Judy And The Duets: Christmas with the Fab Four and a little blind boy playing a jazzy toy horn

JUDY AND THE DUETS: Christmas Wit The Beatles / The Blind Boy (Ware Records Inc., 6000, USA, 1964, 45 rpm, small hole)

'Christmas With The Beatles' is a swinging Beatles-themed Christmas song, using parts of ‘Jingle Bells’, with the girls fantasizing not only about the Beatles, but also about Santa turning into a Beatle; enthousiastic and quite strong singing. Henry Glover wrote the song, and was together with Fred Norman, responsible for the arrangement. These two men were both jazz veterans, Glover having played as trumpetist with Lucky Millinder, but also worked as songwriter, arranger, producer and A&R man, while Norman was a trombonist in the Claude Hopkins Orchestra and he also led his own Orchestra.

But the real winner of this 45 is the B-side, 'The Blind Boy'. Everybody knows about the little drummer boy, but no one knows about this blind boy playing on his toy horn for the baby Jesus and that shows that the world is not fair. The song was written and (co)produced by Rhys O'Brien (together with Norman). Judy And The Duets sound like a completely different group on this song than on the A-side. No Beatles novelty here, but a soul pop song, with gospel influences and a lot of (jazzy) flute playing - as if the little blind boy grew up to be a flute player in a funk or jazz band. 'The Blind Boy' also brings late 1960s hippie-musicals like Hair and Godspell to mind and, in atmosphere, civil rights songs from that same era - only, this song was recorded in 1964, pre-dating all of this.

Who Judy And The Duets exactly were remains a mystery (probably sessions singers from New York). As for Rhys O'Brien, later in the 1960s he would record a few solo singles. The most popular and also obscure of his singles is probably 1969's 'Baby Shake Your Whoop Whoop', a Northern Soul classic re-released in Europa in 1971 credited to The St. James Group. That was also the name of the duo that O'Brien formed with Artie Schiff - the two would work together as songwriters and producers well into the 1980s. The original US pressing on Laurie is going for more than $ 100. Moreover, O'Brien also released a Christmas single himself, two years earlier, on MGM, 'The World Called Love (The Sound Of Christmas)' b/w 'Christmas Morning', produced by top producer Phil Ramone. That one is much easier to find on vinyl that the Judy And The Duets single and 'Baby Shake Your Whoop Whoop' - but unfortunately not on the internet.

Listen to The Beatles novelty song on Youtube:

And to 'The Blind Boy', also on Youtube: