Maps of Music

Christmas From the Heart (1998)

Where the lyrics of Christmas From the Heart take you, and where it was really made.

A 1998 holiday album that paired traditional carols with songs sung by children, a mix AllMusic called bizarre.

Key places

Recording at Creative Recording, Nashville (1998)

Recording site Nashville — The source names Creative Recording in Nashville as a recording location for the album. The map point sits at the city centre, not at the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Christmas From the Heart is a 1998 holiday album by country superstar Kenny Rogers
• The original release has 18 tracks
• Mixes traditional Christmas songs with original songs credited to Golden, Hartman and Rogers
• Traditional standards include The Christmas Song, White Christmas, Let It Snow! and O Come All Ye Faithful
• Opens with It's Just Not Christmas and closes with Til the Season Comes Around Again

Background

• Kenny Rogers was a country music superstar when he made this holiday record
• Rogers sings lead vocals and co-arranged the album
• Warren Hartman produced the album and co-wrote the original songs with Golden and Rogers
• Brent Maher handled production, recording and mixing
• Jim Mazza served as executive producer through Dreamcatcher Management

Recording

• Recording credited to Creative Recording and Quad Studios in Nashville, Tennessee
• Editing and mastering took place at Georgetown Masters in Nashville, Tennessee
• Denny Purcell mastered the album
• Paul Skaife worked as recording and mix assistant
• Alyssa Bonagura sings the duet If I Only Had Your Heart

Cover

• Photography by Chris Callis
• Snow globe illustration by Linda Fennimore
• Art direction and design by P. David Eleazar and Nick Long

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kenneth Donald Ray Rogers was born on August 21, 1938, in Houston, Texas, and began his recording career in the late 1950s with the Houston group the Scholars.
• He was an American country singer-songwriter who moved from teenage rock and roll through psychedelic rock to become a country-pop crossover artist of the 1970s and 1980s.
• In 1967 he co-founded the First Edition with former New Christy Minstrels members, later renamed Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.

Members

• The First Edition's members included Mike Settle, Terry Williams, Thelma Camacho, and Kin Vassy.
• Rogers's backing band Bloodline has toured with him since 1976.

Career

• The First Edition scored hits including "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" before the group disbanded in 1976.
• As a solo artist he charted more than 60 top-40 singles, including the number-one hits "Lady" and "Islands in the Stream".
• He recorded duets with Dottie West, Dolly Parton, and Sheena Easton, and partnered with Lionel Richie as songwriter.
• His signature song "The Gambler" won a Grammy in 1980 and was selected for the National Recording Registry in 2018.
• He sold more than 100 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
• He retired from touring in 2017 and died on March 20, 2020, at age 81.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic panned the album and called it a truly bizarre and disappointing record
• AllMusic's complaint had two parts: Rogers' bland adult contemporary versions of traditional Christmas songs
• The second part of the complaint targeted obnoxious numbers sung by children
• The children's vocals credit goes to Gracie Glassmeyer, Brandon Hargest, Brittany Hargest, Ashley Milling and Jamie Murrah
• Dennis Scott is credited as vocal conductor for the children
• Traditional songs on the album include The Christmas Song, White Christmas, Let It Snow! and O Come All Ye Faithful
• Original songs credited to Golden, Hartman and Rogers include Hey Little Christmas Tree, Merry Christmas and The Ballerina Song
• Kenny Rogers sings lead vocals and co-arranged the album
• Warren Hartman produced the album, and Brent Maher handled production, recording and mixing
• Denny Purcell mastered the album, so the sound was finished in the same studio pipeline as the rest of the record

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 2008 reissue by Koch Records kept the same title but omitted the final track
• Dennis Scott served as vocal conductor and also appears in the cast vocals
• The choir credit lists 16 names, with Rodney Covington as director
• Jim Horn plays alto and baritone saxophone and recorder, while Denis Solee plays flute and piccolo
• Alyssa Bonagura sings on the duet If I Only Had Your Heart, one of the Golden, Hartman and Rogers songs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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