A Fresh Aire Christmas

Last updated
A Fresh Aire Christmas
A-Fresh-Aire-Christmas-Cover.jpg
Studio album by
Mannheim Steamroller
ReleasedSeptember 15, 1988 (1988-09-15)
Recorded1987–1988
Genre Christmas, symphonic pop
Length40:57
Label American Gramaphone
Producer Chip Davis
Mannheim Steamroller chronology
Classical Gas
(1987)		A Fresh Aire Christmas
(1988)		 Yellowstone: The Music of Nature
(1989)
Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums chronology
Mannheim Steamroller Christmas
(1984)		A Fresh Aire Christmas
(1988)		 Christmas in the Aire
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]

A Fresh Aire Christmas is the tenth studio album and second Christmas album by American musical group Mannheim Steamroller, released in 1988.

The album was the last to feature Eric Hansen as a member of the band. It is the highest selling album in the Chip Davis/Mannheim Steamroller music catalog. [2]

When selecting the tracks, Chip Davis had requested of fans to submit three of their favorite Christmas songs. He then tabulated the results and sent a note of thanks and a copy of the album to those fans who had a song selected. [3]

On June 21, 2004, A Fresh Aire Christmas was certified by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of six million copies in the United States, making it one of the best-selling holiday albums in the U.S. [4]

Four of the album's tracks were included in the group's 2004 compilation Christmas Celebration .

As of November 2014, A Fresh Aire Christmas is the sixth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. for the Nielsen SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 3,660,000 copies during this period according to SoundScan. [5] The album has become the band's biggest success, even surpassing their first Christmas release, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas .

Track listing

A Fresh Aire Christmas track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Hark! The Herald Trumpets Sing"  Chip Davis [lower-alpha 1] 1:23
2."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" Traditional (18th century German)3:27
3."Veni Veni (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)" (featuring the Cambridge Singers)TraditionalTraditional (12th century French)4:15
4."The Holly and the Ivy" Traditional (ancient French)2:58
5."The Little Drummer Boy"  Katherine Kennicott Davis [lower-alpha 2] 4:06
6."Still, still, still" Traditional (Austrian)3:39
7."Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" Traditional (15th century German)2:23
8."In Dulci Jubilo" Traditional (16th century German)2:43
9."Greensleeves" Traditional (16th century English)3:24
10."Carol of the Bells" Peter Wilhousky Mykola Leontovych [lower-alpha 3] 3:48
11."Traditions of Christmas" Davis3:32
12."Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night)"  Adolphe Adam [lower-alpha 4] 5:19
  1. ↑ Uncredited in the tracklist, described as "20th century (16th century style)." Davis credits himself in the liner notes, acknowledging the influence of composer Giovanni Gabrieli.
  2. ↑ Uncredited; attributed as "20th century American."
  3. ↑ Neither Wilhousky nor Leontovych is credited; attributed as "19th century Ukrainian."
  4. ↑ Uncredited in tracklist and attributed as "19th century French"; Davis credits Adam in the liner notes.

Related Research Articles

Louis F. "Chip" Davis Jr. is the founder and leader of the music group Mannheim Steamroller. Davis composed the music for several C. W. McCall albums, including the hit 1975 song "Convoy". He has also written and made other albums, such as Day Parts, and has written several books.

Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music ensemble founded and directed by percussionist/composer Chip Davis in 1974. The group is known primarily for its Fresh Aire series of albums, which blend classical music with elements of new age and rock, and for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.

<i>Christmas Celebration</i> 2004 compilation album by Mannheim Steamroller

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Fresh Aire III is the third album by the new-age musical group Mannheim Steamroller. It was originally released in 1979 on American Gramaphone. Each of the first four Fresh Aire albums is based on a season; Fresh Aire III's theme is summer. The opening track, Toccata, was played behind station IDs for OEPBS until 1986.

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<i>Fresh Aire VI</i> 1986 studio album by Mannheim Steamroller

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<i>Fresh Aire 8</i> 2000 studio album by Mannheim Steamroller

Fresh Aire 8 is an album by Mannheim Steamroller, released in 2000. It is the final album in the Fresh Aire series and is based on the topic of infinity, with each track or suite representing a different "aspect of infinity." The tracks' topics include ancient Greek philosophy, Leonardo da Vinci, M. C. Escher's Waterfall, Mannheim Steamroller's mascot, and the Judgment of Anubis. A visual album was also released on DVD.

<i>Saving the Wildlife</i> 1986 studio album by Mannheim Steamroller

Saving the Wildlife is an album by Mannheim Steamroller, released in 1986. It was written for the soundtrack of a PBS special by the same name, except for "Dolphins and Whales," which originally appeared on Fresh Aire VI as "Come Home to the Sea".

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Visual Musik was a record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. It specialized in new age music. It was founded in 1987 by Carol Davis, ex-wife of Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller fame. Carol Davis had previously contributed photography and visuals to several early Mannheim Steamroller albums in the Fresh Aire series, as well as other albums released under Chip Davis' American Gramaphone label.

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ "Mannheim Steamroller Albums ranked by sales". Best Selling Albums.org.
  3. ↑ Newman, Melinda (October 16, 2015). "Mannheim Steamroller's Chip Davis On How To Build A Multi-Million Dollar Brand". Forbes.com. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ "RIAA Searchable Database". Recording Industry Association of America . Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  5. ↑ "The Gifts That Keep on Giving: Biggest Radio and Album Hits of the Holidays". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.


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