Classic Christmas (Johnny Cash album)

Last updated
Classic Christmas
Johnny Cash Classic Christmas.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 3, 1980
RecordedAugust 19–20, 1980
Studio CBS Studios (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre
Length31:44
Label Columbia
Producer Bill Walker
Johnny Cash chronology
Rockabilly Blues
(1980)
Classic Christmas
(1980)
The Baron
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Classic Christmas is the third Christmas album and 65th overall album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1980 (see 1980 in music). Unlike The Christmas Spirit or Family Christmas , none of the songs are originals; all are traditional Christmas songs. It is the third full-length Christmas album by Cash. A fourth Christmas album Country Christmas recorded and released in 1991 for the Delta Music label featuring rerecordings of many of the songs on Classic Christmas.

Contents

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Joy to the World" Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts 2:04
2."Away in a Manger" William James Kirkpatrick/Traditional3:05
3."O Little Town of Bethlehem" Phillips Brooks, Lewis Redner 3:26
4."Silent Night" Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr 3:01
5."It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" Edmund Sears, Richard Storrs Willis 3:37
6."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley 2:29
7."I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"Jean Baptiste Calkin, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 2:19
8."O Come All Ye Faithful" Frederick Oakeley, John Francis Wade 2:55
9."Little Gray Donkey" Charles Tazewell, Roger Wagner4:11
10."The Christmas Guest" Grandpa Jones, Bill Walker4:37

Personnel

Technical

Related Research Articles

Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Harry Nilsson, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark O'Connor</span> American violinist and composer

Mark O'Connor is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards and was a member of three influential musical ensembles: the David Grisman Quintet, The Dregs, and Strength in Numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tennessee Three</span> Backing band for Johnny Cash

The Tennessee Three was the backing band for country and rockabilly singer Johnny Cash for nearly 25 years, providing the unique backing that came to be recognized by fans as "the Johnny Cash sound".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Walk the Line</span> 1956 single by Johnny Cash

"I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. After three attempts with moderate chart ratings, it became Cash's first #1 hit on the Billboard country chart, eventually reaching #17 on the Billboard Hot 100.

<i>Horizontal</i> (album) 1968 studio album by the Bee Gees

Horizontal is the fourth studio album by the Bee Gees, and their second album to receive an international release. The LP was released in early 1968, and included the international hit singles "Massachusetts" and "World". On 5 February 2007, Reprise Records reissued Horizontal with both stereo and mono mixes on one disc and a bonus disc of unreleased songs, non-album tracks, and alternate takes. The album was released in Polydor in many countries and on Atco only in the US and Canada. "And the Sun Will Shine" was released as a single only in France. The influences displayed on the album range from the Beatles to baroque pop.

<i>The Johnny Cash Show</i> (album) 1970 live album by Johnny Cash

The Johnny Cash Show is the 35th overall album and third live album by American country singer Johnny Cash, recorded at the Grand Ole Opry House and released on Columbia Records in 1970 as a tie-in with Cash's then-current TV series of the same title. Though one of Cash's lesser-known live records, it spawned the highly successful single "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", which helped kickstart the career of singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. The song and album reached #1 on the Country charts. It was also his final chart entry in Australia, going no higher than #35. The album was certified Gold on February 16, 1995, by the RIAA.

<i>The Mystery of Life</i> 1991 studio album by Johnny Cash

The Mystery of Life is the 77th album by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1991, and his last for Mercury Records. The songs featured are culled from both recent sessions and from leftovers from Cash's first Mercury session in 1986 for the album Johnny Cash is Coming to Town.

<i>Rockabilly Blues</i> 1980 studio album by Johnny Cash

Rockabilly Blues is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1980. Highlights include "Cold Lonesome Morning," which had some minor chart success, "Without Love," by his son-in-law, Nick Lowe, and a cover of the witty "The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over." The first two of the aforementioned songs were the only singles from the album, though "Without Love" hardly enjoyed any chart success, peaking at No. 78. "The Twentieth Century is Almost Over" was re-recorded five years later by Cash and Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, collectively known as The Highwaymen, on their first album entitled Highwayman, though it was, in essence, a duet with Nelson.

<i>A Thing Called Love</i> 1972 studio album by Johnny Cash

A Thing Called Love is the 39th overall album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1972. The title song, written by Jerry Reed, was released successfully as a single, reaching No. 2 on the country charts; two more singles charted as well, while the album itself also reached No. 2 on the country album charts. "A Thing Called Love" was re-recorded by Cash for Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988), while "Tear Stained Letter" was reprised on American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). The Canadian pressing of this album has a different version of "Kate" with altered lyrics.

<i>Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories</i> 1975 studio album by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash Sings Precious Memories is the fifth gospel and 50th overall album by country singer Johnny Cash, released in 1975 on Columbia Records. It is one of several spiritual albums that he recorded. Other examples include Hymns by Johnny Cash, Hymns from the Heart, The Holy Land and Believe in Him. The song selection includes several of Cash's personal favorites, as some would later be recorded again for My Mother's Hymn Book. Precious Memories may have been a replacement for an untitled Gospel album that Cash recorded during 1975 but never released; those recordings would be released in 2012 on the album Bootleg Vol. IV: The Soul of Truth. The albums was dedicated to Cash's late brother, Jack D. Cash, who died in May 1944.

"Girl from the North Country" is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City in April 1963, and released the following month as the second track on Dylan's second studio album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Dylan re-recorded the song as a duet with Johnny Cash in February 1969. That recording became the opening track on Nashville Skyline, Dylan's ninth studio album.

<i>The Christmas Album</i> (The Manhattan Transfer album) 1992 studio album by The Manhattan Transfer

The Christmas Album was the fourteenth album by The Manhattan Transfer, released in 1992 on Columbia Records.

"Tennessee River" is a song written by Randy Owen, and recorded by American country music band Alabama, of which Owen is the lead vocalist. It was recorded in April 1980 as the third single from the album My Home's in Alabama. The song was the group's first No. 1 song on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Cash</span> American country singer (1932–2003)

John R. Cash was an American singer-songwriter. Most of Cash's music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his backing band, the Tennessee Three, that was characterized by its train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, and his free prison concerts. Cash wore a trademark all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname "Man in Black".

<i>Country Christmas</i> (Johnny Cash album) 1991 studio album by Johnny Cash with June Carter and Carter Family

Country Christmas is the fourth Christmas album and 78th overall album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Laserlight Digital in 1991, in-between Cash's contracts with Mercury Records and American Recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big River (Johnny Cash song)</span> 1958 single by Johnny Cash

"Big River" is a song written and originally recorded by Johnny Cash. Released as a single by Sun Records in 1958, it went as high as #4 on the Billboard country music charts and stayed on the charts for 14 weeks. The song tells a story of the chase of a lost love along the course of Mississippi River from Saint Paul, Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana.

"Jealous Heart" is a classic C&W song written by American country music singer-songwriter Jenny Lou Carson. In the mid 1940s it spent nearly six months on the Country & Western charts. It was subsequently recorded by several pop singers.

William Alfred Walker was an Australian-born American composer and conductor.

<i>Johnny Cash: The Complete Columbia Album Collection</i> 2012 box set by Johnny Cash

The Complete Columbia Album Collection is a box set by country singer Johnny Cash, released posthumously in 2012 on Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings.

Nicholas Patrick is a British record producer. He has produced albums for artists such as Seal, Aretha Franklin, the Beach Boys, Placido Domingo, and Andrea Bocelli, received three Grammy award nominations and won eight Album of the Year Classic BRIT Awards.

References