The Christmas Album (Neil Diamond album)

The Christmas Album
Portrait of a man in a white sweater leaning over a chair near a fireplace
Studio album by
Neil Diamond
ReleasedSeptember 22, 1992 (1992-09-22)
RecordedJanuary – August 1992
GenreChristmas
Length44:58
LabelColumbia
ProducerPeter Asher
Neil Diamond chronology
Lovescape
(1991) 		The Christmas Album
(1992) 		Up on the Roof: Songs from the Brill Building
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The Christmas Album is the twentieth studio album by Neil Diamond and his first to feature Christmas music. It features orchestral and choir arrangements by David Campbell. The album reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, No. 50 on the UK album sales chart, and No. 30 on Australian music chart.[2][3][4]

In his review music critic Johnny Loftus states, "While Neil Diamond's The Christmas Album is designed almost exclusively for his adult contemporary constituency, the vocalist still manages to light up most of the obviousness of these standards with his trademark gritty soul and flair for inflection."[5]

On August 7, 2001, The Christmas Album was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA for shipment of two million copies in the United States since its 1992 release.[6] By November 2014, it was the twenty-fifth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States of the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991–present), having sold 1,910,000 copies according to SoundScan.[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."O come, O come, Emmanuel" / "We Three Kings of Orient Are"Traditional2:57
2."Silent Night"Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr4:03
3."The Little Drummer Boy"Katherine Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone3:58
4."Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"John Frederick Coots, Haven Gillespie3:25
5."The Christmas Song"Mel Tormé, Robert Wells3:33
6."Morning Has Broken"Eleanor Farjeon, Cat Stevens3:02
7."Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"John Lennon, Yoko Ono4:19
8."White Christmas"Irving Berlin3:55
9."God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"Traditional1:20
10."Jingle Bell Rock"Joe Beal, Jim Boothe1:51
11."Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley2:50
12."Silver Bells"Ray Evans, Jay Livingston3:06
13."You Make It Feel Like Christmas"Neil Diamond3:39
14."O Holy Night"Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight3:28

Personnel

  • Neil Diamond – lead vocals
  • David Campbell – arrangements (1–6, 11, 12, 13), conductor (1–6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14), choir arrangements (7), orchestra arrangements and conductor (7), BGV arrangements (8, 10)
  • Robbie Buchanan – acoustic piano (2, 14), keyboards (3–6, 8, 13)
  • Ladd Thomas – Hammond organ (6, 11)
  • Alan Lindgren – acoustic piano (7, 12), acoustic piano intro (8), BGV arrangements (8), orchestra arrangements (14)
  • Bob Mann – guitars (1, 5), acoustic guitar (3, 12), electric guitar (7)
  • Dean Parks – electric guitar (3), guitars (6, 8, 13), mandolin (6)
  • Andrew Gold – acoustic guitar (4, 10)
  • Waddy Wachtel – electric guitar (4, 10), guitars (13)
  • Louis Gutierrez – guitar solo (7)
  • Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar (12)
  • Jimmy Johnson – bass guitar (3, 6, 8)
  • Bob Glaub – bass (4, 10, 13)
  • Bob Magnusson – double bass (5)
  • Leland Sklar – bass guitar (7, 12)
  • Peter Asher – drum programming (3), tambourine (7, 10), rhythm track arrangements (7, 10)
  • Russ Kunkel – drums (4–8, 13)
  • Nathaniel Kunkel – drums (10)
  • Michael Fisher – percussion (3, 8)
  • Marvin B. Gordy – percussion (3)
  • Warren Ham – harmonica (4)
  • Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone solo (5)
  • Gavyn Wright – concertmaster (1, 2, 7, 10, 13, 14)
  • London Symphony Orchestra – orchestra (1, 2, 7, 10, 13, 14)
  • The Angel Voices Choir – choir (1, 7)
  • The Ambrosian Singers – choir (2, 7, 14)
  • John McCarthy – choir director (2, 7, 14)
  • The Lower School Chorus of Viewpoint School – choir (7)
  • Robert Prizeman – boys’ choir conductor (7)
  • Marcie Parker – children’s choir conductor (7)
  • Donny Gerard, Raven Kane, Josef Powell, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters and Oren Waters – doo-wop backing vocals (8)
  • 139th Street Quartet – vocals and arrangements (9)
  • Jim Hass, Jon Joyce, Gene Morford and Jerry Whitman – doo-wop backing vocals (10)
  • L.A. Mass Choir – choir (11)
  • Donald Taylor – choir director (11)
  • Frank Lindgren – choir arrangements (14)

Production

  • Producer – Peter Asher
  • Production Coordinator – Ivy Skoff
  • Project Coordinator – Sam Cole
  • Recorded and Mixed by Frank Wolf
  • Assistant Recording and Mixing by Nathaniel Kunkel and Brett Swain.
  • Additional Recording and Mixing by Chad Blinman, Alec Marcou, Gil Morales, Marnie Riley and Eric Rudd.
  • Recorded at Arch Angel Studios, The Complex, Studio 55 and Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles, CA); Conway Studios (Hollywood, CA); The Hit Factory (New York, NY): Abbey Road Studios (London, England).
  • Mixed at Conway Studios
  • Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
  • Art Direction – David Kirschner
  • Design – Jan Weinberg
  • Cover Photography – Eugine Adibari
  • Liner Notes – Neil Diamond

Charts

Chart (1992–1993) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 30
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] 23
UK Albums (OCC)[10] 50
US Billboard 200[11] 8

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[12] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[6] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

The Christmas Album, Volume II

References

  1. ^ The Christmas Album at AllMusic
  2. ^ Diamond, Neil. "Neil Diamond Billboard Charts". Billboard. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  3. ^ "Neil Diamond | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  4. ^ Steffen Hung. "Discography Neil Diamond". australian-charts.com. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Loftus, Johnny. The Christmas Album at AllMusic. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "American album certifications – Neil Diamond – The Christmas Album". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  7. ^ "The Gifts That Keep on Giving: Biggest Radio and Album Hits of the Holidays". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  8. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Neil Diamond – The Christmas Album". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1834". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  10. ^ "Neil Diamond | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  11. ^ "Neil Diamond Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  12. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1993 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Neil Diamond – The Christmas Album". Music Canada. Retrieved 8 March 2019.