WFDU-FM’s TRADITIONS Playlist for December 21, 2014

Since 1980, I have hosted an annual Christmas special that airs on the Sunday before Christmas from the Teaneck, New Jersey studios of WFDU-FM. Not only has it become a tradition for me, I discovered that many listeners also look forward to it and I found myself linked to another radio tradition that was part of Cincinnati, Ohio’s holiday fare decades ago.

I programmed my first Christmas show as an antidote to the commercial holiday music that was being played in shopping malls and the airwaves of New York radio at the time. Nothing against Barbara Streisand, Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole, but their recordings of a handful of songs seemed to be the only tunes heard during the holidays. (At the time, I was also working as a stock person at a department store in the mall, so I was subjected to a steady 8 hours a day of this music.)

For that first show, I gathered recordings from Odetta, Pete Seeger, the Weavers, Joan Baez, the Christmas Revels and Nowell Sing We Clear, plus a few others, and put together a show that I thoroughly enjoyed – nothing at all like the music being heard elsewhere. I received a number of phone calls from people who also enjoyed hearing a “folky” selection for the holidays, and a tradition was born.

Over the years, the library of folk-related Christmas music that I share has grown considerably. The show has become a special event, and people have called and written in telling me that they get together with their family and friends to listen. One person told me they trim the tree around this show and they never miss it. (I almost missed one year when the station was asked to broadcast a basketball game, but the management recognized the tradition and stuck with me!) I continue to present this each year, mixing in new songs and recordings, and continuing the premise of offering holiday songs that are not victims of over exposure and relate to the folk music theme that WFDU-FM’s Traditions is based upon. On a personal note, this broadcast also helps me keep up my holiday spirit and reminds me of the meanings behind this holiday.

A few years ago, I started receiving e-mails from people in the Cincinnati area who had heard that I played a song off an old 45pm record called “Miracle of the Wheat” after I posted my playlist on a Folk DJ list-serv. The song was recorded in either 1956 or 1958 (various sources use different years) by Ed McCurdy, a folksinger and composer of songs such as “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream.” I got to know Ed during the early 80s when he was living in New York City and became involved with the Fast Folk scene. Ed was a guest on my show, and I began tracking down his out of print LPs when I  came across this gem. Unfortunately, Ed passed away in 2000, just before I found my copy of the song, so I never had the chance to speak to him about it.

“Miracle of the Wheat” is a Christmas song composed by songwriters Ervin Drake and Jimmie Shirl. Drake is the composer of “It Was a Very Good Year,” a huge hit for Frank Sinatra. For “Miracle of the Wheat,” the composers re-told the story of the birth of Christ in the setting of a farm in “the Dakotas.”  A farmer, whose wheat crop had failed, is visited by two travelers (who happen to be named Joseph and Mary) on a snowy Christmas Eve. He gives them shelter in his barn for the night, and in the middle of the night he hears a baby crying. When the farmer wakes up the next morning, he discovers that his wheat crop had miraculously recovered (in the middle of December?) and his visitors are gone. In the barn he discovers a bible with a passage circled – “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” A bit corny perhaps, but the tune was catchy, and Ed McCurdy delivers the song the song in earnest, his beautiful baritone voice commanding attention.

After finding out that I played the song on WFDU in New Jersey, the folks from Cincinnati began writing to me asking for a copy of the song. The reason for their interest in this obscure song was explained to me in an e-mail I received from a Cincinnati newspaper reporter.

Back in the late 1950s/early 1960s, a Cincinnati, Ohio radio host named Stan Matlock would play “Miracle of the Wheat” on his show during the weeks before Christmas. Listeners in the Cincinnati area fell in love with the song and it became a seasonal standard on his program. Matlock would give advance notice of when the song was going to play, and it has been said the city would stop down to listen.

Matlock’s morning program on WKRC-AM was extremely popular. Ratings show that there were times when over 50% of the local radios were tuned into his program. Matlock’s show was ground breaking for its time and market, a morning show that featured news, information and stories on a variety of topics. When he played music, it was usually topical to the story he was sharing.

Stan Matlock became a legendary figure in Cincinnati.  After Matlock passed away in 2001, Ohio Congressman Rob Portman paid tribute to the radio icon on the floor of Congress, noting that Matlock’s morning radio show “was a staple in the market and he was more than a great storyteller. He loved research and writing and always considered himself first a writer. It’s not surprising that his poignant stories were commentaries on our times. Impeccably organized, it was said that he had his vignettes cross-filed by subject and appropriateness for a particular time of day or national holiday or event.” “Miracle of the Wheat” was an example of how Matlock shared a song and made it part of the lives of his listeners.

After Matlock retired, people began to miss the song. No one could find a copy. Matlock had moved to Florida, and the elusive 45 could not be found. Matlocks widow could not find the recording that her husband broadcast. Ed McCurdy’s family could not locate a copy. Ervin Drake checked his files and came up empty handed.

It appeared that I had one of the few copies in existence. I continue to air the song each December, and I still get e-mails from thankful listeners. I do notice that number of e-mails decrease each year and then I remember that Matlock’s audience tuned in during the 50s and 60s, and their numbers passing with time.

I‘m still wondering why this 45 was so rare. It was recorded for Kapp Records, an independent record label found by the brother of one of the Decca Records founders. They had an eclectic lineup of artists and projects and one of their notable recordings was the 1964 version of Louie Armstrong singing “Hello Dolly.” Ed McCurdy recorded “Miracle of the Wheat” for Kapp Records with a group called “The Harvesters,” probably some session musicians from the studio where the song was recorded. While this song never made any of the charts, I would have assumed that there were enough copies made by this label so that it would turn up more frequently and not be the subject of searches.

I have actually found a second copy of the 45, and I did a bit of digital restoration to remove some of the clicks and pops. The original 45s are now locked away in the secret hidden underground WFDU archive vaults deep in the heart of New Jersey (don’t try to find it – the 24 hour guards and the deep moat will turn back any curious parties) and I play the digital recording each year on my show. I still receive occasional e-mails about the song, and I understand there is an oldies show in Cincinnati that found their own copy recently, so the song is once again returning to the airwaves.

Whether or not this single is rare is not important. What is important is the fact that a single song touched the lives of many people in the Cincinnati area. In the early days of the folk revival, collectors would travel to rural communities to search out songs that spoke to the local community. It was said that modern technology brought an end to such local folk songs, but I beg to differ. While we can trace this particular song to the writers and singer, and while it does not fit the classic definition of a folk song, I think we can see how a song can become part of the lives of the community it is sung to, or in this case the community it was broadcast to. Does a radio speaker count as a tool in the oral tradition? That is a subject for a debate for a different day.

Christmas songs and carols have always been an important part of my life. My mother tells me that I would cry while she sang “Silent Night” to me when I was an infant. I would joke that it was her singing and not the song content that brought me to tears, but in reality there was something about that song that moved me. I remember the joy of singing carols at Christmas in schools and church. I still feel it at the annual gathering in my town to light the community Christmas tree. Singing carols today brings me back to pleasant memories of my past but they also connect me to a larger community.

By a musicologist’s definition, carols are not folk songs. I would argue that they are used in communities in the same fashion as traditional folk songs. When we sing together and celebrate a holiday we are honoring a unique folk tradition.

“Miracle of the Wheat” might not be in the same league as “Silent Night,” but it will always hold a special place in many hearts. I would like to wish all my readers and listeners a joyous, happy and healthy holiday season. I look forward to sharing more songs and stories in the New Year.

(Tune in to TRADITIONS every Sunday from 2pm to 5pm Eastern Time over WFDU-FM 89.1 in the NYC/Northern New Jersey area, or on the web at www.wfdu.fm or iHeartRadio.com. On-demand streams of shows, including this one, are archived for two weeks by clicking HERE. A Sing Out! Radio Partner.)

ARTIST “Tune / Song”
ALBUM Label Website
2PM
THEME: HARVEY REID “Jingle Bells”
The Heart of a Minstrel on Christmas Day Woodpecker Records – www.woodpecker.com

VARIOUS “Christmas is Coming”
On This Day the Earth Shall Ring Flying Fish – out of print
THE WEAVERS “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”
We Wish You A Merry Christmas out of print – out of print
COOPE BOYES & SIMPSON “Here We Come A Wassailing”
A Garland of Carols No Masters – www.thebeesknees.com

LIZANNE KNOTT “Merry Christmas”
Hudson Harding Happy Holidays Vol. 9 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding
PAT WICTOR “Simple Christmas”
Hudson Harding Sampler Vol. 3 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding
JOEL MABUS “Let’s Do Christmas Right”
How Like the Holly Fossil Records – www.joelmabus.com
ARTISAN “Days of Holly and Mistletoe”
Silver and Gold Bedspring Music – www.artisan-harmony.com
ELLIS PAUL “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
City of Silver Dreams Black Wolf Records – www.ellispaul.com

NOWELL SING WE CLEAR “O the Holy Holly”
Bidding You Joy Golden Hind Music – www.goldenhindmusic.com
LIAM TIERNAN AND CATHIE RYAN “In Dulci Jublio”
The Soul of Christmas Upaya – out of print
MADDY PRIOR AND THE CARNIVAL BAND “Ding Dong Merrily On High”
A Christmas Caper Park Records – www.parkrecords.com
BEESTON METHODIST CHOIR “Drop Hark”
Brightest and Best Village Carols – www.villagecarols.org.uk

DAVID LLEWLLYN & IDA KRISTIN “In the Bleak Midwinter”
In the Bleak Midwinter self – www.davidandida.com
BRIDGET BALL & CHRISTOPHER SHAW “I Saw Three Ships”
Mountain Snow and Mistletoe self – www.chrisandbridget.com
HARVEY REID & JOYCE ANDERSEN “Winter Grace”
Christmas Morning Woodpecker – www.woodpecker.com

3PM
GATHERING TIME “Deck the Halls”
This Time & Place self – www.whereforearts.com

ZOE MULFORD “One Little Partridge”
Hudson Harding Happy Holidays Vol. 8 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding
MATT TURK with MATTER & GAB MORENO “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
Hudson Harding Sampler Volume 5 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding
RONSTADT GENERATIONS Y LOS TUCSONENSES “White Christmas”
Memories of Christmas self – www.ronstadtgenerations.com
BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES “Jingle Bells”
Jingle All the Way Rounder – www.rounder.com

CARY COOPER “River”
Hudson Harding Sampler Vol. 7 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding
DAVE POTTS “Christmas Cards”
Hudson Harding Holiday Sampler Vol.1 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding
CAL SCOTT “The Longest Night of the Year”
Hudson Harding Happy Holidays Vol. 8 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding

SADIE & THE HOT HEADS (ELIZABETH MCGOVERN) “Little Drummer Boy”
single – self – www.sadieandthehotheads.com
TOM PRASADA-RAO “Christmas in the Ashram”
Christmas in the Ashram self – www.tomprasadarao.com

JOHN MCUTCHEON “Christmas in the Trenches”
Winter Solstice self – www.folkmusic.com

ED MCCURDY & THE HARVESTERS “Miracle of the Wheat”
single out of print – out of print
DAVE CARTER AND TRACY GRAMMER “American Noel”
American Noel Signature Sounds – www.signaturesounds.com , www.daveandtracy.com

4PM
BRAVE COMBO “Must Be Santa”
Christmas Present self – www.brave.com

ROBERT LURTSEMA “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”
Christmas Stories Rounder – www.rounder.com
MARIENNE KREITLOW “Jolly Old St. Nicholas”
Beautiful Illusion self – www.marienne.com
NOWELL SING WE CLEAR “Kris Kringle”
The Best of Nowell Sing We Clear Front Hall Records –
ERIK DARLING “Walk Right In, Santa”
Revenge of the Christmas Tree self – www.erikdarling.com

ALAN MILLS “The Huron Carol”
Canada’s Story in Song Folkways – www.folkways.si.edu
MARK GILSTON “Mary Had A Baby”
Christmas With Dulcimers self – www.markgilston.com
ODETTA “Rise Up Shepard and Follow”
Christmas Spirituals Vanguard Records – www.vanguardrecords.com
THE EARLY MAYS “Ain’t That A Rockin'”
Out Under the Sky self – www.thearlymays.com
THE WOODS TEA COMPANY “Go Tell It On The Mountain”
Holiday Blend Volume 3 self – www.woodstea.net

CATIE CURTIS “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
A Catie Curtis Christmas self – www.catiecurtis.com
JAMES DURST “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
Hudson Harding Sampler Vol. 1 Hudson Harding – www.facebook.com/hudsonharding

JOAN BAEZ “Silent Night”
Noel Vanguard Records – www.vanguardrecords.com
TOMMY MAKEM “Adeste Fideles”
Tommy Makem’s Christmas Shanachie – www.shanachie.com , www.tommymakem.com
DANNY QUINN “O Holy Night”
A Danny Quinn Christmas self – www.dannyquinn.com

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Ron Olesko
WFDU-FM
1000 River Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666

www.wfdu.fm
www.iheart.com/live/WFDU-891-6648
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