This Christmas, Aretha

Last updated

This Christmas
ThisChristmasAretha.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 14, 2008
RecordedJune–August 2008
Studio
  • Firehouse Recording Studios (Pasadena, CA) [1]
  • Studio A Recording (Dearborn, MI) [1]
  • Capitol Studios (Hollywood, CA) [1]
  • Legacy Studios (New York, NY) [1]
  • Glenwood Place Studios (Burbank, CA)
Genre
Length51:00
Label DMI
Producer
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Tena Clark
Aretha Franklin chronology
Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen
(2007)
This Christmas
(2008)
A Woman Falling Out of Love
(2011)

This Christmas is the first Christmas album and thirty-sixth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. Produced by Franklin and Tena Clark, it was originally released on October 14, 2008, as a Borders exclusive, consisting of eleven cover versions of Christmas standards and carols. In 2009, the album was reissued by DMI Records. This Christmas peaked at number 102 on the US Billboard 200. [3] [4]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
MSN Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Toronto Star Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]

Allmusic editor Andy Kellman wrote:

"the disc is filled mostly with the spiritual and relatively serious side of holiday material. The likes of "Silent Night," "Ave Maria," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and "Angels We Have Heard on High" are given the kind of treatment only Aretha could grant .... It's not all reverence and reflection: best of all is a reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" that can only be termed "personalized". [2]

Track listing

Credits taken from the album's liner notes. [1]

This Christmas, Aretha track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Angels We Have Heard on High" James Chadwick Tena Clark5:26
2."This Christmas" (with Edward Franklin)
Clark5:23
3."My Grown-Up Christmas List"Clark5:15
4."The Lord Will Make a Way"TraditionalAretha Franklin5:43
5."Silent Night"Clark5:06
6."Ave Maria"Clark4:57
7."Christmas Ain't Christmas (Without the One You Love)"Clark3:53
8."14 Angels" Engelbert Humperdinck Franklin2:08
9."One Night With the King"Jeannie TenneyFranklin6:09
10."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"Clark5:24
11."'Twas the Night Before Christmas" Clement C. Moore Franklin1:52

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [1]

Vocalists

Instrumentalists

Technical

Charts

Chart (2009–11)Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [3] 102
US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard) [7] 22

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Franklin, Aretha. "This Christmas, Aretha" (Album Notes). DMI Records. 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kellman, Andy. This Christmas, Aretha at AllMusic
  3. 1 2 "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  4. "Aretha Franklin's remixed 'Silent Night'". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  5. MSN Music review
  6. Infantry, Ashante (November 18, 2008). "Aretha Franklin: This Christmas". The Toronto Star . Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  7. "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Holiday Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2020.