Roger O Green

Nat Cole, Charles Brown rule Xmas

Nathaniel Daniel Coles

Nat King Cole was born Nathaniel Daniel Coles on St. Patrick’s Day 1919 in Montgomery, AL. Died from cancer on 15 Feb 1965. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as an early influence

The Christmas Song. This tune has one of the most interesting recordings and chart histories in music. It was first recorded in 1946 by the King Cole Trio with four string players, a harpist, and a drummer.
#3 RB for three weeks, #3 pop in 1946. #23 pop in 1947. #8 RB, 24 pop in Jan 1949. #30 pop in Jan 1953.

A new mono version was recorded in 1953 with Nelson Riddle conducting. This is the version that charted most often.
#29 pop in 1954. #80 pop in 1960. #80 pop, #29 Adult Contemporary in 1962. #13 Xmas in 1963 and 1973. #6 Xmas in 1964. #4 Xmas in 1965 and 1967. #5 Xmas in 1966. #2 Xmas in 1968. #1 Xmas in 1969 and 1972. #9 Xmas in 1970. #5 Xmas in 1983. #7 Xmas in 1984. #6 Xmas in 1985.

In 1961, Nat recorded a stereo version with Ralph Carmichael conducting.
#16 Adult Contemporary in 1997.
Nat is #4 of the Christmas in the Charts 1920-2004 artists. Gene Autry is #2, and Bing Crosby, unsurprisingly, is #1.

Not the Peanuts character

#3 is Charles Brown. Born in Texas 13 Sept 1922. Died 21 Jan 1999. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 as an early influence.

Merry Christmas Baby, with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers. Brown on piano, Moore on guitar, Eddie Williams on bass.
#3 RB in 1947. #8 RB in 1948. #9 RB in 1949. #5 Xmas in 1965. #4 Xmas in 1966 and 1969. #6 Xmas in 1967. #2 Xmas in 1968 and 1973. #8 X,mas in 1970.
Different versions went to #4 Xmas in 1964 and #10 Xmas in 1965; and #2 Xmas in 1973.
Please Come Home for Christmas – #76 pop in 1961. #108 pop in 1962. #4 Xmas in 1963 and 1969. #3 Xmas in 1964, 1966-1968, and 1970. #2 Xmas in 1965. #1 Xmas in 1972. #9 Xmas in 1973.

And more

This Christmas – Donny Hathaway. #11 Xmas in 1972

White Christmas – The Drifters. #2 RB in 1954. #5 RB, #80 pop in 1955. #12 RB in 1956. #96 pop in 1960. #88 pop in 1962. #17 in 1963 and 1967. #4 in 1964. #13 Xmas in 1965. #14 Xmas in 1967.

The Mistletoe And Me – Isaac Hayes. #8 Xmas in 1969. #5 Xmas in 1973

Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas – The Staple Singers. #2 Xmas in 1973

All I Want For Christmas Is You – Carla Thomas (written by Andrew Charles Williams, Jr., best known for “Oh, Pretty Woman”), #11 Xmas in 1966

That’s What Christmas Means to Me – Stevie Wonder

The new US citizenship test

obsession with battles and wars

You may have heard about the new citizenship test that went into effect in the past month. Immigrant advocates have called it more difficult than previous versions. “Iit is longer, more nuanced and, in some questions, has a tinge of politics.” According to Politico, it’s full of conservative bias – and dotted with mistakes.

“The previous iteration of the test, last revised in 2008, required applicants to answer six of 10 questions, drawn from a pool of only 100.” Now it’s 12 out of 20. “Several new questions call for biographical details about Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Dwight Eisenhower.” “Another asks for ‘the purpose of the 10th Amendment.'” Please go to the nearest intersection and ask random people to describe Amendment 10. If you get more than one in ten, I’ll be shocked.

Let’s say your first citizenship test question is “Who does a U.S. senator represent?” In 2020, “the only approved answers from the USCIS study guide, now embodying the [regime’s] revisionist approach to government. ‘No, it’s not all people of their state — the ONLY acceptable answer has been changed to CITIZENS of their state.'”

Even more rights than that

65. What are three rights of everyone living in the United States?

• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of assembly
• Freedom to petition the government
• Freedom of religion
• The right to bear arms

“Notably missing from the UCSIS answer list are the rights to counsel, due process, equal protection, and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment or unreasonable search and seizure. An aspiring citizen who gave one of those responses could presumably be marked wrong” on the oral test.

“There are other problems with the civics test, including its unnecessary complexity, its obsession with battles and wars… Only a single answer set includes any women by name (there are 11 naming men). The word ‘democracy’ appears just once. The first section on the 2008 test was titled ‘Principles of American Democracy,’ now ominously replaced by ‘Principles of American Government.'”

The regime’s discriminatory legacy on immigrant rights is intact.

I should note, once again, that immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy in many ways. “They work at high rates and make up more than a third of the workforce in some industries… Immigrant workers help support the aging native-born population, increasing the number of workers as compared to retirees and bolstering the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. And children born to immigrant families are upwardly mobile, promising future benefits not only to their families but to the U.S. economy overall.”

Oh, yeah, What IS the purpose of the 10th Amendment? (It states that the) powers not given to the federal government belong to the states or to the people.

Sedition, Fiddler on the Roof song

he can’t change it with a tweet

Lately, I’ve not slept well at all. I go to bed around 9:30 pm, wake up three hours later, stay up for an hour, and check my email.

The evening before last, I had been singing to myself “Sedition” to the tune of “Tradition”. It’s undoubtedly a function of two things, that post I wrote recently and my unabashed love for Fiddler on the Roof.

I started jotting down notes from the emails. Suddenly, I had a few couplets, followed by a phrase that rhymes with sedition. I’ve barely edited them. Some of the rhymes are really forced. But I offer them up so that YOU might add to them, fix them, whatever.

Leave your suggestions in the comments on the blog or on Facebook. I’d be interested to see what you come up with.

The song, as it were

His faux regime refused to take the virus seriously
Engaged in partisan attacks – where is the PPE?
He hampered prevention, prevention.

The country’s finally seeing through his xenophobic lies
His anti-immigrant retorts should be something we despise
The bigot’s agnation, agnation.

His foolish quest to stay in charge is led by Sidney Powell
And Rudy Giuliani, whose hair dye is a howl
The lawyers’ deception, deception.

IMPOTUS plans to give some pardons to his family
Just like he did for Michael Flynn and Scooter Libby
The pardon provision, provision.

The Electoral College proves his constitutional defeat
Yet he keeps up denying; he can’t change it with a tweet
He stuck in delusion, delusion

Franklin Graham Says Trump ‘Will Go Down in our history
As one of the Great Presidents’ – I think he’s cra-a-zy
No state church in our nation, our nation.

He inflames radicals who hijack our society
They threaten civil servants who just want us to be free
Tyrannical sedition, sedition.

More Xmas music – percussion, rodents

A Very Special Christmas

When I grew up, I believe we had exactly two Christmas singles. The Little Drummer Boy was a tune I sang at church when I was young and cute. The version by the Harry Simone Chorale actually made the pop charts between 1958 and 1962, at #13, #15, #24, #22, and #28, respectively. It also made it to #6 on the adult contemporary charts in both 1961 and 1962.

Then it had a run on the Xmas charts between 1963 and 1970. It went #2 for four weeks, #1 for three weeks thrice in a row, #2, #1, #2, #3, respectively. A new version got to #9 in 1972, ##20 in 1973, and #10 in 1983, all on the Xmas charts.

The other single is well-loved or well-hated. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) was by David Seville and the furry creatures. In 1958, it went to #1 on the POP charts for FOUR weeks, and #5 on the rhythm and blues charts to boot. Then #41, #45, #39, and #40 on the pop charts in 1959 through 1962, respectively. It went #5 Xmas in 1963, and #6 Xmas in 1964.

We did have a few Christmas albums. But it seemed that most of them were rather generic. One exception was a series of albums by some name artists, put out by the Firestone tire company. At least two of them featured Julie Andrews. And by far, my favorite song was The Bells of Christmas, this particular version.

Some other songs

Getting Ready for Christmas Day – Paul Simon. Interesting that the sermon sampled was delivered in 1941, the same year Paul was born.

Jingle Bells – The Fab 4. NOT the Beatles.

Linus and Lucy – Vince Guaraldi Trio. I read a bio about Vince some years back.

From that first A Very Special Christmas album, which appeared on various charts between 1987 and 2002:
The Coventry Carol – Alison Moyet.
Gabriel’s Message – Sting. I had a girlfriend who HATED Sting’s voice.

Christmas All Over Again – Tom Petty. From that second A Very Special Christmas album in 1992, which charted between 1992 and 1998. I still miss Petty.

Mary’s Boy Child – Harry Belafonte. My late father incorporated elements of Belafonte in his folk-singing career.

Hamildolph! – Eclipse 6

Dec. rambling: Overture of Overtures

Beethoven (b. December 1770)

From https://wronghands1.com/2020/11/27/the-wrong-side-of-history/ Wrong Hands.

They Fought for the Country that Detained Their Families: Japanese American Soldiers in WWII.

The biology of dads.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome.

In The Age Of Zoom Dysmorphia, Experts Offer Tips To Improve Self-Image.

Interview with Swamp Thing Comic Artist Stephen Bissette.

David Lander, R.I.P. (Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley, and much more).

A New Study About Color Tries to Decode The Brain’s Pantone.

The first Golden Age Panel at Comic-Con in 1993.

Greg Hatcher: Grail Quests – Planet of the Apes, Logan’s Run, and especially Airplane!

The King Features Syndicate animated cartoon shows of the 1960s.

Now I Know: When Kids Didn’t Trust Santa and Return Doo Sender and The First Female Senator (For a Day) and The Ultimate Toys R Us Kid?

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Pringles update.

Drink away 2020.

IMPOTUS

He Rewards Kellyanne Conway, 2 Dozen Others With Prestigious Government Appointments.

Weekly Sift: Pardons and Their Limits.

Lincoln Project: Whispers III.

Comedians Bought DonaldJTrump2024.com Just so They Could Mock Him.

COVID

One traveler’s experience. For Andrew Evans, who had traveled to South Korea for a job, entering the country involved a mandatory, 14-day quarantine locked alone in a room at a government isolation facility.

“Checking in at New York’s nearly empty JFK included signing legal documents acknowledging that he was voluntarily placing himself in government custody and that he would have to pay for it — a fixed cost of 1.68 million KRW (equivalent to $1,459.99).”

COVID vaccines: calling the shots.

“What better lesson can we learn from the COVID vaccine experience than that the multi-national pharma companies should be publicly owned so that research and development can be directed to meet the health and medical needs of people not the profits of these companies.

“And moreover, then the necessary vaccines can get to the billions in the poorest countries and circumstances rather than to just those countries and people who can afford to pay the prices set by these companies.”

Margaret Keenan, soon to be 91, became the first person to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Rudy Giuliani potentially exposed hundreds to the virus.

A Nice Holiday Story About A Killer Virus.

How Your Brain Tricks You Into Taking Risks During the Pandemic.

Having Chemotherapy During COVID-19 Has Given Me So Many Things to Be Grateful For.

MUSIC

Jaquandor’s Daily Dose of Christmas.

Santa Baby – Marzia Plichta and Christoph Drösser.

Bohemian Chanukah – Six13.

Musicians from London’s West End performing Overture of Overtures.

The Revelation – Roosevelt Wardell Trio (album) within a discussion on stuck at home and depression.

Pop Psalms: Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.

Paul McCartney: Who Cares and We All Stand Together and Come On To Me.

What the World Needs Now -Tom Clay, which I wrote about way back in 2006.

Coverville 1336: The Christina Aguilera Cover Story.

Mean Green Mother from Outer Space – Cavin Cornwall.

Concerto in One Movement by Florence Price.

Don’t Fool Around with My Heart – William Roberts, a/k/a Michigan J Frog, from the 1942 movie, The Yanks Are Coming. Plus It Hopped One Night: A Look at One Froggy Evening.

John Lennon: The Last Interview.

Roll Over, Beethoven (b. December 1770)

Fidelio, his only opera.

Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major.

Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, more familiarly called Für Elise.

Symphony No. 6 in F Major, the Pastoral.