For the past few weeks we've been posting just a bit of background on each of the 37 tracks on my 19th and most recent holiday holiday mix, Christmas Cheer. Today, with two shopping days left to go before December 25, I'm proud to share some information about the final three tracks on the mix. I believe this is the earliest we've ever completed this task, and because we started early we were able to proceed at a pleasant and leisurely pace with nobody getting upsot. There's a lesson in the somewhere, though I'm darned if I can figure out just what it is!
Track 35 Yonder, The Sisterhood (1974)
Track 35 is the last of the song-poems on this year’s mix, and while it
appeared on an M.S.R. Records album titled "Christmas Album," the lyrics don't seem to have anything to do with December 25. Frankly, it’s not
immediately apparent just what they are about:
Yonder with a
village view sits a village queen
And around all
reading through planted with all colors of green
A little boy far
traveled,
Might also care to
travel back
With a seaboard,
crates and masts
He is educational,
years of more track
Towards yonder,
where all work is done
With harvest
enduring years
And more of
distribution begins where all reading is shown by far and nears
[Repeat both stanzas]
Where all reading is
shown by far and nears
Far and nears
The song is credited to The Sisterhood, a group of several female
singers who worked for the M.S.R. label. The lyrics are by a fellow named Thomas Jackson Guygax, Sr.,
a Springfield, Missouri resident who wrote at least ten sets of lyrics that
were ultimately set to music and released by M.S.R.
To say Guygax had an unusual style would be an understatement.
Many of his efforts read like a jumble of random words that tumbled out of a high-speed blender in no particular order — and yet . . . there’s a certain
weight, even majesty, to some of them.
The Sisterhood
Song-poem enthusiast Phil Milstein has speculated that English may not
have been Guygax’s first language, which would certainly explain the jumbled
syntax. Or maybe he just wrote to the beat of a different drummer.
In any case, I’ve grown rather fond of “Yonder” over the many years
since I first heard it. I guess I never really paid too much attention to the
lyrics, however, for it was only recently that I figured out that this isn't a Christmas
song at all. All M.S.R. had to do is include the tune on one of its several holiday releases and that was apparently all I needed to park it in an honored spot on this year's mix.
Before we bid adieu to M. Guygax, allow me to share another set of lyrics from one of his ten M.S.R. releases:
Thomas J. Guygax
A POET
(Thomas J. Guygax,
Sr.)
as recorded by Dick
Charles
A poet once sat
among his papers
Letters from here
and far across the sea
He scribbl'd with
his pencil a moment
Saying, "My!
what's happen'd to me?"
"Should I wrote
poetry or prose?
Heaven only knows!
I wish I had
something to write about
Then I wouldn't have
to sit here and pout
So let's call Jerry
and dance about."
I think that pretty much says it all, n’est-ce-pas?
Track 36 Happy Holidays, Robbie Robertson (2019)
I surprised myself by finishing this year’s mix in early September, roughly three months ahead of my typical schedule. The way I have to assemble
these things today makes it very difficult to make any changes to the mix once it's complete, so I really figured it was done until the first weekend in November when I happened upon this song on YouTube.
I knew instantly that I had to include it, so I removed what had been the
penultimate track (“The True Meaning Christmas,” by
Ambulances) and stuck this one in its place.
Robbie Robertson has long been one of my favorite artists, and news of
his death this past August cast a long shadow over 2023 for me — a year that
started off on a sour note with the January 18 death of another of my all-time favorites, the legendary David Crosby. I used to try to include tracks by those artists I really liked who’d passed each year but discontinued the practice because the lists of
departing celebrities were beginning to get too long. But I certainly wanted to
honor Robertson and this is a terrific and appropriate track to do it with.
Recorded during the sessions for his last solo album, Sinematic (2019), “Happy Holidays” is Robertson’s playful attempt at
pointing out the yin and yang of the modern holiday season.
“We love Christmas and the holidays,” Robertson said in statement
quoted in Rolling Stone. “[They] brings good cheer, and also stress and
depression, so I wanted to do a song that celebrates both sides and have a
little fun.” This is evident from the very first verse:
Please don’t leave
Old Saint Nick
Too much milk and
cookies
’Cause by the time
he gets round to us
He won’t be able to
get
His fat ass down the
chimney.
Proceeds from the song were donated to the American Indian College
Fund. Robertson himself had indigenous roots, as his mother was part Cayuga and
part Mohawk, and two of his six outstanding solo albums focus on Native American themes.
I was familiar with Robertson’s work as a member of The Band but became a really big fan with the release of his first self-titled solo album in 1987. I loved the video for the first single off the album, “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” which was directed by Martin Scorsese. I was also wowed by Robertson’s appearance on Saturday Night Live around that same time, which featured the rock song “Testimony” that he recorded with U2.
He
also worked closely with Martin Scorsese, scoring a series of the famed
director’s biggest films. Shortly before his death, Robertson completed the
score to Scorsese’s latest release, Killers of the Flower Moon.
Robertson was one of a kind, and he’ll be sorely missed.
This year's mix goes out pretty much the same way it came in, with an excerpt from the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. This track features Cher singing her version of the 1969 song "One Tin Soldier," written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and originally recorded by the Canadian pop group The Original Caste. It was later recorded by the group Coven for the 1971 Warner Brothers film "Billy Jack." Cher's version begins with her singing an excerpt from the classic carol "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," followed by Cher singing Coven's version of the song over a
video created by animator John David Wilson:
I remember loving this song as a child, although I recall it took me a few listens to understand its principal message. It's profoundly sad to think that 50 years later we're no closer to world peace than when the song was first released.
Well, that's it, folks. I hope you've enjoyed many of these tracks and that you have a most enjoyable holiday with family and friends!
My 2023 holiday mix is now complete and ready for you to review and/or
download! It’s called My Christmas Dream, it includes 37 tracks and runs almost
exactly one hour and 20 minutes. For more details and links to the mix itself
visit the “Latest” page
of my holiday music website.
Now that the 2023 mix is available it’s time for this blog to turn its
attention to what is, after all, its primary purpose — namely, providing a
little background on each of the this year’s holiday tracks. We’ll cover
anywhere between two and five tracks each day over the next four weeks, except on
those days when I don’t feel like writing. Hopefully we’ll share a little
something about all 37 tracks by Christmas Eve. Sometimes we make it. Sometimes
we don’t. But I’ve got a good feeling about this year’s endeavor.
One quick and silly note about presentation before we get started. In
previous years, for reasons I can’t begin to recall, we posted each day’s track
listings in reverse order. So, for example, if we opted to post notes on the
first four tracks on Monday and the next two tracks on Tuesday, Monday’s post
would cover Track 4, Track 3, Track 2 and Track 1, in that order, and Tuesday’s
post would begin with Track 6, followed by Track 5. Crazy. This year, the
tracks will be simply be posted in numerical order. Despite the overwhelming
weight of evidence to the contrary, I’d like to think this shows I haven’t
completely lost my mind.
Ready, set … here we go!
Track 1 Jingle Bells, Sonny & Cher
(1972)
During the
1960s and ‘70s, network television was the country’s chief source of popular
entertainment, and all three networks worked tirelessly to prepare the nation
for Christmas each December. Regular weekly series programs, whether comedy or
drama, typically offered at least one holiday-themed show each year; each
network offered a variety of annual animated shows including such favorites as
“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
and “The Little Drummer Boy”; some
of Hollywood’s biggest names starred in annual variety specials; and, of
course, major sponsors tied the whole package together with an endless stream of holiday-themed advertising,
some of which was at least as popular as the programming the ads supported.
Among the most popular of the variety show programs during this period were the
shows hosted by Sonny & Cher, both together and individually. The first
track of my 2023 holiday mix is the introduction to the 1972 Sonny &
Cher Christmas Special, which features the duo performing a swinging
version of “Jingle Bells.”
Of course,
Sonny & Cher had been popular entertainers long before their 1972 holiday
special aired, and they would go on to
enjoy even greater success afterward. They met in late 1962 while they were
both working as background singers for legendary producer Phil Spector. They
soon became romantically involved and started recording and performing as a
duo. Sonny, who was 11 years older than Cher, managed their career and wrote a
number of original songs they performed. In the summer of 1965 they released
their first album, “Look
at Us,” and topped Billboard’s Hot 100 with a tune of Sonny’s called “I Got You, Babe.” This initial
success led to more, and they followed their first smash with another album, a
string of hit singles including the Top 10 hit “The Beat Goes On,” and
appearances on many of the biggest TV variety shows, clubs and concert venues.
Unfortunately,
by start of their show’s third season the couple’s personal relationship had
begun to come apart. In late 1974, they formally separated. (I don’t know
whether this was a factor in their relationship problems, but it’s worth noting
that Cher released a bunch of successful solo records during the first half of
the 1970s that Sonny didn’t produce, and three of her solo singles hit #1 on
Billboard’s Hot 100 during that same period.) Not surprisingly, the end of the
marriage meant the end of the show. Both Sonny and Cher were each given their
own network shows in 1975, but these were short lived. By 1976, the couple were
back on speaking terms and they returned to television with “The Sonny & Cher Show,”
which had a similar format to the former “Comedy Hour.” The new show remained
on the air for nearly two years, after which Cher turned to acting and Sonny
became involved in politics.
The Sonny
& Cher franchise produced several successful Christmas specials during the
1970s, including “Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” programs in 1972 and 1973, a
Cher holiday special in 1975, and a “Sonny & Cher Show” holiday broadcast
in 1976. All of these specials followed the same general pattern with an
opening song and welcome from the host(s) followed by anywhere from five to
eight comedy bits and musical numbers featuring a variety of familiar guests
before an emotional send-off.
Among the performances from the 1973 special is
a medley of holiday carols featuring William Conrad, star of the popular ‘70s
detective series Cannon. This number
has become almost legendary thanks to the colorful description Paul Shaffer
repeatedly offered each year as one of the many holiday traditions of The Late Show with David Letterman.
I wrote about Shaffer’s bit several years ago, and you can read about it HERE.
You can also watch the entire 1973 special below. The medley Shaffer discussed begins at 17:50.
Here’s the
first of the Sonny & Cher holiday shows from 1972, with the intro I use to
kick-off “My Christmas Dream” at the very beginning:
Just to
bring things current, Cher recently released her first album of holiday songs
called “Christmas.” She noted on Twitter that while she’d previously been
reluctant to record a holiday album, she’s pleased with result and thinks it’s
as good as any of her other releases. Darlene Love, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper
and Tyga appear with Cher on this one, and you can preview the album HERE.
Track 2 I Wish You A Merry Christmas, Big Dee Irwin, featuring Little Eva (1963)
The second
track on this year’s mix is a fun little number by New York native Big Dee Irwin.
Irwin got his start as a member of The Pastels, a group he formed in 1955 with
a bunch of air force buddies on Greenland’s Narsarsuaq Air Base. In 1957, The
Pastels won a recording contract as the first prize in a military talent show.
The song they recorded, “Been So Long” became
a hit on the R&B charts and the group hit the road to promote the record,
appearing in Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show with Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and
others.
In 1958, Irwin
set off on his own, and over the next 20 years he released a string of records,
mostly soul and R&B, while also writing songs for stars including Ray
Charles, Bobby Womack and The Hollies. On several recordings, he teamed with
Little Eva Boyd, best known for her 1962 version of “The Locomotion,” written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The
first of these was their version of the old Bing Crosby song, “Swinging on a Star.” Another was a 1963 song written especially
for Irwin called “Happy Being Fat.” The third release
with Little Eva was this one, “I Wish You a Merry Christmas,” released in late 1963
as the B-side to “The Christmas Song.” Toward the end of this record, Little
Eva jokingly returns to the subject of Irwin’s weight by asking:
Big Dee, did anyone ever tell you you was big … strong … handsome …
kindhearted – and FAT!?
Irwin’s last
record was released in 1978, though he continued to make live appearances for
another 15 years or so after that. He died in 1995.
If you’ve
listened to any of my previous mixes you know that I like to break things up a
little by inserting brief holiday greetings from various celebrities between
the regular songs. They give listeners a chance to relax for a moment in much
the same way that commercials do on television. It’s surprisingly difficult to
find such clips in the form I’m looking for. To work as an audio clip, each celebrity
needs to identify themselves by name and pass along some kind of holiday wish.
The recording must also be free of excessive background noise and irrelevant
content. The first greeting on this year’s mix is from Shirley MacLaine.
Shirley MacLaine
I’ve been a
fan of MacLaine’s for years. She’s a terrific actor, singer and dancer, of
course, and I especially loved her work in Being There (1979), Terms of Endearment (1983), Steel Magnolias (1989) and Postcards from the Edge (1990).Wikipedia notes that MacLaine is known for “her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed
and eccentric women,” which may explain her great success as an actress – after
all, who better fits the “quirky, strong-willed and eccentric” description than
MacLaine herself!
As a child,
it was MacLaine’s love of dancing that led her to pursue a life in show
business. She started ballet school at the age of three and says it was the fun
of performing that really grabbed her interest. She scored her first Broadway
gig before graduating high school. Her next job was as understudy for one of
the major roles in the musical The Pajama Game(the
character who sings “Hernando’s Hideaway”). As luck would have it, the lead
suffered an ankle injury that kept her out of the show for several weeks, and a
noted film producer who saw MacLaine filling in signed her to a deal with
Paramount Pictures. Her first role was in the Hitchcock thriller The Trouble with Harry, for which she won a Golden Globe — and
she was off!
MacLaine was
nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award five times for her work in Some Came
Running (1959), The Apartment (1981), Irma la Douce (1964), The Turning Point
(1978) and Terms of Endearment (1984), winning for the last of these. She also
won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special for her 1976 show “Gypsy in
My Soul.” In 1998, she earned a Cecil B. DeMille Golden Globe Award, and in
2013, President Obama awarded her the Kennedy Center Honors for her contributions to American
culture.
For me,
MacLaine’s professional achievements are only part of her appeal. I also enjoy
her forceful personality, her political activism and her unique range of
interests and enthusiasms. She’s a genuine character, and we’re all the better
for having her among us.
Track 4 Christmas Cheer, The MSR Singers
(1978)
Folks who
follow this blog and/or listen to my annual mixes know that I’m nuts about
“song poems,” an offbeat and sometimes outlandish subgenre within the larger
and increasingly popular category known as “outsider music.” Outsider music
refers basically to material created outside the professional music industry,
often by members of marginalized or disfavored communities. Song poems
typically feature lyrics written by non-professionals that are set to music and
recorded for a fee by companies set up for that purpose.
Throughout
most of the 20th century, song-poem companies advertised in the back of pulp
and other general interest publications offering to set amateur poems to music to
satisfy the demand for new music and help would-be lyricists become famous and
rich. The going rates were generally between $100 and $500 in exchange for
which the submitting poet would get a couple of 45 RPM discs of their fully
realized songs. The quality of the final product varied wildly, of course, as
did the submitted lyrics. But thanks to the song poem, more than a few ordinary
citizens had the thrill of hearing their words come to life as actual songs on
the family stereo.
Well, this
year’s mix is truly top-heavy with song poems — nine in all — and this first
one, “Christmas Cheer,” is a true classic. Released in 1978 as part of a full
album of holiday song poems, “Christmas Cheer” was produced by an outfit known
as MSR, one of the largest song-poem factories. The performance is credited to
The MSR Singers, a group of paid employees who sang on dozens if not hundreds
of songs MSR created from lyrics they received from their paying customers. The
lyrics of this little gem are by Joan Tomaini, and they’re truly special,
indeed:
Christmas is a glad
time,
Christmas is a sad
time,
It’s a time of joy,
For every girl and
boy.
But how about the
lost souls,
The ones whose lives
never unfold,
Does anyone ever
think of those
whose life compares
to a dead rose?
They’re living, too.
And every day gets
duller and duller in every way.
Who is going to
bring them cheer?
Isn’t that why you
and I are here?
Think of them at
Christmas time,
As you go bustling
in your prime,
And when somebody
says, “Brother, can you spare a dime?”
That this could
happen to you sometime.
Now, the sentiment that folks should help cheer the less fortunate at
Christmas is a common holiday theme. There’s nothing novel about that. What
makes this song incredible is its dramatic descriptions. “Does anyone ever
think of those whose life compares to a dead rose?” Wow. “Every day gets duller
and duller in every way.” This is the kind of Christmas cheer I suspect many of
us would just as soon do without!
