A & P and Organ and Chimes

Two more for you today on the 22nd.

First up is "Christmas Greetings" from A&P (volume 3).  A&P was (is?) a grocery chain that, like so many grocery and department stores back in the day, released Christmas record collections featuring various artists.  Volume 3 is a 1972 release featuring some really great songs.  Per Tim Neely's book, there were 4 A&P records from 1970-1973.  A&P was not around in my part of the country, so in these parts this record is a rather unusual find.  I'm sure that in other parts of the country it's pretty common.

What caught my attention with this record is the closing song "Here's To You" by Cary Grant.  "Here's To You" was the B-side of "Christmas Lullaby", Cary Grant's 1967 single, and only Chrismas music performance.  "Here's To You", again per Tim Neely, has appeared only on the single and in this A&P collection.

Also catching my attention was "The Christmas Song" performed by Carol Burnett.  It has also appeared on two other collections, but is not something you see or hear every day.

Other great performances round out the record, including tracks by Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash, and Lynn Anderson.  Also included is a track by Barbra Streisand.  Barbra doesn't do a thing for me, Christmas music-wise or otherwise, but she has her fans out there.  Der Bingle just isn't one of them. 

A note on the cover art - the repeating Santa motif threw my image stitch application for a loop, so I had to do some manual cutting and pasting to get a workable cover image.  Apologies for poor color blends and other sub-par details in the artwork.

So, please enjoy the terrific collection A&P Christmas Greetings Vol 3.  download link

Next up is "Merry Christmas Carols with Organ and Chimes", performed on the Original Grand Wurlitzer Pipe Organ of Radio City Music Hall.  Now, Der Bingle loves Radio City Music Hall and all Christmassy things related.  So, I like this record a lot.  Generally, I hit a limit on organ/chime carols pretty quick before needing a break.  But this is a pretty good set of 17 songs.  No info on the performer.  Maybe the organ and chimes played themselves at night, ala "Night at the Museum".

Your Radio City fix for the day:  download link