1965? Winter Wonderland (instrumental remake)

.....From 1960 to 1990 Motown released seven single-artist albums and three various artists albums of Christmas music, not counting singles, repackagings and overseas editions. Of these, only the first, 1963's CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES, contained the song "WINTER WONDERLAND". I mention this because there are two collections that have come out since then containing previously unreleased material from that period and each have an outtake of that song-- the same outtake in two different mixes, actually-- attributing it to two different producers in two different years. Here's what I know...

.....first the mono mix:

• 02:02 "WINTER WONDERLAND" (Felix Bernard)
• performed by The Funk Brothers
• produced by Ronald White
• recorded 1965
• original source: VACD CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY Motown Master Series 37463-6326-2 (G) 1993
• and my source: the same

.....and next, the stereo mix:

• 02:00 "WINTER WONDERLAND" (Felix Bernard, Dick Smith)
• performed by The Funk Brothers
• produced by Norman Whitfield
• recorded September-October 1968, as an instrumental only during the sessions for the Temptations' album CHRISTMAS CARD
• "First issued with a different mix on the Various Artists album CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY, Motown 6326, October 1993." [per liner notes of 2001 CD]
• original source: VACD A MOTOWN CHRISTMAS VOLUME 2 Motown/Universal 440 016 364-2(US) 2001
• and my source: the same

.....Ronald White produced the only other version from the 1960's, on the aforementioned Miracles' album. It's not the same music, even though it's probably some of the same session men playing the same song. It's not a radically different arrangement but different enough to distinguish between them. The only Christmas project at Motown in 1965 was the Supremes album, produced by Harvey Fuqua. My guess is that someone compiling notes for the 1993 CD got confused at some point.

.....The most noticeable difference between the mono and stereo mixes is that the stereo mix has a string section. Both versions feature what sounds like a toy xylophone, which sounds sharper in the stereo mix. Because the song isn't an original (see the 1963 posts until I can get around to posting about the 1934 versions), I'm going to hold off doing any more commentary on it until I cover the Temptations' 1968 single.