"Scrooge" (1968) - The Five Americans - Abnak Records

"Scrooge" (1968)
Abnak Records 
The Five Americans

Here's one more 1960s pop record fitting our theme...

This time we have the Five Americans with "Scrooge" from 1968 on Abnak Records.

They were best-known for their big 1967 hit "Western Union" and their "Scrooge" cut has the same snappy 1960s sound.

Give it a listen:

Dolton Records - "Scrooge" (1965) - The Ventures

"Scrooge" (1965)
Dolton Records
The Ventures

From the Orchids in 1964, we jump ahead a year to 1965 for this track from "The Ventures' Christmas Album."

The whole album is a blast, mostly consisting of holiday standards arranged in the style of some pop hits of the day, Venturized.

There are a couple of original tracks, one of which is named after our friend Mr. Scrooge.

Give it a listen:

In case you're wondering, that familiar "villain" music that's mixed in is called "Mysterioso Pizzicato" and goes back to at least the time of silent movies. Scrooge is clearly not reformed yet!

Oh, and don't you almost expect him to yell "Wipeout!" at some point?

The Ventures enjoyed a long and successful career starting with their hugely influential smash record of "Walk, Don't Run" from 1960 and their legacy includes one of the most fun Christmas albums ever!

Decca Records - "Mr. Scrooge" (1964) - The Orchids

"Mr. Scrooge" (1964)
Decca Records
The Orchids

From the early days of records, let's jump ahead about 50 years to the mid-1960s for the first of a few pop songs making use of old Ebenezer Scrooge...

This first one is from the Orchids, a trio of British schoolgirls, in 1964. They had a few singles on Decca Records in England, but they did not become big stars. They had the "Girl Group" sound that had been popular, but in 1964, other British groups were introducing new sounds that changed the world.

This brings us to their recording of "Mr. Scrooge" from 1964. They performed it in the British film "Just for You" (1964), which was apparently released in America as "Disk-O-Tek Holiday." The main attraction seems to be the little music segments (like primeval music videos) of various recording acts.

I don't think there was a single release of "Mr. Scrooge," but it was included on the soundtrack album.

In any event, it's a fun little novelty with that "Girl Group" sound.

Here it is:

Next up: another Scrooge-related cut...

Victor Records: "Scrooge" - Parts 1 & 2 (1916) - William Sterling Battis - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to William Sterling Battis with his 1916 recordings of "Marley's Ghost" and "The Ghost of Christmas Past," I'm sure you'll agree they're pretty fun.

With these 12-inch 78 rpm records, he gets some room to stretch out, so it's interesting what scenes get highlighted.

I have to wonder if Side One set a new record for most "humbugs" in less than five minutes!

These records are billed as "Character impersonation with effects," although I don't think Side 1 has nay effects, whereas Side 2 has a few, including the fiddler at Fezziwig's party. It's mostly Battis, though.

I think his monologue style is interesting, as he's sometimes he's talking to another character, but you only get his side of the conversation. It reminds me of those telephone routines that Bob Newhart used to do.

I can't really uncover a lot of information about William Sterling Battis, but he was based in America and seems to have been a Dickens specialist.

This little clipping from Dickinson College in December 1927 is very interesting:

Fascinating that they namedrop Bransby Williams!

I imagine that this sort of character impersonation would have been running out of steam in a few years once talking movies became established.

One other related piece of ephemera is also intersting. This ad for Victor Records touting them as educational tools:

Look who's on there!

I'll have to stay on the look out for the other record in the series.

Meanwhile, I think we have to wait 25 years for another recording of "A Christmas Carol" for the home market. Paging Ronald Colman!

Victor Records: "Scrooge" - Parts 1 & 2 (1916) - William Sterling Battis - Part 1

"Scrooge - Part 1 - 'Marley's Ghost'" (1916)
b/w "Scrooge - Part 2 - 'The Ghost of Christmas Past'
Victor Records
Scrooge: William Sterling Battis

Here's one more early monologue, this time by American William Sterling Battis, another noted impersonator of Dickens characters.

He cut four 12-inch 78 rpm records in his "Scrooge" series. I've only been able to track down the first record which pairs "Marley's Ghost" with "The Ghost of Christmas Past."

They're not the same sketches as presented by Bransby Williams on his Scrooge series but they're equally fun.

Give 'em a listen:

Part 1 - "Marley's Ghost"

Part 2 - "The Ghost of Christmas Past"

Sterling Records - "Scrooge's Awakening" (1905)

"Scrooge's Awakening" (1905)
Sterling Record
Scrooge: Albert Whelan

OK, to make things even a little more confusing, we have another cylinder from 1905, but this is "Scrooge's Awakening" by Albert Whelan not "The Awakening of Scrooge" by Bransby Williams!

The recording are pretty similar, though not exactly the same.

Not sure if one was copying the other or were they both copying someone else or if that was just a common sketch.

Was this a primeval cover record?

Albert Whelan was Australian and certainly a contemporary of the English Bransby Williams, but he doesn't seem to be as much of a Dickens specialist.

Albert was also around for a long time, being born in 1875 and passing away in 1961. That's a good run!

So, here's Arthur Whelan's Sterling record of "Scrooge's Awakening" right now:

Bonus Bransby!

A little bonus Bransby Williams...

This recording is an earlier version of the third part of Mr. Williams's Scrooge monologue, the "Awakening of Scrooge" part. A little shorter, but pretty similar.

It's definitely from an Edison cylinder, which I think is from 1905. It has the spoken introduction common to cylinders of that time. So, pretty early in the scheme of things!

Give it a listen:

I'm not sure how many recordings he made of this material and it's not easy to find out which is which.

Here's a British LP from 1952 on Decca Records. Are they new recordings or reissues? The liner notes refer to Mr. Williams as an octogenarian, which would seem to indicate these are freshly recorded. Maybe someday I'll get my mitts on a copy, then I'll know!

The more I listen to Bransby Williams, the more I think he sounds a bit like Lionel Barrymore. Did Lionel possibly find inspiration for his take on Scrooge from those old records? I guess we'll never know, but intriguing nonetheless!

Columbia Records: "Scrooge" (1912) - Bransby Williams - Part 2

I hope you got a chance to listen to the Columbia Records selections by Bransby Williams as Scrooge, circa 1912, as they're a lot of fun.

The way he is narrating the story as Scrooge in a very concise manner reminds me more of the Claude Rains record from the 1950s more than anything. Rains also played Scrooge's conscience and was telling us what had already happened to him, whereas Williams seems to be describing events as he goes, but that's where my mind went.

In any event Bransby Williams does a great job. What's kind of interesting is that he was born on August 14, 1870 which was only about two months after Charles Dickens passed away. This makes these recordings seem even closer to the time of source material.

Another cool artifact of back in the day (if the day were in 1913) is a book by Bransby Williams entitled "My Sketches from Dickens." Included in the book is the script for his Scrooge monologue.

They're pretty similar to those 78 rpm recordings, so you can sort of follow along. Pretty fun!

Check them out:

Bransby was around for a long time, passing away in 1961 at the age of 91. A couple of other projects he had worked on were an early "talkie" short in which he played Scrooge and an early British telecast in  which he did the same. I guess these are lost, but you never know!

So, let's give Bransby Williams his due as a great Scrooge!

Columbia Records: "Scrooge" (1912) - Bransby Williams - Part 1

"Scrooge" (1912)
Columbia Records
Scrooge: Bransby Williams

We hang around the early 1910s, around 1912 or so (sources differ) for an early audio performance adapted from "A Christmas Carol" and featuring Bransby Williams.

He was a popular British performer with a long career and he specialized in interpreting literary characters, including quite a few from the works of Charles Dickens. Since he was a monologist, it was a great idea to have him make some records.

We have three sides of 78 rpm records here, which are subtitled "Before the Dream," "The Dream" and "Scrooge's Awakening." I think they're a blast, but don't get me started on the whole dream thing!

Give a listen:

The Century Magazine (December 1911)

The Century Magazine (December 1911)
"Marley's Ghost Appearing to Scrooge"
Illustrator: S.J. Woolf

We hang around the early part of the twentieth century long enough to stop in 1911 for the Christmas issue of "The Century Magazine"

In among the various holiday content is the awesome painting by S.J. Woolf, entitled "Marley's Ghost Appearing to Scrooge."

It appears that it's a one-off for the magazine, but it's really cool!

This issue of "The Century" looks ahead to 1912. Just for perspective, 1912 saw, among other events, the founding of the Girl Scouts, the sinking of the Titanic, the opening of Fenway Park and the election of Woodrow Wilson.

 An eventful year!

"A Christmas Carol" (1900 Edition) - Part 2

What they said!

The 1900 edition of "A Christmas Carol" as illustrated by Frederick Simpson Coburn contained those "photogravure" images we were just looking at, but it also contained some other illustrations mixed in with the text.

The are less-than-glamorously described as "illustrations other than photogravure," but I still think they're fun.

Here they are:

Just to show how they look on the page!

And here's a self portrait of the artist:

"A Christmas Carol" (1900 Edition) - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol" (1900 Edition)
Illustrator: Frederick Simpson Coburn

We go back to the early 1900s, exactly 1900 in fact, for another interesting edition of "A Christmas Carol."

This one has illustrations by Frederick Simpson Coburn (1871-1960). I think they're really nice and they tend to show some of the less common incidents.

There are actually two types of illustrations here, "regular" interior ones and some fancy full-page ones billed as "photogravure."

The fancy ones are on the right side of the page and they have what appears to be tissue paper on the opposite page, presumably to protect them. The tissue paper has the caption in red.

Here are those "fancy" ones. I took the liberty of adding the captions to the blank space under the picture. The first one is the frontspiece, so it's out of chronological order.

I think these are just great and I love that Martha and Topper got shout-outs!