Merry Christmas (The Supremes album)

Merry Christmas
Studio album by The Supremes
Released	November 1, 1965
Recorded	Los Angeles, July 1965 (Instrumental tracks) Hitsville USA (Studio A), September 1965 (vocals)
Genre	Pop
Length	32:22
Label	Motown M 638
Producer	Harvey Fuqua
The Supremes chronology
More Hits by the Supremes (1965) The Supremes at the Copa (1965) --- Merry Christmas (1965) I Hear a Symphony (1966)

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Allmusic	[1]

Merry Christmas is the seventh studio album recorded by Motown girl group The Supremes, and released on Motown Records in November 1965 (see 1965 in music). The LP, produced by Harvey Fuqua, includes recordings of familiar Christmas songs such as "White Christmas", "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", "My Favorite Things", and "Joy to the World".^[2] Two originals, "Children's Christmas Song" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me", were issued as the sides of a late 1965 Supremes holiday single.

Their version of "My Favorite Things," has become popular, getting a lot of airplay on the radio during the Holiday Season.

Merry Christmas, issued by Motown the same day as the live recording The Supremes at the Copa, was the only holiday album released by the Supremes. They charted 4 albums in 1965 with one hitting the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 album chart and this hitting the Top 10 of the Billboard Holiday Album Chart. (It also made the Cashbox Top 10). The album sold 600,000 copies.^[3] And this is the only Supremes' album where neither Mary Wilson or Florence Ballard appear. The Andantes back Ross up as it is stated in the newly released singles collection of 2011. Ballard only appears, as lead, in two (then) unused tracks, one of the songs later released in 1999; Wilson was not recorded on any of the album track sessions. It was reissued in 1999 in CD form with four bonus tracks, including a cover of "Just a Lonely Christmas" (originally recorded by Harvey Fuqua's group The Moonglows), and a Florence Ballard-led version of "Silent Night". This expanded version of the album was re-released in 2003 as 20th Century Masters - The Best of the Supremes: The Christmas Collection. The Christmas album was later expanded further by 2015 (in both CD and Digital Download form) to include all 19 tracks recorded for the album, plus an additional track, "Won't Be Long Before Christmas", from their canceled Disney album, a "Seasons Greetings" by the group, and a live performance of "My Favorite Things" done at the Copa.^[4][5]

Track listing

Side one

1. "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin)
2. "Silver Bells" (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston)
3. "Born of Mary" (Traditional)
4. "Children's Christmas Song" (Harvey Fuqua, Isabelle Freeman)
5. "The Little Drummer Boy" (Harry Simeone, Katherine Davis, Henry Onorati)
6. "My Christmas Tree" (Jimmy Webb)

Side two

1. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Johnny Marks)
2. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie)
3. "My Favorite Things" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)
4. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me" (Ron Miller, William O'Malley)
5. "Little Bright Star" (Al Capps, Mary Dean)
6. "Joy to the World" (Isaac Watts, Lowell Mason)

2015 Expanded CD/Download Version Bonus trackslist

1. "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" (Mel Tormé, Bob Wells) *
2. "Just a Lonely Christmas" (Alan Freed, Harvey Fuqua) *
3. "Noël" (Traditional) *
4. "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" (Lewis Redner and Phillips Brooks)
5. "Silent Night" (Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber) ^A *
6. "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam) ^A
7. "Silver Bells" (Alternate track)
8. "Won't Be Long Before Christmas" (Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman)
9. "My Favorite Things" (Live At The Copa-1965) ^B
10. "Seasons Greetings" promo (Bonus Track) ^B

(*) Originally added to the 1999 CD album release as a bonus track. (^A) Led by Florence Ballard. (^B) Features Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson.

An instrumental track for "Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard-Dick Smith) was cut; however no vocals were recorded.

Credits

• Diana Ross: lead vocals (except as noted)
• Florence Ballard: lead vocals on "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night"
• The Andantes: background vocals
• Los Angeles musicians: instrumentation
• Harvey Fuqua: producer (except as noted)
• Frank Wilson: producer on "Won't Be Long Before Christmas" (Bonus Track)
• Gene Page, H.B. Barnum and Ernie Freeman: arrangements

Singles releases

• "Children's Christmas Song" b/w "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me" (Motown 1085, November 18, 1965)

Chart history

Album

Singles

References