News

Tomorrow’s the day for Second Disc Records’ and Real Gone Music’s Christmas bonanza – and this year, there’s an actual Bonanza as part of our line-up!  We’re getting into the spirit with not one, but two, festive titles.  First up is Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra’s The Complete Christmas Albums, and Andre and co. will be joined by The Complete Christmas on the Ponderosa featuring Lorne Greene and the cast of television’s Bonanza: Michael Landon, Pernell Roberts, and Dan Blocker!

Almost forty years after his passing, the name of Andre Kostelanetz is still synonymous with the sound of beautiful music.  The Russian-born American conductor gained national attention bringing classical music to the masses first on CBS Radio in the 1930s and then via a series of albums on Columbia Records.  A guest conductor of The New York Philharmonic and Washington, DC’s National Symphony, he reportedly sold over 52 million records and set the world record for attendance at a classical concert when 250,000 people showed up to a 1979 performance in Central Park.  In his discography of over 100 albums conducting everything from Swan Lake to the hits of Chicago, Kostelanetz’s Christmas albums are among the most treasured.

We’re proud to invite you to a true wonderland of Christmas with the release of Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra’s The Complete Christmas Albums.  This comprehensive 2-CD, 43-track set features all three of the legendary conductor’s classic Columbia Christmas LPs – Joy to the World: The Music of Christmas (1959), Wonderland of Christmas (1963), and Wishing You a Merry Christmas (1965), on which he was joined by vocalist Phyllis Curtin and The St. Killian Boychoir – plus a host of holiday bonuses.  These include Kostelanetz’s rare 1950 single of “White Christmas,” a complete recording of “The Nutcracker Suite” featuring Peter Ustinov, the rare Christmas Seals promotional single of “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas,” and additional seasonal favorites from the Kostelanetz catalogue.  Wishing You a Merry Christmas makes its CD debut here.  Along with his fellow “easy listening” kings Percy Faith and Ray Conniff, Kostelanetz defined the lush sound of the holiday with his Columbia Christmas recordings.  This collection has been sparklingly remastered in splendid “360 Sound” stereo by Maria Triana at Sony’s Battery Studios.  Our very own compilation producer, Joe Marchese, has penned the new liner notes, and John Sellards has contributed the beautiful period design with photos and complete original album artwork.  No doubt the maestro’s yuletide recordings will become a few of your favorite things!

Between 1959 and 1973, viewers tuned in weekly to NBC for the latest episode of Bonanza.  The beloved western, following the exploits of the Cartwright family on their Ponderosa ranch, aired for a remarkable 431 episodes and reached an estimated 400 million watchers in 87 countries.  Bonanza inspired, well, a merchandising bonanza, with action figures, comic books, lunchboxes, model sets, dinnerware, and even a chain of steakhouses and a Lake Tahoe theme park.  The program was so popular that RCA Victor jumped at the chance to bring its cast into the recording studio.  Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are proud to ring in the holiday season with a true yuletide Bonanza.  The Complete Christmas on The Ponderosa brings together the newly-remastered 1963 album Christmas on The Ponderosa – featuring Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright), Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright), Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright), and Michael Landon (Little Joe Cartwright) reprising their television roles for a merry family sing-along – plus the worldwide CD premiere of Lorne Greene’s 1965 seasonal album Have a Happy Holiday, and both sides of Greene’s rare 1966 single “Must Be Santa” b/w “One Solitary Life.”  The Complete Christmas on The Ponderosa has been remastered by Mike Piacentini at Sony’s Battery Studios.  With liner notes by compilation producer Joe Marchese and design by John Sellards incorporating rare photos of the cast, this first-of-its-kind release celebrates the festive musical legacy of this true TV classic and its memorable stars.  Saddle up!

Both titles are available from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music tomorrow at the links below!  And don’t miss out on more from Real Gone this Christmas season; we have full details here!

Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra, The Complete Christmas Albums (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music RGM-0812, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. White Christmas
2. The First Noel/It Came Upon a Midnight Clear/Silent Night, Holy Night/O Little Town of Bethlehem/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Oh Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)/Sugar Plum Fairy Interlude/Waltz of the Flowers (Medley)
3. What Child Is This/Joy to the World (Medley)
4. White Christmas
5. Sleigh Ride
6. Away in a Manger/We Three Kings of Orient Are (Medley)
7. March of the Toys/Toyland (Medley)
8. O Holy Night
9. The Skaters’ Waltz
10. The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a – Narrated by Peter Ustinov
11. My Favorite Things
12. Greensleeves

CD 2

1. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer/Jingle Bells (Medley)
2. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town/Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Medley)
3. The Christmas Song
4. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
5. It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas
6. The First Noel/It Came Upon the Midnight Clear/Oh Come, All Ye Faithful (Medley)
7. Winter Wonderland/I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Medley)
8. White Christmas
9. Silver Bells/Shake Me I Rattle (Squeeze Me I Cry) (Medley)
10. Christmas Chopsticks
11. Sleigh Ride
12. Joy to the World/Silent Night, Holy Night/Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly (Medley)
13. Greensleeves
14. Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)
15. Ave Maria (Schubert)
16. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
17. Oh Come, All Ye Faithful
18. What Child Is This
19. The First Noel/Joy to the World (Medley)
20. Silent Night, Holy Night
21. Christmas Chimes
22. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Angels We Have Heard on High (Medley)
23. Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly/Jingle Bells (Medley)
24. Away in a Manger
25. We Three Kings of Orient Are
26. O Little Town of Bethlehem
27. O Holy Night
28. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear/Away in a Manger (Medley)
29. O Tannenbaum
30. We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Reprise)
31. It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas – Christmas Seals Promo Single Version (Introduction by Meredith Willson)

CD 1, Track 1 from The Music of Irving Berlin, Columbia Masterworks ML 4314, 1950
CD 1, Tracks 2-9 from Joy to the World: Music for Christmas, Columbia CS 8328, 1959
CD 1, Track 10 from Nutcracker Suite/Between Birthdays, Columbia Masterworks MS 6264, 1961
CD 1, Track 11 from Wonderland of Sound: Broadway’s Greatest Hits, Columbia CS 8627, 1962
CD 1, Track 12 from Wonderland of Sound: The World’s Greatest Waltzes, Columbia CS 8738, 1963
CD 2, Tracks 1-12 from Wonderland of Christmas, Columbia CS 8868, 1963
CD 2, Tracks 13-15 from The Romantic Strings of Andre Kostelanetz, Columbia Masterworks MS 6711, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 16-30 from We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Columbia Masterworks MS 6779, 1965
CD 2, Track 31 from Columbia promo single JZSP 116501, 1966

The Cast of Bonanza, The Complete Christmas on the Ponderosa (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music RGM-0821, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – The Ken Darby Singers
2. Deck the Halls – Dan Blocker
3. The Newborn King – Pernell Roberts
4. The First Christmas Trees – Dan Blocker
5. O Fir Tree Dear – Michael Landon
6. Christmas is A-Comin’ (May God Bless You) – Lorne Greene
7. O Come All Ye Faithful – The Cartwrights (Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon and Singers)
8. Jingle Bells – The Cartwrights (Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon and Singers)
9. Santa Got Lost in Texas – Michael Landon
10. Stuck in the Chimney – Lorne Greene
11. Why We Light Candles on the Christmas Tree – Lorne Greene
12. Merry Christmas, Neighbors – The Cartwrights (Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon)
13. Merry Christmas and Goodnight (Silent Night) – The Cartwrights (Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon)
14. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (A Visit from St. Nicholas) – Lorne Greene
15. The Gift of the Magi – Lorne Greene
16. (There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays – Lorne Greene
17. Jingle Bells – Lorne Greene
18. Christmas is A-Comin’ (May God Bless You) – Lorne Greene
19. We Wish You a Merry Christmas – Lorne Greene
20. The Holy Night (A Christmas Cantata) – Lorne Greene
21. Must Be Santa – Lorne Greene
22. One Solitary Life – Lorne Greene

Tracks 1-13 from The Cast of Bonanza, Christmas on the Ponderosa, RCA Victor LP LSP-2757, 1963
Tracks 14-20 from Lorne Greene, Have a Happy Holiday, RCA Victor LP LSP-3410, 1965
Tracks 21-22 from RCA Victor single 47-9037, 1966