Christmas Cheer - Part 5

Each year in late November this blog rises from its slumber to present some basic information about the tracks on my annual holiday mix of songs and other ephemera. We do this over a period of about four weeks, typically covering several tracks each day. This year's holiday mix is called Christmas Cheer, and we've already discussed 13 of its 37 tracks, which leaves 24 more to go over the next 24 days. Today's post will examine Tracks 14 and 15. Let's get started!

Track 14
Christmas Messages from President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963)

This track is perhaps one of the most fascinating and troubling clips I’ve ever included in any of my mixes. It’s a short piece comprised of excerpts from two different recordings of our 36th president, Lyndon B.  Johnson, each taped within several weeks of his ascension to the presidency following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

The first excerpt is from Johnson’s formal remarks at a memorial service for the late president held at the Lincoln Memorial on December 22, 1963, exactly one month after the assassination. (Johnson suggests at one point that he was speaking on Christmas night, but that seems to have been inaccurate.)

Johnson’s remarks drew parallels between the lives and tragic deaths of Presidents Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, noting that both men made significant and lasting contributions to our nation that will be felt for many years to come. It was a very touching presentation.

    

The second clip shows a different side of Johnson. It’s an excerpt from a recording of a phone call Johnson placed to President Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline, on December 21, 1963 – approximately one month after her late husband’s assassination. Johnson called Mrs. Kennedy numerous times during December and January, and at least six of the calls were recorded. In this call, he seems to either be flirting with the former first lady or condescending to her as if she was a young child.

	Mr. Johnson:	You gonna come back and see me?
	Mrs. Kennedy:	(giggles nervously) Someday, I will . . .
	Mr. Johnson:	Someday?
		Give Caroline and John-John a hug for me? Tell them I’d like to be their daddy?
	Mrs. Kennedy:	I will.
	Mr. Johnson:	Goodbye
	Mrs. Kennedy:	Alright. Goodbye.

I’ve always found Johnson to be one of our most complex and confounding presidents, and this short conversation reminds me of the inner conflict and duality that defines his remarkable personality.

Raised in poverty in rural Texas, Johnson turned himself into a powerful and highly skilled political leader through hard work and force of will. When he agreed to join the Democratic ticket as John Kennedy’s running mate in 1960, Johnson was in his eighth year as Senate Democratic leader. Throughout Kennedy’s entire Senate tenure Johnson was perhaps the most powerful Democrat in Washington with far more influence than Kennedy. Yet Johnson envied Kennedy’s wealth, his suave sophistication and the respect he enjoyed from Washington’s elite. The ease with which Kennedy carried himself intimidated Johnson, who felt like a country bumpkin by contrast.

Following Kennedy’s death, Johnson feared he’d never be as loved and respected as his predecessor, so he tried furiously to surround himself with members of Kennedy’s inner circle in the hope their cachet would rub off on him. This was the impetus for the many calls to Mrs. Kennedy, I believe. He wanted to create the appearance that she saw him as a legitimate successor to her husband, and he worked tirelessly to woo her through the first half of 1964.

Unfortunately, Johnson’s clumsy style and lack of sophistication made him come across as horribly inappropriate. Can you imagine how Mrs. Kennedy must have felt hearing Lyndon Johnson volunteer to become her children’s new daddy?

The 1963 holiday season was a difficult one for the nation, but, of course most difficult for the late president’s wife and children. The grace and beauty of Camelot was giving way to something more like The Beverly Hillbillies.

Here's the complete track:

Watch film of the Memorial to JFK followed by the National Christmas Tree Lighting on 12/22/63

Track 15
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, by The Fab Four (2002)

Among the best of the many Beatles tribute bands is one called The Fab Four, formed in 1997 in sunny Southern California. The group includes a rotating cast of a dozen or more regular performers that tour in various permutations that sometimes include two different foursomes at once. In 2013, the group received an Emmy Award for their PBS special “The Fab Four:  The Ultimate Tribute.”  

In addition to touring, The Fab Four are known for their unique collection of songs that feature the lyrics of various classic holiday carols and songs in the style of well-known Beatles classics. These are presented largely in the form of three CD albums, two of which were released in 2002 (“A Fab Four Christmas” and “Have Yourself a FAB-ulous Little Christmas) and the third of which includes all the songs from both of these albums with a number of bonus extras (“HARK,” released in 2008).

I’ve included songs by The Fab Four in two of my previous mixes:  “Silent Night,” which was featured on my 2014 mix “Is There Really a Santa Claus,” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” which appears on my 2016 mix “Let It Snow!”

This year’s mix features the classic holiday carol “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” which is offered in the style of the Beatles’ hit “Baby’s in Black” from their album “Beatles ’65,” released in the U.S. on December 15, 1964. (In the U.K. the song appears on the album “Beatles for Sale,” which had been released one week earlier.) The original carol was written in 1850 by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts.

The actual Beatles have been in the news recently with the release of what’s being described as the final new Beatles release, a song titled “Now and Then.” The song was written by John Lennon in or around 1977 and discovered on a tape with several other uncompleted songs several years after Lennon’s assassination in 1980. The surviving Beatles, including Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr attempted to turn Lennon’s demo into a completed Beatles song in the 1990s, but technological limitations at the time prevented the separation of various components on the recording. Recent advances allowed the two surviving Beatles to create a high-quality version of the song using Lennon’s original vocals and a guitar track recorded by George Harrison before his death in 2001. The music video of the song is remarkable on a number of different levels.

Listen to The Fab Four’s 2008 album “HARK” on YouTube

Watch the Fab Four Perform on the Hallmark Channel’s Beatles Christmas Special

That's all for today. Check back for more someday real soon! Only 23 shopping days left until Christmas!

Let It Snow!, Part 8

Today, we take a quick look at four more tracks from my latest holiday mix, Let It Snow!

Track 27
Chanukah Prayer, by Carole King (2011)

Carole King

If you grew up in the 1970s, you knew Carole King's music, and, if you liked music at all, you probably owned a copy of her 1971 album "Tapestry." King first made a name for herself as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing a number of big hits for other artists including, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," a #1 hit for the Shirelles in 1960; "The Loco-Motion," a #1 hit for Little Eva in 1962 and Grand Funk in 1974; "Up on the Roof," a hit for The Drifters and, later, James Taylor; and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," which became a signature song for the great Aretha Franklin. Many of her songs were co-written by lyricist Gerry Goffin, her husband at the time. But King was not only a talented songwriter, but a terrific singer, too, and at the urging of James Taylor and others, she released an album of her own called "Writer" in 1970. That one didn't attract much attention, but the follow-up, "Tapestry," sure did, topping Billboard's Album chart for 15 consecutive weeks and remaining on the chart for over 300 weeks. At the 1972 Grammy Awards, King pulled off a rarely-seen hat-trick, winning awards for Best Song ("You've Got a Friend"), Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"), and Album of the Year ("Tapestry").

Of course, after a smash like "Tapestry," it's awfully hard to top yourself, and while she continued to release albums at a pretty good clip through the 1970s and '80s, King pretty much stopped making records in the early 1990s. It was pretty good news then when the word leaked out in 2011 that King's daughter, Louise Goffin, was working with her to prepare a holiday album, "A Holiday Carole." It's a wonderful album that spans a variety of musical styles, leaning heavily in favor of more contemporary songs, a number of which were hits for other artists. Interestingly, none of the songs are written by Carole herself, although Louise Goffin co-wrote several.

"Chanukah Prayer" is my favorite song on the album — built around a traditional Jewish prayer. As King later explained,

Louise had the brilliant idea to take the Chanukah prayer that I learned from my parents, and they learned from their parents, and back through generations. She said 'I want to record you singing that and I'm going to build a track around it.

The result is a warm, jazz-inflected tune that brings together three generations on vocals: King, her daughter, and grandson. It could almost be the early 70s all over again.

Hear Carole King's "Chanukah Prayer"

Watch "The Making of 'A Holiday Carole'"

Track 26
Hark! The Angels Sing, by The Fab Four (2002)



When the history of rock-and-roll modern music is finally completed, few acts will loom quite so large as The Beatles, and when the history of Beatles Tribute Bands is definitively written, it will probably include a thing or two about The Fab Four. I previously included one of their tunes on "Is There Really a Santa Claus?" And there are a dozen or more yet to choose from.

Track 25
Ringo Deer, by Gary Ferrier (1964)

While I recall nothing about this phenomenon personally, I understand that large parts of our planet went a little crazy for the Beatles shortly after they started to become known. This enthusiasm manifested itself in various different ways, the best known of which is the non-stop shrieking of teenage girls whenever John, Paul George or Ringo was spotted. Another symptom was the rash of tribute songs recorded about the "Fab Four." Some of them had Christmas themes, many were about drummer Ringo Starr, and a few were Christmas-themed songs about Ringo. One can be found on my 2008 mix, "Home for the Holidays," and another is Track 25 on this year's mix.

I don't know an awful lot about this record, except that it was recorded by Garry Ferrier, a disc jockey for CHUM in Toronto and promoted by the Canadian arm of the Capitol Records publicity team. The lyrics aren't exactly bold or beautiful, but they're fun, as is the song — and the song's subject, too:

The North Pole’s all abuzz these days,
With news that’s really new,
Santa Claus has got a brand new reindeer now for you,
He's a swinging kind of reindeer and very, very rare,
Instead of antlers on his head,
He's got Beatle hair!

They call him Ringo, Ringo, Ringo Deer,
A Ring along  Ringo, Ringo, Deer,
Ringo, Ringo, Ringo Deer,
He's with Santa Claus this year.

I've got at least one more Ringo-themed Christmas song in my collection, so at least we've got that to look forward to!

Track 24
Christmas in the Country Radio Promo (Patriotism), by Van Trevor (1968)

This little number is from the same promotional record as Track 18, which I posted about several days ago. As I noted in my posting, I discovered this record on the now-defunct "Beware of the Blog" website created by community radio station WFMU in Jersey City, NJ. Interestingly enough, one of the four artists who added tracks to the mix, singer Lynda K. Lance, posted a comment to the piece that presented the audio:

Greetings, surprised you found this. we all moved to Nashville, Dick Heard, Van Trevor,Eddie Rabbitt & myself(right after HS graduation & Viet Nam)at the end of '68.Neil Bogart of Buddah(later Casablanca Records)was setting up a label(Royal American) in Nashville under Dick Heards management. Dick and Eddie were in Greenwich Village NY. Van & I met doing performances in the Northeast. this was Dicks idea to borrow something we all took part in regularly for the CMA, PSAs by country music entertainers held in recording studios on Music Row. we would all line up at the mike,a real cattle call, walk thru read copy, sometimes with call letters.that's when you got to hear Tex Ritter tell all his great old stories.glad to see so many collectors like me of info out there. ck my website to see new stuff...wanted to call project "not dead yet"...but wouldn't you know, it was taken! Lynda K.

Lynda's website can be found HERE.

Thirteen tracks left to go, which we could complete by Christmas Eve if we choose to. But I don't think that's in the cards. We'll get them done, but it will be sometime between Christmas and New Year's Day when we do it. Hope that's cool with you.

Is There Really a Santa Claus, Part 8

We've been reviewing the 39 tracks on my latest annual holiday mix, and today's installment features a three-pack of hits especially for Beatles fans:

Track 22
I Want a Beatle for Christmas, by Becky Lee Beck (1964)
It was 50 years ago this past February that the Beatles first stormed American shores, kicking off the nationwide epidemic known as Beatlemania. Their famed performance on the Ed Sullivan variety program took place on February 9, 1964, and within two months the group had twelve records on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles chart, including all of the top five spots.



Beatlemania remained in full effect as the 1964 holiday season began, and you can bet that there were thousands of Beatles records under this nation's Christmas trees that year. There were also a number of novelty records that celebrated the Beatles that year, including Becky Lee Beck's "I Want a Beatle for Christmas," Track 22 on Is There Really a Santa Claus?



Beck doesn't seem to have released many other records, but quite a few other singers released Beatle-related songs that Christmas. I featured "Ringo Bells," by Three Blond Mice on my 2008 mix, Home for the Holidays. Here are some of the others:

Hear "(I Want a) Beatle for Christmas," by Patty Surbey and the Canadian VIPs 

Hear "All I Want for Christmas Is a Beatle," by Dora Bryan

Hear "I Want a Beatle for Christmas," by The Fans

Hear "Bring Me a Beatle for Christmas," by Cindy Rella

Hear "Santa, Bring Me Ringo," by Christine Hunter


Track 21
Silent Night, by The Fab Four (2002)

The Fab Four

From 1963-69, the Beatles celebrated each holiday season by releasing a new holiday single to the members of their fan club. These were primarily comedy records that featured mostly informal banter as opposed to actual Christmas carols. But for those who'd like to hear John, Paul, George and Ringo belting out some standards, the California-based Beatles tribute band The Fab Four have released two albums of holiday classics sung Beatles style.
What makes these songs so much fun is that each one starts out sounding like an actual Beatles original only to magically morph into a familiar carol without missing a beat. The following clip from Good Morning America introduces the group:



Buy the Fab Four's Holiday Albums

Listen to the real Beatles' Christmas Singles

Hear "Silent Night" by the Fab Four Holiday Ensemble


Track 20
Holiday Greetings from John and Yoko (1971)

John Lennon and Yoko Ono honeymooning in Amsterdam

John Lennon and Yoko Ono first met in the mid-1960s, and while there are two conflicting stories about the circumstances of their meeting, it seems pretty clear that the two were quickly taken with one another. Ono apparently began calling Lennon at home, which aroused the suspicions of John's wife, Cynthia. Lennon explained that Ono was calling to try to get him to invest in some of her "avant-garde bulls**t." However, Lennon and Ono took their relationship to a new level in May 1968 while Cynthia was on vacation in Greece. As Lennon later explained:

Well, after Yoko and I met, I didn't realize I was in love with her. I was still thinking it was an artistic collaboration, as it were – producer and artist, right? ... My ex-wife was away ... and Yoko came to visit me. ... instead of making love, we went upstairs and made tapes. I had this room full of different tapes where I would write and make strange loops and things like that for the Beatles' stuff. So we made a tape all night. She was doing her funny voices and I was pushing all different buttons on my tape recorder and getting sound effects. And then as the sun rose we made love and that was [the album we later released called] Two Virgins.

Some time later, Cynthia Lennon walked in on the pair while they were in a compromising position, and divorce proceedings were soon begun. John and Yoko were married in Gibraltar on March 20, 1969. They celebrated their honeymoon at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel by staging a weeklong "Bed-In for Peace." These events are recounted in "The Ballad of John and Yoko," which was recorded by Lennon and Paul McCartney without band members George Harrison and Ringo Starr and released by the Beatles as a single in May 1969. This little holiday greetings clip was recorded by Lennon and Ono in 1971.