Christmas (Sparrow Records album)

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Christmas
Compilation album by
Various artists
Released1988
Studio
  • OmniSound Studios, OmniSound II, Center Stage Studios and Digital Recorders (Nashville, Tennessee)
  • Knightlight Studios (Dallas, Texas)
  • Whiteffield Studios (Santa Ana, California)
  • Wayne Cook Studios (Glendale, California)
  • Bill Schnee Studios (North Hollywood, California)
GenreContemporary Christian music, Christmas music
Length47:41
LabelSparrow Records
ProducerVarious
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Christmas is a 1988 compilation Christmas album released by Sparrow Records.[2] It features CCM artists' interpretation of the best-known Christmas songs done in their genres like rock ("Jingle Bell Rock" by Geoff Moore), pop ("O Holy Night" by Steve Camp), R&B ("Silent Night" by BeBe & CeCe Winans) and even mariachi ("Winter Wonderland" by Steve Taylor). Christmas also contains an original composition called "Home for the Holidays" sung by participating artists on this album. American R&B singer Deniece Williams was nominated for a Grammy for Best Gospel Performance, Female for her rendition of "Do You Hear What I Hear" at the 31st Grammy Awards. The album peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Top Inspirational Albums chart.[3]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Silent Night, Holy Night" (BeBe & CeCe Winans)Franz X. Gruber, Joseph Mohr; arranged by BeBe Winans, Phil Naish, Billy SmileyB. Smiley5:43
2."Home for the Holidays" (Margaret Becker, Steve Camp, Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore, White Heart, BeBe & CeCe Winans)Arranged by B. SmileyB. Smiley4:18
3."Little Drummer Boy" (White Heart)Katherine Kennicott Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone; arranged by Mark Gersmehl, White HeartB. Smiley4:12
4."What Child Is This?" (Michael Card)William Chatterton Dix; arranged by Norbert Putnam, M. CardN. Putnam2:47
5."Do You Hear What I Hear?" (Deniece Williams)Noël Regney, Gloria Shayne; arranged by Brad Westering, Roby DukeB. Westering, R. Duke4:13
6."Winter Wonderland" (Steve Taylor)Felix Bernard, Richard Bernhard Smith; arranged by S. Taylor, George Llanes, Harry ScorzoS. Taylor1:56
7."O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (Margaret Becker)Traditional; arranged by M. Becker, B. SmileyB. Smiley4:52
8."O Holy Night" (Steve Camp)Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight; arranged by S. CampS. Camp4:09
9."The First Noel" (Tim Miner)Traditional (additional lyrics by T. Miner, Cindy Cruse, Tommy Sims); arranged by T. Miner, T. SimsT. Miner, T. Sims4:35
10."Jingle Bell Rock" (Geoff Moore)Joe Beal, Jim Booth; arranged by B. Smiley, G. MooreB. Smiley2:59
11."Away in a Manger" (Steven Curtis Chapman)Traditional; arranged by S. Curtis ChapmanB. Smiley4:18
12."Angels We Have Heard on High" (Margaret Becker, Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore, White Heart, BeBe Winans)Traditional; arranged by B. SmileyB. Smiley4:18

Personnel[edit]

Lead vocalists

Musicians

  • Phil Naish – keyboards (1, 2, 7, 8, 11, 12), acoustic piano (4)
  • Mark Gershmel – keyboards (3)
  • Carl Marsh – Fairlight CMI (4)
  • Eric Persing – keyboards (5), programming (5)
  • Roby Duke – additional keyboards (5)
  • Rudy Van Eyken – accordion (6)
  • Steve Camp – acoustic piano (8)
  • Tim Miner – keyboards (9), drum programming (9), backing vocals (9)
  • Geof Barkley – organ (10)
  • Tom Hemby – guitars (1, 2, 7, 11, 12), acoustic guitar (8)
  • Jerry McPherson – guitars (1, 7, 8)
  • Dann Huff – guitars (2, 7, 12)
  • Gordon Kennedy – guitars (3, 12)
  • Teddy Irwin – guitars (4)
  • Marty Walsh – guitars (5)
  • George Llanes – guitars (6)
  • José Hernández – vihuela (6), trumpet (6)
  • Michael Gallagher – guitars (9)
  • Dale Oliver – guitars (10)
  • Steven Curtis Chapman – guitars (11), guitar solo (11), backing vocals (11)
  • David Hungate – bass (1, 7, 8, 12)
  • Mike Brignardello – bass (2, 11)
  • Tommy Sims – bass (3, 9, 10), keyboards (9), drum programming (9), backing vocals (9)
  • Craig Nelson – bass (4)
  • Jose Arellano – guitarrón (6), Spanish vocals (6)
  • Paul Leim – drums (1, 7, 8, 12), percussion (1, 7), timpani (7)
  • Chris McHugh – drums (2, 3, 10, 11)
  • Alex MacDougall – additional percussion (5)
  • Lynn Nichols – percussion (6)
  • Terry McMillan – percussion (10, 11)
  • John Catchings – cello (4)
  • Cindy Reynolds Wyatt – harp (4)
  • Steve Pearlman – violin (6)
  • Harry Scorzo – violin (6)
  • Steve Tavaglione – saxophone (5)
  • Ramone Acevedo – trumpet (6)
  • Rick Florian – backing vocals (2, 3, 7, 10)
  • David Mullen – backing vocals (2, 7, 10)
  • Chris Rodriguez – backing vocals (2, 3, 7, 10, 11)
  • Billy Smiley – backing vocals (3)
  • Lynn Davis – backing vocals (5)
  • Phil Perry – backing vocals (5)
  • Cindy Cruse – backing vocals (9)
  • Rob Johnson – backing vocals (9)
  • Don Wallace – backing vocals (9)
  • Herb Chapman – backing vocals (11)

Production[edit]

  • Billy Smiley – producer (1-3, 7, 8, 10-12)
  • Norbert Putnam – producer (4)
  • Roby Duke – producer (5)
  • Brad Westering – producer (5)
  • Steve Taylor – producer (6)
  • Tim Miner – producer (9)
  • Tommy Sims – producer (9)
  • Barbara Catanzaro-Hearn – art direction
  • Rossi Advertising – design
  • Mark Tucker – photography

Technical

  • David Schober – basic track recording (1-3, 7, 8, 10-12), mixing (1-3, 6-8, 10-12), overdub engineer (2, 8, 12), vocal engineer (2, 8, 12), recording (6)
  • Billy Smiley – mixing (1-3, 7, 8, 10-12)
  • Norbert Putnam – recording (4), mixing (4)
  • Chris Taylor – recording (5), mixing (5)
  • Loyd Harris – recording (9)
  • Tim Miner – recording (9), mixing (9)
  • Tommy Sims – recording (9), mixing (9)
  • Win Kutz – mixing (9)
  • Brent King – additional engineer (1, 7, 11)
  • Ronnie Brookshire – additional engineer (2)
  • Carry Summers – additional engineer (2, 10, 11)

Charts[edit]

Chart (1988–89) Peak
position
US Top Inspirational Albums (Billboard)[3] 18

Radio singles[edit]

Year Singles Peak positions
CCM AC[4]
1988–89 "Home for the Holidays" 31

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Various Artists, "Christmas"". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  2. ^ Various Artists: Christmas. Sparrow Records. 1988.
  3. ^ a b "Top Inspirational LPs" (PDF). Billboard. January 14, 1989. p. 25.
  4. ^ Brothers, Jeffrey Lee, ed. (2003). CCM Hot Hits: AC Charts 1978 - 2001. AuthorHouse. p. 219. ISBN 1-4107-3294-0.