Merry Christmas (Johnny Mathis album)

Last updated

Merry Christmas
Album Johnny Mathis - Merry Christmas cover.jpeg
Original LP cover
Studio album by
Johnny Mathis
ReleasedOctober 6, 1958 [1]
RecordedJune 16, 18, and 20, 1958 [2]
Studio CBS 30th Street Studio
New York City [2]
Genre Christmas
Length44:08
Label Columbia
Producer Mitch Miller
Al Ham [2]
Johnny Mathis chronology
Swing Softly
(1958)		Merry Christmas
(1958)		 Open Fire, Two Guitars
(1959)
Alternate cover
Mathis-Merry2.jpg
Reissue LP cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg link
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Merry Christmas is the first Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis, with accompaniment by arranger/conductor Percy Faith and his orchestra. It was released by Columbia Records on October 6, 1958. [1] The selections are a mix of traditional Christmas carols (such as "Silent Night", "O Holy Night", and "The First Noel") and 20th-century tunes of the season (including "The Christmas Song", "White Christmas", and "Silver Bells").

Contents

The album debuted on Billboard magazine's list of the 25 Best-Selling Pop LPs in the US in its December 15, 1958, issue and got as high as number three during its initial four-week run. [4] It made additional appearances there each holiday season from 1959 to 1962 and on the magazine's Christmas Albums and Pop Catalog Albums charts in subsequent years. [1] It received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for reaching sales of 500,000 copies in the US in December 1960 [5] and in 2013 ranked as one of the top selling Christmas albums of all time with five million copies sold. [6]

Four songs from the album – "Winter Wonderland", "Blue Christmas", "White Christmas", and "Sleigh Ride" – were also released on the EP Merry Christmas, Vol. 1, which reached number two during the 1958 holiday season and number seven the following year on the magazine's Best-Selling Pop EPs chart. [4] "Winter Wonderland" also spent three weeks on the UK singles chart, where his recording peaked at number 17 over the course of three weeks that began on Christmas Day 1958. [7]

The album was initially released only in the monaural format but became available in stereo in 1959. [8] It was issued in the UK by Fontana Records and was later reissued in 1962 with a different cover both there and in the US. [8] The original cover was used for compact disc pressings, the first of which was in 1984, [9] and an edition featuring two bonus tracks was released on September 16, 2003. [10] The 2015 Mathis compilation The Complete Christmas Collection 1958–2010 , a 3-CD set on the Real Gone Music label, also includes the album in its track list.

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Winter Wonderland" (Richard B. Smith, Felix Bernard) – 3:19
  2. "The Christmas Song" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) – 4:18
  3. "Sleigh Ride" (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish) – 2:58
  4. "Blue Christmas" (Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson) – 3:02
  5. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (Buck Ram, Kim Gannon, Walter Kent) – 4:04
  6. "White Christmas" from Holiday Inn (Irving Berlin) – 3:32

Side two

  1. "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam) – 4:35
  2. "What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)" (William Chatterton Dix) – 3:58
  3. "The First Noel" (Traditional) – 3:49
  4. "Silver Bells" from The Lemon Drop Kid (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans) – 3:34
  5. "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (Richard Storrs Willis, Edmund Sears) – 3:08
  6. "Silent Night, Holy Night" (Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr) – 3:51

2003 CD bonus tracks

  1. "Christmas Eve" (Allyn Ferguson, Sidney Shaw) – 2:56
  2. "My Kind of Christmas" (Jerry Livingston, Paul Francis Webster) – 3:02
    • above two released as a single on 11/17/61 [2]

Recording dates

Original album

From the liner notes for the 2003 CD release: [2]

2003 CD bonus tracks

From the liner notes for The Complete Christmas Collection 1958-2010 : [11]

Billboard album chart positions

Debut datePeak chart positions
Best-Selling Pop LPs [4] Christmas Albums [4] Top Pop Catalog Albums [4]
12/15/583——
12/21/5910——
12/26/6010——
12/18/6131——
12/8/6212——
11/30/63—2—
12/5/64—2—
12/11/65—7—
12/3/66—2—
12/2/67—2—
12/7/68—5—
12/27/69—15—
12/1/73—3—
12/24/88—18—
12/23/89—20—
12/22/90—16—
12/7/91—17—
12/14/91——24
11/28/92——10
12/5/92—12—
12/4/93—2114
12/3/94—35—
12/10/94——29
12/16/95——37
12/21/96——33
12/28/96—39—
12/19/98——48
12/18/99——49

Personnel

Original album

2003 CD bonus tracks

References

  1. 1 2 3 (1993) The Christmas Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Columbia Records CK-57194.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (2003) Merry Christmas by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Columbia Records CK 92705.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 922. ISBN   9781846098567 . Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Whitburn 2004 , p. 167.
  5. ↑ "Sounding Off: The Best in Recorded Music". Ebony . December 1987. p. 18B.
  6. ↑ "The Top Selling Christmas Albums of All Time". billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Johnny Mathis - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Johnny Mathis – Merry Christmas". Discogs. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Merry Christmas - Johnny Mathis - Releases". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Merry Christmas [Bonus Tracks] - Johnny Mathis – Release Info". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 (2015) The Complete Christmas Collection 1958-2010 by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment RGM-0400.
  12. 1 2 (1958) Merry Christmas by Johnny Mathis [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CL 1195.

Bibliography

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