🎄 Holidays! ¡SOMETHING FESTIVE! - 2014 Thread

[Harry]

¡SOMETHING FESTIVE!
Various Artists
A&M SP 19003

1. Herb Alpert & The TJB: Winter Wonderland (same as the TJB's album version, except the choral introduction is edited off)
2. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66: The Christmas Song (never released on a Brasil '66 album)
3. Liza Minnelli: Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy
4. Julius Wechter & Baja Marimba Band: Partridge In A Pear Tree
5. We Five: My Favorite Things
6. Burt Bacharach: The Bell That Couldn't Jingle (never released on a Bacharach album)
7. Pete Jolly: It's The Most Wonderful Time (never released on a Pete Jolly album)
8. Claudine Longet: Snow
9. Julius Wechter & Baja Marimba Band: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (never released on a BMB album)
10. Herb Alpert & The TJB: Jingle Bell Rock (slightly different mix from the original album version--this features a glockenspiel instead of a marimba in the beginning)

It's just about time to begin our annual Christmas discussions, and one of the traditions around here is to feature the classic A&M/B.F.Goodrich album ¡SOMETHING FESTIVE!.

To kick things off, let's take a look at the original TV commercial for the album:



Harry

 

[Rudy]

Need one? Plenty on eBay!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=a&m something festive&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

[Harry]

Need one? Plenty on eBay!

Part of that "limited edition"!

Harry

 

[alpertfan]

Was it ever on Compact Disc?

 

[Captain Bacardi]

No

 

[Dave]

But, are the tracks are available enough on original albums, that you COULD make this on one on CD?


-- Dave

 

[Harry]

Much of ¡SOMETHING FESTIVE! has found its way to compact disc, but not quite everything. One of the two TjB tracks ("Winter Wonderland") can be mimicked by editing off the opening chorus from the CHRISTMAS ALBUM version. That's on CD and easy to find. The other track, "Jingle Bell Rock" has a slightly different mix and that one has never had any kind of digital release.

Sergio Mendes' "The Christmas Song" has had a bit of a storied history in the digital realm. An album called YULESVILLE came out from Shout! Factory and had this track on it, but someone edited the instrumental bridge to repeat itself with a rather sloppy edit. It *is* possible to perform your own edit on this track to get it back to its original length. There's also a rare Japanese compilation called MUSIC DIARY - DECEMBER - CHRISTMAS TIME. It was in print for about five minutes, but it contained some of the SOMETHING FESTIVE tracks.

Liza Minnelli's track was on her COMPLETE A&M RECORDINGS disc.

Baja Marimba Band's "Partridge In A Pear Tree" was on that MUSIC DIARY - DECEMBER thingy and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" has never seen digital release to my knowledge.

We Five's "My Favorite Things" has been on CD on the YOU WERE ON MY MIND two-fer on Collectors Choice Music and may be in release in Japan at the moment.

Burt Bacharach's "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" is found on the SOMETHING BIG box set from Hip-O as well as recently appearing on a Japanese release as a bonus track (so we've been told this morning!).

Pete Jolly's "It's The Most Wonderful Time" was on that Japanese MUSIC DIARY thing as well as on a British compilation called COOL YULE.

Claudine Longet's "Snow" has been released many times - on her own albums and on a number of compilations.

So, bottom line is you'll need some vinyl to exactly replicate ¡SOMETHING FESTIVE!

Harry

 

[alexpop]

I really like " Snow" surprised Francoise Hardy never covered it.
A rare album and well worth picking up.Of course' ideally suited to the festive!season(natch).

 

[Harry]

In all of the years that I've had the ability to make CD-R's from LPs, I'd never actually made a simple, straight copy of ¡SOMETHING FESTIVE! To be sure, I've made expanded versions, adding other tracks that are A&M Christmas related, but never just the original 10 tracks in order. And I've always sought out CD versions of tracks to assemble into the track list.

Since I now have abilities to remove clicks and pops from LP needledrops, this year I decided to make a straight LP dub from a really nice copy of the album that I found a number of years ago. It's turned out pretty well and will sit alongside of the several "expanded" versions on my shelf.

Harry

 

[Harry]

One thing I've learned is that the Collectors Choice two-fer of We Five's albums has "My Favorite Things" reversed in the stereo.

Harry

 

[Rudy]

I may rethink my own digital version of the album and resequence it so that the original LP is first, and the extra tracks follow afterward. Lately though, I'd prefer to just get the vinyl out and spin it as-is.

Still plenty of copies of this LP out there, and don't overpay! Median selling price on Discogs is in the $3 range.

 

[Harry]

I finally found it! MUSIC DIARY-DECEMBER-CHRISTMAS TIME, the Japanese release from 2007 referenced above.

I've searched high and low for this one since learning of its existence from Steve S. in a post back in 2008. It took awhile to get here from Japan, but it arrived safely today. In fact, some talk of Christmas music in the Carpenters section reminded me that I had indeed found it and was wondering if it already arrived or not. I hadn't kept track of when I ordered it and expected it to take awhile, so it was kind of back-of-mind.



Harry

 

[JMK]

I have a 2015 question. I got a new sealed copy of Something Festive a while back and finally popped it open this morning. I was surprised to see the font size on the label is different (smaller) than on the old copy I had. What would account for that? This was never offered through a record club, was it? (I have tons of record club versions where the labels look different from the original release.) Also, aside from The Christmas Song, what if any are other originals unique to this release?

 

[Harry]

Different pressing plants used differing font styles. Member W.B. is an expert in that and can probably tell you the name of the fonts, the pressing plant, and what day of the week it was pressed on. Just kidding about that last bit, but he knows his stuff.

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by the BMB seems to be unique to SOMETHING FESTIVE, as well as the unique mix of Herb's "Jingle Bell Rock".

Harry

 

[Rudy]

I think as many as three different pressing plants were used back then: Columbia plants on the east and west coasts, and Monarch. I'll check my four copies later and see what I have.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

Here is a German version - different front, same back:

And the Brits really did it proper, with a two-LP set:

 

[Harry]

This looks like a repress on the budget Mayfair line in the UK, right?

Harry

 

[Harry]

Regarding the MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING version in the UK, it's not got quite everything from SOMETHING FESTIVE. "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" is Herb's version, not Burt's, the "Jingle Bell Rock" version is the same as the one on the TjB CHRISTMAS ALBUM, as is "Winter Wonderland", complete with choral intro.

Harry

 

[Rudy]

Interesting versions there.

Surprising that "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (Carpenters) is not included on that 2-LP set. That is one track I used to hear on radio in regular rotation during the holidays, back in the 70s, on the local soft rock stations.