Soulful Strings Magic of Christmas Release

THIS INFO CAME FROM STUBBYFEARS OVER AT THE FALALALALA FORUM:
The first wave of Real Gone's holiday releases have hit Amazon. In addition to the John Gary, George Melachrino and Three Suns records (the Living Voices are so far absent), we're getting the Soulful Strings "Magic of Christmas". These titles all are set to drop on October 9. Pre-order links for the Amazon Real Gone listings are below the info for the Soulful Strings.

1. The Little Drummer Boy
2. Snowfall
3. Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy from Tchaikovsky s Nutcracker Suite
4. Deck the Halls
5. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
6. Sleigh Ride
7. Merry Christmas Baby
8. Jingle Bells
9. The Christmas Song
10. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers

The Soulful Strings were without a doubt the hippest project ever to emerge from the 60s with the word Strings in its name. Brainchild of producer/arranger/bassist/songwriter (and genius) Richard Evans, the group was a far cry from the interchangeable outfits that flourished during the beautiful music era; instead, The Soulful Strings were actually composed of members of the Chess/Cadet label house band, including flautist Lennie Druss, guitarist Phil Upchurch, bassist/cellist Cleveland Eaton and harpist Dorothy Ashby, who laid down a tasty electric groove into which Evans stirred lush strings and unusual instrumentation like the kalimba and sitar. The result was a sound that resided at the crossroads of easy listening, jazz, R&B and exotica and, as one might expect from that description, every Soulful Strings release (they made seven albums) is treasured by cratediggers worldwide. This 1968 release was their highest-charting record at #35 on the charts, and appears on CD for the first time anywhere in the world, with liner notes by Gene Sculatti. The soundtrack to many a swingin 60s Christmas party.