1971-10-20
Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas
Elvis Presley
By Maeve C.
RCA’s Studio B in Nashville hosted these Christmas sessions in May and June 1971, with Felton Jarvis producing and The Imperials singing behind Elvis Presley on most of the songs. They were his first new Christmas recordings since Elvis’ Christmas Album in 1957.
The record opens with “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, which shared a November single with “Merry Christmas Baby”. “I’ll Be Home on Christmas Day” and “Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees” sit on the second side. Holiday albums were barred from Billboard’s main albums chart at the time, so its success showed on the separate Christmas chart, which it topped.
Sources
Rights-holder metadata (℗ 1971 Sony Music Entertainment): release date October 20, 1971.Independent corroboration: discography table gives release date "October 20, 1971".
Released by RCA in October 1971; producer Felton Jarvis; RCA Studio B sessions May and June 1971; The Imperials on most songs; first new Christmas recordings since 1957; "Merry Christmas Baby" / "O Come All Ye Faithful" single (November 1971); topped the Christmas LP chart while holiday albums were barred from Top LPs. MusicBrainz (seen via its web service) also lists the US release on 1971-10-20.