The Andy Williams Christmas Album Rare Columbia Records Vinyl LP

$

50

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The Andy Williams Christmas Album Standard artwork Studio album by  Andy Williams Released October 14, 1963 Recorded September 9–13, 1963 Genre

• Christmas 
• early pop/ rock 
• standards 
• traditional pop

The Andy Williams Christmas Album is the first Christmas holiday album released by singer Andy Williams and his twelfth studio album overall. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1963, and it would prove to be the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams. Though it was also the album that introduced Williams' perennial holiday classic "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", Columbia instead opted to release Williams' cover of "White Christmas" as the album's promotional single at the time.

A front-page story in Billboard magazine on Nov. 23, 1963, made clear the album was already destined to be a big hit, reporting: "Though the majority of retailers around the country that were contacted reported that Christmas product sales were just starting, they have already singled out the new 'Andy Williams Christmas Album' as the probably No. 1 LP for the next two months; at least of those albums thus far on the market. It is already registering heavy sales, as is his single 'White Christmas.'"

From 1963 to 1973, Billboard published special weekly Christmas Albums and Christmas Singles sales charts. For all five weeks that these special charts were published in 1963 (for the weeks ending November 30, 1963 through December 28, 1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album was the number one selling Christmas album, while Williams' cover of "White Christmas" was the number one selling Christmas single. The Andy Williams Christmas Album spent three weeks as the number one selling Christmas album during the holiday season of 1964, and one week as the number one selling Christmas album during the holiday season of 1965. It charted on Billboard's Christmas Albums chart at least one week for each of the years that the chart was published. In 2018, when separate Christmas rankings were not published in the magazine, the album made its debut on the Billboard 200 chart at number 152, peaking at number 14 in January 2022 following its third chart re-entry.

On December 14, 1964, The Andy Williams Christmas Album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500,000 copies in the United States. The album was reissued with a different cover in the UK in 1975 and was awarded Silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry in 1976 for selling 60,000 units. Platinum certification in the United States was awarded on November 21, 1986.

Reception

Aaron Latham of Allmusic summed up the release as an "album of wonderful holiday songs perfectly performed" and singled out several noteworthy tracks, describing Williams as "at his playful best on the irresistibly raucous 'Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells.' He also wraps his voice around chestnuts like 'White Christmas' and 'The Christmas Song' with all the warmth of a favorite blanket, while a soaring version of 'O Holy Night' is both enchanting and moving. His tender reading of the lesser-known 'Sweet Little Jesus Boy' is as beautiful and serene as a crystal clear winter's night, but it is the instantly catchy opening line of 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year' that people remember the most."

"Strong arranging, good programming, and the sincerity of Williams' performing" were the high points of the album for Billboard magazine that they mentioned in their capsule review at the time of its release.

Track listing

Side one is made up of secular Christmas songs, whereas side two covers traditional spirituals and carols.

Side one

1. "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) – 2:29
2. "Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season" (Irving Berlin/Kay Thompson) – 2:38
3. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) – 2:34
4. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Edward Pola, George Wyle) – 2:33
5. "A Song and a Christmas Tree (The Twelve Days of Christmas)" (Traditional) – 3:57
6. "Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells" (James Pierpont, Kay Thompson) – 2:06

Side two

1. "The First Noël" (Traditional) – 3:08
2. "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight) – 3:24
3. "Away in a Manger" (Traditional) – 2:51
4. "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" (Robert MacGimsey) – 3:17
5. "The Little Drummer Boy" (Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone) – 2:17
6. "Silent Night, Holy Night" (Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr) – 2:15