Longines Symphonette - The Sweet Voices of Christmas


http://rapidshare.com/files/250513269/longines_-_sweet_voices_of_christmas.zip

Merry Christmas in July! To start us off this year, we turn again to the Longines-Wittnauer Watch Company. Take a good, close look at the cover. Apparently, Longines turned out children like they turned out watches. The Longines Symphonette was an orchestra led by Michel Piastro (one-time concert master of the New York Philharmonic). You can see a nice drawing of him on the back cover. The original album did not have a track list on the back cover. I have added one for your convenience. If you haven't been here since Christmas, you might want to look around and pick up some of the Hawaiian albums that have been posted recently. Thank you for shopping at Cheerful Earful. Have a nice day.

Aloha From Tennessee Ernie Ford


http://rapidshare.com/files/249065020/aloha_from_tennessee_ernie_ford.zip

I dare you. I double dare you. Listen to the first track on this album without tapping your toes. Go ahead, try - I'll wait...

What did I tell you?

Tennessee Ernie Ford was a country singer, probably best known for his song, Sixteen Tons. His signature baritone lent itself to Country & Western and Gospel music, but he made some forays into Pop music, as this album attests. His catchphrase was "Bless your pea-pickin' heart!"

Ernie had a television show on NBC from 1956 to 1961. The Ford Show was actually not named after Mr. Ford, but rather the Ford Motor Company, who was the sponsor of the show. He also had a daytime talk show for several years.

Ernie and his wife both had issues with alcohol. Betty died in 1989. Ernie remarried, but died in 1991 of liver failure.

Leo Addeo - Hawaii In Hi-Fi


http://rapidshare.com/files/245406080/Leo_Addeo_-_Hawaiian_Hi-Fi.zip

Cheesecake anyone?

Leo Addeo was an American of Italian descent who specialized in Hawaiian music. Only in America is this a path to success. Leo was a clarinet and saxophone player, but was best known for is arranging abilities. Leo was brought to RCA by his boss Hugo Winterhalter in the late 50s and became a house arranger and conductor for RCA. Leo made at least ten Hawaiian albums for RCA. He also was at the helm of the Living Marimbas series, creating seven of those. The liner notes praise Leo for his ability to "Americanize" Hawaiian music. Hmmm... last I checked, Hawaii was part of America, though only just, in 1959.

Luke Leilani - Passport To Romance


http://rapidshare.com/files/237655193/Luke_Leilani_-_Hawaiian_Rhythm.zip

Here is some more Hawaiian music for your listening enjoyment. It's a long fall from the pristine sound of open reel tapes to the recycled vinyl used by Spin-O-Rama Records.

This fine collection of songs is given to us by Luke Leilani, or Harry Kaapuni, or Lani Laurens - I have no idea and, frankly, neither do you. I can't even tell what the name of the album is. The cover says Passport To Romance, the back cover calls it Hawaiian Rhythm, and the record label says Hawaiian Holiday. So there you have it. Who-knows-who performing who-knows-what.

Luke also had another album with his Royal Hawaiians called Hawaiian Paradise. I don't know who actually did that one, either.

Sam Makia and the Makapuu Beach Boys


http://rapidshare.com/files/231200595/Sam_Makia_-_Hawaii.zip

Thanks for all of the positive feedback on my last post. To show my appreciation, I've posted this little gem, pulled from an open reel tape just like the last one. There's not much information to be found on Sam Makia or the Makapuu Beach Boys (who thought that name up?) However, Frank Hunter is a name you see pop up every once in a while, mostly assisting other artists as he does here. Frank did not release much solo work, but he did have a few albums. His White Goddess album is highly sought after. I was fortunate enough to snag a rip of it a while back. Let me know what you think of the music or if Sam is your great-uncle.

Wayne King - Songs Of The Islands


http://rapidshare.com/files/227711420/Wayne_King_-_Songs_Of_The_Islands.zip

Ha! I bet you didn't expect this. It's not December, this isn't Christmas music, and it wasn't ripped from an album. The weather in Chicago has finally turned, so I decided to post something to reflect my mood. I fired up the reel to reel deck and this is the result. Man, I can understand why the open reel tapes were the CDs of their day. This tape still sounds great. I present it here with no work done on it except normalization and track splitting. Hope you like it. If I get enough positive feedback, maybe I'll post some more.

A little more info on Savanna, IL native, Wayne King.

P.S. Wayne King also had a killer Christmas album, which you can get here.

I'm back from my little holiday trip and I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for stopping by this year. It was a lot of fun finding and digitizing these sounds of Christmas past and bringing them back into the present. I hope that you found something that you liked and that it made your Christmas a little more fun. As we move into what looks to be a challenging 2009, remember the reason for the season and try to make it last all year long. See you in July!