I received a request for this apparently rare single, recorded in 1958 on the Ft. Wayne, Indiana label Emerald, which has four entire singles listed here. 45 RPM Records is a wonderful resource--one I turn to often, especially with all the indie gospel labels I feature. (It has LP info, too.)
I had posted this in 2017, but I must have taken it down after the Zippylink had expired. Zippylink was convenient and not convenient, all at the same time. Anyway, I'd forgotten that my copy has some distortion--either the pressing wasn't good, or a bad needle made contact with the grooves (I suspect the latter). Years of experience have taught me that increasing the VTF is the solution for a worn record (my wider needle didn't work), and so I increased the tracking force--and everything sounded worse. Then I used my best stylus at 1.5 grams, and I got more than acceptable results. The files have some mild spots of distortion, but sound pretty good. Apparently, having the needle ride higher in the grooves was the trick. Above the damage, in other words.
The person requesting the file said he heard it in a Netflix movie, and I hope to find out which one. (UPDATE: 2014'sChristmas, Again. Thanks, Ernie. I don't know how I missed that in my Google search.) There's always the possibility my own file was "borrowed," as happens routinely. But I can't assume this is the case, even as often as my stuff is swiped anymore. Copies other than mine do exist, and I don't have a right to accuse without cause.
Enjoy this very obscure side. My area of musical blindness, so to speak, is identifying vocal ranges. I have relative pitch, I can map chord progressions by ear, I'm an excellent sight-reader, but I sometimes can't tell tenor from baritone. Anyway, Fran--a very good singer--sounds like a contralto slightly out of her comfortable range. And some of the key changes in Christmas Everywhere sound like wobbly, badly spliced repitchings, but who knows? In several spots, the melody of this song anticipates the 1963 The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, which is cool.* This is an ambitious no-budget production, and I really like it. And the flip, One Star, is the type of thing that's nearly always corny and overdone, but, surprise--it's a nice, fairly touching Advent ditty. I have no idea who composer "Leblanc" is--he or she wrote both sides.
I have a Shell Wonderful World of Music holiday LP (Longines Symphonette) ready to go. Anyone want to hear it? Maybe someone can identify the Johnny Mann Singers-sounding group featured on it.
*By which I mean the melody and chord changes. The two songs have different meters (duple vs. triple).
DOWNLOAD: Fran Alexandre, 1958
Christmas Everywhere (Leblanc)--Fran Alexandre, 1958
One Star (Leblanc)--Same.
Lee