Dixieland Jazz - Pete Fountain Discography: Christmas Is A Comin'

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Christmas Is A Comin' - MCA Records

Christmas Is A Comin'

1973 MCA Records MCAC-15050 (Cassette Only)

Side One
1. Blue Christmas
2. Christmas Is A Comin' (May God Bless You)
3. I'll Be Home For Christmas
4. Medley: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town / Jingle Bells

Side Two
1. Let It Snow, Let It Snow Let It Snow
2. The Little Drummer Boy
3. Silver Bells
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Jingle Bell Rock

Liner Notes:

Originally released in 1973, reissued in 1992 MCA Special Products on cassette only.

Well. there is a time of year, isn't there, when the demand for licorice sticks appreciably declines and sales graphs of candy walking canes zoom madly upwards?

Everyone knows when that is. So, in anticipation of December 25th, here is Pete Fountain's clarinet, candy-striped, holiday delivered and Christmas-wrapped, to brighten up the festivities in New Orleans style.

Pete came up with a joyful program of Christmas favorites - all the big ones like Jingle Bells, Silver Bells, Blue Christmas, I'll Be Home For Christmas, and Santa Claus is coming to Town.

The numbers, in fact, seem to cover every possible eventuality in a swinging holiday season. They announce that both Santa Claus and Christmas are coming, and they bring on the sound of the little drummer boy, not to mention two kinds of bells. Songwrites Sammy Cahn and Jules Styne having expressed a popular sentiment in Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, it is hardly surprising that a Winter Wonderland should result. But how about Blue Christmas? Be not concerned. Just wait until you hear how that candy-stiped clarinet fixes it. Then there ia the assurance that I'll Be Home For Christmas.

The collection is another example of Pete Fountain's versatility. His familiar sound and phrasing are very audibly here, but they are flexibly adapted to fit a new need and a new situation. In the public imagination, the jazz musician is perhaps not exactly the type expected the jolly chores of Santa Claus, yet his charitable instincts are probably as well developed as those of any other member of society. Certainly, there is no questioning the good will expressed through his Candy Clarinet.

It is that instrument, needless to say, which leads the revels. Pete has always had a special gift for providing good cheer, whether it is in New Orleans, Nashville, Los Angeles, or the Winter Wonderland, and here he really shines. On most tracks, too, he is superbly supported by an outstanding vocal group, which brings new zest and know-how to some of the more time-honored selections. And always underneath there is an expert rhythm section, giving performances impetus and a beat - and, in one case, a rock!

This is music made for a happy time. It is music to accompany the feasting and gift giving. It is music to relax to after the children have gone, exhausted, to bed, It is music to dance to after all the day's joyous duties are done. And what it keeps repeating in many different ways, but very clearly is Merry Christmas for Pete Fountain.

Notes are an exerpt from Candy Clarinet (Coral Records)

2 comments:

Unknown said...: Is this the same album that was called "Candy Cane" , I had that album and lost it in a fire and have been looking for it every since.
If anybody can let me know where to find it let me know.
daw.ricky@gmail.com; December 3, 2012 at 2:14 PM
Unknown said...: Looking at the list of songs it reminds me of an album I had in the early 70s called candy cane by pete. I lost that album in a fire and have been looking for it preferably on CD or digital. If anybody has it contact me daw.ricky@gmail.com; December 3, 2012 at 2:18 PM

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Pete's Bio

Peter Dewey Fountain, Jr. was born July 3, 1930 in New Orleans, the cradle of American music, Jazz. He was a skinny kid who spent too much time hanging around the front stoop of the Top Hat Dance Hall near his home. The Top Hat was a stronghold of Dixieland Jazz and Jazz already had a strong hold on Pete Fountain. But, oh the sounds! This was music straight from the soul. Sounds that would never be written in stone, that would always be brand new because they were purely personal. Pete heard all the greats in New Orleans and he knew he wanted to play Jazz.

After endless hours of practicing and listening to the recordings of Benny Goodman and Irving Fazola, the personal sound of Pete Fountain began to emerge and it was "Fat." By the time Pete was 16, he had already gained a reputation on the street, Bourbon Street.

Through these formative years of his musical training, Pete performed with several sensational bands. One such band was the Junior Dixieland Band which performed in the famous Parisian Room-often performing for legendary jazz men. It was a heady time of life and Pete Fountain was savoring every moment.

A few years later Pete joined Phil Zito's International Dixieland Express. They were playing the El Morocco on the street. It was there he met Beverly. She had decided very young to marry a musician and Pete had decided very young to be a musician.

Pete was performing with some of the best known jazz bands in the country--The Basin Street Six, The Dukes of Dixieland, Al Hirt--and it was great.

Until 1956...Be-Bop and Rock & Roll were the hot new sounds, and the music that Pete loved could not provide him or anybody else with a living. Jazz, in its own birthplace New Orleans, was definitely asleep. He gave up music. He had no choice. With a wife and three small children to support, music was a luxury he could not afford.

All he really wanted to do was play music. All he needed was a band, a bandstand and a place to play.

In 1957, Lawrence Welk, host of the nation's most popular television program, wanted Pete on the show, and that kind of opportunity only comes once in a lifetime. For two years, Pete was the most famous Jazz musician on television. Pete Fountain became a household name and New Orleans Jazz made a comeback that has never faded.

After two years in California, Pete came home to New Orleans. He had learned what every New Orleanian has to accept as a fact of life. you can leave New Orleans, but it never leaves you. The cuisine, the sights and the sounds.

Pete immediately opened his own jazz club in the heart of the French Quarter. His national fame and fans followed him to New Orleans which allowed Pete's club to expand, through the past 34 years, into the largest jazz club in the city.

Pete has always been considered an ambassador of New Orleans Jazz as he performs his music on guest appearances on network television and specials. Some of the highlights have been such classics as the Ed Sullivan, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Andy Williams specials. More recently his credits include A Close up of Pete Fountain, Super Bowl Saturday Night and the National Memorial Day Concert. He also performed 59 times on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show."

Pete has performed at four U.S. State Dinners by command performance for four Presidents of the United States. He has also performed for Pope John Paul II at the New Orleans Papal Mass with an attendance of over 400,000 people.

During Pete's career, he has recorded 56 albums and has been a featured performer on 44 additional albums for a total of 100 recordings. Three of Pete's albums have gone gold, "Pete Fountain's New Orleans," "The Blues," and "Mr. New Orleans." He also received a gold record for his hit single "Just A Closer Walk With Thee."

Through Pete's career he has received numerous awards and honors including a Doctorate of Music from the College of Santa Fe; he was voted the #1 Jazz Clarinetist for 13 consecutive years in the Playboy Readers Poll; he was King of Bacchus; he received an Emmy for the 1990 Super Bowl Pre-Game Music; and he was awarded the 1993 Louisiana Legends Award.

Pete has performed with music legends ranging from Louis Armstrong and Harry James to Harry Connick, Jr. Yet to this day his greatest thrill is taking the stage and performing the music he loves, watching as it works its irresistible magic on the audience. Straight to the soul.

Pete Fountain and his wife, Beverly, have three children and five grandchildren. He divides his DAYS between his family, various charitable organizations and his favorite fishing hole.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Christmas Is A Comin' - MCA Records

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