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Elvis' Christmas Album (1957)

Where the lyrics of Elvis' Christmas Album take you, and where it was really made.

Irving Berlin asked radio stations to ban this Christmas album, and at least one disc jockey was fired for playing a song from it.

Key places

Recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood (1957)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood before its release on 15 October 1957. The recording session date is not given in the source. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Elvis' Christmas Album: Christmas album by Elvis Presley, released 15 October 1957 on RCA Victor (LOC-1035)
• First Christmas album and third studio album by Presley
• Deluxe limited edition, recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood
• Reissued in numerous formats since its first release; also known as It's Christmas Time
• First of two Christmas-themed albums Presley recorded; the second was Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas (1971)
• Spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart

Background

• Original 1957 LP: six popular Christmas songs, two traditional carols, and four gospel songs
• The four gospel songs were previously released on the EP Peace in the Valley (EPA 4054, March 1957)
• Two new songs were commissioned from regular suppliers of material for Presley
• "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and selected by Presley to open the album
• The other new song was "Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me)"
• Most of the songs were traditional Christmas fare such as "White Christmas" and "Silent Night"

Recording

• Recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood
• Backing: The Blue Moon Boys (Scotty Moore, Bill Black, D. J. Fontana) and The Jordanaires
• Producer Steve Sholes; engineer Thorne Nogar
• Presley arranged "Silent Night" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" himself
• Presley asked Leiber and Stoller for one more Christmas song; they wrote it within a few minutes
• That song was originally titled "Christmas Blues" and was given a full-throated, slyly risqué treatment by Presley and his band
• Presley's reading of Ernest Tubb's 1949 hit "Blue Christmas" was set apart from the more traditional tracks

Cover

• Original 1957 copies had a red gatefold cover with an attached booklet of promotional photos from the film Jailhouse Rock
• Gold foil "gift giving" sticker on the shrink wrap is rarer still and makes intact copies among the most valuable Presley albums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi; family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was 13.
• Began his career in 1954 at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring African-American music to a wider audience.
• Recorded "That's All Right" with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black in July 1954.
• A pioneer of rockabilly, a fusion of country music and rhythm and blues.

Members

• Classic quartet: Presley (vocals, guitar), Scotty Moore (lead guitar), Bill Black (bass), and D. J. Fontana (drums), who joined in 1955.

Career

• RCA Victor acquired his contract in 1955 for $40,000; "Heartbreak Hotel" hit number one in the US in 1956.
• Became a leading figure of rock and roll, though his style was considered a threat to white American youth by some.
• Made his film debut in Love Me Tender (1956) and devoted much of the 1960s to Hollywood films.
• Returned to the stage with the 1968 NBC special Elvis, followed by a Las Vegas residency and tours.
• Gave the first solo-artist concert broadcast worldwide, Aloha from Hawaii, in 1973.
• Died August 16, 1977 at Graceland, aged 42.
• Estimated to have sold 500 million records worldwide; won three Grammy Awards.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Music Vendor listed the album on its singles charts for two weeks in December 1957 to January 1958
• Peak position on that chart was No. 49
• Irving Berlin, composer of "White Christmas", called for the song and the entire album to be banned from radio airplay
• Berlin had his New York staff telephone radio stations across the United States to demand the song be discontinued
• Most US radio stations ignored Berlin's request
• Most Canadian radio stations refused to play the album

Records

• Four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart
• First Presley title to attain Diamond certification from the RIAA
• Shipped at least 17 million copies in the United States, counting reissues
• Best-selling Christmas album of all time in the United States
• More than 20 million copies sold worldwide
• Described as the world's best-selling Christmas album and one of the best-selling albums of all time

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Irving Berlin's staff phoned US radio stations to demand the song be dropped, and at least one disc jockey was fired for playing a song from the album.
• Most Canadian radio stations refused to play the album.
• The Drifters' version of "White Christmas" drew little reaction because it was played only on black radio stations; Presley's version brought more attention to it, which later grew through its inclusion in the 1990 film Home Alone.
• The original 1957 gift-giving sticker on sealed copies is one of the rarest collector items among Presley's albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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