The Gift of Christmas is a 2007 Christmas album by country pop singer Juice Newton. It was originally released by OJM Records on November 14, 2007.[1] The album was Newton's last collaboration with Otha Young, her professional partner of over 30 years. Young died of cancer in 2009.[2]
We didn't want the Christmas album to be melancholy, but we didn't want it to be all traditional either. It's Americana. I was a pop artist when I first started. I didn't cross over to country until my second album. That's why I think this album has a diverse feel to it. It's very eclectic. I love this Christmas record. It's cool for me. This is something I never could have done on a record label. Christmas albums aren't platinum or even gold sellers. Well, maybe after a while they are. But they don't debut at No. 1. So we went in and had a lot of fun with this record. And I think it shows.
I'm a singer; I learned that your voice mellows with time. You don't usually stay a tenor if you're a man. My voice has darkened; it has more depth. And I figure when it quits, I'll quit. I don't like that fake-y thing. As long as it holds up, I'll keep performing.[3]
Newton did not have a major distributor at the time of the album's release so she sold it through her web site, her Myspace site and through CD Baby.[3]The Gift of Christmas was subsequently released through iTunes in a "deluxe edition" with four additional songs.[6] Two of these are non-Christmas songs with Newton singing duets with Willie Nelson. These two duets were originally released on Newton's 2010 album Duets: Friends & Memories.[7]
