Today is the third day of Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2015!
The featured topic is – Christmas Music – and the focus is on . . .
Christmas carols, church music and even more modern novelty songs are all a big part of our Christmas memories. What songs were your favorites as a child and are they still your favorites or do you have new ones? What about your parents or family members – were there certain songs or types of Christmas music played during the season? And how would you describe the type of Christmas music you like? Write about anything related to Christmas music and your memories of Christmases past.
[dropcap]I[/dropcap][dropcap][/dropcap] grew up in a home where different genres of music was appreciated; Christmas music was no exception! And though I no longer own a phonograph or have the old 1960 RCA record player we had in our home, I am just thrilled to have in my own music collection today some of the cherished Christmas LPs my family enjoyed during the holidays!
My mom loves instrumental Christmas music the best! Her favorite album was, and probably still is, THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS WITH THE LIVING STRINGS arranged and conducted by Johnny Douglas. The original LP was released on RCA’s Camden Record label in 1963. Music lovers who listen to this album today say, “it captures the spirit of Christmas – yesterday, today, and tomorrow. This album contains 43 minutes of some of the best Christmas music ever produced.” Now that is high praise indeed! But I must admit, it is a beautiful album with an equally beautiful cover. If you would like to hear this album for yourself, visit David Von Pein’s YouTube Channel #2 to experience the whole album in stereo!
My dad preferred Christmas music performed by popular singers like, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Lou Rawls, Nancy Wilson and others. As a result, one of his favorite Christmas albums was the Pickwick 33’s various artists collection — I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! Pickwick 33, a subsidiary of Pickwick International was launched in the spring of 1965 when they entered into a new deal with Capitol Records for use of their unused back catalog. This compilation LP was probably released during the holidays that same year by arrangement with Capitol Records. I remember some of my dad’s favorites were Caroling, Caroling (Nat King Cole), Silver Bells (Al Martino) and The Christmas Waltz (Nancy Wilson). My favorite song was, and still is, The Twelve Days of Christmas sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford!
Even though instrumental and traditional Christmas music were played a lot in our home, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how “groovalicious” holiday music could be in our home as well! Whenever we needed to add some smooth jazz, R&B, and disco to our holiday playlist, the FUNKY CHRISTMAS album was on the list! This LP was released in 1976 by Cotillion, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Many call this album an audio feast because of artist like sax-man Lou Donaldson, southern soul Margie Joseph, Motown’s Lamont Dozier, and Willis Jackson to name a few. And if you look closely at the album cover, sitting at the piano is bad-boy Luther Vandross! His songs — At Christmas Time and May Christmas Bring You Happiness — are the best!
The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.”
Claiming Kin Genealogy 
I love Christmas music. I listen to it at other times of the year even. Not much music was played in my house growing up. But that’s another story.
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@NancyHVest:disqus – you’ve piqued my curiosity to know more . . . only if you want to. Thank you for sharing your memories regarding Christmas music with me!
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My mom loved to dance, but she was stricken with severe, debilitating arthritis when I was 4. She could barely walk let alone dance. I think listening to music and not being about to dance to it broke her heart, so music wasn’t played.
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We didn’t have any Christmas albums but I loved listening to Christmas songs and carols on the radio and loved singing them at church.
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@kriswms2 – while cleaning out the old family home before it was sold this year, I found pages and pages of the old gospel music and Christmas music books that I played many years ago. All this time I thought this music was lost to me. So I was pretty excited to see this music again!
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