Jose Feliciano Feliz Navidad - 45 stereo?

Okay, gang, I'm trying to find out whether the 1970 45 of Feliz Navidad (which was RCA 74-0404, not the later pressing with a different catalog number) was mono or stereo. I believe the B-side was "The Little Drummer Boy." I'm not seeing ANY copies online that are not promos, and apparently some of the import versions had the same catalog number, so it's hard to tell.

But it did chart in Cash Box at #71 in 1970, so I know it must have been a commercial single in the US. If anyone owns that original 45, maybe they can chime in here.

The record in that link appears to be legit, although the sleeve is not a correct match (more on that below.) I don't have an original 1970 U.S. stock copy, but there's no reason to believe it would have been in anything other than stereo, as was its corresponding DJ 45.

Even if RCA 74-0404 did manage to remain in print beyond its initial 1970 appearance, its RCA factory sleeve would have differed in subsequent years. The 1970 "Feliz"/"Little Drummer Boy" DJ 45 came in this factory sleeve. By the following Christmas ('71) the RCA factory sleeve had already changed to the white-based multicolor cartoon design with the clouds, flowers and rainbow.

The sleeve shown in the link Aaron posted above is not correct for any 74-0404 issue, as that design did not appear until April-May of 1974. "Feliz Navidad" and its original B-side had already been reissued on the red label RCA Gold Standard series by Christmas of '73.

aaronk wrote: Here's a picture of one that clearly says "STEREO" on the label: http://www.classic45s.com/product_info.php?products_id=28206 &cPath=

Aha. First photo I've seen of a 1970 commercial pressing. (And it must be rare, because the owner of the site has a note that in eight years that's the first copy he's come across.)

The catalog number referenced in the ad is for the reissue, but the label number in the photo is the original isue number. (It also says it's out of stock.)

To Yah Shure:

Oftentimes Billboard didn't chart Christmas releases on their Hot 100; sometimes they did.

I've never been able to completely figure that out. It would sometimes depend on if there was a contemporaneous Christmas chart, other times it would depend on the current Chart Manager.

Sometimes it would depend on if the record label really wanted it to be the 'current single'. For example Eagles "Please Come Home For Christmas" charted on the Hot 100 while Elton John's "Step Into Christmas" didn't.

Does anyone else have any insight or conjecture?

Andy

Edited by AndrewChouffi

Yes, it's very odd that it didn't show up on any Billboard chart in 1970, since it did manage a low placement in Cash Box. However, that #71 position was only for one week, then it completely dropped off the charts.