For the next four days, I'm going to post one rare Christmas track each day. In two of the four cases, including today, this will a unique recording. I will also continue to post some interesting Christmas material to my own blog.
Today's track comes from a home recorded reel of tape, probably from about 1966, featuring a family identified on the box as "The Krebs". There is quite a lot of family/Christmas recording on this reel, including some other songs, but the high point for me was this off-the-cuff version of the best song ever written, "Silent Night".
Although the harmonies and the degree to which they are in tune can be ragged at times, I really enjoy the way the family can immediately jump into four part harmony, as well as the at-times-almost Stride Piano accompaniment. There's something I find irresistible about this piece of homemade magic.
The Krebs - Silent Night (MP3)
(Beware of some nasty feedback at about the one minute mark...)
it started gettin too loud
Posted by: dividend | December 22, 2008 at 09:55 PM