They Made A Christmas Album?- Advent 2018: Day 12

From playing SongPop2, I know that rugged actor Lorne Greene sang a number of country tunes. However, I had no idea that he got the rest of the Bonanza gang to do a Christmas album! So let's all saddle up our horses and head on down to the Ponderosa to meet today's featured artists- The Cartwrights. 

The long-running Western was known for a variety of holiday themed episodes. There's the one where on Christmas Eve, Adam finds an abandoned baby in the snow. And who can forget the one where Little Joe founded an abandoned waif in the snow on Christmas Eve! Or what about the one where Hoss finds an abandoned child in the snow during Christmas! Or how about when Starbuck crash lands on a planet and finds an abandoned Cylon in the snow--- sorry, wrong Lorne Greene series.

Regardless, Christmas was not a good time for children on the Ponderosa...

This 1963 album, Bonanza: Christmas on the Ponderosa, featured a dozen songs. Some were traditional carols like Dan Blocker's rendition of Deck the Halls. There were other not so old fashioned tunes on this record as well like Michael Landon's rockabilly Santa Got Lost in Texas. All of the original cast sing on the record; even stick-in-the-mud Parnell Roberts (Trapper John M.D.) did a song. But he did it alone and did not participate in any of the Cartwright family offerings. 

Oddly enough, this wasn't the only holiday album done by the cast of Bonanza, nor was it the only record produced by series producers either. No less than 3 other albums featuring Greene, Landon and Blocker were recorded. I just hate that Hop Sing wasn't in on this!

I had a hard time deciding which song to pick. I wanted to go with one that I know has been done on the show, O Come All Ye Faithful. Yet, it was no longer available on Youtube. So, I offer this 10 minute mix of song samples from the record. Be sure to keep a count of the number of unattended children featured on this video! 

For some, this is God awful stuff. The actors on this album weren't the best singers. Yet, I have seen numerous reviews of fans claiming that it just isn't Christmas without listening to this record (and later CD) at least once a year. I think the fondness of this recording has more to do with the time it was released: Christmas, 1963. 

The nation had just suffered through the longest Thanksgiving weekend in history with the death of John Kennedy. I think people turned to records like this innocent fair for solace and it became an annual tradition for American families.

Though not my cup of tea, personally, I would much rather listen to this any day that 5 seconds of that horrid Duck Dynasty 'music' I shared a few days ago...

Enjoy!