Kay Starr - "(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag" (1950)

Now this is more like it!

A little Kay Starr will really get the Christmas cocktails flowing!

(Although, listening to the lyrics, this song may be about waiting for your Christmas cocaine dealer to arrive!?!  Let it snow?)

Old Mr. Kringle is soon gonna jingle
The bells that'll tingle all your troubles away
Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag
'Cause Christmas is coming again

He's got a sleigh full, it's not gonna stay full
He's got stuff to drop at every stop of the way
Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag
'Cause Christmas is coming again

Hi-Fi Holidays: A Keely Christmas

Keely Smith - "A Keely Christmas" (1960) - Dot Records

Hello Friends,

A fun and fairly mellow offering from everyone's favorite Native American/Irish lounge singer.  Based on what we've heard from Keely Smith from her days with Louis Prima we were expecting a jumpin', jivin' and wailin' LP that really gets the party started. Instead we get thirteen songs-- all very pleasant-- but overall its a very saccharine, very middle-of-the-road affair!

With the exception of the ukulele-heavy "Christmas Island" and the medium-tempo closer "Blue Christmas" nothing really pops off the record player at you.  Come on Keely, you're puttin' us to sleep!

At times it reminds us a little of Ella Fitzgerald's Swinging Christmas LP from the same year which, unfortunately for Keely, is vastly superior.

Now don't get us wrong, not every record is a classic and A Keely Christmas its not a bad record by any stretch!  its just that we were hoping for some flaming rum punch and instead we got some room temperature Harvey's Bristol Cream!

RATING: 3.5 stockings hanging from a big ol' coconut tree out of 5

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - "Christmas Song" (1968)

This little gem can be found on Alpert's 1968 Christmas Album.

Surprisingly sweet & understated.

Handsome chap that Herb Alpert!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Christmas Album

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - "Christmas Album" (1968) - A&M Records

Hello Friends,

Wow!  What a great schmaltzy & swinging Christmas record by everyone's favorite Jewish, trumpet-playing Santa Claus!

Its like the soundtrack to a Holiday-themed wrap party on The Dating Game featuring plenty of Dubonnet on Ice (how nice!), Leisure Suits, mustaches, side burns and lambskin condoms where you're hoping like heck that the wet spot you just sat down in is someone's spilled cocktail and nothing more!

Oy Vey!

Ten tracks all performed in the TJB style featuring a hybrid of lite jazz and latin arrangements, weaving vocal choruses, zippy time changes and Herb Alpert's signature overly-accentuated trumpet playing.

For better or for worse, its unlike any other holiday record in our collection.

Songs like "Winter Wonderland", "Jingle Bells" & "Sleigh Ride" all begin with a melodramatic "whimper" and end with a spastic and bombastic bang.  Hold on to your sombreros, amigos!

"My Favorite Things" sounds like a mariachi mash-up of The Sound of Music and an early Bond film.

Herb even steps out from behind his trumpet to sing Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" and Burt Bacharach's "The Bell That Wouldn't Ring".

We're not sure what it has to do with Christmas, but there's even a smooth as silk take on the traditional Mexican birthday song, "Las Mananitas".  ¿Porque no?

You can definitely slow dance to Alpert's dreamlike pacing on "Let It Snow" while looking forward to a striptease by the end of "Jingle Bell Rock" all to be lulled into a gentle and graceful sleep by the strains of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", the album's closer. Classic!

RATING: 4.5 chestnuts roasting on an open fire out of 5

The Darkness - "I Am Santa" (2015)

The Darkness are at it again with this rockingly festive 2015 single.

Best lyric of the song?  How does this sound...

Hungry, hungry for Yule
Yearning, winter is cruel (as is autumn)A picturesque December, all the children are at playAnd I don’t want no chestnuts or Ferrero Rocher

Awesome!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Merry Christmas Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis - "Merry Christmas" (1958) - Columbia Records

Hello Friends,

No doubt that this record was a mainstay on many suburban household hi-fi console systems in the late 1950's/early 1960's.  I'm pretty sure it was on constant rotation at my grandparents' house during the holidays.

There's really not much to not like about Johnny Mathis and this album features some fine velvety vocals and some lush, string-heavy arrangements courtesy of Percy Faith.

No real surprises on the record.  Twelve standard holiday selections with Side One containing more of the fun/secular tunes ("Winter Wonderland", "Sleigh Ride", "Blue Christmas", etc.) while leaving Side Two the more reflective/religious side.

"Winter Wonderland" would be a modest hit for Mathis.

The best thing about the record?  There's no "Twelve Days of Christmas" to be found! We're sort of done with that here at the Vinyl in the Valley HQ.

Also, we're pretty sure after a few highballs and a few listens of Mathis' sultry take on "A Christmas Song" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" gramps would start to get a little handsy with nana!

RATING: 4 Holiday Highballs out of 5

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" (1972)

T.G.I.F. Friends,

2015 is rapidly winding down and we're not only getting ready for the weekend but getting ready for Hi-Fi Holidays on Vinyl in the Valley.

This weekend we're planning on decorating the tiki bar, setting up the tree and mixing up some festive cocktails.  We'll be spinning a few classic records to help set the mood as well.

For some reason, this extremely sad Kenny Rogers tune seems appropriate for this drizzly December Friday.

Enjoy!

P.S. Nice Mullet Kenny!

Here I Come Again Now Baby, Like a Dog in Heat

Ted Nugent - "Ted Nugent" (1975) - Epic Records

Hello Friends,

We've got some vintage Nuge on the turntable tonight.

Ted Nugent is his first solo record (since disbanding The Amboy Dukes) and its a killer.

In addition to Nugent, the record features Derek St. Holmes on rhythm guitar & lead vocals, Rob Grange on bass & Cliff Davies on drums.

Side One is solid all the way through with the eight-minute epic opener, "Stranglehold" kicking things off in a super-aggressive fashion.  Its probably the most Nugenty of all of Ted Nugent's songs.

The criminally underrated and underplayed "Snakeskin Cowboys" kicks off the record's second side.

Great, straightforward and riff-heavy guitar work throughout.  Some catchy choruses and memorable solos to boot.  Politics aside, this album will rock your face off.  Close the curtains, dim the lights and play it loud (while cleaning your guns!)

RATING: 4.5 Tickets to the Gun Show out of 5

#where's_blitzen?

 

Dead Lord - "When History Repeats Itself" (2015)

Good tune and great video!

Sounds like Swedish Thin Lizzy.

From their 2015 release, Heads Held High.