Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Drum On This


The story is best told elsewhere, but the short version is this.  Jack Halloran recorded a song called Carol of the Drum and put it on an album in 1957.  In 1958, Harry Simeone recorded a nearly identical song, released it as a single called The Little Drummer Boy which he claimed to have co-written, it became a huge smash,and that was that.  Except that he really didn't write it.  He barely arranged it.  His version was, as I said, nearly identical to Halloran's version, and several others that had come before it.  At the most, he just retitled it.  So Simeone got all the credit, and nobody knows Halloran's name today.  Shame, that.  This is the stereo version of that 1957 LP (which you can see here, at my original post from 2007, and my original stereo post is here, also from 2007).  After the 1958 debacle, they retitled it and rereleased it, and that's what you're getting tonight.  Please download and enjoy The Jack Halloran Singers-The Little Drummer Boy (Dot DLP 25233, Stereo, 1959). It's been released a few more times since 1959, one of those covers is the one you see below.

1. The Little Drummer Boy
2. Christmas Is A-Comin'
3. I Wonder As I Wander
4. While Shepherds Watched Their Sheep
5. Lullaby For The Infant Jesus
6. The Holly And The Ivy
7. Deck The Halls
8. Adeste Fideles
9. Joy To The World
10. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
11. Pat-A-Pan
12. Mary's Little Boy Child
13. Go Tell It On The Mountain
14. The Prince Of Peace
15. Angels We Have Heard On High
16. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
17. The First Noel
18. Silent Night
19. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

RapidShare
MegaUpload
MediaFire

While I'm at it, here's the mono version from 1957. Same tracks, different order, better cover (the one below). The Jack Halloran Singers-Christmas Is A-Comin' (Dot DLP 3076, 1957)

RapidShare
MegaUpload
MediaFire

2 comments:

  1. A great album! I'm sure Simone felt terrible... Sitting on top of his giant pile of cash!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can you possibly Re up the link. Thank You

    ReplyDelete

All comments are greatly appreciated, but replies aren't guaranteed...