More Cylinder Christmas Music

This week I am putting out my last of the cylinder Christmas music from my 2007 Christmas So Long Ago collection. But already I have found several more old Christmas songs with lapsed copyrights for the upcoming Christmas season. These will be put through my music editing software and then I will put them on this blog for download.

I also have lots of music from previous Christmases to put out here. I still need to sort through them to see which ones I bought, which would have current copyrights, and which ones were found elsewhere. Keep watching for these to add to your collection.

Then I will have my copies of Christmas music from my old 78's and other formats. I am in the process of making digital copies of these. When they are done, I will put them here also. So I anticipate lots of Christmas music here at least by Christmas 2008!

This week, we will hear from Vaugh De Leath, Vesta Pallis, Jimmy Rosen, and H. Knoll in "Santa Claus Land 1 & 2" 1927. The start was very noisy so there is some loss of the data, but you can still tell what is said. This was originally recorded on two cylinders, and I put them together into one file so you can hear it all together. It is interesting that Brownies lived with Santa Claus in this story, rather than elves. Then we get to hear the vibraphone, which comes across well on the recording.

Vaughn De Leath (pictured)

We also have "Santa Claus Song with yodel" sung by George P Watson. It is a lively melody. It has some home-made animal sounds in it, to give it pizzazz. And of course there is the yodel. I have recently tried my luck at learning to yodel. You don't want to know how that is going at this point.

One of my favorites is in French, which I do not know at all. Mme. Edouard Bolduc sings Le Bas de Noel. She does what was called puirt a beul or mouth music. This is a section of the lyrics where nonsense syllables are used. Here is a section from Wikipedia about it:

Mouth Music in the Americas
When they came across the ocean the ancestors of modern Scottish Americans brought their music with them, including mouth music, which was often incorporated into the lyrics of songs. It became an integral part of Appalachian music, roots music, and bluegrass, from whence it spread into many forms of American music. Its lasting influence can be seen in scat singing , a jazz technique where vocalists "play" melodies without words, and in modern beatboxing, a form of vocal percussion that is associated with modern hip hop music.

Mme. Edouard Bolduc always performed under her married name. She was also known as Mary Travers and La Bolduc. "During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksingers. Bolduc is often considered to be Quebec's first singer/songwriter. Her style combined the traditional folk music of Ireland and Quebec, usually in upbeat, comedic songs." (quoted from Wikipedia again.)

La Bolduc with fellow band members 1928.

Included in the lineup this week are also several Christmas carols. Hope you enjoy them all.

Vaughn De Leath, Vesta Pallis, Jimmy Rosen,H Knoll - Santa Claus Land 1 & 2 1927.mp3
Thomas Chalmers - Birthday of a King 1914.mp3
Steve Porter - The Sleigh Ride Party 1898.mp3
Robert Price - Christ, The New Born King 1904.mp3
Robert Gayler - Christmas Bells 1919.mp3
Petit Septuor de la Bonne - Whence O Shepherd Maiden 1937.mp3
Olive Kline - Merry Christmas_Sleighing Song 1914.mp3
Mme. Edouard Bolduc - Le Bas de Noel (The Christmas Stocking)1931.mp3
Metropolitan Quartette - Song of Ages 1918.mp3
Metropolitan Quartet - Christmas, Christmas, Blessed, Blessed Day 1917.mp3
Louis Chartier - Oh, Cradle 1929.mp3
George P. Watson - Santa Claus Song 1906.mp3

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