Holiday for Swing

Last updated

Holiday for Swing
Holidayforswing.jpg
Studio album by
Seth MacFarlane
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2014
RecordedDecember 25–31, 2013 [1]
Studio Abbey Road Studios
Genre
Length42:41
Label Republic
Producer
Seth MacFarlane chronology
Music Is Better Than Words
(2011)		Holiday for Swing
(2014)		 No One Ever Tells You
(2015)
Singles from Holiday for Swing
  1. "I'll Be Home for Christmas"
    Released: November 6, 2014
  2. "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
    Released: December 3, 2014

Holiday for Swing is the second studio album and first Christmas album by American actor and singer Seth MacFarlane, released by Republic Records on September 30, 2014. [1] [2] The album is a collection of Christmas songs and contains collaborations with artists including Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles. [1] It also features Frank Sinatra's bassist Chuck Berghofer as well as a 65-piece orchestra. [1] [3] The album is the follow-up to MacFarlane's Grammy-nominated 2011 debut album Music Is Better Than Words . Like Music Is Better Than Words, Holiday for Swing was produced and conducted by film and television composer Joel McNeely. [4]

Contents

Background and recording

On May 15, 2014, it was announced that MacFarlane had completed his first Christmas album and that it would be released in time for the 2014 holiday season. [4] MacFarlane said that the record label suggested doing a Christmas album as a follow-up to his first album. [5] He said regarding Christmas music, "Honestly, I'm not a huge Christmas-music guy, nor the most religious—surprise, surprise. So the trick was to not be disingenuous but also [to be] fresh. I love orchestral jazz, and it goes hand in hand with great holiday music, so it seemed like a good fit for me." [6]

The album was recorded between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve 2013 in Los Angeles and in studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios in London. [1] [3] [4] In an interview with Billboard , MacFarlane explained why the album was recorded during the holidays nearly one year before its release:

"Generally with a holiday album, you find yourself making the recordings during the summer or any time but Christmas, with this one we actually lucked out. Part of it was because we didn't want to bump up against the production schedule for Ted 2 , which is not an ideal time to be recording anything with 12 to 15-hour days shooting a movie. It worked out nicely, and it was just a pure joy to do." [1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]

Holiday for Swing received mostly positive reviews from music critics upon its release.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five and states: "Apart from the ever so slight notion that he's singing with a wink borrowed from Burl Ives – a tell that gives away his status as a Gen-Xer weaned on Rankin & Bass holiday productions – MacFarlane plays it straight, even when he's camping it up with Sara Bareilles on "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (Norah Jones is the other guest, singing on "Little Jack Frost Get Lost"), and this sincerity plays out in his favor." [7]

Track listing

Standard edition [7]
No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Let It Snow"
 Vaughn Monroe 3:04
2."Christmas Dreaming"
 Frank Sinatra 2:49
3."I'll Be Home for Christmas"
 Bing Crosby 3:55
4."Little Jack Frost Get Lost" (featuring Norah Jones)
 Frankie Carle and His Orchestra2:36
5."Snow"
3:01
6."Marshmallow World"
Crosby2:16
7."What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Frank Loesser Margaret Whiting 5:00
8."Baby, It's Cold Outside" (featuring Sara Bareilles)Loesser
3:01
9."Mele Kalikimaka" Robert Alexander Anderson Crosby and the Andrews Sisters 2:35
10."Warm in December" Sidney Keith Russell Julie London 3:19
11."Moonlight in Vermont"
Whiting4:02
12."Everybody's Waiting for the Man with the Bag"
 Kay Starr 2:46
13."The Christmas Song"
The King Cole Trio4:17
Total length:42:41

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic: [9]

Production
Musicians

Chart performance

Chart (2014)Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [10] 51
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard) [11] 3
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [12] 1
US Top Holiday Albums ( Billboard ) [13] 8

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label
United States [14] September 30, 2014
  • CD
  • Digital download
  • Vinyl
Republic

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hampp, Andrew (August 26, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane on Playing It Straight for His New 'Holiday for Swing' Album". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  2. ↑ Martin, Annie (August 27, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane details Christmas album 'Holiday for Swing'". United Press International . Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Ben Beaumont-Thomas (May 16, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane records Christmas album with Norah Jones". The Guardian . Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Trakin, Roy (May 15, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane Set to Release Christmas Album". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  5. ↑ Radloff, Jessica (November 12, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane Wants to Talk: The Family Guy Creator on His Holiday Album and His Softer Side". Glamour . Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  6. ↑ Plattner, Seth (December 3, 2014). "Inside 'Family Guy' Creator Seth MacFarlane's Holiday Album". Elle . Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Holiday for Swing! – Seth MacFarlane". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  8. ↑ Lewis, Randy (November 26, 2014). "Holiday reviews". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Holiday for Swing – Seth MacFarlane – Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Seth MacFarlane Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  11. ↑ "Seth MacFarlane Chart History (Top Jazz Albums)". Billboard.
  12. ↑ "Seth MacFarlane Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard.
  13. ↑ "Seth MacFarlane – Chart history". Billboard Top Holiday Albums for Seth MacFarlane.
  14. ↑ "Holiday For Swing: Music". ASIN   B00NBNS94M . Retrieved September 6, 2014.
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