Sunday, December 14, 2008

Set at 45 and add some seasoning.....

So how can I resist adding some Christmas cheer to the blog that is obviously partially inspired by this special time of the year? "Do You Hear What I Hear" just has to include some token Christmas music to ensure balance and ultimate purpose, or something like that. With only ten days to go I wanted to be sure to add the following mini collection of some very rough recordings from my battered collection of my childhood 45's. To this day I think of "Tinker Town Santa Claus" by the Cricketones as a holiday classic, a standard. But I have yet to meet anyone else that has ever heard of it. I think it is an excellent tune with some laughably enjoyable lyrics. The flip side of the single was a version of Rudolph that was just too roughed up to bother with here, but I did throw in both sides of another single by an artist simply referenced as Santa Claus & his Helpers. Santa and the gang do a memorable job on side 2's "Santa's Laughing Song" which I recall best, and on the flip side the same North Pole crew deliver the carefree, "Santa, The Happy Wanderer". These are pretty rough, never handled with much care, but I wouldn't post them if they weren't pretty special to me in my old age. Hope they prove worthwhile for your holiday listening pleasure. And if anyone knows any history on the artists, please fill me in! I should have a few more to add before Christmas arrives....but on with the music, I don't want to "sound like I'm singing in a hole..." (There's a few other holiday tunes included also linked on a later Christmas post)

Tinker Town

The Cricketones - "Tinker Town Santa Claus" - 45 rpm
Cricket #CX-6B (Pickwick) Side 2
Cast and Orchestra directed by Warren Vincent and produced by Roy Freeman
Written by Freeman & Thigpen

Santa Claus & his Helpers -
"Santa the Happy Wanderer" - 45 rpm
Columbia #4-40577 (ZSP36552) Side 1
Written by Stillman & Moller

Santa Claus & his Helpers -
"Santa's Laughing Song" - 45 rpm
Columbia #4-40577 (ZSP36553) Side 2
Written by Zaret & Kay

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much! I love all the old christmas stuff and am a big collector. Very happy I found your blog.

DENNIS said...

i had this 45rpm when i was younger.i'm 58 now and i had many peter pan and cricket 45 rpm's.i also had many on colored discs,i think 33rpm's but they were 7 inch like 45 rpm's.one red or pink record as such had 'sleep baby sleep'..i downloaded many cricket and peter pan 45rpm mp3's from the internet.including in those downloads,the original 'do bee' song(from the old 'romper room' children's show)and many more.i found these old records via an internet mp3 downloader software i found and purchased.this software has enabled me to find songs that were also on the lullabye lable.i think that's what it was called.i remember the peter pan and cricket lables and i think the lullabye label usually were usually manufacturd in red or pink 7 inch 33 rpm's with the small hole in the center for the spindle,like a 12 inch 33rpm would have. anyway i downloaded tinker town santa clause ,as i found it using said software a while back.i found ep's that contain humpty dumpty,jack spratt could eat no fat,etc that i also owned when i was younger..by younger i mean when i was like 6 years old.i believe i was about 6 when i owned tinker town santa claus.i'm glad to have found this site.very nice and brings back memories./