Our Christmas Waltz

I have to admit that I picked up this record primarily because of its Christmas coloring, but fortunately it's worth hearing as well as seeing.

This is a green vinyl promo copy of a 78 from 1949. That year, RCA Victor had begun issuing 45s, initially color coding the vinyl to signify genre - red for classical, yellow for children's records, etc. This 78 is pressed on the watery green vinyl that RCA used for its country 45s. And although "Our Christmas Waltz" started off as a country song, this is decidedly not a hillbilly record.

Larry Green

Larry Green was actually a society bandleader, located in Boston. He plays the piano heard here, in the style of Eddy Duchin.

Ray Dorey

"Our Christmas Waltz," a simple but attractive song, was a hit for Red Foley and Judy Martin on the country charts. It is coupled here with a new Hoagy Carmichael-Paul Francis Webster tune with the strange title "Follow the Swallow to Hide-A-Way Hollow". The Carmichael song is also a good one, with a lyric in the manner of "I'll Buy That Dream". Both are very well sung by the sonorous Ray Dorey. The baritone had been with Benny Goodman and made several singles for the Majestic label. He later became a Boston radio-television personality.