The Andy Williams Christmas Album

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

Song information

"A Song And A Christmas Tree" began as "The Twelve Days of Christmas", which was first published in 1780. "Stille Nacht", which was later translated into "Silent Night", was first performed during Midnight Mass on Christmas in 1818 in Austria. "The First Noël" debuted in print in 1833. "O Holy Night", with music by Adolphe Adam, originated in French as "Cantique de Noël" in 1847. The song that came to be known as "Jingle Bells" was published under the name "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in 1857. And the earliest printing of the lyrics to "Away In A Manger" dates back to 1885.

Of the songs on the album composed in the 20th century, "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" is the oldest, written on Christmas Eve, 1932. In the 1942 film Holiday Inn, Bing Crosby performed "White Christmas" and "Happy Holiday", with the former spending 11 weeks at the top of Billboard magazine's Best Seller chart that same year. Kay Thompson first performed her song "The Holiday Season" as well as her "Jingle Bells" variation on December 22, 1945. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)" was a number three hit for Nat King Cole's King Cole Trio when it was first issued in 1946. And the Harry Simeone Chorale reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "The Little Drummer Boy" upon its first release in 1958.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

In a 2005 interview Williams discusses how The Andy Williams Show figured into his recording of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year": "George Wyle, who's a vocal director, who wrote all of the choir stuff and all of the duets and trios and things that I did with all the guests, he wrote a song just for the show -- I think the second Christmas show we did -- called "Most Wonderful Time of the Year". So I did that, you know, every Christmas, and then other people started doing it. And then suddenly it's become—not suddenly but over 30 years—it's become a big standard. I think it's one of the top 10 Christmas songs of all time now."

In the issue of Billboard magazine dated November 28, 2009, the list of the "Top 10 Holiday Songs (Since 2001)" places the Williams recording of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" at number five. 2001 also marks the first year in which the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (also known as ASCAP) started compiling data regarding the radio airplay of holiday songs, and although the Williams classic started out at number 25 of 25 songs that were ranked that year, it gained steam over the next 10 years, reaching number 18 in 2002, number 13 in 2003, and eventually getting to number four in 2010.

Personnel