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1971 studio album by Elvis Presley From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas is the fifteenth studio album by American singer Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records in October, 1971. It was Presley's first collection of new Christmas recordings since Elvis' Christmas Album (1957). Two songs from the album, "Merry Christmas Baby" and "O Come All Ye Faithful", were issued as a single in November, 1971. The album topped the Christmas LP's chart that year and would have charted high on the Billboard Top LPs chart, but from 1963 to 1973, holiday albums were not allowed to chart. Though lacking the commercial appeal of Elvis' Christmas Album from 1957, it gradually became a perennial favorite. In 1976, the album was reissued in the mid-priced RCA Pure Gold series with a new catalog number (ANL1-1936). The LP was certified Gold on November 4, 1977, Platinum on December 1, 1977, 2× Platinum on May 20, 1988, and 3× Platinum on July 15, 1999, by the RIAA.[6]
| Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 20, 1971 | |||
| Recorded | June 27, 1968 (live version of "Blue Christmas", on some re-releases); May 15–17, 1971 and June 10, 1971 (main sessions); May 24, 1971; June 21–22, 1971; July 26, 1971 (various overdub sessions) | |||
| Studio | RCA Studio B (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
| Genre | Christmas, pop, rock and roll | |||
| Length | 35:06 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Felton Jarvis | |||
| Elvis Presley chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B+[2] |
| MusicHound |  [3] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
| Rough Guides | [5] |
Several of the songs on the album were published by Elvis Presley's publishing company, such as "Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees", "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day", "If I Get Home on Christmas Day" and "On a Snowy Christmas Night". Presley is accompanied on most of the songs by The Imperials Quartet.
RCA reissued the album on compact disc in 1988. The CD release includes an extended version of "Merry Christmas Baby" and a bonus live track, "Blue Christmas", which was recorded on June 27, 1968, and had been previously released on the 1968 album, Elvis.
In 2017, a two-CD special edition of the album was released on Follow That Dream Records, with a significant number of unreleased takes and unedited versions of the songs that made up the original LP.
In 2021, RCA released Elvis Back in Nashville, a collection of recordings from the spring of 1971. These were the songs that made up various albums including Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas. The four-LP version of this release consists of the raw unedited versions of the songs that would eventually be released after various overdubbing. Of the 21 Christmas related tracks included in the package, the first 11 are presented in the same order as the 1971 release. The remaining tracks are unreleased takes and rehearsals. "Merry Christmas Baby" is presented in its entirety (over 8 minutes) with some short discussion by Elvis prior to the start of the song.
In 2023, RCA re-released the original LP on vinyl, with the track list the same as the original. The cover art for this LP is the same as the 1971 release; however, the rear cover art was altered to reflect then-current updated releases from Elvis' RCA catalog.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "O Come, All Ye Faithful" | Traditional; arranged by Elvis Presley | May 16, 1971[7] | 2:49 |
| 2. | "The First Noel" | Traditional; arranged by Elvis Presley | May 16, 1971 | 2:11 |
| 3. | "On a Snowy Christmas Night" | Stanley J. Gelber | May 16, 1971 | 2:50 |
| 4. | "Winter Wonderland" | Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith | May 16, 1971 | 2:20 |
| 5. | "The Wonderful World of Christmas" | Charles Tobias, Al Frisch | May 16, 1971 | 1:59 |
| 6. | "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" | J. A. Balthrop | May 15, 1971[8] | 2:43 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day" | Michael Jarrett | May 16, 1971 | 3:50 |
| 2. | "If I Get Home On Christmas Day" | Tony Macaulay | May 15, 1971 | 2:54 |
| 3. | "Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees" | Glen Spreen, Red West | May 15, 1971 | 2:14 |
| 4. | "Merry Christmas Baby" | Lou Baxter, Johnny Moore | May 15, 1971 | 5:45 |
| 5. | "Silver Bells" | Jay Livingston, Ray Evans | May 15, 1971 | 2:03 |
| 6. | "Blue Christmas" (bonus track on some reissue pressings only) | Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson | June 27, 1968[9][10] | 2:34 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "O Come, All Ye Faithful" | 2:48 |
| 2. | "The First Noel" | 2:09 |
| 3. | "On A Snowy Christmas Night" | 2:49 |
| 4. | "Winter Wonderland" | 2:17 |
| 5. | "The Wonderful World of Christmas" | 1:57 |
| 6. | "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" | 2:41 |
| 7. | "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day" | 3:48 |
| 8. | "If I Get Home On Christmas Day" | 2:51 |
| 9. | "Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees" | 2:52 |
| 10. | "Merry Christmas Baby" | 5:44 |
| 11. | "Silver Bells" | 2:26 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" (remake master) | 3:43 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" (takes 1, 3) | 4:36 |
| 14. | "If I Get Home on Christmas Day" (take 1) | 3:37 |
| 15. | "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day" (takes 1, 3) | 7:54 |
| 16. | "Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees" (takes 1, 2) | 3:13 |
| 17. | "Silver Bells" (takes 1, 2) | 4:41 |
| 18. | "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" (remake takes 1, 2) | 5:48 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day" (take 4) | 4:58 |
| 2. | "If I Get Home On Christmas Day" (takes 2, 3) | 3:51 |
| 3. | "Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees" (take 3) | 2:27 |
| 4. | "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day" (remake take 3) | 4:24 |
| 5. | "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" (takes 4, 5) | 3:03 |
| 6. | "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (take 2) | 4:28 |
| 7. | "If I Get Home on Christmas Day" (take 5) | 3:00 |
| 8. | "The Lord's Prayer" (public domain) | 3:01 |
| 9. | "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" (takes 5, 6) | 4:20 |
| 10. | "Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees" (takes 4) | 2:36 |
| 11. | "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" (take 6) | 3:14 |
| 12. | "Merry Christmas Baby" (take 1[unedited version]) | 8:29 |
| 13. | "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day" (remake takes 4, 9) | 7:24 |
| 14. | "If I Get Home on Christmas Day" (take 7) | 2:57 |
| 15. | "Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees" (takes 5, 8) | 3:39 |
| 16. | "Winter Wonderland" (takes 7, 8) | 3:53 |
| Total length: | 2:11:34 | |
Credits from Keith Flynn and Ernst Jorgensen's examination of session tapes and RCA and AFM paperwork.[11][12]
| Provider | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA | 3× Platinum | July 15, 1999 |
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