"Peace" by Ruth Acuff

With so many other Christmas music sites that do new music so much better than I do (Stubby's, Christmas Underground, Christmas-a-Go-Go, Mistletunes to name a few), once the season is in full swing I don't do too many reviews of the new stuff, unless I can add in an artist interview or something that can complement what these other great blogs serve.  Still, every now and then something really special comes along that I want to share with my readers.

"Peace" by Ruth Acuff is one of those very special songs.  Ruth Acuff is a (near) local artist for me, residing in Columbia, MO.  She is a professional harpist and singer/songwriter, and has previously fronted the psychedelic rock band The Royal Furs and the alternative folk rock band Rutherford.  Stepping aside from her rock personas, Ruth has produced a single that is completely beautiful, in voice, instrumental performance, and message.

"Peace" is an inspiration in times that may be troubling.  Every year there are many for whom the holiday season is not one of joy, but of sorrow.  "Peace" reaches out to them with, and also to those who find our nation's and world's politics discouraging, or worse. Ruth admittedly cites political tensions as an inspiration for this song, and her words are moving:

When the world seems a hardened place,

you’re doing everything you can to love the human race. 

Peace will be your saving grace.

When you have no other choice, when your heart cannot rejoice.

Peace, a warmth in your soul.

You, yourself celestial.

Ruth's vocals are sublimely sweet, like a fairy princess in the moonlight, and her harp playing gives the song an otherworldly quality.  Although "Peace" is not overtly a Christmas song, it is perfect for the season where we celebrate with joy Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men.

I hope that Ruth will make her way from Columbia toward the West for a Kansas City performance.  She is a special talent with an extraordinary song for this season.

Ruth Acuff website

Ruth Acuff on Facebook

"Peace" single on Bandcamp and Amazon, also available on your favorite digital music sources

"Seasons Greetings" from the United States Army Band

My first album share this season is the wonderful "Seasons Greetings" by the United States Army Band.  The album features several different combinations of musicians from the US Army Band, including the US Army Chorus, the Chamber Orchestra, and the Brass and Woodwind Ensembles, all under the direction of Leader and Commander Colonel Eugene W. Allen.  There are fifteen tracks on the album, including a leading track "A Christmas Medley" consisting of four well known carols.

There is an interesting note on the back cover "Not For Sale/Public Service".  So perhaps the album was distributed only to members of our armed forces?  If a reader has some insight, please comment and share.

So, without further ado and with respect for all of our servicepersons past and present, please enjoy this fine album, "Seasons Greetings" from the United States Army Band.

download link

Sharing Season

You may consider the previously shared single a bonus preview of sharing season, and the forthcoming share the official kickoff.  This announcement is a bit of a potential disclaimer for this year's shares.  A stylus change may have contributed to a few ripping idiosyncrasies this year.  I've tried to catch them and re-record where possible, but since it's December, if there are any hiccups, I won't have time to re-record.  If you find any, please comment and I'll try to re-share next season.  Otherwise, caveat emptor (I don't think there is a Latin equivalent of "downloader").  My apologies for any aberrations in the quality this season.

DB

Single Time: Liz Anderson and the Snowflakes "Christopher the Christmas Seal"

Today's share is another single: "Christopher the Christmas Seal" b/w "Pony in my Stocking" by Liz Anderson and the Snowflakes.

Oops - Fake News.  Sorry.

I had this single all ready to share out to you, figuring that it was another one-and-done musician recording a vanity-ish Christmas record.  Welp - I was wrong.  Quite wrong, actually.   

Liz Anderson is 1) the mother of country music great Lynn Anderson; 2) a very notable songwriter in the country music world (her songs recorded by such greats as Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Faron Young, and of course her daughter Lynn); and 3) a fairly accomplished singer herself.  I had no idea until I started doing the requisite pre-posting research.

Both of these songs are available on a collection called "The Fairy Grandmother Sings her favorite children's Christmas songs" - get it here on Amazon.  These are both pretty good songs - I was excited to share them (especially following young miss Lawrence from a few days ago).  But, we must follow our rules of sharing, so no go, my friends.  Instead, enjoy the image of the single sleeve and then go visit Amazon to listen to the song samples. 

Live and learn!

Liz Anderson wikipedia page

Christmas Collectible Book: "A Christmas Day with Longfellow"

Yesterday (Broke Saturday, 11/24/18), I went to one of the local antique malls looking for a vintage aluminum Christmas tree, with low expectations of actually finding one, but it's always fun to go anyway.  I was correct about the tree, but did find a very nice little antique Christmas book, "A Christmas Day with Longfellow", published by Charles E. Graham & Co.  I can't find an exact publication date, but the internet seems to point to the early 1900s and perhaps earlier.  It may have been part of a series by the publisher, as there is an internet listing for "A Christmas Day with Havergal" by the same publisher that has the same tiny "0922 Christmas Wish Series" printed on the back cover.

The cover is worn, as expected of a book that is over 100 years old.  The pages, though yellowed, are in excellent condition, and the printed verse and artwork is quite beautiful.  The book was not priced at the mall - the proprietors called the dealer who quoted a price of $3.  Sold!

The spine of the book is fairly fragile, which diminishes the value (not so important to me), but allowed me to scan the book so I can share it with you here.  Please enjoy the following images of "A Christmas Day with Longfellow".

Front Cover

Page 1

Pages 2-3

Pages 4-5

Pages 6-7

Pages 8-9

Pages 10-11

Page 12

Back Cover

Single Time: Linda Lawrence "Have a Happy Ho! Ho! Ho!"

I haven't shared out many Christmas singles here at Merry & Bright! in the past, mainly because they are very hard to find.  It's a duel with patience to root through stacks of 45s, most of which seem to be in terrible condition (did people use them to scrub kitchen floors or something?), in order to find a Christmas gem.  There are a good many Peter Pan or similar labels to be found with Christmas songs, but they don't interest me much.  However, in the past year I did stumble on a couple interesting singles of the yuletune variety, so I'll start my sharing season with one of them.

First up is "Have a Happy Ho! Ho! Ho!", backed by "The Christmas Lady" by one Linda Lawrence.  As with many obscure Christmas singles, there is basically no verifiable information about Linda Lawrence on the internet.  A Linda Lawrence was apparently married to Donovan (you know, the folk singer), but I'm guessing it's not the same.  About all I can tell you is:

• the songs are credited to J. Lawrence, published by Johnny Lawrence Music (dad, maybe?)
• The label, Serena Records, has a P.O. Box address on the label, in Mobile, AL
• The record is SR-105-A-X (and the flip side is ...B-X)
• "Have a Happy Ho! Ho! Ho!" is subtitled "The Happy Polka"

And that's it.

"Have a Happy Ho! Ho! Ho!" is a brief 1:54 (1:51 in my ripped version).  It's claim to fame is that it was included on Andy Cirzan's 2005 "Off in the Christmas Cosmos" comp, as reported by friend CaptOT many moons ago at A Christmas Yuleblog.  

The B side is "The Christmas Lady", coming at 2:30.  Let's just say that there is a lot going on in this song.  It's an aural cornucopia, that's fer sure.  I think that it could be a case study for sound mixing for any prospective audio engineers out there. 

Enjoy "Have a Happy Ho! Ho! Ho!" and "The Christmas Lady", and welcome to the 2018 sharing season!

download link 

CD Review: Rehya Stevens "Celebrate"

Around our household the past couple of years, we've spent more and more time during the (extended) holiday season with our TV on the Hallmark channels, watching the never ending stream of Christmas movies.  Say what you want, but they have a snow-lined niche in Christmas season entertainment, and they know how to execute their formula.  For me, some are better than others, but by golly they are darned happy movies :-)  And I especially liked the one where Captain Kirk showed up and transported the star of the movie into the future.  Ok, it was William Shatner playing the mystical role, but it's more fun to think of him as Captain Kirk.

Why am I talking about Hallmark movies?  Well, because indie musician Rehya Stevens, with a brand new Christmas CD titled "Celebrate" out this year, has had two of her songs placed in multiple Hallmark Christmas movies (songs and movies are listed below).

Listening to "Celebrate," one can see why Rehya's songs were picked.  She has a gorgeously smooth, pure voice, she frequently sings of holiday love, and her music has that perfect Hallmark vibe.

"Celebrate" features nine original Christmas songs, a sparkling collection of soothing, seductive, seasonal tunes.  "Happy Holiday" kicks off the album, a jazzy, soulful yet bright song tying a bit of nostalgic Christmas imagery into a song of holiday love.  "Come In From The Cold" follows, and is very melodic and refreshing.  I hesitate to say "smooth jazz", but "Come In From The Cold" is a bit jazzy, a bit smooth, and altogether wonderful.

"Jingle Jangle" is an attention-getter.  More upbeat, it hearkens to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", has a great little poppy beat, excellent lyrics, and is a wonderful vehicle for Rehya's vocals.

"Fly Past My Roof" is another ear-perker.  Leading off with a bluesy, kinda nasty (in a good way) horn section before sliding back into a slow-tempo first verse, it then drifts through a little evocative piano accompaniment before conceding to the awesome horn section once again.  It's like a little journey though the dark woods of Christmas blues, and it's terrific.  (If the metaphors don't make sense, please go have a dram of whiskey, then return to the blog - thank you!)

rehyastevens.haulix.com

All in all, "Celebrate" is a great soundtrack for a Christmas season evening at home.  Rehya Stevens shows her talent as a complete musician throughout the album.  So, pause that Hallmark Christmas movie (it'll be on again, really) and listen to "Celebrate" with a nice glass of wine.  You'll have a great evening!

Now, as occasionally happens here in the Christmas music blogosphere, good friend Stubby also reviewed "Celebrate" over at his place.  Stubby did an ab fab review and provided a lot of information about Rehya Stevens, her background, and her career.  Rather than repeat all of that over here, I'll point you over to Stubby's for a terrific post about "Celebrate":  Stubby's Review of Celebrate

One more thing before wrapping this up - Rehya's e-mail signature line contains a quite from Fred Rogers: "Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex".  Anyone quoting Mister Rogers in their e-mail is all right by ol' Der Bingle :-)

Following is a list of the Hallmark movies that have included the songs listed below:

Hallmark Movies:
"The 12 Gifts Of Christmas," "A Prince For Christmas," "All I Want For Christmas," "Dear Secret Santa," "Christmas In Palm Springs," "Christmas Under Wraps," "A Perfect Christmas List"

Featured Songs:
"When You're With Me"

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4v9Txz7p1ZSim6dLEPDp6t

"It Feels Like Christmas"
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/rehya-stevens/414083214

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4MQvD7Q2cwItEuPFULrWTB

Rehya Stevens website
Rehya Stevens Facebook
Purchase CD of "Celebrate" directly from Rehya: click here
Purchase digital "Celebrate" from Amazon