Elvis' Christmas Album
Elvis Presley's 1957 holiday LP, the best-selling Christmas album in the world.
Elvis' Christmas Album is Elvis Presley's first holiday record and his third studio album, issued by RCA Victor on October 15, 1957, after sessions at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart for four weeks. Counting its many reissues, the RIAA credits it with at least 17 million U.S. shipments, making it the first Presley title certified Diamond and the top-selling Christmas album in American history. Worldwide sales exceed 20 million. Presley made only one other seasonal album, Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, released in 1971.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Elvis Presley
- Released
- October 15, 1957
- Recorded
- January 12–13 and 19, 1957; September 5–7, 1957
- Studio
- Radio Recorders, Hollywood
- Genre
- Christmas
- pop
- gospel
- rock and roll
- country
- Length
- 30:09
- Label
- RCA Victor
- Producer
- Steve Sholes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The first pressing was a deluxe limited edition in a red gatefold sleeve with a booklet of photos from Jailhouse Rock. Side one held secular holiday songs, while side two paired two carols with four gospel songs taken from the earlier Peace in the Valley EP, including two by Thomas A. Dorsey. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller supplied the rocking opener Santa Claus Is Back in Town, written within minutes at Presley's request, and Presley arranged Silent Night and O Little Town of Bethlehem himself. His take on White Christmas angered Irving Berlin, who had his staff phone radio stations demanding it be pulled; most U.S. stations ignored him, but at least one disc jockey lost his job and most Canadian stations passed on the album.
Reader's Guide
RCA reissued the album in October 1959 with a new snowy cover under catalog number LPM-1951, and it charted every year until 1962. In November 1970 the budget label RCA Camden released a shorter version that swapped the gospel tracks for If Every Day Was Like Christmas and Mama Liked the Roses, and Pickwick reissued that edition in 1975. In the UK, Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me backed with Santa Claus Is Back in Town reached number seven in November 1957. Blue Christmas later topped the Billboard Christmas Singles chart.
Track listing
Side one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Claus Is Back in Town | Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | 2:22 |
| 2 | White Christmas | Irving Berlin | 2:23 |
| 3 | Here Comes Santa Claus | Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman, Harriet Melka | 1:54 |
| 4 | I'll Be Home for Christmas | Kim Gannon, Walter Kent, Buck Ram | 1:53 |
| 5 | Blue Christmas | Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson | 2:07 |
| 6 | Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) | Aaron Schroeder, Claude Demetrius | 1:54 |
Side two
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | O Little Town of Bethlehem | Phillips Brooks, Lewis Redner, Elvis Presleya, [a] | 2:35 |
| 2 | Silent Night | Joseph Mohr, Franz Gruber, Presleya, [a] | 2:23 |
| 3 | (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me) (from Peace in the Valley, 1957) | Thomas A. Dorsey | 3:22 |
| 4 | I Believe (from Peace in the Valley, 1957) | Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, Al Stillman | 2:05 |
| 5 | Take My Hand, Precious Lord (from Peace in the Valley, 1957) | Thomas A. Dorsey | 3:16 |
| 6 | It Is No Secret (What God Can Do) (from Peace in the Valley, 1957) | Stuart Hamblen | 3:53 |
Camden / Pickwick edition - side one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Christmas | Hayes, Johnson | 2:07 |
| 2 | Silent Night | Mohr, Gruber, Presleya, [a] | 2:23 |
| 3 | White Christmas | Berlin | 2:23 |
| 4 | Santa Claus Is Back in Town | Leiber, Stoller | 2:22 |
| 5 | I'll Be Home for Christmas | Gannon, Kent, Ram | 1:53 |
Track listing from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Original copies with the gold gift sticker still on the shrink wrap are among the most valuable Presley albums.
- Presley's White Christmas echoed the arrangement The Drifters had used, which drew little complaint.
- Music Vendor placed the album on its singles chart, peaking at No. 49.
- Frank Sinatra's A Jolly Christmas, released a month earlier, also split secular and traditional sides.
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