"Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation!"

A Very Vintage Christmas post #9

Today is December 20th, which means the final countdown is finally on with only 5 days to go until Christmas. I don't know about you, but I'm ecstatic that it's almost here, yet also sad that the Christmas season is passing so quickly.

Anyways, to business...

Today is also a Thursday, which means it is also time for another classic Christmas song.

"O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem

Come and behold Him

Born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!

O sing, choirs of angels,

Sing in exultation.

Sing all that hear in heaven, God's holy word.

Give to our Father glory in the highest;

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!

All hail!Lord, we greet Thee,

Born this happy morning!

O, Jesus, for evermore be Thy name adored!

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing;

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!"

O Come All Ye Faithful is a very old English hymn that was originally written and sung in Latin, known by the title of Adeste Fideles. It was translated in the 1700s, and through various translations a verse that has been made official and recorded reads:

"God of God,

Light of Light,

Lo, He abhors not the Virgin's womb;

Very God,

Begotten not created."

Not every artist sings all the verses or sings them in the same way, just as with other songs; regardless, the song is still widely recorded and sung by scores of musical artists today.

In 1948, Frank Sinatra released his album Christmas Songs by Sinatra. On the album, he had the song Adeste Fideles, but he sang the English translation even though he used the Latin title of the song.

Although I adore Frank Sinatra and this blog concentrates on such vintage and classical things, I have to put in a good word for my man with the voice of an angel, Josh Groban. On his Christmas album Noel, he has an absolutely gorgeous and killer version of O Come All Ye Faithful, so if you'd like to give it a listen as well, click on this link:

Josh Groban-"O Come All Ye Faithful"

Our countdown is getting smaller every day but we've still got some Christmas magic up our sleeves, so be sure to come back this Saturday, December 22, for another classic holiday movie post, which ties in with TCM's Star of the Month.

Until next time, have a very merry and A Very Vintage Christmas!

"Caroling, caroling through the snow, Christmas bells are ringing..."

A Very Vintage Christmas post #8

Today is (already) the 16th of December...

Do you realize what this means?It means it is only NINE days until Christmas.

We're down to single digits,people!

Christmas caroling!

A lot of people traditionally do this during the Christmas holidays, whether you do it as a part of a church group, or you just do it with family and friends.

I have some memories of Christmas caroling with my grandpa's church when I was a youngster in elementary school. And, in much more recent times, I have a group of friends that gets together shortly before Christmas, watches the movie White Christmas, and then goes Christmas caroling to the surrounding houses in the neighborhood.

But have you ever wondered exactly where the idea of Christmas caroling came from? Or maybe wondered how long it has been around? Well if you ironically happened to be wondering about those two exact questions, then you've come to the right place because that is exactly what today's post is about!

The word "carol" comes from a word that means to dance or sing songs of joy. "Carols," or traditional songs date back centuries, to celebrations of the Winter Solstice. As time went on, more carols were used for all the seasons, including spring and summer, although only winter carols really survived the test of time.

When the early church began to make efforts to replace the Winter Solstice with the Christmas holiday, special carols for masses and celebratory services were written. However, the common people got tired of them fairly quickly because they could not understand them since they were written and sung in Latin. So, the use of Christmas carols was put on the back burner, so to speak.

The celebrated monk, Francis of Assisi, began bringing back the use of Christmas carols during his nativity plays, and they became much more appealing to the people in the audience because he made an effort to have them sung in their native language. This practice caught on and quickly spread all over Europe.

It was during the Middle ages that the idea of public caroling as we know it today was started. Minstrels would travel through the streets during the Christmas season, especially on Christmas Eve, and sing carols for others enjoyment. Eventually, the use of carols temporarily died out once again during the 1600s, when Oliver Cromwell rose to power. Yet even though they were not sung in public anymore, many people still privately used them in their homes, so they were not entirely forgotten. They began to come back into use during the Victorian Era.

Naturally, when settlers came to America, they brought their tradition of Christmas carols with them and turned it into their very own tradition, until it grew into the modern idea of Christmas caroling that we have today.

So, if you enjoy Christmas caroling then maybe this will fascinate you the next time you do it. If you've never been Christmas caroling, perhaps it will inspire you to do so. Either way, I hope that you have enjoyed this little throwback on an old Christmas tradition.

That's it for today!

Check back with us on Thursday, December 20th, for another classic Christmas song.

Who knows, maybe you could add it to your list of songs to use when you go caroling.

Until then, have A Very Vintage Christmas!

"Ain't misbehavin', just savin' my love for you.."

Fall of '48 post #6

Dinah Washington

Born August 29, 1924

Died December 14, 1963

Ruth Lee Jones was born in August of 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Soon after her birth, her family relocated to Chicago, so the majority of her upbringing took place in the windy city.

Even as a child she had an ear and talent for music. She was a very gifted pianist, and played for many church and school functions while she was still in elementary school. By the time she reached high school she was running the show and directing her church choir. In 1940, the famous Mother of Gospel Music, Sallie Martin, formed the first female gospel group known as the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers, and Ruth Jones was one of it's lead singers.

At the young age of 15, Ruth felt she had gotten enough encouraging feedback on her talent that she began to sing in night clubs, then she progressed to jazz clubs and even hotels. In 1942, a friend took her to hear the legendary Billie Holiday perform at the Garrick Stage Bar. She could hear instrumentalists upstairs playing I Understand and she began to sing along. Staff heard her and were so impressed that she was offered a job. She spent a year working at the Garrick Stage Bar, and it was during this time that she fully transformed and developed her stage name, Dinah Washington. In 1943, jazz instrumentalist Lionel Hampton came to hear Dinah sing, and he liked what he heard enough to present her with an offer. She began to work as his female vocalist later that year.

Two years later she began working for Keynote Records, and she had much promise, but the company was shut down in 1946. But Dinah wasn't about to give up--she went and won herself a record deal with Mercury Records as a solo artist. She started off with a bang, her first single to be released being Ain't Misbehavin'. Between the year of 1948 and 1955, Dinah released 27 top ten hits. She had made it big, and she was one of the most popular artists of the time period. Her 1948 single Am I Asking Too Much? even made it to #1 on the R&B chart. She continued to crank out what would be come some of the most popular songs of the day, like What A Difference A Day Makes, Manhattan, and Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby? She had a style all her own and a very distinct voice--salty, gritty, yet more high pitched than one might expect. She became known for her versions of torch songs, one of her most popular being Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

To go along with her hectic career which seemed to have blossomed overnight, her home and personal life also lacked stability. She was married seven times, her last marriage was to pro football player Dick "Night Train" Lane, and she had two sons. She struggled with weight gain on and off for many years, feeling self conscious when performing in front of people. She even went through bouts of depression. In 1963, at the age of 39, Dinah Washington apparently accidentally overdosed with a lethal combination of drugs used for sedatives and to combat insomnia.

Here are some of her more famous ballads, for your enjoyment:

"I'll tune up my fiddle and I'll rosin my bow..."

"...I'll make myself welcome wherever I go."-Tex Ritter, "Rye Whiskey"

STAR OF THE MONTH

Singing Cowboys

Everyone knows that Westerns have been popular at the box office since the beginning of moving pictures.However, it wasn't until the 1930's that cowboys came equipped with guitars and voices made for crooning.
These days, most people aren't familiar with Singing Cowboys or the Musical Western genre at all.That's surprising because,believe it or not,audiences loved everything about them when they first came onto the scene.

I've chosen my Movie of the Month,but first,here's a write-up on the star of said movie.

Tex Ritter
Born January 12, 1905
Died January 2, 1974

Born as Woodward Maurice Ritter, but later nicknamed for the place he was born: Murvaul, Texas.Ritter showed an early interest in theater and film.He was first known as one of the voices of KPRC-AM, a popular radio program in 1928 that broadcasted "cowboy songs." By 1934, Ritter had starred in four Broadway productions as, you guessed it, a singing cowboy.He also snatched the lead voice-over role of the radio program The Lone Star Rangers.
Ritter made the official move to Hollywood in 1936,the same year his first film, Song of the Gringo, was released.Audiences nationwide could now put a face with the voice they had come to know and love.Throughout his career in movies, he made 71 films, 40 of which he starred in between the years 1938 and 1945.He also remained active in recording music until his death by heart attack in 1974 at the age of 68, his last single being released posthumously.

MOVIE OF THE MONTH

Song of the Gringo
1936
Starring Tex Ritter, Monte Blue,Martin Garralaga, and Joan Woodbury

The main protagonist, Tex (Ritter) is a lawman on an undercover mission.He poses as an outlaw in order to nail two real outlaws.Unfortunately,he's just a little too convincing and is spotted by the sherriff (Blue), who chases after him during a stormy night.Tex takes refuge at the home of Don Estaban Valle (Garralaga). Valle's business partner, Evans, is there at the time, and decides to use Tex's supposed skills as an outlaw to further his own "business" ventures.So, Tex is welcomed into the Valle home, where he quickly falls in love with Senor Valle's daughter, Lolita(Woodbury).She nurses a wound that Tex had recieved while fleeing from the sherriff.Evans, who "finances" failing mines in the area and then takes the property for himself once the owners mysteriously vanish, recruits Tex as a hired gun to help him take over the Henderson-Conklin mine.He orders Tex to kill the owners,thereby hoping to force Tex to show his true colors.Tex,being a good man,successfully fakes the deaths of the mine owners, and then tells them to go into hiding for their own good.Tex returns to Valle's home and remains there until a fiesta for Lolita's birthday, when Valle finds Tex and his daughter embracing.He forces Tex to leave,after bringing such shame to his home.While they argue about what Valle really saw, Valle is suddenly shot.Evans appears, and quickly points the finger at the innocent Tex.The sherriff comes, and a maid (whom Evans has previously paid off) is used as a witness against Tex.Tex is arrested for killing the miners and shooting Valle.Tex proves his innocence at his trial,when he arranges for the mine owners to come out of hiding and vouch for him.Evans, who is present at the trial, panics, and tries to shoot Tex, but is gunned down by the sherriff.In the end, Tex returns to Valle's home, where he finds Lolita, who has nursed her father back to health, and tells Tex that Valle has given them permission to marry.

Don't forget that July still isn't over.
You can catch more Singing Cowboy films on Turner Classic Movies every Friday, beginning at 8:00 pm.

And make sure you tune in for Star of the Month and Movie of the Month in August.It's Turner Classic Movie's Summer Under the Stars month, so I'll be picking my favorite actor/actress out of the 31 that they've chosen.