The Orioles - What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

This somber classic sets the perfect mood for a New Years Eve that's steeped in both celebration and melancholy.  "What Are You Doing New Years Eve?" was written by Frank Loesser in 1947 and is performed here by Baltimore, Maryland's own, The Orioles in 1949.  It reached # 9 on Billboard's R&B charts that year.   Lead by tenor Sonny Til, The Orioles are considered one of the first R&B vocal groups which helped paved the way for the doo-wop groups of the 50's & 60's!

1 Days of Xmas: Bing Crosby - "Merry Christmas" (1955)

Bing Crosby - "Merry Christmas" (1955) - Decca Records

Merry Christmas Friends,

Tonight we've got the mother-of-all Christmas albums on the turntable as our 12 Days of Christmas listening party draws to a festive close!

Good ol' Bing probably never won any father of the year awards, but when it came a smooth-as-silk singing voice, this crooner is tops in our book!

Little Johnny awoke when he
heard the pitter-patter of tiny
hooves on the roof of his house!
(Vera Ellen)

Side One plays it a bit more mellow and sanctimonious with traditional hymns like "Silent Night" and "Faith Of Our Fathers"; the WWII-soldier-longing-to-home-at-Christmas-tearjerker,  "I'll Be Home For Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)" and the best-selling single of all time-- another wartime ballad-- the classic, "White Christmas".

Side Two is quite a bit more upbeat with swinging versions of "Jingle Bells", "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", "Mele Kalikimaka" (all accompanied by the Andrew Sisters), "Silver Bells", "Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" & the Irish Christmas song, "Christmas in Killarney".

It may sound cliche but Christmas just wouldn't seem like Christmas without a little Bing in our lives!

Merry Christmas everybody!

RATING: 5 Just Like The Ones I Used To Know out of 5

2 Days of Xmas: The Beach Boys - "The Beach Boys Christmas Album" (1964)

The Beach Boys - "The Beach Boys' Christmas Album" (1964) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Surf's up tonight at the Christmas party tiki bar and we got another classic on the ol' Holiday turntable!

"Oh... I hope its the 'Get A Life' DVD box set!'
(Gil Elvgren)

Clocking in at just 27 minutes, The Beach Boys Christmas Album is must for every holiday record listening party!  Along with Elvis's & Phil Spector's, its one of the few bona fide rock & roll Christmas LPs.

Side One contains five (!) original tunes which have now pretty much become holiday standards: "Little Saint Nick", "The Man With All The Toys", "Santa's Beard", "Merry Christmas, Baby" & "Christmas Day."  The rest of the album is rounded out with more traditional standards with the familiar Beach Boys harmonies and Brian Wilson arrangements!



FUN FACT: Hey Kids, the song "Christmas Day" is the first Beach Boys song to feature founding member, Al Jardine on lead vocals!

RATING:  5 Auld Lang Synes out of 5

3 Days of Xmas: Ray Conniff - "Christmas With Conniff" (1959)

The Ray Conniff Singers - "Christmas with Conniff" (1959) - Columbia Records

Hello Friends,

We're keeping things light tonight on Vinyl in the Valley.  Tiki T. is busy wrapping presents and trying to perfect her Wassail recipe.  I'm getting a little sloshed, spinning some records and trying to pretend I don't smell the apples burning!

This is the first (and best) of Ray Conniff's four Christmas albums.  Jolly Old Ray leads small army of vocalists in a fun, secular and largely nostalgic album of familiar holiday hits.

"Pinup & Reindeer"
(Alberto Vargas)

Follow the bouncing ball, kids!

Its Space Age Pop for the swingin' supermarket crowd.  I can picture my grandparents listening to this record while decorating their newly purchased artificial tree and getting drunk off high balls!

By the way friends, does anybody decorate their tree on Christmas Eve anymore?

Anyways there's songs here like "Frosty", "Rudolph", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Greensleeves"  & "Silver Bells".   But the undisputed winner on this record is the little known, melancholy gem, "The Christmas Bride".





RATING: 4.5 Red Schnozollas out of 5

4 Days of Xmas: The Kingston Trio - "The Last Month of the Year" (1960)

"Hey... get your finger outta my ear!"

The Kingston Trio - "The Last Month of the Year" (1960) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Things are gettin' folksy tonight!

Formed in 1957, The Kingston Trio became a top-selling act and helped pave the way for the folk revival movement of the late 1950's/early 1960's.  In their records of this era you can usually hear the influence they would have over artists like Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Joan Baez, the Byrds, The Muppets, et cetera.

"I got your milk and cookies right here!"

There's some great harmonies and some fine instrumentation here but when we listen to this record we feel like we're at some college frat party back in 1960 and some beatniky-looking dude in a turtleneck just brought us some reefer.

Still, its certainly not a bad album.  The song selections range from  Old English Carols to African-American Spirituals.   A must for the NPR crowd! Its also probably the best Christmas album to feature the bouzouki as a prominent instrument! 

The title (and closing) song, "The Last Month of the Year" is good, but the version by the Staple Singers is vastly better!

RATING: 3.5 Sommerset Gloucestershire Wassail's out of 5   

5 Days of Xmas: Ferrante & Teicher - "Snowbound" (1962)

Ferrante & Teicher - "Snowbound" (1962) - United Artists

Hello Friends,

We're ready for a blizzard tonight on Vinyl in the Valley.  Outside the snow is piling up and we're inside getting toasty and listening to the perfect soundtrack record for a cold winter's eve! 

"She makes my bell ding-a-ling!"
(E. Simms Campbell)

This mostly instrumental album is loungey & hypnotic and would be great to put on when your Jewish friends come over because its more of a "Winter" record, rather than a Christmas record.  Lots of songs about sleighrides and snowmen and moonlight and not a mention of Jesus, elves, wise men or Ol' Saint Nick.  Shalom!  

The dueling pianists are in fine form backed by an orchestra and chorus conducted by Nick Perito.  Not as experimental, or as space-age, as some of their 1950's recordings, but a great addition to any vinyl collection.

Would probably sound right at home on one of those one-piece console stereos that looked like a piece of furniture that families gathered around in the early 1960's!





RATING: 4 snow drifts out of 5

6 Days of Xmas: "Christmas Music of France" (1967)

Jean Paul-Kreder Choir & Les Petits Chanteurs A La Croix de Bois - "Christmas Music of France" - 1967 - Capitol Records

Bonjour Friends,

"This one has your name on it!"
(Bunny Yeager)

A little disappointed here.  We were hoping for a record full of bustling Parisian street music with lots of accordions,  jazzy, nightclub ballads and general yuletide debauchery.  I went to whip up some French 75's while Tiki T. went to slip on something more "comfortable"!  

Cue the Can-Can girls!

We put on the record and instead of some swinging, sleazy album of Christmas tunes sung in French, we got a very tame, unsexy album of French choral music.  In an instant, our romantic corner of the tiki transformed into a Medieval French Cathedral!

Cancel the Can-Can girls!

Don't worry friends, we made the best of it!  We lit some candles, drank some strong red wine and enjoyed a quiet, reverential night.  Plus, for some reason, Tiki T. knew all the words (in French) to "Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant" which kind of turned me on!

Oui! Oui!

RATING: 3.5 Petit Papa Noels out of 5

     

7 Days of Xmas: "Something Festive" (1968)

Various Artists - "Something Festive" (1968) - A & M Records

Hello Friends,

Thinking about inviting the cute neighbor girl over for a little pre-Holiday cocktail?  Sounds good to us!  Its the Holidays, after all!  

"Lucky snowman"
(Bettie Page)

Get those lights on the tree working, open up that bottle of Red you've been saving and to "seal the deal" drop the needle on this 1968 compilation album put out by Herb Alpert & A&M Records.

Ten tracks from A&M artists, including some sublime easy listening Latin Jazz with Herb Alpert and TJB ("Winter Wonderland", "Jingle Bell Rock"), Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 ("The Christmas Song") and the Baja Marimba band ("Partridge in a Pear Tree", "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen").  

There's also Burt Bacharach ("The Bell That Couldn't Jingle"), We Five ("My Favorite Things"), Pete Jolly ("Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"), a manic-sounding Liza Minnelli ("Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy") and the hot French gun-enthusiast/husband killer, Claudine Longet ("Snow").



Something Festive, indeed!

RATING: 4 Bells That Couldn't Jingle out of 5

8 Days of Xmas: The Three Suns - "A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas" (1959)

The Three Suns - "A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas" (1959) - RCA Victor

Hello Friends,

Fill that collins glass to the tippy top and grab some tinsel because we're Ding Dong Dandy'ing 'til the wee hours with The Three Suns.  From the awesome cover art to the music contained in the grooves, this is an outstanding Christmas LP.  Perfect for a festive and space age tiki party on the moon!

In addition to the usual organ, accordion & guitar interplay, the Suns also employ some swinging drums, some bells, chimes, an oboe and two (count 'em) tubas!

First Lady Mamie Eisenhower: The Early Years
(Gil Elvren)

Every track is awesome and it sounds like no other Christmas LP we've ever heard!  Plus, check out that cover!  Looks like some holiday cheer is about to spread!  

FUN FACTS: Hey kids, did you know that The Three Suns were the favorite band of First Lady Mamie Eisenhower!  

RATING: 5 Ding Dong Dandys out of 5

9 Days of Xmas: Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops - "Pops Christmas Party" (1959)

Arthur Fielder & the Boston Pops - "Pops Christmas Party" (1959) - RCA

Hello Friends,

Pahk you ahse up at the tiki bah fahr another egg nawg 'cuz we got the bawstan pawps ahn!  Don't make me cahm ova there!

"Holy Holidays Batman.. Something just popped up!"
(Yvonne Craig)

Arthah Fiedlah condahcted the pawps for like 50 yeahs.  Released in 1959, Christmas Pawps Pahty is the first of several Pawps LPs dedicated to pahrennial hawliday favorites.  The music is fahmiliar, done up and ahranged in a lite-classical, pawps style.   Its the perfect pahty album if yaah tryin' to keep things clahssy!

Its bahmbastic in ahl the right pahts, especially on their now pretty famous take on the Leroy Andersawn's "Sleigh Ride".  Nawt only that, but its the quietah moments that really stand out... like Alfred Krips' violin solo on "White Christmas" or the nine minute, "Dream Pantomime" from Humperdinck's Hansal & Gretel.   Now thaht's some sublime cahnducting if you ahsk me!

Nawt to mention the sauhcey brunette ahn the covah!    Man, I'd invite her to my pawps pahty any day! How'dya like dem apples? 

Go Sawx!

RATING: 5 Arthur Fiedler mustaches out of 5

10 Days of Xmas: Henry Mancini - "A Merry Mancini Christmas" (1966)

Henry Mancini and his Orchestra & Chorus - "A Merry Mancini Christmas" (1966) - RCA

Hello Friends,

"Nice Wreath"
(Gil Elvgren)

We had high hopes for this Henry Mancini mid-60's Christmas LP.   Tiki T. and I were hoping to be transported back in time to a swingin' bachelor pad with lots of red xmas lights, fancy cocktails and stategically-placed mistletoe; instead we were transported to a modern day shopping mall with gaudy decorations, a tinny sound-system and long lines at the Old Navy store!

Very middle of the road LP here!  Sounds like a million other easy-listening holiday-themed records.   There's some decent big band arrangements of all the holiday favorites, backed by a rather pedestrian chorus.  Being Mancini we were hoping for something a little bit jazzier, more Latin-sounding, more experimental.  Its not terrible by any stretch, just very standard!  

One standout track kicks off Side Two and that's the Mancini-penned, "Carol for Another Christmas".  This was the theme music Mancini wrote for a Rod Serling-scripted teleplay of the same name.  It only aired on television once (December 28, 1964) and starred Peter Sellers, Sterling Hayden, Ben Gazzara, Britt Ekland, Eva Marie Saint and others.  Produced by the Xerox Corporation, it was a 90 minute sci-fi update of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" meant to  promote the United Nations.  Most of us have never seen it, but those who have say its a terrifying Cold War allegory told in the dark & twisted style of "The Twilight Zone".  FESTIVE!

RATING: 3 Carols for Another Christmas out of 5

Buttering You Up for the Holidays!

Gather 'round the newborn king, friends!

Come in a bit closer to witness a true miracle of mankind!
Swathed in a soft cloth and bathing the room in golden light, this really must be the grace of god...

Yes...It's hot buttered rye!!!!

And that was the gospel according to Tiki T!

There has to be an adjective that adequately captures the mouth feel of cream whipped
to near-butter colliding with ultra-boozy hot rye. But if this adjective exists, I haven't heard it. Perhaps something translates from ancient Aramaic, but who has time for that??
It's XXX-mas and I have drinking to do!

-1 cup heavy cream
-touch of high grade maple syrup
-1/4 cup of rye whisky
-6 tablespoons hot hot water
-1 tablespoon of ginger liquor
-sprinkle of nutmeg

Whip up your cream and maple until it's almost butter and pop it in the fridge.
Combine the rest of your ingredients in a tall glass mug, stir it gently.
Top the hot cocktail with a dollop of the cold cream and nutmeg.
Just a little something to wet your wassle, I hope!
More holiday cocktails to come, so stay tight friends!

XO,
Tiki T.

11 Days of Xmas: Duke Ellington - "The Nutcracker Suite" (1960)

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - "The Nutcracker Suite" (1960) - Columbia Records

Hello Friends,

We're having a swinging, hipster Xmas party on Vinyl in the Valley tonight featuring Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's arrangement of Tchaikovsy's famous "Nutcracker Suite".


Things are jumping on this 1960 release featuring expertly arranged jazz renditions of the Russian composer's most famous work.  And this is some first rate shit!  Ellington & co. at their best.  Mitchell "Booty" Wood's muted trombone on the opening number, "Overture" is worth the price of admission alone.



In additional to Booty Wood and the Duke himself on piano, other players sound like a who's who roster: Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Paul Gonzalves, Russell Procope (Saxes), Ray Nance (Trumpet), Juan Tizol (Trombone) and Sam Woodyard on drums.

Tiki T. says listening to album is like sitting at a bar at Grand Central Station waiting for train during holidays!  If she keeps downing these Old Fashioned's, I think she's going to miss her train altogether!

RATING: 5 Sugar Rum Cherries out of 5

12 Days of Xmas: Jackie Gleason "Merry Christmas" (1959)

Jackie Gleason - "Merry Christmas" (1959) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're kicking off our 12 days til Christmas countdown with this criminally underappreciated LP by Vinyl in the Valley favorite, Mr. Jackie Gleason.

This is holiday mood music at its absolute best!  Each song is deconstructed to an atmospheric and slowed down tone poem.  Melodies are buried in a snow drift of lush strings and haunting vocalise.  In lieu of Bobby Hackett's iconic cornet solos, there's a fellow by the name of Hercules playing sparse and fragile solos on an electric celeste!  It really doesn't get more lush and relaxing than this!

"Comin' down my chimney?"
(Alberto Vargas)

Now friends, this ain't a record for your next Holiday party... unless, of course, your party includes strong whiskey, slow-dancing and quaaludes!   But, hey who are we to judge?

Tiki T. loves falling asleep to this record, snuggled up on the couch, drink in hand, in front of a roaring fire!  Now, if we only had a fireplace...

RATING:  5 Holiday Hangovers out of 5

Its a Vinyl in the Valley Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho Friends!

Hang that mistletoe, spike that egg nog and get your Yule Logs ready because we're firing up some Holiday Cheer Vinyl in the Valley-style!

We're counting down the days to Xmas with some vintage LP's, some tasty cocktails and some sexy Christmas cheesecake!

Hope your tree is trimmed and halls are decked because its about to get FESTIVE around here!

Roasting Chestnuts, indeed!

Special!

As a kid, this sound clip was the most exciting five-seconds in my young, dopey life.

It meant some exciting shit was about to go down!

Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Happy Pearl Harbor Day!

And Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Blue Cheer!

Blue Cheer - "Vincebus Eruptum" (1968) - Philips 

Hello Friends,

Tiki T. and I picked this record up at a used record shop while we took a break from Holiday shopping!  And what a find this is!

Nothing takes your mind off the annoying holiday crowds like some good, old-fashioned drug-inspired psychedelic blues.  Some even credit this power trio from San Francisco as the progenitors of Heavy Metal.  Who are we to argue?  Their grungey, head-banging version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" makes The Who's version seem tame by comparison... and that's saying A LOT!

Influenced by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Dickie Peterson (vox, bass), Leigh Stephens (guitar) & Paul Whaley (drums) formed Blue Cheer in 1967.    Their first single, "Summertime Blues" would be a Top 20 single and their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum, would be a Top 20 album.  The record is loud and bluesy with thumping drum and thudding bass-lines like a less-talented, but angrier version of Cream.

Fun Fact: Hey kids, did you know that the band Blue Cheer got their name from a street brand of LSD going around San Francisco in the late 1960's?  Groovy!

RATING: 4.5 Parchment Farms out of 5

UPDATE: You know that scene in "Back to the Future" where Marty McFly is back in the 50's and he needs to convince his father that he's from outer space and he puts walkman headphones on him and blasts some Van Halen on his unsuspecting ears?  This is what I imagine this album sounded like to unsuspecting ears in 1968!  

RIP Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck (Dec 6, 1920 - Dec 5, 2012)

one day shy of his 92nd birthday!

The Rum Diaries: KRAKEN

Hello friends,

Going back and forth from the tiki bar to the turntable all night long really makes you work up a mean, mean thirst!  

Tonight we're taking a break from record reviews and instead we're focusing our attention on one of the world's most delicious (and misunderstood) libations-- RUM.

Described by Marco Polo in the 14th Century as "very good wine made of sugar", the history of rum is as interesting and complex as the drink itself.  The story of Rum is the story of slavery, of pirates, of Navies, of the New World, of exploration, colonization, capitalism, rebellion and of course, hot, drunk college girls on Spring Break!  

YO HO HO, indeed!

KRAKEN BLACK SPICED RUM

Distiller: Kraken Rum Company
Country: USA (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Cost: $24.00 
Proof: 94
Size: 750 ml

Description: Imported Caribbean Rums blended with Spice, Caramel and various other flavorings.

Ned Tugent says: "Surprisingly good, ink-black, spiced rum with hints of blackberry and licorice. Grade: B"

Tiki T says: "A pleasant aroma of cream soda.  Notes of cane sugar and molasses from start to finish.  Nice, warm ending but a little too sweet for me! Grade: C+"

A big part of the fun of Kraken Rum is their packaging and marketing. Usually anything with this elaborate of an ad campaign is more about image than it is about quality, but that's not really the case here!  Kraken is a good, albeit, unusual rum.  Not as versatile, perhaps, as some others but will handily replace Goslings in a "Dark & Stormy" and would enhance a mug of hot cider rather nicely!  (Tiki T. would like to warn of a monster hangover that might accompany the latter!)

Check out their website, its a fun one! 

Enjoy!