25 Holiday Records: 9: Christmas with The Chippers

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

This next one is another novelty oddball record, with a Canadian twist.

#9

Christmas with The Chippers

by Various Nameless Artists

Arc Records

AX-3

196-???

This is another beautiful "Canadian vernacular" design from the anonymous staffer at Scarborough's Arc Records, the Canadian discount company responsible for so many weird and wonderful records in the 1960s and 1970s. The cartoon artwork is pretty charming, the colours all work together and combine with the font for a very striking package. Of course "The Chippers" are a rip-off of The Chipmunks, that creation of David Seville aka Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., the producer, writer, and performer who first came up with the idea to make little comedy records with sped up voices. The Chipmunks are still going strong, with a new movie in theatres this week, but The Chippers are long-gone.

Arc put out at least two versions of this record, with different covers but the same songs. The songs here are classic Xmas fare, with orchestral and big band accompaniment and the cute Chipmunk-sounding voices singing along. As background music it could almost be ignored if not for those voices! And you know the kids are just going to play this over and over until we go crazy!!! We're not sure if this was actually produced and recorded in Canada or if it was a package that Arc bought from a U.S. outfit. No credits as usual with these things. Check out the youtube clip below for the actual music.

Tracklist
A1 Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer
A2 There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays
A3 Frosty The Snowman
A4 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
A5 Let It Snow
A6 White Christmas
A7 Jingle Bells
B1 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
B2 Winter Wonderland
B3 Sleighride
B4 Deck The Halls
B5 O Tannenbaum
B6 Good King Wenceslas
B7 Twelve Days Of Christmas

25 Holiday Records: 21: A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi Trio

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record is one of the greatest Xmas records ever!

#21

A Charlie Brown Christmas
by Vince Guaraldi Trio
Fantasy
f8431
(green vinyl)

It's hard to believe but there was a time when this record was not as ubiquitous as it is now. Even ten years ago, we remember reminiscing about the soundtrack to this beloved tv special. It seemed it was the only Christmas music many of our friends could stand, in part because it was rarely played on the radio. That situation has changed, and Vince Guaraldi's music is basically everyone's holiday soundtrack these days. The record became more common in the cd era but it is back in vinyl form with a vengeance today, with a gorgeous green vinyl version being the most plentiful. (We have a few left in the shop currently.) 

 For a collection of tracks that were cobbled together in a hurry and meant to be seen and heard once and then forgotten, this record has really proven to have staying power. One of the best post-WWII Christmas-themed compositions, for sure. 

 There was a great article in Pitchfork this week about the history of the record: "the soundtrack, composed by jazz piano impresario Vince Guaraldi along with Fred Marshall on double bass and the great Jerry Granellion drums. “We did the music in a day and a half, two days,” Granelli tells me. “That’s just how you recorded records back then.” These days, it’s quite possibly the most ubiquitous and universally lauded holiday album out there, not to mention the gateway for generations of children who would go onto explore the bottomless chasm of the jazz idiom. Yet for the network suits expecting some Burl Ives-type maximalism, Guaraldi's quaint score was deemed too weird and dark, even though the soundtrack—released on the Fantasy label right around the time the special aired on TV—received rave reviews"

Check it out:

25 Holiday Records: 22: Santa Claus is Comin' To Town by Fred Astaire and friends

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record is the soundtrack for one of our childhood favourites!

#22

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
by Various (Fred Astaire)
MGM Records
SE-4732

This is the soundtrack to the 1970 stop-motion animated holiday special that has been a tv staple for decades now. This is part of the series of hits produced by Rankin-Bass that began with "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and continued through a number of "sequels" including "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" and others. "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" tells the origin of Santa Claus and is narrated by the great Fred Astaire, whose rendition of the title song is quite nice and a fitting cap to his career as an under appreciated pop-jazz vocalist. The song, originally written in 1934, has had a number of great interpretations, from Bruce Springsteen to The Jackson 5 to Frank Sinatra, but Fred's version is a challenger, for sure.

The rest of the songs on this album were written by the team of composer Maury Loss and lyricist Jules Bass (Bass was the advertising exec-turned-tv-producer behind the specials), and the voices are supplied by great character actors Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, and voice-actor/comedian Paul Frees. A fun little record!

Watch the whole thing here: