Bing Crosby - "Do You Hear What I Hear" (1963)

Hello Friends,

This familiar holiday song was written by a married couple, Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker, in October 1962 as a plea for peace during the very tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  As the Western World teetered on the brink of all out nuclear annihilation, this song (as performed by the Harry Simeone chorale) became a top-selling hit for the 1962 Holiday season.

A year later, Bing Crosby would record his own hit version which would reach # 2 on the Billboard charts, as well as provide a melancholic backdrop to the days and weeks following the assassination of JFK.

Might be a good Holiday theme song for 2016!

Cheers!

Hi-Fi Holidays: The Nutcracker

Antal Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra - "Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, op. 71 - Complete Ballet" (1955) - Mercury Records

Hello Friends,

Another edition of Sunday Morning Classics.  Drinking some strong black coffee and cleaning the empty bottles and ashtrays from last night.  

And there's no better way to dance a holiday hangover away than with Tchaikovsky's famous Nutcracker Ballet from 1892.

This is a nifty double-album of the complete Nutcracker Ballet with some pretty impressive packaging.  

Mercury Records claims that this is the first complete recording of Tchaikovksy's most famous work.

Everyone, of course, is very familiar with the far more famous, Nutcracker Suite, which is pretty ubiquitous this time of year.  The suite runs usually about a half an hour whereas the complete version runs closer to 90 minutes; its like the Nutcracker's Greatest Hits.

Pretty extensive liner notes with some cool Wes Anderson-y illustrations throughout the accompanying pages.

RATING: 4.5 Sugar Plum Fairies out of 5

RIP Greg Lake - "I Believe In Father Christmas" (1974)

Man, another one bites the dust in an evergrowing list of dead rock stars in 2016!

We just found out that Greg Lake passed away at the age of 69.

We'll always love Greg Lake for his work on that first King Crimson record, as well as most of the stuff he did with prog rock juggernauts, Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  (Especially the early stuff... no thank you Love Beach!)

Plus, 'tis the season... we've always been suckers for his prog rock lite take on the holidays on this song penned by Lake and Peter Sinfield, whose credits include penning lyrics ELP, as well as for those first four Crimson records! 

RIP Greg Lake... oh what a lucky man you was!

Hi-Fi Holidays: Happy Holiday

Peggy Lee - "Happy Holiday" (1965) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're off to a pretty swinging start this year!

Happy Holiday is Peggy Lee's second Xmas LP, following 1960's Christmas Carousel. Actually, Happy Holiday is more of a re-packaging of the former LP with 9 of its 12 songs already existing on the former.

Pretty decent record overall.  There's definitely some jazzy, swinging tracks to help make your cocktails go down a little too easy ("Winter Wonderland", "I Like A Sleighride (Jingle Bells)", "Happy Holiday"), but there's a few cornball tracks thrown in that are kind of like inviting little kids to a late night soiree at the tiki bar!  No thanks!

Peggy Lee has always been at her best with a smoky & sultry ballad and here we get three great ones: Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song", Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn's "The Christmas Waltz" and Irving Berlin's "White Christmas".

Its getting late... Time for another cocktail!

RATING: 4 don't get caught under the mistletoes out of 5

Hi-Fi Holidays!

December's here kids and you know what that means!  We're getting ready to crank up good old fashioned holiday cheer on the holiday turntable!  

We got the records picked out.  Candles are lit.  The tree is up and ready to go. The tiki bar is decorated and well-stocked.  Its cold outside but its as warm as a glass of eggnog in here! 

2016 has been a year full of highs and lows, but we can't say that we'll be sad to see it go! Its nothing a little nostalgia and whiskey won't cure! 

D Generation - "Piece of the Action" (2016)

Happy Friday Friends!

Thank god for some good ol' fashioned rock & roll.

NYC's D Generation has released their first record in over 17 years earlier this year and its a welcome return to the fold for Jesse Malin and the boys.

Like we said, good ol' fashioned rockin' & rollin'.  Like your dad used to like!

Enjoy!

Dirty Sound Magnet - "Merry People" (2016)

Hello Friends,

Here's a new video from Swiss psych-rockers, Dirty Sound Magnet.

Not bad, kinda trippy.

We prefer their slightly doomier and darker stuff like 2014's 21st Century Witch.

The Benny Goodman Story

Soundtrack - "The Benny Goodman Story, volume 2" (1956) - Decca

Hey Friends,

The tiki bar is swinging tonight, friends!

This LP is the second soundtrack release from 1956's The Benny Goodman Story starring Steve Allen & Donna Reed.

Never saw the movie, but we picked this record up at a thrift store and were pretty happy with it.

Side One is comprised of four songs played by the Benny Goodman Trio/Quartet featuring Goodman on clarinet, Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Krupa on drums and Lionel Hampton on vibes.

Side Two has five songs all of which feature Goodman's full orchestra, including one song with vocals, "And The Angels Sing" as sung by Martha Tilton.

The album ends with a rousing version of Goodman's signature song, the Louis Prima-penned, "Sing, Sing, Sing".

Can't help but listen to Gene Krupa's drumming throughout this record and be reminded of the movie Whiplash. 

Just waiting for J.K. Simmons to show up at the tiki bar, lift the needle off of the record and ask, "Were you rushing or were you dragging?"

RATING: 4 Silver Waves That Break on Some Undiscovered Shore out of 5

Reverend Horton Heat - "Let Me Teach You How To Eat" (2013)

Hey Kids,

What better way to get ready for Thanksgiving than with some punk-rockabilly and sexy burlesque dancers making a mess with foodstuffs?

I, for one, will be having seconds!