
2. A Starry Night
3. This Little Boy
4. Hush, Hush, Hush
5. The Little King Jesus
6. Just Be Grateful
7. Silent Night, Holy Night
8. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10. Such A Tiny Child
11. The Holly And The Ivy
12. Czech Rocking Carol
13. Mary's Boy Child
14. The Only One
15. Carol Of The Bagpipers
16. What Dreams
17. Away In A Manger
18. Winter's Coming On
19. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
20. Once In Royal David's City ARTIST SITE
21. Rise Up Shepherd And Follow FACEBOOK
22. Dance Of The Shepherds SP&S DIGITAL STORE (UK)
23. Christmas Can Be Everyday For You AMAZON UK

An EMI executive was watching their television debut and he liked what he saw and heard. He signed the group to a recording contract and, by mid-February 1964, a single bearing the name Joystrings hit the streets. The Salvation Army was both intrigued by their rapid rise to pop culture prominence, but also somewhat embarrassed. Internally, the name "Joystrings" was not permitted; the group was referred to as "The International Training College Rhythm Group". The Joystrings were a huge smash, though. Teenagers packed theaters to see them. When they played The Blue Angel in Germany, even Marlene Dietrich could not believe the beyond capacity crowd and their excitement. It was actually remarkable that the Army even allowed such a performance as they were already regretting their creation. Though the Army wanted to pull the plug on the Joystrings as early as 1965, the group's popularity made that virtually impossible until 1969.
During their reign, the Joystrings recorded a number of Christmas songs. For many of us, though, their finest hour (so to speak) was the 1966 album "Well Seasoned"--the only Joystrings album to be released in the United States. Only one half of the album was Christmas, but it was on that album that the Joystrings showed their psychedelic side with their legendary covers of "We Three Kings" and "O Little Town Of Bethlehem", the latter performed to the music of "House Of The Rising Sun".
It has taken a long, long time to get these wonderful Christmas recordings released on CD, but finally here they are--remastered and restored to their full glory glory hallelujah! "Christmas Collection" will is now available on CD (even if only as an import) and is currently available as a digital download from the sp&s store, an offshoot of the UK's 7 Digital (if they'll let any of us yanks take the plunge). If nothing else, I'll be watching for it on eBay. (My thanks to my pal Ernie for the rip of "Little Town" above. His web site is amazing. You should spend lots of time there.)