At Centuries of Sound I am making mixes for every year of recorded sound. As it’s the festive season I’ve decided to use the new function on Patreon to do a couple of membership offers. Firstly I’m offering a 10% discount on all tiers, monthly and annual, just go to patreon.com/centuriesofsound and sign up with the promo code 8AA78 – Secondly, if you buy a gift membership for anyone ($5 p/m tier, annual) then I will give you a CD version of the mixes for the year of their birth (only pre-1950/1972/1989)– so cut up into CD-sized chunks each with its own artwork. For gift memberships – patreon.com/centuriesofsound/gift – then send me a message either on Patreon or by emailing james (at) centuriesofsound.com, I will get those to you within three days.

Happy Holidays everyone, here is your new Christmas mix, this one covering the shorter period of 1955-1961. I have been cutting it dangerously close because there was simply so much to pick from, this being the peak period for famous records, as far as the US is concerned at least (though you will notice a few of them missing – the aim here is to make a good mix, not to tick off all the boxes, and certain favourites are, in my opinion, just a little too annoying.) I found this to be quite an odd era, there are rock & roll Christmas records of course, but there were a lot of religious records too, recorded in luxurious high-fidelity as presents for audiophiles, and some truly great jazz records which happened to have a festive theme. So, there are roughly three movements here – a half hour of pop and novelty records, a half hour of a very religious Christmas, and a little under half an hour of cool jazz – if any of these are not your cup of tea, I’ve labelled them below, so you can skip to the part you need.

There will also be a radio version of this show (featuring my son Theo) broadcast on Cambridge Radio (formerly Cambridge 105) on Sunday 22nd December at 19:00 GMT, you can listen by following this link at the right time – https://consoles.radioplayer.cloud/8261297/index.html

I hope you all have a great break, whatever you are celebrating around now, or even if you are celebrating at all. 2024 has been yet another tough year for many, and I hope this is an enjoyable way to finish it.

Part One

0:00:00 Daphne Oram – Winters Journey (Intro) (1956)
(Clip from The Apartment – 1960)
0:00:20 Marlene Paula & The Billy Van Planck Orchestra – I Wanna Spend Christmas With Elvis (1956)
(Clip of Children Meeting Father Christmas – 1955)
0:02:32 Elvis Presley – Blue Christmas (1957)
(Clip from “Men’s Christmas” – 1961)
0:05:01 George Jones – New Baby For Christmas (1957)
(Clip from Hancock’s Half Hour)
0:07:31 Brenda Lee – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (1958)
(Clip from Hancock’s Half Hour – 1957)
0:09:57 Lenny Dee – Mister Santa (1961)
(Clip of Children Meeting Father Christmas – 1955)
0:12:04 Ella Fitzgerald – Frosty the Snow Man (1960)
(Clip from Lucky Strike Commercial – 1958)
0:14:37 Adam Faith – Lonely Pup (In A Christmas Shop) (1960)
(Clip from Timex Watches Commercial – 1958)
0:16:51 Ed ‘Kookie’ Byrnes – Yulesville (1959)
(Clip from Hancock’s Half Hour – 1957)
0:19:12 Stan Freberg – Nuttin’ For Christmas (1955)
0:21:32 Tom Lehrer – A Christmas Carol (1959)
0:24:06 Perry Como – Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1959)

Part Two

(Clip from Christmas in Bethlehem – 1961)
0:27:31 Leroy Anderson & His Orchestra – O Come, O Come Emmanuel (1955)
(Clip from Christmas in Bethlehem – 1961)
0:29:14 The Louvin Brothers – It’s Christmas Time (1960)
(Clip from Christmas in Bethlehem – 1961)
0:32:31 Vera Ward Hall – No Room At The Inn (1959)
0:34:59 Mitch Miller – Coventry Carol (1958)
(Clip from Vera Ward Hall – No Room At The Inn – 1959)
0:38:25 Nat King Cole – Away in a Manger (1960)
(Clip from Vera Ward Hall – No Room At The Inn – 1959)
0:40:16 John Klein – Gesu Bambino (1959)
(Clip from Vera Ward Hall – No Room At The Inn – 1959)
0:44:23 Johnny Mathis – It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (1958)
(Clip from Vera Ward Hall – No Room At The Inn – 1959)
0:48:04 Arthur Lynds Bigelow – Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (1956)
0:48:55 Vera Ward Hall – No Room At The Inn (1959)
0:49:49 Chet Atkins – O Come, All Ye Faithful (1961)
0:52:03 Ewan Maccoll – Christmas Rhyme (1957)
0:52:23 Sacred Harp Singers – Sherburne (1959)
(Clip from Christmas in Bethlehem – 1961)
0:54:25 The Three Suns – Carol of the Bells (1955)
(Clip from Christmas in Bethlehem – 1961)
0:55:47 Stan Kenton – O Tannenbaum (1961)
(Clip from Night of The Hunter – 1955)
0:57:41 Percy Faith & His Orchestra – I Wonder As I Wander (1958)
(Clip from The Loretta Young Show – Christmas Day, 1955)

Part Three

0:59:52 Laurence Welk – I’ll Be Home For Christmas (1961)
1:01:58 F Navatta, F Mingole – Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle (1955)
1:04:26 Frankie Ervin & The Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers – Christmas Eve Baby (1955)
(Clip from “Trying out Turkey Plucking” – 1961)
1:07:06 The Ramsey Lewis Trio – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (1961)
1:09:24 Putipu Band Of Capri – New Year’s Day Tarentella (1955)
(Clip from “Men’s Christmas” – 1961)
1:11:45 Duke Ellington – Sugar Rum Cherry (1960)
(Clip from “Men’s Christmas” – 1961)
(Clip from “Solo Bell-Ringer” – 1961)
(Clip from “Men’s Christmas” – 1961)
1:16:01 The Ramsey Lewis Trio – Christmas Blues (1961)
(Clip from Borden’s Egg Nog Commercial – 1956)
1:18:59 Emile Ford And The Checkmates – White Christmas (1960)
1:21:15 Father Christmas & Players – Conclusion Of Symondsbury Mummer’s Play (1958)