Friday, December 21, 2012

Christmas is for Children

With Christmas only a few days away, all the children are getting more excited, anticipating Santa's visit, barely able to wait for Christmas morning.  How many have heard "Can I open just one present early?"  How many of us said that very thing to our own parents when we were young?  The children around us are no different than the child still inside each of us, anxiously awaiting Christmas morning.

Tonight's share is "Christmas is for Children", and it is really great.  All you readers that grew up in the 60s and early 70s, prepare for some major nostalgia.

Ready?

How about Red Skelton reading "The Littlest Christmas Tree"?  Or Burl Ives performing "Happy Birthday Jesus (A Child's Prayer)"?

How about Captain Kangaroo himself narrating "The Littlest Snowman"?

My childhood returned on a 12" vinyl record.


Side 1 of "Christmas is for Children", a Columbia Special Products release, is simply terrific.  In addition to Red, Burl, and the Captain, Side 1 has Ray Heatherton reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and Jose Ferrer magnificently performing "March of the Christmas Toys". 

Side 2 of the record is more of a straighforward compilation side, with some frequently compiled songs.  They are very good, and I know you'll enjoy them, but they don't approach the magic of side 1.

This might just be my favorite share of the season (although I have a few more to go in the next couple of days...).  Captain Kangaroo!  Man!  It doesn't get any better than that.

Christmas is for children, and for all of us grown-ups too.

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2 comments:

  1. NickDecember 21, 2012 at 3:59 PM

    Another wonderfully nostalgic share
    Thank you so much
    Merry Christmas to you and yours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GeordieDecember 21, 2012 at 5:38 PM

    This is the third album I have seen with this title. Here are links to the other two:

    http://hif-fi-holiday.blogspot.ca/2011/11/christmas-is-for-children-various.html

    http://jeffco.ca/christmas/music/christmas_is_for_children/index.php

    I know what you mean about childhood returning on 12" vinyl. Last I dimmed the lights to an orangy glow, plugged in the Christmas lights, and put on a classic Christmas carols album I had downloaded from jeffco.ca/christmas and Boom! I was transported back to the early seventies.

    (Jeffco is only sharing two albums this year - luckily I grabbed most of what he had last year - a lot of great Canadian stuff that I haven't seen on other blogs, plus a couple Virgil Fox albums and, the one that got me started on all these great blogs - Tijuana Christmas by The Border Brass.)

    Thanks!

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