Harry Simeone Chorale – The Little Drummer Boy

Harry Simeone was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1910.  Aspiring to be a concert pianist, and after attending Juilliard, his first big job came as an arranger for Fred Waring.  Later on, he and his wife moved to Hollywood and Harry started producing movie music for Paramount Pictures, and later radio and TV for NBC.

In 1958, Harry Simeone was approached by Twentieth-Century Fox Records to record a Christmas album.  This is THAT album. 

Originally released as a two-record set, under the title “Sing We Now Of Christmas / Merry Christmas Carols With Organ & Chimes” in 1959, this album has been re-released many times throughout the years; 1959 (as a single disc LP), 1963, 1966, 1973, 1978, 1981 and 1988.  All of the re-releases feature only the first LP of the two-record set, retaining the original track order.

Starting with the first reissue in 1963, the title was changed to “The Little Drummer Boy / A Christmas Festival”.  The cover art on the CD version first appeared on an LP in 1978, and the album first appeared on CD in 1988, the year of this copy.  I also have original copies of the LPs from 1959 and 1963.

The Harry Simeone Chorale released albums of popular songs, Broadway tunes and sacred songs as well as Christmas records.  This is the first of their Christmas releases.  They released 5 Christmas albums between 1959 and 1980.  (I know I have the one from 1963, The Wonderful Songs Of Christmas.  Look for it sometime later in this blog’s future).

This album is composed primarily of medleys.  7 of the 10 tracks are medleys.  The orchestrations are beautiful and lush.  Full symphony.  The Harry Simeone Chorale comprises 25 adult mixed chorus singers featuring great spoken parts by an unknown baritone and an unknown soprano.  I’ve looked at the artwork on my CD, and the LPs I have, and there is no information as to who the soloists are.

I like the traditional approach of the orchestral arrangements and the voice arrangements as well.  As choral groups go, The Harry Simeone Chorale is one of the great ones, the kind of choral group that set the standard for future choral groups to follow.

The CD’s track order is exactly as the original LP release, which I love.  When I collect CD’s to add to my collection, it’s always a bonus to get the original artwork, and the original track order.  The CD’s artwork contains a single fold over with the track listing on the left side and a small endorsement on the right.

We start off with the title track Sing We Now Of Christmas, as the first song of a 5-song medley.  I don’t think the songs in the medleys are recorded in one recording session.  They have their own start and finish.  So, songs of about 1 to 1 ½ minutes, pushed together to make the medley.  Not a negative here.  Everything blends together very well.  The original LP, and this CD, contain 31 beautiful choral hymns familiar to most people. 

The second track, a great handclapping ‘revival’ arrangement, Go Tell It On The Mountain, is a standout track featuring the lead baritone.

As I stated earlier, most of the productions are BIG.  25 male and female voices tracking over the top of big, grandiose symphonic arrangements.  Going by his bio I’ve read, I think Harry Simeone would have done the musical arrangements himself in addition to the choral arrangements.

Tracks 3, 4 and 5 are all medleys of Christian hymns.

Track 6, O’Holy Night has always been one of my favorite Christmas hymns.  A large vocal introduction followed by a fantastic rendition by our featured soprano while an orchestra that features brass horns that comes in for the big finish.

The 7th track, is The Little Drummer Boy.  With the classic arrangement, heard for the first time here, the song The Little Drummer Boy went on to make this LP a landmark album during the classic Christmas music era.  The song is mainly a cappella with some bells for accent.

A classic in all terms, so great a song that Rankin/Bass made a TV show of it in 1968 that still plays every year at Christmas.  The Little Drummer Boy, written by Katherine K. Davis and Henri Onorati with additional writing credit to Harry Simeone, was released as a single in 1958 with Die Lorelei as the B-side, a song from the 2^nd disc included in the original LP, and reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 .  The Little Drummer Boy saw single releases every year throughout the 60’s, reaching as high as number 1 from 1964 – 1968.

Another of my favorites, also an a cappella masterpiece, Rise Up Shepherds, is part of a medley on track 8, featuring a wonderful baritone voice that appears throughout the album.  I wish I knew who it was, but I haven’t found any information on any of the featured vocalists.

The ninth track, (also a medley), starts with Ding Dong (Merrily On High) which itself starts with a huge arrangement of brass, then an introduction by our featured baritone again, and a fantastic choral of voices.

The Album finishes with a 3 song medley, Silent Night / Adeste Fidelis / A Christmas Greeting which presents a great finish.  Silent Night features a wonderful vocal by the lead soprano, then glides into an a cappella rendition of Adeste Fideles.  Absolutely beautiful.  The last of the 3 song medley features a song called A Christmas Greeting.  A 50 second Christmas wish from The Harry Simeone Chorale.

There is not a bad selection on this album.  I can highly recommend it into your Christmas collection.  First, in 1959, it set the standard for large choral Christmas arrangements.  Second, it presents 31 wonderful choral hymns that everyone will be familiar with.  And third, there is not a bad song on here.

I give this CD :

*****