This one of those product tie-in records that doesn't provide much information about the musicians. We have a producer, Paul Whitehead, and a trio of arrangers/conductors. We have Nashville as a recording location and we know where the lacquering was done (lacquering, not liquoring) and by whom. But no musicians. So, I've dubbed them The Drambuie Orchestra.
This is a tangy and sweet collection of a dozen Christmas standards. Nothing surprising in the selections, with "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" leading off and "Joy to the World" as the closer. The arrangements and performances are very well done, making this a very enjoyable listening experience. Good while you're trimming the tree. Better if you're supervising the tree-trimming while having a little scotch and (ahem) Drambuie. Perfect! in fact, I'd say :-)
As a bonus for the sophisticated listener, there are Drambuie recipes on the back of the album cover. Rusty Nail. Oh yeah. Frosty Nail. Sounds intriguing. Maybe I'll have one of those while watching "Frosty the Snowman". Eggnog. Easy as pie.
This is a fine record to kick off sharing season. Please enjoy "Drambuie Christmas Classics".
Update: I've re-ripped side 2 to (I hope) remove some vibration/skipping. New zip is at the below link.
download link
Thank you, Der Bingle.
ReplyDeleteHello, long time follower of your blog and I want to thank you so much for this LP. I really like this lp. great sound. if all else fails, at least they provide how to make some drinls. LOL!!
ReplyDeleteSide Two seems to have a lot of bad skipping...
ReplyDeleteI'll check that - thanks for letting me know.
DeleteSunday Dec 6: I re-ripped side 2 and have updated the zip file.
ReplyDeleteNot skipping, sounded like the needle was floating on the record. Not enough tracking force. Thanks for the update. By the way, what turntable and cartridge are you using? Your recordings sound great.
ReplyDeleteThis year I have a new turntable. It's an Audio-technica AT-LP60, and the cartridge is what came with it out of the box. After ripping with Audacity I use ClickRepair on each track to remove the clicks and pops. Then, back to Audacity for another round of subtle noise removal, then normalization. I think the skipping is some sort of interference with the laptop, as I've had the same issues before with a different turntable. I changed USB ports this morning, so it's with either local to the other port or something with the laptop itself. It's sporadic and unpredictable.
ReplyDeleteIn my library I listed the artist as Paul Whitehead for lack of a better option. But your solution works too.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I also haves me some love for Drambuie. My dad used to have a glass after Christmas dinner and so I've always associated it with that. So now I usually have a glass Christmas Eve as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a fine tradition!
ReplyDelete