A Christmas Album (Amy Grant album)

A Christmas Album
Studio album by Amy Grant
Released September 27, 1983
Recorded July 3 – August 26, 1983
Studio
Genre Christian, Christmas
Length 37:35
Label Myrrh
Producer Brown Bannister
Amy Grant chronology
Ageless Medley (EP)
(1983)		 A Christmas Album
(1983)		 Straight Ahead
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]

A Christmas Album is the seventh album by Christian music singer Amy Grant, released in 1983. The release was Grant's first of several Christmas albums.

It was issued on the heels of Grant's immensely successful 1982 LP Age to Age. Primarily for the audiences she attracted with Age to Age, A Christmas Album features well-known sacred and secular standards alongside original songs, and tracks from this album continue to receive airplay to this day during the holiday season on both secular and Christian radio stations. Although not as successful as Age to Age, A Christmas Album still peaked in the Top Ten of the Christian chart and spawned a Top 20 Christian radio single in "Emmanuel." The album would eventually be certified gold in 1985, and platinum in 1989. A Christmas Album was listed at No. 40 in the 2001 book, CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music. In 2016, Grant re-recorded the song "Tennessee Christmas" as the title track of a new Christmas album. The song was released as a single from the album and charted at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart in December, 2016.[2]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tennessee Christmas"Amy Grant, Gary Chapman4:33
2."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"William H. Cummings, Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley2:53
3."Preiset Dem Konig! (Praise the King!)"Shane Keister1:39
4."Emmanuel"Michael W. Smith2:54
5."Little Town (new melody to O Little Town of Bethlehem)"Phillips Brooks (words), Chris Eaton (music)2:47
6."Christmas Hymn"Grant, Smith2:32
7."Love Has Come"Grant, Keister, Smith4:02
8."Sleigh Ride"Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish3:35
9."The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire)"Mel Tormé, Robert Wells3:45
10."Heirlooms"Grant, Bannister, Bob Farrell3:42
11."A Mighty Fortress/Angels We Have Heard On High"Traditional5:00

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.

  • Jim Baird – engineer
  • Brown Bannister – producer
  • Michael Blanton – cover art concept, executive producer
  • Fred Bock – choir director, director
  • Mike Borum – photography
  • Mike Brignardello – bass
  • Kevin Burns – assistant
  • Lenny Castro – percussion
  • Bill Champlin – background vocals
  • Tamara Champlin – background vocals
  • Gary Chapman – executive producer, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, background vocals
  • Ken Corlew – engineer
  • Gene Eichelberger – engineer
  • Bill Farrell – artwork, photography, scenery
  • Victor Feldman – percussion, shaker
  • Martyn Ford Orchestra – horn, strings, woodwind
  • Steven Ford – assistant
  • Daniel Garcia – assistant
  • Steve George – background vocals
  • Jon Goin – guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Amy Grant – liner notes, primary artist, vocals, background vocals
  • Debbie Hall – background vocals
  • Sandy Hall – background vocals
  • Dan Harrell – cover art concept, executive producer
  • Dennis Hill – art direction
  • Lennis Hill – art direction
  • Hollywood Presbyterian Choir – choir/chorus, vocals
  • Shane Keister – Fender Rhodes, memory Moog, mini Moog, Oberheim ob8, piano, synthesizer
  • Brent King – engineer
  • Edie Lehmann – background vocals
  • Paul Leim – drums, guitar, Linn, Linn drum, Simmons drums, sleigh bells, wood block
  • Jerry Mahler – assistant
  • Richard Markowitz – assistant
  • Thomas McAninch – horn
  • Alan Moore – choir arrangement, horn arrangements, string arrangements, woodwind arrangement
  • Farrell Morris – bell tree, glockenspiel, percussion, shells
  • David Page – background vocals
  • Richard Page – background vocals
  • Dean Parks – acoustic guitar
  • Jack Joseph Puig – engineer, mixing
  • Mike Ross – engineer
  • Doug Sax – mastering
  • David Schober – assistant
  • Michael W. Smith – piano, vocoder
  • Carmen Twillie – background vocals
  • Gavyn Wright – concertmaster

Chart positions

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1984 Top Contemporary Christian 9
1985 Top Holiday Albums 5
1991 Top Pop Catalog 5

Singles – CCM Magazine (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1984 "Emmanuel" Christian Radio–Adult Contemporary 20

Awards

GMA Dove Awards

Year Winner Category
1984 A Christmas Album Recorded Music Packaging of the Year

Pressings

A Christmas Album was the first Amy Grant album to be released in the Compact Disc format. The original CD issue had a manufacturing flaw that caused a small, but noticeable jump during the transition between tracks 3 and 4. The remastered version does not have this defect. The album was also released as a promotional only vinyl picture disc version in a die cut sleeve.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r132965
  2. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/amy-grant/chart-history/christian-songs
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