206:"/"Yingle Bells," as a Christmas special, and sales took off immediately. Advance orders came from all around the nation, so that Capitol announced that they had a hit on their hands. The song debuted on December 10 at number 24. By the following week, both sides were in the Top Twenty, and the week before Christmas saw both sides of the single in the Top Ten. Right after Christmas, "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" reached number five, and the single became one of Capitol's permanent hits—being reissued virtually every year.
229:." The record received a terrible review in the March 14, 1953, issue of Billboard stating the record "is supposed to be a comical version of the oldie. It isn't." The following week's paper showed the record as selling in several markets around the country. According to one disc jockey who had to play the record, it was one of the biggest hits of the time but at the same time "one of the most horrible records (he had) ever heard." After that record sold well, prompting several follow-up releases.
217:. Not content to remain in his niche, he released a political single called "I'm Gonna Vote Republican." The other side was "I'm Gonna Vote for a Democrat." He also hit later that year, 1952, with a concept record called his Family Album. By this time, Yogi's first Capitol single was still the tenth-best-selling overall by the company; only three singles that had come out after "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" had outsold it. Beginning in 1953 he adopted other comic personas for some of his releases:
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the station. This, in turn, led to Harry's first published work as a songwriter in 1946, when the King's
Jesters recorded his song, "Humphrey, the Sweet Singing Pig," for Vogue Picture Records. Yogi Yorgesson then attracted the attention of a local record company, S&G Records, that was pressing in Los Angeles. His first single, "My Clam Digger Sweetheart"/"I Don't Give a Hoot," was popular enough that
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to prefer his singing comedy over his earlier crystal-ball act, so he began adding his songs to his live repertoire. Although
Stewart made money for Capitol, so that he continued with the label for the rest of his career, he had trouble impressing music critics. Reviews in trade magazines were rarely favorable—being generally unappreciative of Stewart's brand of humor.
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Once
Capitol saw that Yogi was going to be a star, they prepared the follow-up release, "The Bees and the Birds"/"Real Gone Galoot." That single was released in January (1950), just as sales of the Christmas single were starting to taper off. As Stewart toured, he found that audiences were beginning
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purchased the rights to his recordings. The second
Yorgesson release was an early version of "All Pooped Out," which Stewart re-recorded later for Capitol. Once Capitol signed Yogi in October 1949, S&G promoted the singles with ads in trade magazines, and they sold quite well—100,000 copies of
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Harry and his wife, Gretchen Ida (Sissell) Ross (1909–1998) moved to
Chicago in 1939, where he became a script writer. He kept the Yorgesson character alive, touring occasionally. During World War II, Harry became part of the WBBM production staff in May, 1942. By December Yogi was performing for
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More than a half century after his death, Stewart's recordings are still sold by vintage music stores and online retailers. They can also be found at video-sharing websites and other digital archives, and "I Yust Go Nuts at
Christmas" remains in regular
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From 1948 through 1956 Stewart recorded over forty songs as Yogi
Yorgesson. Harry was also recognizable, as Yogi, in the Capitol Records promotional film, "Wanna Buy a Record," which starred
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and Doug
Setterberg recorded eighteen songs written by Harry Stewart and thereby introduced Yogi Yorgesson to a new generation of fans. Five of his songs appeared on their album
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by Yogi
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radio show from Fall, 1932, to 1937. He then began performing a comedy routine as Yogi in nightclubs. Yogi was originally a
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by Michel Ruppli; William R Daniels; Ed
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In 1927, Stewart worked as an announcer, weather reporter, newsman and banjo player on
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Harry Stewart was killed in an automobile accident in 1956 while returning to
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the two singles together. Capitol billed their first Yorgesson single, "
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by Joseph Murrells, (London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd., 1978), p.49,
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released "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" and "Yingle Bells," a
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752:Yogi Yorgesson, Harry Kari and Klaus Hammerschmidt
221:(Harry Kari), country bumpkin (Claude Hopper) and
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303:on radio stations during the Christmas season.
173:, a radio station that had recently started in
726:Stan Boreson (The Yogi Yorgesson Connection)
321:The Trials and Tribulations of Yogi Yorgesson
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818:Harry Stewart on the Jack Benny Show (1955)
23:For the politician in Ontario, Canada, see
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558:"Song Writers Guarantee New Record Worst"
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130:(October 21, 1908 – May 20, 1956), born
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427:Music in Washington: Seattle and Beyond
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349:Have Yourself A Crazy Little Christmas
342:The Great Comedy Hits of Harry Stewart
291:also recorded the 1980 tribute album
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903:American people of Norwegian descent
614:. Minneapolis Star. February 1, 1962
747:Vintage Scandinavian-American humor
295:with eleven more songs by Stewart.
908:20th-century American male singers
742:Slim Jim sings Harry Stewart songs
635:"Jim Jordan, Radio's Fibber McGee"
584:"'Yogi Yorgesson' Killed in Crash"
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863:American novelty song performers
589:. Minneapolis Star. May 21, 1956
150:Harry Edward Skarbo was born in
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898:Singers from Tacoma, Washington
848:20th-century American comedians
684:. Retrieved: November 14, 2013.
893:Road incident deaths in Nevada
699:. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
429:(Arcadia Publishing. Page 43)
399:. Retrieved: October 12, 2021.
16:American comedian and musician
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858:20th-century American singers
556:Ewald, William (1953-06-08).
531:The Capitol Label Discography
494:Will Jones (April 18, 1950).
314:Yogi Yorgesson's Family Album
633:Obituaries (April 2, 1988).
609:"Gretchen Stewart remarries"
470:"Smart Swede Fails to Click"
468:Will Jones (June 22, 1950).
97:Comedian, singer, songwriter
873:Stereotypes of white people
790:I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas
283:(1969) and another five on
281:Honey / Little Green Apples
204:I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas
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369:Scandinavian dialect humor
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853:American comedy musicians
712:Harry Stewart (1950–1962)
564:. United Press. p. 9
501:. The Minneapolis Tribune
496:"Yorgesson? Yust a Phony"
475:. The Minneapolis Tribune
285:Yust Go Nuts at Christmas
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659:The Book of Golden Discs
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227:Yes, Sir, That's My Baby
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804:Yogi Yorgesson singing
394:Harry Stewart biography
241:from an appearance in
521:August 2, 1952, p. 68
562:Oxnard Press-Courier
307:Selected discography
293:Yust Tinkin' Of Yogi
410:Minneapolis Tribune
25:Harry Allan Stewart
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639:The New York Times
447:May 23, 1942, p. 8
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80:(1956-05-20)
78:May 20, 1956
53:Harry Skarbo
843:1956 deaths
838:1908 births
730:HistoryLink
697:youtube.com
644:January 10,
618:January 10,
593:January 10,
568:11 February
505:January 10,
479:January 10,
271:Dr. Demento
243:Ely, Nevada
239:Los Angeles
832:Categories
375:References
59:1908-10-21
544:Billboard
425:(2007)
287:(1971).
267:gold disc
215:Mel Blanc
187:Stockholm
179:Al Pearce
146:Biography
105:1927-1956
397:wisc.edu
363:See also
358:(iTunes)
257:In 1949
219:Japanese
191:everyman
118:Children
113:Gretchen
823:YouTube
812:YouTube
289:Boreson
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164:Tacoma
156:Norway
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