Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/16/2016 03:02:49Copy HTML

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/16/2016 04:44:14Copy HTML

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/16/2016 07:03:53Copy HTML

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/16/2016 07:52:21Copy HTML

Thank you for responses...I knew this would be a good topic.   I also have Perry Como's version, Bing Crosby (from the Voice of Christmas), Stevie Wonder, Connie Francis, Bobby Darin and Andrea Bocelli.   I also have a Frank Sinatra version from the Christmas Songs by Sinatra.   As for Mario Lanza's version, it looks like the 'single' of Ave Maria was cut in 1955.  The RCA recording number is 47-6330.  It has been released on CD on several various artists compilations and at least 3 Mario Lanza only Christmas albums (on cd).   Does anyone know of a well established sessions book regarding Mario Lanza's Christmas songs sessions?  I have several similar tomes for Crosby, Nat King Cole, Sinatra and Dean Martin.   Please do let me know and thanks again for all your knowledge and help!   Regards, Jon P in Tennessee.  PS - Like Ave Maria, would it be a fun idea to start some messages about other well known Christmas songs and solicit favorites?   Please let me know....

11-16-16 @ 19:59 PM
Follow-up to above message:

Thanks again all....The CD that contains the 'best' Mario Lanza version is actually called Home for Christmas, now out of print, was put out by Rhino in 1992, a great compilation.   It was one of the first Christmas CDs (after so many 45s,  lps and cassettes) I owned.

The song list is as follows:

Disc A

1. Sleigh Ride - Leory Anderson
2. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
3. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
5. Carol Of The Bells - Johnny Mathis
6. The Twelve Days Of Christmas - Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians
7. Jingle Bells - Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
8. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Mabel Scott
9. Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane) - Gene Autry
10. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
11. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Connie Francis
12. Joy To The World - John Fahey
13. Away In A Manger - Roger Whittaker
14. Oh Holy Night - The Orioles
15. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
16. Winter Wonderland - Johnny Mercer
17. Merry Christmas Baby - Charles Brown
18. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem - Paul Anka
19. We Wish You A Merry Christmascaroling Caroling - The Inner Voices
20. The Christmas Song - Mel Torme

Disc B

1. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
2. The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simeone Chorale
3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Vaughn Monroe
4. Little Saint Nick - The Beach Boys
5. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Jimmy Boyd
6. Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy - Buck Owens And His Buckaroos
7. Ave Maria - Mario Lanza
8. This Time Of Year - Brook Benton
9. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - The Jackson 5
10. All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) - Spike Jones & His City Slickers
11. Deck The Halls - Jackie Wilson
12. Silent Night - Mahalia Jackson
13. Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come - Jimmie Rodgers
14. Adeste Fideles - Bing Crosby
15. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
16. Go Tell It On The Mountain - Bobby Darin
17. Mary's Boy Child - Harry Belafonte
18. It's Christmas Once Again - Frankie Lymon
19. There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays - Perry Como
20. Auld Lang Syne - Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians

This a great list and has the great Ave Maria (Schubert) version of Mario Lanza.   Interestingly, it has the 1947 version of Bing's "White Christmas" and Mel Torme's version of "The Christmas Song".  A few silly ones (Spike Jones and Jimmy Boyd) but overall a great collection that Rhino needs to bring back.   

Also, correction to my prior note about the Irish Tenors...the correct spelling is (Ronan) Tynan (not Tynin), my apologies.

Enjoy, it is available on Amazon and elsewhere...

*Message edited by the Yule Log.com Message Board Administrator on 11/16/16 to combine two consecutive reply posts by the same member. Also, double-post was deleted. **Click here to review my post regarding same-day double-posting.

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/17/2016 03:30:12Copy HTML

Steve,

That is spot-on about the collaborative Johnny Mathis/Percy Faith versions.

The formidable and magnificent collaboration of Johnny Mathis and Percy Faith is unbeatable and puts both versions of Ave Maria (the Schubert [long version] as well as the Bach/Gounod [short version]) in a class all by itself. That is precisely why these two versions of the song were chosen to open and close the Real Gone Music 3-CD Complete Christmas Collection set that was released last year.


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Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/17/2016 06:00:48Copy HTML

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/17/2016 02:35:51Copy HTML

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/18/2016 05:50:21Copy HTML

I have everything that exits, Jon; so lack of access to any recordings was not an issue for choosing which songs I wanted for the Yule Log's fourth and fifth hours. And licensing was not an issue either, as WPIX has a blanket licensing agreement to air any songs that I chose. So I had no limitations, nor needed any approvals on the music.

As for my method of choosing, it was a pretty straightforward procedure. Over the course of several years preceding the creation of my new fourth hour in 2009, I slowly began to compile a list of what would eventually be about 100 songs that would be the Top contenders for a possible new fourth hour. Then, in 2009, when I produced that new fourth hour, I chose the Top 23 songs from that list.

And subsequently, when I created the new fifth hour for this year's 50th anniversary, I chose the Top 22 songs from the remainder of that original list.

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/18/2016 03:18:28Copy HTML

Re：Ave Maria (Schubert version)

Date Posted：11/18/2016 06:16:14Copy HTML

My pleasure, Jon.

By the way, that list of the Top 100 songs that I compiled was culled exclusively from the 1st Tier of my Top 500 (albums 1-125). That took time enough, but the most agonizing process was then choosing the final songs that would make up the 60 minutes that I was limited to. I originally had it down to an absolute must 25 songs that I wanted to include; but unfortunately it ran too long, and I had to cut two more songs. And it is that last cut that was the most difficult to make. Needles to say, it is those two songs that didn't make the final cut for the new fourth hour in 2009 that were the very first to be chosen when I created the new fifth hour, which will premiere this Christmas 2015 for the 50th anniversary golden jubilee celebration. By the way, the songs that I chose for the new fifth hour ran a little bit longer, which is why the final number of selections came in at 22 for the fifth hour, as opposed to 23 for the fourth hour.

Luckily for WPIX, the person who knows the program best (which, immodestly is me) is also the person with the most extensive Christmas music collection, which is why they gave me full artistic creativity and authority is producing these two new Yule Log hours. And that was a very high honor to bestow, considering the legendary status of the program.






*[Edited 12/14/16 to correct typo]