Audio Posts Restored!

I've finally found a solution to my audio hosting/player problems that have plagued me for a couple of years now.  Several posts are already restored, and the rest will follow in a couple of days!

Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians 2 Record Set - Sides 2-4

Rounding out yesterday's post, here are the other three sides of the Fred Waring set.

Side 2


Side 3


Side 4

Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians 2 Record Set - Decca 2-120

Continuing from yesterday's post, here is the Decca record set from Fred Waring. This particular copy is the 45 set, but there is also a 78 set (Decca CUS 22).

I really love the art on this, especially the plaid Tulgey Wood signpost tree .



Take a listen to side 1

Mindy Carson with Three Beaus and a Peep (no kidding) on RCA

This will be my last audio post for a while, but this one is one of my favorites. Mindy Carson was a pop artist in the 1940s and 1950s, who had some hits prior to - and after - these covers of Alice songs. Her career did not extend much beyond this, but these covers are quite fun. You can read more about Mindy Carson on her Wikipedia page.



These particular recordings came from a promotional copy of the disc, probably used in a radio station.




A Side is I'm Late


B Side is Twas Brillig (my all-time favorite cover of an Alice song).


There is a compilation CD available of her greatest hits (including these two songs), grab it on Amazon from the link below.

Dennis Day Sings A Very Merry Unbirthday - RCA Y-430 Birthday Fun

This is pretty fun, Dennis Day explaining to a dog (Little Nipper) what an unbirthday is.


I like the cake on the label with a piece cut out. On side 1 the cake is whole.

Alice in Wonderland & I'm Late - Bob Dale, Nadia Dore on Royale

I've always liked colored vinyl, and this 45 on the Royale label is a very nice translucent red.

Featuring Bob Dale, Nadia Dore, and the Lockyer Orchestra, these are pretty decent recordings of 3 of the songs from Alice. Side one is the title song Alice in Wonderland and In a World of My Own, almost a medley. Side two is I'm Late.

I even managed to locate a photo of Nadia Dore from a piece of sheet music for this post.



Alice in Wonderland / In a World of My Own


I'm Late

Buzza Cardoza Birthday Card Record

I hesitated to post this as it is so atrocious, but what the heck.

This is a record greeting card by Buzza Cardoza of Anaheim, California. The content is really pretty unlistenable, but I suppose if you are 5 or 6 years old it is tolerable.

Don't know who the scary voices are, but certainly not Ed Wynn, Jerry Colona, nor Kathryn Beaumont.

Believe it or not, there are actually two versions of this. Cover and inside greeting differ slightly although it appears as though the record itself is the same.



Don't say I didn't warn you...

Alice in Waterland - Weeki Wachee Record from 1964

Quite possibly the weirdest thing I've ever come across is this record from a Weeki Wachee mermaid show from 1964-65, featuring the Alice title song with slightly modified lyrics, as sung by Marlin and the Mermaids! Gotta love that.

The Mad Hatter is truly frightening.

I've also found a few postcards to go with it, would love to find a brochure or program.

Unfortunately the vinyl is a little scratchy so there is some static.


Weeki Wachee is still in operation today, it has become a State Park and is now safe from closing - its fate was very uncertain about 5 years ago. If you are in Florida and nearby, go see the mermaid show, they are very fun.

Alice in Wonderland Title Song by Ray Nolan - Argentina

In honor of my daughter's first day back at William & Mary, and new course MUSC 365: "Alice in Musicland", I'm going to be posting music for a while.

The is a record from Argentina featuring Ray Nolan performing an instrumental of the title song Alice in Wonderland - Alice en el Pais de las Maravillas. It is a 78, but in the smaller 7 inch size, like a Little Golden Record.

The vinyl on this record is interesting, it looks like plain black vinyl, but if you hold it up to the light it is translucent.

RCA Victor Boston Pops Medley - Side B

By popular demand, here is Side B of the Boston Pops medley

RCA Victor Storyteller - Mexico

As we saw in the previous 3 posts, the US RCA storyteller 45s were quite extensive, each one adapting a segment of the film. Today we have the Mexican version of the RCA storyteller, and it adapts the entire film on one 45 rather than spread out over three. Also, there is no book or illustrations with it, just the bizarre 2-color cardboard sleeve.



Side A


Side B

RCA Victor Storyteller Single WY-436 - Alice and the Trial

Third part of the adaptation is Alice and the Trial.

Again, very nice art on the sleeve illustrating the story.


Take a listen!

Side A


Side B

RCA Victor Storyteller Single WY-435 - Alice and the Mad Tea Party

The second of the three story singles is Alice and the Mad Tea Party. For some reason I had a very difficult time acquiring this particular record for my collection, it was the last one of the three I found, and took me about 10 years to get it!

I really like the art on these sleeves, wish I knew who did it.

Take a listen!

Side A


Side B

RCA Victor Storyteller Single WY-434 - Alice and the White Rabbit

As you may (or may not) recall from this post, RCA put out a lot of records in a lot of formats for the Alice in Wonderland release. This is one of three storyteller singles, Alice and the White Rabbit, WY-434.

Check out that cover, our old friend Figaro-as-Dinah makes another appearance.

The storyteller singles came in two speeds, 45 (WY prefix) and 78 (Y prefix). This is the 45, and all the 45s were this cool transparent yellow vinyl (the transparent quality does not show up well in this scan).

The gatefold sleeve opens up to some pretty nice art illustrating the story segments told on this single, Alice meeting the White Rabbit, and entering Wonderland. Love those red-striped stockings!

These singles have some of the original cast from the film recreating their roles, but the dialog is not lifted from the soundtrack, these were all new recordings. Hard to imagine that they would go to the expense to re-record dialog...something I'm sure they would never do now, unless they used alternate cast. Some of the alternate cast on THIS recording is ... interesting. I must say that I find the Doorknob particularly annoying ... but I love the name of the vocal quartet - Three Beaus and a Peep! Quintessentially 1950s!

Take a listen!

Side A


Side B

Alice au Pays des Merveilles Storyteller by Marie-Claire Marty

This is a French storyteller EP from I think 1951. It has Alice on side 1, and Snow White on side 2. The voice of Alice is provided by Marie-Claire Marty, the film voice of Alice in the original 1951 release in France (which is why I think this is from 1951). Her voice is very good, she's the proper age - about the same age as Kathryn Beaumont - and her vocal quality is very similar. In fact, she also provided the voice of Wendy when Peter Pan was released in France in 1953, just like Kathryn Beaumont did. You can find out more about Marie-Claire Marty at the French Wikipedia site entry, and if you read French there is an interview with her here.

They changed voices when they re-released the film in 1974, don't know why.

The storyteller consists of 4 scenes, and lasts about 12 minutes. Since I'm having so much fun with my new toy, I'm including the first scene here.

Bill Hayes Sings 'Twas Brillig (?!)

Ok, so I just hooked up my new toy, a USB turntable! Now I can finally record all those 78s I have and save them for posterity - or at least make CDs for myself and put them on my iPhone :). To try it out I recorded a track from Bill Hayes sings the best of Disney, Vol. 2.

Bill Hayes is probably most famous in the wonderful world of Disney for his recording of the Davy Crockett theme song. After that HUGE smash hit, the dollar signs started rolling, so they figured they'd have him record a bunch of other Disney tunes. This collection features songs from Alice, So Dear to My Heart, Song of the South and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The track they chose from Alice is 'Twas Brillig. Why on earth they would have chosen that track is beyond me, but they did. Take a listen for yourself. Oh, and if you go back to previous posts here and here, you can listen to those tracks too.

Japanese Victor Record - Title Song

What a great label. This 78 from Japan Victor Company is the title song Alice in Wonderland. The custom label is really cool, and not very common from what I've seen in general for vintage Disney records; most record companies just used generic labels. Flip side of this is from Cinderella.


Interesting to note that the Japanese entity of RCA Victor later left records entirely and moved solely into electronics (JVC is Japan Victor Company), although in Japan they still use the Nipper logo.

UPDATE: Take a listen!

RCA Victor Boston Pops Medley

As was popular during the 1950s - with all studios not just Disney - songs from the film were recorded by a number of contemporary artists. This particular record is interesting in that is it a medley of songs performed by the Boston Pops, conducted by Arthur Fiedler. Especially nice is that this copy retains its original printed sleeve, and the record itself is red vinyl!



UPDATE: Take a listen!