly heard the name Ken Carpenter too. For the curious: here's a better description of my recording:<br />First song "Adeste Fidelis" sung by Bing. His son Gary joins him (on the radio show) and together they harmonize on a *very* swinging arrangement of "Jingle Bells." A sketch is introduced as "Christmas Eve 1950" [why didn't I hear THIS before!?] in which Bing gets dressed up as Santa Claus to make his young sons' holiday enjoyable. Dixie Lee can be heard here too. Next, Bing and Gary sing "That Christmas Feeling." Lindsay sings "Hitch a Ride with Santa Claus." Denny and his brothers sing "The Snowman." Bing once again sings "That Christmas Feeling," and "Silent Night." The audio is clearly edited at the beginning/intro but it's hard to say if each track is pieced together or some of them are from the same broadcast. This is so much fun!!Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06332977249074073942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-59474099785077057282018-01-17T11:27:08.854-05:002018-01-17T11:27:08.854-05:00What an awesome post! I've been following your...What an awesome post! I've been following your blog for a few years and am always amazed at the information you have to share. In the last few years, I've started collecting Christmas vinyl records and also a have a few of the records you mentioned in your post. My brother and I would always watch Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve. It was the last Christmas special we would watch for the season (even as adults we continued to meet annually to watch Rankin Bass specials and ended with this one). The story is simple, there are funny moments and the songs are pretty good as well. I don't know how our tradition began, but we kept it up for a number of years. Anyway, just wanted to chime in to say that I love your blog and your books. I'm looking forward to Part 2.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05263362801147882187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-34666431698750273562018-01-17T01:32:24.258-05:002018-01-17T01:32:24.258-05:00I can tell you about the radio shows. I used to se...I can tell you about the radio shows. I used to sell them and it was always the most fun time of year. It's not Kraft Music hall. To begin with, the show was an hour and several of the transcriptions were destroyed for the war effort. His sons weren't even old enough to talk whenever he was hosting for Kraft. The show was condensed to 30 minutes and it was eventually hosted by Al Jolson and Oscar Levant became his side kick. The first time he ever sang White Christmas on hos radio program was on Kraft. But as far as I know, that episode has NEVER surfaced.<br /><br />Bing was then sponsored by Philco Radio, Chesterfield and G.E. His four sons were on more than one of his Christmas radio episodes. The show from 1950 features Dixie Lee with Bing and it's the only time that she and Bing ever appeared on the radio together. It's not one of the G.E. Shows. Without knowing whether or not it's sponsored by Philco or Chesterfield, I can't accurately date it because they sing the songs you mentioned on more than one ocassion. He was with Philco from 1956 - 50 and then switched sponsors to Chesterfield. He sings for the first 15 minutes of the Philco shows and then tells the story of "The Small One". The Ken that he speaks to is his long time announcer, Ken Carpenter. The music is provided by The John Scott Trotter Orchestra, which you should find on some of the Christmas soundtracks.<br /> <br />They could've actually edited the songs out of more than <br />one of is Christmas episodes too. Reader's Digest does it and even some of the Christmas CD's that are marketed to this very day, will take edited songs from the radio shows and market them like they're alternate recordings that haven't ever been released. I found a Frank Sinatra like that two years ago.<br /><br />I hope this helps. If Dixie Lee's on it, it's Christmas 1950. But it's hard to get any closer to correct yar and date than that - without knowing some more about what's there.Rustyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266532863591670307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-87866247597381963122018-01-16T20:33:54.564-05:002018-01-16T20:33:54.564-05:00Beautiful pieces! So great to have such classic al...Beautiful pieces! So great to have such classic albums in your collection. We got our son the Twas the Night Before Christmas album for Christmas last year, since the special is one of his favorites. And I will keep an eye out for the Rankin/Bass Frosty's Winter Wonderland album! :)Caffeinated Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18116651473308629663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3984964138092970663.post-45569374531291116322018-01-16T16:51:53.432-05:002018-01-16T16:51:53.432-05:00Nice!Nice!Jeffcohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12477903740349135820noreply@blogger.com