The Christmas Spirit

Last updated
The Christmas Spirit
JohnnyCashChristmasSpirit.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 11, 1963
RecordedAugust 14, 1959–September 17, 1963
Genre
Length38:20
Label Columbia
Producer
Johnny Cash chronology
Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
(1963)
The Christmas Spirit
(1963)
I Walk the Line
(1964)
Singles from The Christmas Spirit
  1. "The Little Drummer Boy"
    Released: October 1959

The Christmas Spirit is the first Christmas album and seventeenth album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in November 1963. It contains four original Christmas songs written by Cash and eight tracks originally written by other artists, including "Blue Christmas" (at this point best known through the version recorded by Cash's former Sun Records labelmate Elvis Presley), "Silent Night" and "Little Drummer Boy".

Contents

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Christmas Spirit" (incorporates "O Little Town of Bethlehem")Cash5:03
2."I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Jean Baptiste Calkin2:30
3."Blue Christmas"Bill Hayes, Jay Johnston2:25
4."The Gifts They Gave"Cash3:34
5."Here Was a Man"Johnny Bond, Tex Ritter 2:44
6."Christmas as I Knew It"Cash, June Carter, Jan Howard 3:41
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Silent Night" Franz Gruber, Josef Mohr 3:29
8."The Little Drummer Boy" Katherine Davis, Henri Onerati, Harry Simeone 2:34
9."Ringing the Bells for Jim"Carter, Howard2:47
10."We Are the Shepherds"Cash3:13
11."Who Kept the Sheep"Cash, Carter1:58
12."Ballad of the Harp Weaver" Edna St. Vincent Millay 4:22

Personnel

Charts

Album - Billboard (United States)

YearChartPosition
1963Holiday Albums7

Singles - Billboard (United States)

YearSingleChartPosition
1959"The Little Drummer Boy"Country Singles24
1959"The Little Drummer Boy"Country Singles63



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