Audio

THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS! A 1963 HOLIDAY ALBUM MEMORY

‘THE CHRISTMAS SONG NAT KING COLE‘

— ABOUT THIS LP —

_______________

‘The Magic of Christmas’ is a 1960 album by Nat King Cole, arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. This was Cole’s only complete album of Christmas songs, although he had recorded several holiday singles earlier in his career. One of these, “The Christmas Song”, originally recorded in 1946, was re-recorded for the 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story. In 1963 The Magic of Christmas was reissued under the title The Christmas Song, with that recording added to the track list in place of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, and with new cover art. It is the best-selling Christmas album released in the 1960s, and was certified by the RIAA for shipments of 6 million copies in the U.S. The 1963 version reached number 1 on Billboard’s Christmas Albums chart and remained for two weeks.

_______________

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.

THE CHRISTMAS SONG NAT KING COLE (COMPLETE LP) * 1963

Loading

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS . . .‘FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN’

‘THE FIRST CHRISTMAS’

_______________

For three consecutive years in the 1970s, ‘The First Christmas‘ aired on 98.7 WBFG-FM in Detroit during the holiday seasons, 1975, 1976 and 1977. At the time ‘The First Christmas’ first aired, WBFG was Detroit’s only premiere station known for it’s all-religious broadcasting format. The call letters WBFG was also the station’s heralded acronym as well. The calls represented their out-going religious radio content heard daily 24/7 on the FM side, “We’re Broadcasting For God.”

This special holiday recording, “The First Christmas,” was conceived, created, produced and narrated by Bob Pratt.

 

_______________

A PROPHECY FULFILLED

_______________

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

 

A special THANK YOU to Bob Pratt for sharing this special holiday program with Motor City Radio Flashbacks

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

 

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS * DECEMBER 24, 1977 * WBFG

Loading

33 HOURS! ‘JIM HAMPTON’S ‘AN ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS’ ON WJR 760

‘An Original Christmas’

— JIM HAMPTON —

_______________

33 CONTINUOUS HOURS of CHRISTMAS MUSIC and MEMORIES

(((((  LISTEN LIVE HERE  )))))

_______________

wjr.com or iheartradio.com

STARTS TODAY!  3:00 P.M., CHRISTMAS EVE through 12 M. CHRISTMAS DAY

 

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO MOTOR CITY RADIO FLASHBACKS’ FRIENDS

Loading

THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS! A 1963 HOLIDAY ALBUM MEMORY

‘THE ANDY WILLIAMS CHRISTMAS ALBUM’

— ABOUT THIS LP —

_______________

‘The Andy Williams Christmas Album’ is the first Christmas holiday album released by singer Andy Williams and his twelfth studio album overall. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1963, and it would prove to be the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams. Though it was also the album that introduced Williams’ perennial holiday classic “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, Columbia instead opted to release Williams’ cover of “White Christmas” as the album’s promotional single at the time. From 1963 to 1973, Billboard published special weekly Christmas Albums and Christmas Singles sales charts. For all five weeks that these special charts were published in 1963 (for the weeks ending November 30, 1963 through December 28, 1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album was the number one selling Christmas album, while Williams’ cover of “White Christmas” was the number one selling Christmas single. The Andy Williams Christmas Album spent three weeks as the number one selling Christmas album during the holiday season of 1964, and one week as the number one selling Christmas album during the holiday season of 1965.

_______________

(Source: Wikipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.

 

THE ANDY WILLIAMS CHRISTMAS ALBUM (COMPLETE LP) * 1963

Loading

A HOLIDAY RECORDS COUNTDOWN! 03 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

‘THE CHRISTMAS SONG’

_______________

‘The Christmas Song’ (commonly subtitled “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or, as it was originally subtitled, “Merry Christmas to You“) is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song in June 1946. At Cole’s behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made in August utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with another full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Cole’s 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive. Fourth recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City, March 30, 1961. This rendition, the first recorded in stereo, is widely played on radio stations during the Christmas season, and has become the most popular/familiar version of this song. Label credit: Nat King Cole (Nat King Cole, vocals; Ralph Carmichael, orchestra conductor). The instrumental arrangement is nearly identical to the 1953 version, but Cole’s vocals are deeper-sounding and more focused. Originally done for The Nat King Cole Story (a 1961 LP devoted to stereo re-recordings of Cole’s earlier hits), this recording was later included in a reissue of Cole’s 1960 holiday album The Magic of Christmas replacing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. Retitled The Christmas Song, the album was issued in 1963 as Capitol W-1967 (mono) / SW-1967 (stereo) and today is in print on compact disc.

_______________

(Source: Wikipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

 

DECEMBER 24 * 02 * NAT KING COLE

Loading

DAVE PRINCE: ‘ONE SOLITARY LIFE’ . . . DECEMBER 1962

‘THE GREATEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED’

— DAVE PRINCE —

_______________

Conceived, created, produced, and narrated by Dave Prince. WKMH; December 1962

WKMH Radio 1310 personality lineup: Robin Seymour, Dave Prince, Bill Phillips, Paul Connor and Lou Sherman. December 1962

FIFTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO

 

THE GREATEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED

Loading

THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS! A 1964 HOLIDAY ALBUM MEMORY

‘THAT HOLIDAY FEELING!’

— ABOUT THIS LP —

_______________

The husband-and-wife duo of Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme were firmly established as one of the best traditional pop acts in the United States when they recorded this lush Christmas offering for Columbia Records in 1964. On ‘That Holiday Feeling!‘, Steve and Eydie deliver solid solo performances — Gorme on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “White Christmas,” Lawrence with “Let Me Be The First To Wish You Merry Christmas” and “The Christmas Song” — while they show off the splendid vocal give and take that made them stars on “Sleigh Ride,” “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Featuring arrangements from some of the best studio men in the business (including Don Costa, Al Cohn, and Patrick Williams), That Holiday Feeling! is a beautifully crafted artifact from the era of great singers, and captures Steve & Eydie at their best.

_______________

(Source: AllMusic)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.

 

THAT HOLIDAY FEELING! (COMPLETE LP) * 1964

Loading

A HOLIDAY RECORDS COUNTDOWN! 03 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

‘MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING‘

_______________

“Merry Christmas Darling” is a Christmas song by the Carpenters (music by Richard Carpenter, lyrics by Frank Pooler), and originally recorded in 1970. It was first available on a 7-inch single that year (A&M Records 1236), and was later re-issued in 1974 (A&M 1648) and again in 1977 (A&M 1991). The single went to number one on Billboard’s Christmas singles chart in 1970 (and did so again in 1971 and 1973) and peaked at number 41 in Cashbox. In 1978, the Carpenters issued their Christmas Portrait album, which contained a new version of “Merry Christmas Darling”. The original 1970 mix continued to be used for all single releases, however. The major difference between the 1970 and 1978 versions is a newly recorded vocal by Karen Carpenter on the latter, which was done at her request. Richard Carpenter himself calls the original recording one of his sister’s very best.

_______________

(Source: Wikipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

 

DECEMBER 23 * 03 * THE CARPENTERS

Loading

THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS! A 1966 HOLIDAY ALBUM MEMORY

‘A DEAN MARTIN CHRISTMAS ALBUM’

— ABOUT THIS LP —

_______________

Dean Martin Christmas Album is a 1966 studio album by Dean Martin arranged by Ernie Freeman and Bill Justis. This was Martin’s only album of Christmas music released on Reprise Records (his only other Christmas album, A Winter Romance, having been released in 1959 on Capitol Records). Ricci James Martin, Martin’s son, wrote in a biography of his father that The Dean Martin Christmas Album was the only one of his father’s albums that was played in the Martin household, his parents seldom listening to Dean Martin’s music. Billboard magazine reported in its December 3, 1966 issue that The Dean Martin Christmas Album was on top of its “Best Bets for Christmas” chart.

_______________

(Source: Wikipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.

 

THE DEAN MARTIN CHRISTMAS ALBUM * (COMPLETE LP) * 1966

Loading

A HOLIDAY RECORDS COUNTDOWN! 05 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

‘THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY’

_______________

“The Little Drummer Boy” (originally known as “Carol of the Drum“) is a popular Christmas song written by the American classical music composer and teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family Singers, the song was further popularized by a 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale; the Simeone version was re-released successfully for several years and the song has been recorded many times since.

When the Twentieth-Century Fox Records label contracted Simeone to make a Christmas album in 1958, he assembled a group he called “The Harry Simeone Chorale” and searched for recording material. After being introduced to an obscure song by producer and credited song co-author Henry Onorati, titled “Carol of the Drum” (originally composed by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941 and arranged to present form by Jack Halloran), Simeone changed the title to “The Little Drummer Boy” and recorded it under that title for his album Sing We Now of Christmas. He received joint authorship-and-composition credit for the album, although he did not actually write or compose the song. The single “The Little Drummer Boy” quickly became extremely popular and scored on the U.S. music charts from 1958 to 1962. The Simeone Chorale had another Christmas success during 1962, with their rendition of the then-new song Do You Hear What I Hear? for Mercury Records.

_______________

(Source: Wikipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

 

DECEMBER 21 * 05 * HARRY SIMEONE CHORALE

Loading