Merry Christmas is the seventh studio album recorded by Motown girl group The Supremes, and released on Motown Records in November 1965 (see 1965 in music). The LP, produced by Harvey Fuqua, includes recordings of familiar Christmas songs such as "White Christmas", "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", "My Favorite Things", and "Joy to the World".[2] Two originals, "Children's Christmas Song" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me", were issued as a single. Neither Wilson nor Ballard sing on the original 1965 release of "Merry Christmas". They were exhausted from their lengthy run of performances at the Copacabana, so the Andantes were used instead.
In 1965, "Children's Christmas Song" peaked at number 12, whilst "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Me" peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart,[3] where it re-entered at number 29 in 1967.[4] In Singapore, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" charted at number 4 on January 1, 1966[5] before peaking at number 1 on January 15, 1966 — the same week it charted at number 2 in Malaysia.[6] In February 1966, "My Favorite Things" charted at number 10 in Singapore.[7]
Merry Christmas, issued by Motown the same day as the live recording The Supremes at the Copa, was the only holiday album released by the Supremes. They charted four albums in 1965 with one hitting the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 album chart and this hitting the Top 10 of the Billboard Holiday Album Chart.
It was reissued in 1999 in CD form with four bonus tracks, including a cover of "Just a Lonely Christmas" (originally recorded by Harvey Fuqua's group The Moonglows), and a Florence Ballard-led version of "Silent Night". This expanded version of the album was re-released in 2003 as 20th Century Masters – The Best of the Supremes: The Christmas Collection. The Christmas album was later expanded further by 2015 (in both CD and Digital Download form) to include all 19 tracks recorded for the album, plus an additional track, "It Won't Be Long 'Til Christmas", from their canceled Disney album, a "Seasons Greetings" by the group, and a live performance of "My Favorite Things" done at the Copa.[8][9] In 2017 The Ultimate Merry Christmas, a 2-CD set containing the original album in mono and stereo as well as an abundance of bonus material, was released by Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music.[10]
(*) Originally added to the 1999 CD album release as a bonus track. (A) Led by Florence Ballard. (B) Features Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson.
Instrumental tracks for "Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard-Dick Smith) and "Santa Baby" were recorded; however no vocals were added to the tracks.
Chronology(The band's name history: The Primettes 1959–1961 / The Supremes 1961–1967 / Diana Ross & The Supremes 1967–1970 / The Supremes 1970 / Diana Ross & The Supremes 1970 / The Supremes 1970–)
