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Album recording audio remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
Category: Frank Sinatra
THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS! A 1957 HOLIDAY ALBUM MEMORY
‘A JOLLY CHRISTMAS’
— ABOUT THIS LP —
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A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra is a Christmas album by American singer Frank Sinatra, originally released by Capitol Records in 1957.
This was Sinatra’s first full-length Christmas album. It features the Ralph Brewster Singers along with an orchestra conducted by Gordon Jenkins.
Capitol reissued the album in 1965 with different cover art and a new title, The Sinatra Christmas Album, both of which also featured on the album’s initial 1987 compact disc pressing. The original title and cover were eventually restored for subsequent CD pressings in 1990 and 1999. In 2001, the album art was altered from its 1957 version. The CD bonus tracks were originally issued on a 1954 Capitol 45 rpm single, arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.
A JOLLY CHRISTMAS (COMPLETE LP) * 1957
A HOLIDAY RECORDS COUNTDOWN! 07 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
‘HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS’
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“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” was written by Blane Ralph and Martin Hugh for a sad scene in the film ‘Meet Me In St. Louis’ (1944) and first had lines such as “it may be your last [Christmas]” and “[friends] will be near to us no more”. Hugh Martin recalled to Entertainment Weekly in 2007, “They said, ‘It’s so dreadfully sad.’ I said, ‘I thought the girls were supposed to be sad in that scene.’ They said, ‘Well, not *that* sad.'” Frank Sinatra’s version, by 1957, has altered lyrics more suitable for the jolly season as indicated by his album’s title “A Jolly Christmas” this song was included on. Judy Garland performed this song with Frank Sinatra’s modified lyrics on “The Judy Garland Show Christmas Special” in 1963.
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(Source: azlyrics.com)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
DECEMBER 19 * 07 * FRANK SINATRA
08 DAYS: OUR SPECIAL CHRISTMAS 2018 COUNTDOWN
FRANK SINATRA * DECEMBER 18 (No. 08)
A ’57 HOLIDAY MEMORY. THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!
FRANK SINATRA * A JOLLY CHRISTMAS (COMPLETE LP) * 1957
A MCRFB Note: Click on (COMPLETE LP) for track listing on this album.
THIS WEEK 50 YEARS AGO: THE HOTTEST HIT IN THE USA!
NUMBER 1 IN AMERICA ’67 * Frank and Nancy Sinatra * 04/09/67 – 05/06/1967
BILLBOARD HOT 100 TOP FIVE: WEEK-ENDING APRIL 15, 1967
(click on chart image 2x for detailed view)
NUMBER ONE FOR 1967!
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THIRTEEN WEEKS on the singles chart, “Somethin’ Stupid” by Frank and Nancy Sinatra peaked this week at No. 01 (4 weeks) on the Billboard Hot 100, week April 9 through May 6, 1967. (source: Billboard)
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MCRFB Link: For the previous No. 1 record in the U.S.A. 1967 GO HERE.
50TH! TALKIN’ ‘BOUT MY GENERATION: TOP HITS OF ’66!
“That’s Life” * Frank Sinatra * Reprise Records (1966)
GETTING OUT THE VOTE! J.F.K. ‘A TIME FOR GREATNESS’
VOTE FOR KENNEDY * Frank Sinatra * HIGH HOPES (1960)
THIS WEEK 50 YEARS AGO: THE HOTTEST HIT IN THE USA!
BILLBOARD HOT 100 TOP FIVE: WEEK-ENDING JULY 2, 1966
(click on image 2x for detailed view)
NUMBER 1 IN AMERICA ’66 * Frank Sinatra * WEEK OF 06/26/66 – 07/02/1966
NUMBER ONE FOR 1966!
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FIFTEEN WEEKS on the singles chart, “Strangers In The Night” by Frank Sinatra peaked this week at No. 01 (1 week) on the Billboard Hot 100, week-ending June 26 through July 2, 1966. (source: Billboard)
MCRFB Link: For the previous No. 1 record in the U.S.A. 1966 GO HERE.
HARD STATIONS GOING SOFT? . . . JUNE 4, 1966
From the MCRFB news archives: 1966
Softer Pop Sound Trending Radio Where Mostly ‘Hard’ Top 40 Plays
LOS ANGELES — Frank Sinatra’s mercurial smash, “Strangers In The Night” is an indication to some in the (radio) trade that a softening up of top 40 stations hard rock sound is taking place.
Based on “Strangers” frantic sales pace, indicating the single will be Sinatra’s biggest hit, Reprise general manager Mo Ostin notes that it’s not as tough today to get on a top 40 station with a product other than a hard rock record as it was previously.
The overwhelming dominance of a hard sound is diminishing, the executive said. “There appears to be a trend for a lot of the hard rock stations to go soft,” Ostin added. “They are diluting their top 40 format with the addition of a mixed blending of material.”
WIP-AM in Philadelphia and KFWB here, for example are playing more adult-oriented music than ever before.
The unequaled acceptance of the latest Sinatra single has created a rush to cover the tune. According to Ostin, the song has been cut in 50 other situations. “Strangers,” written by Bert Kaempfert, was produced by Jimmy Bowen in a commercial style with Ernie Freeman’s arrangement aimed at a top 40 sound.
The single was meant to be a blending for adults and teenagers and the result is successful, Ostin boasted, if a recent Columbus, Ohio, rock station’s phone poll is any barometer. Sinatra was voted the top artist by adult listeners, and among the top five teenage favorites. END
(Information and news source: Billboard; June 4, 1966)
