Today is a pretty day, but it is a cool day at 52°, a sweatshirt day. The sun is bright, the air still. The dogs have been in and out. The goldfinches are at the feeders. It is Patriot’s Day here in Massachusetts. The Boston marathon has started from Hopkinton. The Sox will play at 11:10. I’ll watch the game and keep tabs on the marathon. 

When I was a kid, this week was my spring vacation. We never went anywhere. My farther was working. I did the usual stuff like bike riding, getting books at the library and hanging with friends, but one year was special. I was in the sixth grade. We were told to report to the town hall on one of the vacation days. We were going to make a record. That’s all we knew.

At the town hall, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians were there as was Kenny Gardner, the singer. The band used to have a concert every year in Stoneham, my town, as one of the parish priests was friends with Guy Lombardo. We were told we would be recording a Christmas record. They gave us those John Hancock song books. We stood in front of the stage. Kenny Gardner explained what would be happening. Guy Lombardo would introduce each song then the band would play. Kenny Gardener took the lead while we sang with him. Some songs took a few takes, some took more than a few. Winter Wonderland took many takes. On what was the last take, I came in a note early on one of the stanzas. Kenny wanted to know who. My classmates gave me up. But to my surprise, that version is on the album. I tell everyone I have the only solo. We were there the whole day. At the end, they gave us Hoodsies.

I still have the original record from back then. The album cover is the worst for wear. The inside of the cover has all the lyrics. I think the cover is pretty with a night scene and a church with only stain glass windows lit. The cover says Sing the Songs of Christmas with Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians. At the top left in small letters it says, “Recorded Live at Town Hall St. Patrick’s Parish, Stoneham, Massachusetts.” I always think of that solo as my claim to fame.

This entry was posted on April 21, 2025 at 10:45 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.