As the Holiday season starts, I was reviewing rolls that are
appropriate for this time of year.   One of my favorites is an Ampico
roll of Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," arranged by David Junchen.  He
also issued a Duo-Art roll of that tune, and I seemed to recall he had
made various orchestrion rolls, too.  So, wanting more information, I
asked Art Reblitz for details.  This is his response:

    "Dave Junchen made these arrangements of 'Sleigh Ride':
       H orchestrion, 1968; Opus 7
       O orchestrion, 1970; Op. 24
       Ampico, November 1972 (designated Ampico 72033); Op. 53
       Duo-Art, 1973 (for Harold Powell); not on Opus list
       G orchestrion, October 1981; Op. 72
 
    "Dave originally arranged the H version, with elements adapted from
    the George Wright theatre organ arrangement, as a stand-alone tune.
    He first played his hand-cut copy for me at Svoboda's Nickelodeon
    Tavern in 1968.  In November 1975, Terry Borne combined Dave's H
    version with a few of his own arrangements and my arrangement of
    'Rudolph, the Red-Nose Reindeer' for the first new full-length
    Christmas H roll.

    "At one time, John Malone mechanically translated some of Dave's
    and my A or G arrangements to the Wurlitzer 65[-note] APP scale,
    but I'm not sure if 'Sleigh Ride' was one of them.

    "Dave passed away in 1992.  More recently, Ed Gaida translated
    Dave's 10-tune G orchestrion Christmas roll, including 'Sleigh
    Ride,' to an A roll."

Clearly from Art's input, one can see the importance of "Sleigh Ride"
in regard to newer music on a wide range of machines.  Art's response
certainly increased my appreciation for David's work.

In celebration of the holiday season, and also celebrating David
Junchen's creative contributions, I have added a recording of this
Ampico composition to one of my websites for all to enjoy.  It is the
second tune at: http://web.me.com/bobtaylor5/Ampico/Welcome.html 

Happy Holidays!

Bob Taylor