Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

Here at Second Disc HQ, we've been in the Christmas spirit with the release of Johnny Mathis' all-new album Christmas Time Is Here (available on LP from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records, and on CD from Legacy Recordings) and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme's That Holiday Feeling (out on CD and LP from Real Gone).  Now, we're proud to announce that our two newest titles celebrating some of the greatest Christmas music of all time are now shipping, directly from Real Gone,

In his 50-year tenure as conductor of The Boston Pops, Arthur Fiedler transformed the Boston Symphony Orchestra offshoot into perhaps the most renowned pops orchestra in the world.   A natural showman, the maestro fervently believed in broadening the reach of classical music to a wide audience.  He famously incorporated the music of The Beatles into his programs and began the tradition of the Pops concert and fireworks every July 4th on Boston's Esplanade.  Under his auspices, The Boston Pops made more recordings than any other orchestra in the world.  Along with the Fourth, one holiday was closely associated with Fiedler and the Pops: Christmas!  The orchestra introduced Leroy Anderson's now-classic "Sleigh Ride" in 1948, and the very next year recorded it for RCA Victor.  That first-ever recording, shockingly never before issued on CD, opens Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records' definitive celebration of Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops' holiday recordings.

The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! lives up to its title with 2 CDs and 35 tracks of yuletide cheer in the grand and lavish Boston Pops fashion.  Spanning 1949-1971, The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! includes two full albums: the original 1959 Pops Christmas Party in RCA's Living Stereo splendor and 1969's new-to-CD Christmastime in Carol and Song.  The latter found Fiedler away from Boston and conducting in New York with some very special guests: legendary soprano Leontyne Price and beloved pop duo Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! also features numerous festive rarities from various singles and albums over the years including such classics as the Pops' original version of Leroy Anderson's "The Christmas Festival," "The Toy Trumpet" with Al Hirt, and highlights from Babes in Toyland and The Nutcracker Suite.  The Second Disc's Joe Marchese provides the new liner notes, and everything has been beautifully remastered by multiple Grammy winner Andreas K. Meyer and Ben Hadley at Swan Studios NYC.  In addition, the 24-page booklet designed by John Sellards features original album artwork and previously unpublished photos of Fiedler in a festive mood. Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops' The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! is a very merry one, and you're invited!

But that's not all. Between 1961 and 1970, families across the United States delighted in an annual series of Christmas releases available exclusively through Goodyear stores.  A whopping 900,000 copies of the first volume of The Great Songs of Christmas were pressed-and proved so successful that, by December 1, 1961, Goodyear ordered all advertising to stop as the album had already sold out!  The following year's order was for 1.5 million albums, and 2 million for 1962.  These high-quality albums not only featured the era's top artists but frequently presented songs and versions unavailable anywhere else.  Following our 2019 release The Great Songs of Christmas: Classic Carols and Pop Favorites - the first-ever CD volume of the series and the first, overall, in more than four decades - RGM and Second Disc Records are once again proud to continue the rich tradition of The Great Songs of Christmas with an all-new volume in the classic spirit.

The Great Songs of Christmas: Masterworks Edition brings together 18 lush selections primarily drawn from the original, long out-of-print series of LPs, featuring the most beloved carols of all time as performed by the greatest classical artists of the 20th century.  These legends include Leonard Bernstein and The New York Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, opera greats Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill, and Anna Moffo, cellist-conductor Pablo Casals, and Erich Leinsdorf and The London Symphony Orchestra with The Roger Wagner Chorale.  Half of the tracks are new to CD, and most of the rest can be fiendishly tough to find on out-of-print compilations.  Now, these timeless masterworks imbued with the true Christmas spirit are available in one collection.  This volume of The Great Songs of Christmas has been freshly remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, and the deluxe 24-page booklet designed by John Sellards features new, track-by-track liner notes by Joe Marchese and rare photos of the artists.  The Great Songs of Christmas: Masterworks Edition promises to become a cherished part of your family's annual Christmas tradition.

Both Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops' The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! and the collection The Great Songs of Christmas: Masterworks Edition are out now.  You'll find the track listings and order links for both below; note that Amazon is showing a late ship date, but both titles are shipping now from our friends at Real Gone Music.

Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops, The Ultimate Pops Christmas Party! (Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

CD 1

1. Sleigh Ride
2. The Christmas Festival
3. Panis Angelicus
4. Ave Maria (Violin Solo: Alfred Krips)
5. Ave Maria (Violin Solo: Nathan Milstein)
6. Fantasia on Greensleeves
7. March of the Toys
8. A Christmas Festival
9. White Christmas
10. Sleigh Ride
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
13. Dream Pantomime
14. Sleigh Ride, No. 3 (Mozart)
15. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
16. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
17. Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

CD 2

1. Sleigh Ride (1962 Version)
2. Toyland/March of the Toys
3. The Toy Trumpet - with Al Hirt
4. Joy to the World/Jingle Bells/Away in a Manger/We Wish You a Merry Christmas
5. Carol of the Bells
6. Go Tell It on the Mountain - with Steve Lawrence
7. Silent Night
8. Hurry Home for Christmas - with Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme
9. I Wonder As I Wander - with Leontyne Price
10. Here We Come A-Caroling/O Christmas Tree/I Saw Three Ships
11. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - with Eydie Gorme
12. The Nutcracker, Op. 71a: Overture
13. The Nutcracker, Op. 71a: Russian Dance (Trepak)
14. The Nutcracker, Op. 71a: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
15. The Nutcracker, Op. 71a: Dance of the Reed Flutes
16. Ave Maria - with Leontyne Price
17. The Little Drummer Boy
18. March of the Toys/My Favorite Things/Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

CD 1, Track 1 from RCA Victor Red Seal single 10-1484, 1949
CD 1, Track 2 from RCA Victor Red Seal single 49-1341, 1950
CD 1, Tracks 3-4 from RCA Victor Red Seal single 49-1447, 1950
CD 1, Track 5 from RCA Victor Red Seal EP ERA 77, 1953
CD 1, Track 6 from Boston Tea Party, RCA Victor Red Seal LP LSC-2213, 1958
CD 1, Track 7 from Marches in Hi-Fi, RCA Victor Red Seal LP LSC-2229, 1958
CD 1, Tracks 8-17 from Pops Christmas Party, RCA Victor Red Seal LP LSC-2329, 1959
CD 2, Track 1 from Fiddle-Faddle and Other Leroy Anderson Favorites, RCA Victor Red Seal LP LSC-2638, 1962
CD 2. Track 2 from Concert in the Park, RCA Victor Red Seal LP LSC-2677, 1963
CD 2. Track 3 from "Pops" Goes the Trumpet, RCA Victor Red Seal LP LSC-2729, 1964
CD 2, Tracks 4-17 from Christmas in New York Vol. 3, RCA Victor LP PRS-288, 1969 (also released that year as Christmastime in Carol and Song, RCA Victor LP PRS-289).
CD 2, Track 18 from Fanny Farmer Presents Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops in a Christmas Concert, RCA Victor LP PRS-381, 1971

Various Artists, The Great Songs of Christmas: Masterworks Edition (Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

1. For Unto Us a Child is Born - Leonard Bernstein & The New York Philharmonic
2. Angels We Have Heard on High/Good King Wenceslas - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
3. Joy to the World - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
4. We Three Kings of Orient Are - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
5. The Little Drummer Boy - The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy
6. We Three Kings of Orient Are - The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy
7. The Lord's Prayer - Richard Tucker
8. O Little Town of Bethlehem - Richard Tucker
9. Jesu Joy of Men's Desiring - Pablo Casals
10. March of the Kings - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
11. Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
12. Still, Still, Still - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
13. March of the Kings/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Robert Merrill
14. Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)- Anna Moffo
15. Joy to the World - Anna Moffo
16. In Dulci Jubilo - London Symphony Orchestra/Erich Leinsdorf with The Roger Wagner Chorale
17. O Sanctissima - London Symphony Orchestra/Erich Leinsdorf with The Roger Wagner Chorale
18. O Come All Ye Faithful - Robert Merrill (Bonus Track)

Tracks 1-4 Mono, Tracks 5-18 Stereo

Track 1 from The Great Songs of Christmas 1, Columbia Special Products XTV 69406, 1961
Track 2 from The Great Songs of Christmas 2, Columbia Special Products XTV 86100/86101, 1962
Tracks 3-4 from The Great Songs of Christmas 3, Columbia Special Products CSP 117, 1963
Tracks 5-8 from The Great Songs of Christmas 5, Columbia Special Products CSP 238 S, 1965
Track 9-12 from The Great Songs of Christmas 6, Columbia Special Products CSS 388, 1966
Tracks 13-15 from The Great Songs of Christmas 8, Columbia Special Products CSS 888, 1968
Tracks 16-17 from The Great Songs of Christmas 9, Columbia Special Products CSS 1033, 1969
Track 18 from Christmas Greetings Volume 4, Columbia Special Products P 11987, 1973