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Carol of the Drum (Bastien) - Trapp Family 1955
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On November 20, 2011
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Written by Katherine K. Davis
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There's an excellent post about "Carol of the Drum" on the Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else blog site:
http://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/2011/12/carol-of-drum-athon.html
I raised the issue of the original release date the Trapp Family recording with Lee Hartsfeld, the author of this great blog.
Here's Lee's response.
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Aieee!! You would ask me that. (-:
I don't remember the exact details, so I'll give a quick sketch off the top of my noggin. "Carol" was recorded for Deutsche Grammophon between 1951-53, and it appeared in the U.S. on Decca in 1953 on a two-part 45 rpm EP set. I'd bet the farm there was a corresponding 10-inch set of at least two parts. Then, in 1955, came the 12" two-parter.
If you want, I can retrace my steps in greater detail. I do remember nailing the year as 1952 via cross-dating. As you know, Decca reissued "Drum" in 1959, hoping to benefit from the 1958 Simeone rip-off (which in turn was swiped from the 1957 Jack Halloran version!).
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Lee has just added more details:
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Lee Hartsfeld said...
Slim,
Actually, to make life more confusing, Decca DL 9553 appears to have been a 1952 or 1953 issue itself! Meaning, no 10-inch issue--it went right to 12". U.S. Decca had a weird (read: inconsistent) numbering system. Note that the Billboard ad lists both Vols. 1 (Decca CL 9553) & 2 (Decca DL 9689), which may explain the 1955 date.
Several on-line library listings date DL 9553 as either 1952 or "c. 1952."
2:10 PM
Blogger Lee Hartsfeld said...
Hold the press! My copy of Vol. 2 (DL-9689) gives a copyright date of 1953 on the front cover, lower r.h. corner. So, DL-9553 (Vol. 1) would have the same copyright date or earlier. It depends on the source for the 12-inchers--i.e., if they were (as I suspect) reissues of the 45 rpm EP sets, using the same cover designs.
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And here's the Onorati/Simeone's story:
http://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2007/12/no-drumming-allowed.html
The Jack Halloran Singers recorded their version of "The Little Drummer Boy" in 1957 -- a full year before the Harry Simeone Chorale. Dot Records originally released it on the album "Christmas Is A-Comin'" with its original song title of "Carol Of The Drum." Then, the very next year, in 1958, and much to the chagrin of Mr. Halloran and Dot Records, Harry Simeone took pretty much the same group of singers and recorded his own version of the song for 20th Century Fox Records. It was then quickly issued as a single with the new title of "The Little Drummer Boy," and as the saying goes -- the rest is history. In addition, Mr. Simeone, along with Henry Onorati (who was a Dot Records producer who took the song and arrangement to Simeone) was also able to negotiate co-writing credits to the song, along with the song's rightful composer Katherine K. Davis. Other than the re-titling, Mr. Simeone and Mr. Onorati had nothing else to do with the composing of this song, which was done long before, in 1941.
This forgotten history of the song's origins understandably sticks in the craw of Mr. Halloran's children, especially his daughter Dawn Halloran Charouhas, with whom I am acquainted. In fact, Dawn wrote an excellent article on this that pretty much says it all. Take a look: http://www.jerryosborne.com/12-10-01.htm
The LP "Christmas Is A-Comin'" was only in print for two years before Dot Records reissued it in 1959 with the new title of "The Little Drummer Boy," in order to capitalize on the popularity that was generated by Mr. Simeone's hit single. Because it was only in print for two years, very few copies of "Christmas Is A-Comin'" were ever printed. In fact, after 35 years of collecting, it remains the most rare and hard-to-find album in my entire collection. It also the album I had to pay the most amount of money to obtain -- nearly double my next highest album. Other than the copy I have in my collection, I have literally never even seen another copy -- ever.
Ernie, you should feel quite fortunate that you found a copy of this very rare album, and I’m sure you paid a lot less than I did!
By the way, Mr. Halloran was also the arranger for what in my opinion is the greatest version of "The Little Drummer Boy" (aka "Carol Of The Drum") ever recorded: the 1962 rendition by The Ray Conniff Singers, which was released on the classic and legendary Columbia Records LP, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." In addition to this, Mr. Halloran also arranged the version of the song recorded by Bing Crosby in 1964 for Reprise Records, as well as the version recorded by The Johnny Mann Singers in 1967 for Liberty Records.
Even though today he is not generally credited with the song's success as Mr. Simeone is, I think it would be more than fair to say that Mr. Halloran is indeed the godfather of this modern-day Christmas classic.
FWIW, years ago, a friend of mine found the Trapp recording date of that Christmas album: February 1953.
Work: Christmas with the Trapp family singers, Performer: Trapp family singers, Date: 1953-02-01
LpNum: DL-9553 Conductor: Wasner, Franz
http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/discography/disco.html
Other Trapp albums from that era on Decca:
Work: An evening of folksongs, Performer: Trapp family singers, Date: 1952-09-15
LpNum: DL-9793 Conductor: Wasner, Franz
Work: Yuletide songs of many lands, Performer: Trapp family singers, Date: 1953-02-01
LpNum: DL-9689 Conductor: Wasner, Franz
Last updated by walt on 2012-04-11 21:35:47 UTC
Trapp Family recording added with a comment regarding release.
The earliest version I have found so far is by the Trapp Family Singers.
Added by walt: Carol of the Drum
Any idea if it's correct to credit Henry Onorati for Carol of the Drum by Jack Halloran ? He was the producer, but I don't know if he took credit at that stage. Can"t find a scan of Christmas Is A-Comin' to verify.
My thoughts on the song are in this thread:
Any idea if it's correct to credit Henry Onorati for Carol of the Drum by Jack Halloran ? He was the producer, but I don't know if he took credit at that stage. Can"t find a scan of Christmas Is A-Comin' to verify.
The back cover and the record label are shown at Discogs, and neither mention Onorati.
The label actually names K.K. Davis as arranger. In my opinion Jack Halloran's performance should be tied to Davis' version and Onorati's adaption should be deleted.
In my opinion Jack Halloran's performance should be tied to Davis' version and Onorati's adaption should be deleted.
Done
Finally looked up the recording dates for The Trapp Family's "Carol Of The Drum" takes in Michel Ruppli's "The Decca Labels a Discography volume 3 The Eastern Sessions 1943-1956.
The Trapp Family Singers
Chorale dir. by Franz Wasner.
July 23, 1951
Master numbers assigned in NYC, March 23, 1952
Matrix 82564 --------------------------------------- Carol of the Drum ------------------------- Decca 9-16033
9-16029, 9-16030, 9-16031, 9-16032 9-16033 and 9-16034 (45 RPM) were issued in album Decca 9-339 (a set of six 45's)
Also issued on Decca album DL-9553
In 1959 The Trapp Family recorded a new version following Harry Simeone's fenomenal succes with the song.
The Trapp Family Singers
Chorale dir. by Dr. Franz Wasner
NYC, September 17, 1959
Matrix 108134 ------------------------------------ Carol of the Drum --------------- Decca 3097
http://www.45cat.com/record/930997
JoJo greets