Showing posts with label Walt Disney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walt Disney. Show all posts

December 22, 2025

20,000 vinyl LPs 404: Mormon Tabernacle Choir – The Spirit Of Christmas

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Mormon Tabernacle Choir  ~ The Spirit of Christmas
vinyl LP front cover 
 cover photo by 
photo of album cover by Styrous®


On December 22, 1885, American composer, radio commentator, music critic, and author Joseph Deems Taylor was born. Despite minimal musical training he took to music composition. The result was a series of works for orchestra and/or voices. In 1916 he wrote the cantata The Chambered Nautilus, followed by Through the Looking-Glass (for orchestra) in 1918, earning him public praise and recognition. He acquired several students, including composer Mary Watson Weaver.          
 
 
Mormon Tabernacle Choir  ~ The Spirit of Christmas
vinyl LP front cover 
 cover photo by 
photo of album cover by Styrous®
 
 
In 1921 he secured a job as music critic for the New York World, a post he held until 1929. When approached by the Metropolitan Opera to suggest a composer to write a new opera. He put forth his own name, and was accepted, the result being The King's Henchman, with the libretto by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Peter Ibbetson followed in 1929. He was a promoter of classical music throughout his life.           
He appeared in the Walt Disney 1940 film Fantasia as the film's Master of Ceremonies, and was instrumental in selecting the musical pieces that were used in the film, including the then-controversial Sacre du Printemps by Igor Stravinsky. That same year, he served the same role as Master of Ceremonies for the classical portion of a Carousel of American Music, a famous concert series held in San Francisco on September 24. The concert had Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael, WC Handy, Johnny Mercer, and many more of America's top songwriting talents performing their own compositions.     
 

 
Mormon Tabernacle Choir  ~ The Spirit of Christmas
vinyl LP Side 1 & 2 
photo by Styrous®


   
Tracklist:
       
Side 1:
        
A1 - Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming, Arranged By [Harmonized By] – Michael Praetorius - 2:32

A2 - Tell Us, Shepherd Maids, Arranged By – Mary E. Caldwell - 2:16

A3 - O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Music By – Lewis H. Redner*, Written-By – Phillips Brooks - 1:44

A4 - The Snow Lay On The Ground, Arranged By – Leo Sowerby - 3:38

A5 - The Shepherds' Story, Lyrics By – William Morris (9), Written-By – Clarence Dickinson - 4:32

A6 - For Christ Is Born, Arranged By – R. Crawford*, Written-By – K. Aiken*, Mary E. Crawford* - 4:12

A7 - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!, Adapted By – W. H. Cummings*, Music By – Felix Mendelssohn*, Words By – Charles Wesley - 1:42

A8 - While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, Arranged By – Arthur Warrell - 2:12

A9 - The Coventry Carol, Arranged By – Bryceson Treharne - 3:32
       
Side 2:
       
B1 - Silent Night, Holy Night, Music By – Franz Gruber, Words By – Josef Mohr* - 3:15

B2 - Carol Of The Bells, Arranged By – Peter J. Wilhousky*, Written-By – M. Leontovich* - 1:30

B3 - Glory To God In The Highest, Written-By – Giovanni B. Pergolesi* - 3:28

B4 - The Three Kings, Lyrics By – Rev. Lluis Romeu, Translated By – Deems Taylor, Written-By – Kurt Schindler - 2:30

B5 - Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light (Christmas Oratorio), Written-By – Johan S. Bach* - 1:50

B6 - Bethlehem Night, Lyrics By – W. Leslie Nicholls, Music By – Arthur Warrell - 1:55

B7 - What Perfume Is This? O Shepherds, Say!, Arranged By – Samuel Liddle - 2:12

B8 - Christmas Day, Written-By – Gustav Holst - 7:06

B9 - O Come, All Ye Faithful, Written-By – F. Oakley* - 1:40
         
Credits:
       
    Choir – Mormon Tabernacle Choir
    Directed By – Richard P. Condie
    Directed By [Assistant] – Jay Welch
    Liner Notes – Jay Welch
    Organ – Alexander Schreiner, Frank W. Asper
        
Notes:
       
Columbia gray, black and white Six Eye label
Track A7 - William Cummings (2) -> William Hayman Cummings
       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
        
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side A, Stamped (Except after H, inscribed)): XXSM47847-1AC H11//\-L
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, Side B, Stamped (Except H, inscribed)): XXSM47848-1CB H

Mormon Tabernacle Choir – The Spirit Of Christmas: Christmas Carols Sung By The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Label: Columbia Masterworks – MS 6100
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1959
Genre: Classical
Style: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, Choral
         
Viewfinder links:        
         
Irving Berlin                
Hoagy Carmichael           
George M. Cohan        
WC Handy          
Johnny Mercer        
        
YouTube link:        
        
Mormon Tabernacle Choir – The Spirit Of Christmas (complete album)         
        
        
         
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Monday, December 22, 2025        
       
 
 















December 15, 2025

Sherman Brothers articles/mentions

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mentions:      
     
     
     
     
     
date & photographer unknown 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
 
 
 
 
 



 

December 14, 2025

20,000 vinyl LPs 402: Mary Poppins & Dick Van Dyke

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Mary Poppins lobby card         
         
         
         
         
 
Yesterday was the birthday of actor, comedian Dick Van Dyke, who was born in West Plains, MissouriVan Dyke is a Dutch surname, although he also has English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. His family line traces back to Mayflower passenger John Alden.        
 
During the late 1940s, Van Dyke was a radio DJ on WDAN in Danville, Illinois. In November 1959, Van Dyke made his Broadway debut in The Girls Against the Boys which ran at the Alvin Theatre. The production was a revue in two acts and featured performances from Van Dyke, Shelley Berman, Bert Lahr, Nancy Walker among many others. The production ran on Broadway for 16 performances from November 2 to 14, 1959.           
 
He played the lead role of Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie, which ran from April 14, 1960, to October 7, 1961. Van Dyke starred alongside Chita Rivera, Barbara Doherty, and Paul Lynde.         
 
From 1961 to 1966, Van Dyke starred in the CBS sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, in which he portrayed a comedy writer named Rob Petrie. Complementing Van Dyke was a cast of comic actors including Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Jerry Paris, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Richard Deacon, and Carl Reiner (as Alan Brady), as well as 24-year-old Mary Tyler Moore, who played Rob's wife Laura Petrie.  
 
In 1964, Van Dyke was cast in two roles in the Walt Disney film, Mary Poppins, as Bert, a man who goes through multiple odd jobs, ultimately becoming a chimney sweep; and as bank chairman Mr. Dawes Senior. For his scenes as the chairman, he was heavily costumed to look much older and was credited in that role as "Navckid Keyd". At the end of the credits, the letters unscramble into "Dick Van Dyke". His attempt at a cockney accent has been deemed one of the worst accents in film history, cited by actors since as an example of how NOT to sound.       
 
 
 Mary Poppins ~ vinyl LP front cover 
 photo of album cover by Styrous® 
 
 
Chim Chim Cher-ee, one of the songs that Van Dyke performed in Mary Poppins, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the Sherman Brothers, the film's songwriting duo. Van Dyke received a Grammy Award in 1964, along with Julie Andrews, for his performance on the soundtrack to Mary Poppins.     
 
Who can forget his wacky dance with the penguins . . .      
 
 

 
. . . or the zany Super-Cali-Fragil-Istic-Expi-Ali Docious with the buskers?    
 
 
 
 
The pairing of Van Dyke and Andrews seemed strange to me at first but when the film got under way I got over it; in hind-sight, it's a perfect match. She a good contrast to his brash and jerky persona. She shines especially when she sings the  quiet and beautiful lullaby, Feed the Birds.    
 
 

 
Mary Poppins was released by Buena Vista Records, the album features music and lyrics by the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman), performed by Julie Andrews in her Oscar-winning role as the magical nanny, alongside Dick Van Dyke, Glynis Johns, and David Tomlinson.            
 
 
 Mary Poppins ~ vinyl LP back cover 
 photo by Styrous® 
 
The album design is a gatefold; I love them as there's more room for photos and information, all of which has interested and helped me buy records never heard of before.                 
 
 
 
front & interior
 photos by Styrous®  


 
Dick Van Dyke received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992, a milestone celebrated by fans and noted by organizations like Hallmark Mystery, marking his enduring career in entertainment.       
 
 

 
 
 

  Mary Poppins ~ vinyl LP side 1 & 2 
 photos by Styrous® 
 

         
         
         
Tracklist:
       
Side 1:
        
A1 - Orchestra*, Chorus* – Overture

A2 - Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber – The Perfect Nanny, Vocals [Jane] – Karen Dotrice, Vocals [Michael] – Matthew Garber

A3 - Glynis Johns – Sister Suffragette, Vocals [Mrs. Banks] – Glynis Johns

A4 - David Tomlinson (2) – The Life I Lead, Vocals [Mr. Banks] – David Tomlinson (2)

A5 - Julie Andrews – A Spoonful Of Sugar, Vocals [Mary Poppins] – Julie Andrews

A6 - Dick Van Dyke (2) – Pavement Artist (Chim Chim Cheree), Vocals [Bert] – Dick Van Dyke (2)

A7 - Dick Van Dyke (2) And Julie Andrews – Jolly Holiday, Vocals – Dick Van Dyke (2), Julie Andrews

A8 - Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke (2) And Pearlies – Super-Cali-Fragil-Istic-Expi-Ali Docious, Vocals – Dick Van Dyke (2), Julie Andrews

A9 - Julie Andrews – Stay Awake, Vocals – Julie Andrews
       
Side 2:
       
B1 - Ed Wynn, Julie Andrews And Dick Van Dyke (2) – I Love To Laugh, Vocals – Dick Van Dyke (2), Julie Andrews, Vocals [Uncle Albert] – Ed Wynn

B2 - David Tomlinson (2) And Julie Andrews – A British Bank (The Life I Lead), Vocals – David Tomlinson (2), Julie Andrews

B3 - Julie Andrews And Chorus* – Feed The Birds (Tuppence A Bag), Vocals – Julie Andrews

B4 - Dick Van Dyke (2), David Tomlinson (2) And Bankers (2) – Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, Vocals – David Tomlinson (2), Dick Van Dyke (2)

B5 - Dick Van Dyke (2), Julie Andrews, Karen Dotrice And Matthew Garber – Chim Chim Cheree, Vocals – Dick Van Dyke (2), Julie Andrews, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber

B6 - Dick Van Dyke (2) And Chimney Sweeps* – Step In Time, Vocals – Dick Van Dyke (2)

B7 - David Tomlinson (2) And Dick Van Dyke (2) – A Man Has Dreams (The Life I Lead-A Spoonful Of Sugar), Vocals – David Tomlinson (2), Dick Van Dyke (2)

B8 - David Tomlinson (2), Dick Van Dyke (2) And Londoners* - Let's Go Fly A Kite, Vocals – David Tomlinson (2), Dick Van Dyke (2)

        
Companies, etc.
       
    Copyright © – Walt Disney Productions
    Record Company – Radio Corporation Of America
    Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
        
Credits:
       
    Arranged By, Conductor – Irwin Kostal
    Engineer – Brian Ross-Myring, Bruce Botnick
    Music By, Lyrics By – Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
    Producer [Produced For Phonograph Records By] – Jimmy Johnson (10)
    Producer [With The Assistance Of] – Evelyn Kennedy
        
Notes:
       
This release is a label variant of Various - Mary Poppins (Original Cast Soundtrack). Please see the location of the catalog# and Side# of each release for some of the variances. Both releases are pressed by RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis.

Front Cover: CSO-111 STEREO
Spine: CSO-111
Inside Gatefold: COP/CSO-111
Label: CSO-111 (RPRS-4365 [Side 1] RPRS-4366 [Side 2])

Gatefold includes synopsis of story inside. On the back of the sleeve, the names of the characters are matched with the actors and actresses who play the parts.

Inner Sleeve: RCA Victor promotional (Dynagroove etc..) Catalog offer plus other release details

© 1964 Walt Disney Productions
Printed in U.S.A.
       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
        
    Matrix / Runout (A-Side Label): RPRS-4365
    Matrix / Runout (B-Side Label): RPRS-4366
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 1 - Side 1, runout): RPRS-4365--2S I
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 1 - Side 2, runout): A2 RPRS-4366--3S I
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 - Side 1, runout): RPRS-4365--2S B4 I
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 - Side 2, runout): A2 RPRS-4366--3S I A5 

Various – Mary Poppins (Original Cast Soundtrack)
Label: RCA Victor – CSO-111
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Club Edition, Repress, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1965
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack
   
         
         
         
         
Viewfinder links:        
         
Morey Amsterdam              
Julie Andrews           
Shelley Berman         
Walt Disney            
Glynis Johns          
Bert Lahr         
Paul Lynde       
Mary Tyler Moore            
Carl Reiner        
        
YouTube links:        
         
Chim Chim Cher-ee         
Feed the Birds           
Jolly Holiday           
The Penguin Dance        
A Spoonful Of Sugar        
Step In Time                  
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Sunday, December 14, 2025        
       
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

March 21, 2024

Modest Mussorgsky ~ Pictures at an Exhibition

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English: The cover of the first edition of Mussorgsky's Picture at the Exhibition (edited by Rimsky-Korsakov).
Русский: Обложка первого издания «Картинок с выставки» М. П. Мусоргского (под редакцией Н. А. Римского-Корсакова).
 
Deutsch: Das Titelblatt der ersten Ausgabe von Modest Mussorgskis „Bilder einer Ausstellung“ (bearbeitet von Rimski-Korsakoff). Die Aufschrift lautet:

Владиміру Васльевичу Стасову
Картинки съ выставки
Десять пьесъ для фортепіано
Модеста Мусоргскаго

A Monsieur Wladimir Stassoff
„Tableaux d’une exposition“
Série de dix pièces
POUR PIANO
PAR
MODESTE MOUSSORGSKY

  
  
Today, March 21, is the birthday of Russian composer, librettist, director, and playwright Modest Mussorgsky who was born in 1839. He was one of a group known as "The Five" and an innovator of Russian music in the Romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.       


Modest Mussorgsky
 date & photographer unknown
 
 
Many of his works were inspired by Russian folklore, history and other national themes some of which include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.       
 
Pictures at an Exhibition is based on paintings in an exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg by the artist, architect, and designer Viktor Hartmann who with Mussorgsky, was devoted to the cause of an intrinsically Russian art. Each movement of the suite is based on an individual work from that exhibition.            


date & photographer unknown

 
As with most of Mussorgsky's works, Pictures at an Exhibition has a complicated publication history. Although composed very rapidly, during June 1874, the work did not appear in print until 1886, five years after the composer's death, when an edition by the composer's friend and colleague Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was published. This edition, however, was not a completely accurate representation of Mussorgsky's score but presented a revised text that contained a number of errors and misreadings.  
 
In 1922, Maurice Ravel wrote an adaptation for orchestra and it is the most recorded and performed. There have been dozens of interpretations of Pictures by world renown classical music conductors as well as popular musicians over the years.     
 
 


The suite has inspired covers in a broad range of popular musical styles. The Emerson, Lake & Palmer version incorporated elements of progressive rock, jazz and folk music. An electronic music adaptation by Isao Tomita was done in 1975 and in 2005, Animusic 2 created an amazing animation that included a track entitled Cathedral Pictures, which used only the first Promenade and the final two movements from the suite arranged by Tomita. On the topic of animation, one unforgettable endeavor was the 1940 Walt Disney animation Fantasia which used Night on Bald Mountain. I remember when I was a little kid I loved Fantasia but this segment totally creeped me out!       
         
In 1984 the metal band, Armored Saint, utilised the Great Gate of Kyiv theme as an introduction for the track March of the Saint in the album of the same name. In 1990 a heavy metal arrangement of the entire suite was released by the German band Mekong Delta; In 2002, electronic musician-composer Amon Tobin paraphrased Gnomus for the track Back From Space on his album Out from Out Where. In 2003 guitarist-composer Trevor Rabin released an electric guitar adaptation of the Promenade that was originally intended for the Yes album Big Generator but later included on his compilation album, 90124. The Michael Jackson song HIStory samples a short section of The Great Gate of Kiev.           

     
     



Viewfinder links:         
        
Viktor Hartmann           
Michael Jackson ~ HIStory                 
Modest Mussorgsky         
Trevor Rabin         
Maurice Ravel          
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov                 
Amon Tobin        
Isao Tomita        
        
Net links:         
        
Animusic 2        
         
         
         
         
        
YouTube links:         
Animusic 2 ~  Pictures at an exhibition                    
Armored Saint ~ March of the Saint         
Walt Disney - Night on Bald Mountain        
Emerson, Lake & Palmer ~ Pictures At An Exhibition (Complete album)     
Michael Jackson ~ HIStory        
Mekong Delta ~ Pictures At An Exhibition (Complete album)      
Trevor Rabin ~ Promenade            
Amon Tobin ~ Back From Space       
Isao Tomita ~ Pictures At An Exhibition (Complete album)     
           
         
         
         
         
         
Styrous® ~ Thursday, March 21, 2024       
        
 
 





















September 17, 2023

Esther Ralston ~ America's Youngest Juliet

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photo: Photoplay Magazine
       
       
       
       
       
        
Today, September 17, is the birthday of Esther Ralston, a silent film star whose most prominent sound picture was To the Last Man in 1933. The film also starred Randolph Scott, Noah Beery Sr., Buster Crabbe, Shirley Temple and John Carradine.         
        
        
        
        
Ralston was born in Bar HarborMaine, in 1902. She began her career as a child actress in a family vaudeville act which was billed as "The Ralston Family with Baby Esther, America's Youngest Juliet".         
 
Ralston later gained attention as Mrs. Darling in the 1924 film version of Peter Pan, the first film adaptation of the 1904 play by J. M. Barrie. It was directed by Herbert Brenon and starred Betty Bronson as Peter Pan, Ernest Torrence as Captain Hook, Mary Brian as Wendy, Virginia Browne Faire as Tinker Bell, Esther Ralston as Mrs. Darling, and Anna May Wong as the Native American princess Tiger Lily. The film was seen by Walt Disney, and inspired him to create his company's 1953 animated adaptation.       

Over the next six years she made 24 films and became one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses. She was in the director James Cruze film, Old Ironsides (1926), an epic concerning the fight between 19th-century sailing ships and pirates, which starred Charles Farrell, with minor roles by Wallace Beery and Boris Karloff, and filmed in the early large-screen process Magnascope
 
 
Magnascope diagram
 
 
One of the writers of the film was Dorothy Arzner, who made her directorial debut with Fashions For Women (1927), a comedy starring Ralston in the dual role of an ageing society woman and the cigarette-girl who takes her place while she has a secret facelift.    

On January 14, 1994, Ralston died of a heart attack at age 91 in her home in Ventura, California.      
       
      
      
      
       
      
       
      
Viewfinder links:       
             
Dorothy Arzner         
J. M. Barrie       
Noah Beery Sr.            
John Carradine            
Buster Crabbe         
Boris Karloff            
Esther Ralston             
Shirley Temple        
Anna May Wong          
      
Net links:       
       
Bizarre Los Angeles ~ Esther Ralston photos & quotes   
Chicago Film Society ~ Magnascope             
      
YouTube links:       
       
Esther Ralston ~ I Looked In Your Eyes     
  
     
      

      
       

      
       
      
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, September 6, 2023      
       
   
 
    
      
      
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December 7, 2021

Cliff Edwards articles/mentions

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publicity photo