January 14, 2017 Playlist

Love Sequence album cover

Dean Martin “Carolina Moon” from Summer Is A Mixtape, Vol. V

Bobby Darin “I Hadn’t Anyone Till You” from Heavy Petting Mix

Tony Bennett w/ Count Basie and His Orchestra “Just In Time” from In Person!

Peggy Lee “He’s A Tramp” from Summer Is A Mixtape, Vol. V

Rosemary Clooney & Betty Clooney “Sisters” from Girl Singer [REQUEST]

Carmen MacRae & Sammy Davis, Jr. “They Didn’t Believe Me” from Boy Meets Girl: Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae on Decca

The Andrews Sisters With Vic Schoen & His Orchestra “Straighten Up and Fly Right” from A String Of Pearls: Great Stars Of the ’40s

The Mills Brothers “Till Then” from Songs That Got Us Through WWII

The Ink Spots “If I Didn’t Care” from The Shawshank Redemption soundtrack [REQUEST]

The Four Aces “Mr. Sandman” from Happy Days Are Here Again

Glenn Miller & His Orchestra “Peg O’ My Heart” from Blueberry Hill: Big Band Favorites From the ’40s

Charlie Barnet & His Big Band “Make Believe Ballroom” from The Best Loved Bands Of All Time

Roger Williams “Janie Is Her Name” from For You

Morris Stoloff and His Orchestra “Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams / There Was A Time” from Love Sequence: Themes and Counter-Themes

Bernie Leighton “A Sleeping Bee / Let’s Take the Long Way Home / Rhode Island Is Famous For You / By Myself” from Dancing In Peacock Alley

Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” from Come Dance With Me

Lawrence Welk feat. Pete Fountain on Clarinet “’S Wonderful” from Lawrence Welk Plays Dixieland

Frank Sinatra “The Way You Look Tonight” from Sinatra Reprise: The Very Good Years

Nat King Cole “The Very Thought Of You” from The Very Thought Of You: A Romantic Crooners Collection

Dinah Washington “What A Difference A Day Makes” from Compact Jazz: Dinah Washington

Jimmy Durante “As Time Goes By” from As Time Goes By: The Best of Jimmy Durante

Johnny Hartman “My Ship” from The Johnny Hartman Collection (1947-1972)

Billie Holiday “I’ll Be Seeing You” from The Notebook Soundtrack [REQUEST]

Louis Prima “Hello Dolly” from Louis Prima On Broadway [REQUEST]

Fats Waller “If I Were You” from One Never Knows, Do One?

Jack Teagarden “Davenport Blues” from Father of Jazz Trombone

Lionel Hampton “Shoe Shiner’s Drag” from Founder Of the Jazz Vibes (1930-1944)

Bing Crosby w/ Bennie Kruger’s Orchestra “I’ve Found A Million Dollar Baby” from The Legendary Male Vocalists Of Jazz (1925-1940)

Fred Astaire “Things Are Looking Up” from Pick Yourself Up!

Johnny Mathis “The Twelfth Of Never” from A Personal Collection [REQUEST]

The Platters “Harbor Lights” from All-Time Greatest Hits

Patti Page “Allegheny Moon” from Moments To Remember: The Golden Hits of the ’50s and ’60s

George Shearing “September Song” from Let’s Bacardi Party!

Sarah Vaughn “Love Was Just An Interlude” from Dinah Washington – A Memorial Tribute

Ella Fitzgerald “Let’s Take A Walk Around the Block (alternate take)” from The Harold Arlen Songbook

January 7, 2017 Playlist

The Ray Charles Singers “Love Me with all Your Heart” from Pop Memories Of the ’60s [REQUEST]

Kay Starr “Sweet Lorraine” from Kay Starr Sings!

Peggy Lee “Somebody Loves Me” from Songs From Pete Kelly’s Blues

June Hutton “Never In A Million Years” from Afterglow – EP

Keely Smith “Stardust” from Swingin’ Pretty

Artie Shaw & His Orchestra “I Cover The Waterfront” from 22 Original Big Band Recordings

Mike Douglas & The Campus Kids “Ole Buttermilk Sky” from Best of the Big Bands: Kay Kyser

Pat Friday, Ray Eberle and the Modernaires w/ Glenn Miller & His Orchestra “Serenade In Blue” from The Unforgettable Glenn Miller

Bob Eberly and Helen O’Connell w/ Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra “Green Eyes” from Happy Days Are Here Again!

Billie Holiday “Billie’s Blues” from 25 Greatest Hits Request

Ruth Etting “Button Up Your Overcoat” from Ruth Etting (1926-1935), Vol. 2 [Remastered]

Fats Waller “Carolina Shout” from One Never Knows, Do One?

Al Bowlly “By the Fireside” from Top Hits Of the 1930s

Vera Lynn “That Lovely Weekend” from Sincerely Yours

Hildegarde “Isn’t This a Lovely Day” from Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup [LOCAL]

Dick Powell “With Plenty Of Money and You” from The Music Of Dick Powell [REQUEST]

Frank Sinatra “Moonlight Serenade” from Moonlight Sinatra

Rosemary Clooney “Tenderly” from The Essential Rosemary Clooney [REQUEST]

Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra “Is He the Only Man In the World?” from Come Dance With Me

Andy Williams “In the Arms Of Love” from The Way You Look Tonight: A Crooner Collection [REQUEST]

June Christy “It’s a Most Unusual Day” from The Best of June Christy: The Jazz Sessions

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” from !!!Going Places!!! [REQUEST]

Vic Damone “Let’s Fall In Love” from That Towering Feeling!

Dean Martin “It Won’t Cool Off” from A Winter Romance

Ella Fitzgerald “This Time The Dream’s On Me” from The Johnny Mercer Songbook

Nat King Cole “If Love Is Good To Me” from Unforgettable

Dick Powell “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” from Lullaby Of Broadway [REQUEST]

Ruth Etting “Ten Cents A Dance” from Top Hits of the 1930s [REQUEST]

Elvis Presley “Love Me Tender” from Magical Margical’s Elvis Picks

Julie London “Cry Me A River” from Julie Is Her Name

Fred Astaire “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” from Steppin’ Out: Astaire Sings

Bernie Leighton “I Could Write A Book/Blue Room/Manhattan/Nobody’s Heart/The Most Beautiful Girl In the World” from Dancing In Peacock Alley

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass “Walk Don’t Run” from !!!Going Places!!! [REQUEST]

December 31, 2016 Playlist

Artists We Lost In 2016

Artists who passed away in 2016

Debbie Reynolds and Girly Chorus “All I Do Is Dream Of You” from Singin’ in the Rain (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Jack Jones “This Could Be the Start Of Something Big” from Let’s Bacardi Party!

Laurindo Almeida “Fly Me to the Moon” from Let’s Bacardi Party!

Herb Alpert “Tijuana Taxi” from !!Going Places!! [REQUEST]

Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim “The Girl From Ipanema” from Nothing But the Best

Walter Wanderley “Summer Samba (So Nice)” from Pop Memories of the ’60s

Nancy Wilson “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” from Christmas Cocktails [REQUEST]

Elvis Presley “Cotton Candy Land” from Elvis Sings For Children and Grownups Too! [REQUEST]

Bobby Darin “Gyp the Cat” from The Best of Bobby Darin

Bobby Vee “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” from The Night Has A Thousand Eyes

Julius La Rosa “Eh, Cumpari” from Moments To Remember: The Golden Hits of the ’50s and ’60s

Patty Duke “Everything But Love” from Everything But Love

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra w/ Male Chorus & the Modernaires “It Happened In Sun Valley” from The Unforgettable Glenn Miller

Mitch Miller & The Gang “Drunk Last Night” from Fireside

Debbie Reynolds “Belly up to the Bar, Boys” from The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Lawrence Welk “Bubbles In the Wine” from Happy Them Again!

Bernie Leighton “Enjoy Yourself/Keep It Gay/With A Little Bit Of Luck/Get Me To the Church” from Dancing In Peacock Alley

Andy Williams “Moon River” from Moon River [REQUEST]

Fats Waller “You’re My Dish” from One Never Knows, Do One?

Johnny Otis “Happy New Year, Baby” from Big Band Christmas

Tony Pastor w/ Artie Shaw & His Orchestra “Small Fry” from 22 Original Big Band Recordings: Artie Shaw

Kitty Kallen w/ Harry James & His Orchestra “It’s Been A Long, Long Time” from Best of Big Bands: Harry James

Keely Smith “The Nearness Of You” from Swingin’ Pretty

Pete Fountain w/ Lawrence Welk “San Antonio Rose” from Lawrence Welk Plays Dixieland

Debbie Reynolds “Aba Daba Honeymoon” from Mairzy Doats – 44 Wacky Hits

Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney “How About You?” from Fancy Meeting You Here

Al Caiola & Riz Ortolani “Holiday On Skis” from Christmas Cocktails

Dean Martin “Watching the World Go By” from Capitol Collectors Series

Sammy Kaye and His Swing ‘n’ Sway Orchestra “Desafinado” from Come Dance With Me

George Shearing/Billy May “Snowfall/Snowfall Cha-Cha” from Christmas Cocktails 2

Glenn Yarbrough “Baby, The Rain Must Fall” from Pop Memories Of the ’60s

Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald “They All Laughed” from Ella and Louis Again (Original Remastering from 1957)

David Bowie and Bing Crosby “Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth” from Christmas Classics

Guy Lombardo & His Orchestra “Auld Lang Syne” from Happy Days Are Here Again!

2016 Holiday Sing-Along Spectacular Playlist

HPZ Holiday 2016 promo image**Lou Rawls “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” from A Christmas Music Festival

**Vic Damone “Deck The Halls” from Music To Trim Your Tree By

**The Promenade Strings “Joy To the World” from Christmas Favorites

Guy Lombardo “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” from Deck The Halls

**Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme “Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow” from Merry Christmas: Christmas Favorites

Harry Babbitt & Ginny Simms w/ Kay Kyser & His Orchestra “Hello, Mr. Kringle” from Christmas On the Bandstand

**The New Christy Minstrels “Wassail, Wassail All Over the Town” from Great Songs of Christmas (Album 3)

**Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra “Jingo Jango” from The Magic of Christmas

**Jackie Gleason “You’re All I Want For Christmas” from ‘Tis the Season

Jim Nabors “Do You Hear What I Hear?” from Home For Christmas

**Gordon MacRae “Go Tell It On the Mountain” from Firestone Presents Your Christmas Favorites, Vol. 3

Patti Page “The Little Drummer Boy” from Home for Christmas

Andy Williams “Away In A Manger” from Andy Williams Christmas Album

**Andre Previn “The Holly & The Ivy / We Wish You A Merry Christmas” from Great Songs Of Christmas (Album 3)

**The London Pops Orchestra “Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine” from Home for Christmas

**Glen Campbell “Silent Night” from A Christmas Music Festival

**Bing Crosby “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day” from The Magic of Christmas

**Doris Day “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” from Merry Christmas: Happy Holiday

Sally Rodgers (Rose Marie) “Santa Send A Fella” from The Dick Van Dyke Show

**Tony Sandler & Ralph Young “Jingle Bells” from A Christmas Music Festival

**Mitch Miller and the Gang “Twelve Days of Christmas” from Merry Christmas: Twelve Days of Christmas

**Ray Conniff “Here We Come A Caroling” from The Magic of Christmas

Bing Crosby “Happy Holiday (Beef Wellington Remix)” from Christmas Remixed – Holiday Classics Re-Grooved

**Jim Reeves “Mary’s Little Boy Child” from Music To Trim Your Tree By

**Tammy Wynette “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” from The Magic of Christmas

**Nelson Eddy “The First Noel” from Merry Christmas: Deck The Halls

**Robert Goulet “White Christmas” from Merry Christmas: Happy Holiday

**Ella Fitzgerald “Sleep My Little Lord Jesus” from Ella Fitzgerald’s Christmas

Cyril Stapleton and His Orchestra with Children’s Chorus “Greensleeves” from Children’s Christmas Album

Martha Mears “My Christmas Song For You” from Hoagy Carmichael: In Person [REQUEST]

Perry Como “Christmas Eve” from Perry Como Christmas Album

**Mel Torme “The Christmas Song” from Merry Christmas: Christmas Favorites [REQUEST]

**These selections come from the Teed Munson Memorial Library (donated by friend of the show Johnny King).

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Ella Fitzgerald’s Christmas

Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas album cover Anyone wondering what Ella Fitzgerald’s Christmas has to offer can simply stop and examine the album cover:

Quiet, reverent, divine.

Recorded July 17 and 18, 1967 and released later that year, this is the second and final Christmas album Ella Fitzgerald ever recorded. Unlike its predecessor, which was almost entirely secular, this album features carols that can all be traced to religious roots.

The album runs just shy of a half-hour in length. Almost all the songs are familiar with just one track standing out as one I haven’t found anywhere else.

“Sleep, My Little Jesus” is a nineteenth-century hymn tucked on this album’s B-side. The song doesn’t pop up anywhere else in my somewhat extensive collection of classic Christmas recordings nor in my preliminary online research of major recording artists’ holiday albums.

The words were written by William Channing Gannett, known as “the father on American Unitarianism,” who put them to paper in 1882 for a Sunday School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Here they’re set to a lullaby composed by Adam Geibel.

Modestly holding a hymnal in front of a stain-glassed window, you might just imagine Ella Fitzgerald recording this album in the balcony of a church. Most tracks are arranged with sparse instrumentation. There could be a piano or guitar, sometimes a choir, but when a full orchestra is involved, it’s ever so respectfully placed in the back so the First Lady of Song may shine.

The original LP release features 13 tracks accompanied by Ralph Carmichael’s Chorus and Orchestra, but curious listeners can also find a 2006 digitally remastered release that tacks on 14 additional spiritual tracks which have no particular connection to Christmas.

If you’re looking for light background music while you do your holiday baking, decorating, or just relaxing, Ella Fitzgerald’s Christmas could be just the right fit.

Complete Track List

Side A
1. O Holy Night
2. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
4. Away In A Manger
5. Joy To the World
6. The First Noel
7. Silent Night

Side B
1. O’ Come All Ye Faithful
2. Sleep, My Little Jesus
3. Angels, We Have Heard On High
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
5. We Three Kings
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen