Merry Christmas with Love

Merry Christmas with Love is Clay Aiken's first Christmas album, released by RCA Records on November 16, 2004. It was certified platinum and was recognized by Billboard as the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of 2004 and the best-selling Christian album of 2005.

Merry Christmas with Love
Studio album by
Clay Aiken
ReleasedNovember 16, 2004
Recorded2004
Right Track Recording
New York City, New York
GenrePop
Length39:00
LabelRCA
ProducerPhil Ramone
Walter Afanasieff
Clay Aiken chronology
Measure of a Man
(2003)		 Merry Christmas with Love
(2004)		 A Thousand Different Ways
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyD[2]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[3]

The album was re-released on August 18, 2009 on the Sony label.

Aiken has toured four times with his Joyful Noise Tour (2004-2007) to promote this album.

Sales and chart performance

Merry Christmas with Love debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with about 270,000 copies sold;[4] this was also its peak position on the chart. By the end of 2004, around 1,004,000 copies of the album had been sold,[5] and the album won Billboard awards for the Best-Selling Christmas Album of 2004 and the Best-Selling Christian Album of 2005. The album set a new record for fastest-selling holiday album in the SoundScan era (since March 1991) and tied Céline Dion's record for the highest debut by a holiday album in the history of Billboard magazine.[6]

On January 6, 2005, Merry Christmas with Love was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of one million copies in the U.S.[7] Going into the 2010 Christmas season, 1,416,000 copies had been sold in the U.S.[8] and 2 million worldwide.

Track listing
  1. "O Holy Night"
  2. "Winter Wonderland"
  3. "Silent Night"
  4. Medley: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"/"O Come All Ye Faithful"
  5. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
  6. "Mary, Did You Know?"
  7. "Joy to the World"
  8. "The Christmas Song"
  9. "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day"
  10. "Merry Christmas with Love"
  11. "Sleigh Ride"
  12. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

Song notes
  • ^ "O, Holy Night" Written by: Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 3:38
  • ^ "Winter Wonderland" Written by: Richard B. Smith, Felix Bernard / Produced by Phil Ramone - 2:49
  • ^ "Silent Night" Written by: Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 2:17
  • ^ Medley: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"/"O Come All Ye Faithful" Written by: Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley /Frederick Oakeley, John Francis Wade / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 4:00
  • ^ "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Written by: Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 3:27
  • ^ "Mary Did You Know" Written by: Buddy Greene, Mark Alan Lowry / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 3:20
  • ^ "Joy to the World" Written by: Isaac Watts, Lowell Mason / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 2:13
  • ^ "The Christmas Song(Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)" Written by: Melvin Torme, Robert Wells / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 2:36
  • ^ "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" Written by: Celine Dion, Ric Wake, Peter Zizzo / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 4:33
  • ^ "Merry Christmas with Love" Written by: Greg Wayne Davis, Billy Lee Smiley / Produced by: Walter Afanasieff - 4:04
  • ^ "Sleigh Ride" Written by: Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 3:00
  • ^ "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Written by: Frank Loesser / Produced by: Phil Ramone - 3:01

Personnel

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
AC Christian AC
2004 "Winter Wonderland" 13 - Merry Christmas with Love
2005 "O Holy Night" 37 -
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing /
O Come All Ye Faithful"		 27 -
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" 32 -
"Mary, Did You Know?" 35 32

Tours

2004: The Joyful Noise Tour [9]

  • 28-City Holiday concert 2 hour concert (November - December 2004)
  • Featured 30 piece orchestras as well as both adult and children's choirs invited from each host city.
  • The Joyful Noise Tour's official sponsor was Ronald McDonald House Charities.

2005: The Joyful Noise 2005 Tour [10]

  • 36-City, 40-Concert U.S. and Canada tour (November - December 2005)
  • The concert featured a traveling cast of actors, singers, and dancers, as well as a supporting cast recruited from each host city, to provide the theatrical component that threaded together the musical performances.
  • The opening act and contributing musician was pop-classical pianist William Joseph.

2006: Holiday Tour[11]

  • 18-city tour of cities mostly in the eastern U.S. (December 2006)
  • Performed with local orchestras, which also opened the concerts with a program of seasonal music.

2007: Christmas in the Heartland[12]

  • 21-date eastern U. S. tour began on November 26 in Wichita, Kansas and ended on December 22, 2007 in Merrillville, Indiana.
  • Local orchestras performed the music.
  • Holiday stories submitted and read by fans were spaced throughout the performance as lead in to 4 of the song selections.[13][14]

Aiken has ended each of his Christmas tours with his signature Christmas song, "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day."

Awards and nominations

Billboard Awards

  • 2004: Won - Best Selling Christmas Album - Merry Christmas with Love
  • 2005: Won - Best Selling Christian Album - Merry Christmas with Love

American Christian Music Awards

  • 2005: Won - Outstanding Yule CD - Merry Christmas with Love

References
  1. AllMusic review
  2. Entertainment Weekly review
  3. Rolling Stone review
  4. Margo Whitmire, "Eminem Thankful To Remain No. 1", Billboard.com, November 24, 2004.
  5. "Chart Watch Extra: Bring On Christmas!". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  6. Rogers, Steve. Clay Aiken's "Merry Christmas With Love" holiday album debuts to record sales realitytvworld.com. November 29, 2004. Retrieved 2009-08-08
  7. "RIAA Searchable Database - Gold & Platinum Certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
  8. Mansfield, Brian (December 22, 2010). "Crystal Bowersox's 'Farmer's Daughter' debuts with 58K sales". USA Today.
  9. Dreaming of a Clay Christmas Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine © 2004 McDonald’s Corporation (pdf). December 17, 2004. Retrieved 2009-08-20
  10. Kragen, Pam. "Pop nerd Clay Aiken brings 'Joyful Noise' to San Diego." North Country Times. November 9, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-25 (article archived)
  11. A Clay Aiken Christmas: Carols & Comedy .americanidolworship.com. December 21st, 2006. Retrieved 2009-08-20
  12. "Clay Aiken Adds Dates to Magical Holiday Tour 2007." Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine TicketNews.com June 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-25
  13. Aiken's Christmas tour arrives Saturday by Sean T. McMann Poughkeepsie Journal (12/06/07). Retrieved 2008-02-23
  14. Without any further ado: the Clay Aiken/Poughkeepsie Journal story by Sean T. McMann Sean's Space (12/07/07). Retrieved 2008-02-23
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