A Christmas Album (Amy Grant album)
A Christmas Album is the seventh album and first Christmas album by Christian music singer Amy Grant. The album was recorded in nine studios in mid-1983 and was released later that same year.
It was issued on the heels of Grant's immensely successful 1982 LP Age to Age. Primarily for the audiences she attracted with Age to Age, A Christmas Album features well-known sacred and secular standards alongside original songs, and tracks from this album continue to receive airplay to this day during the holiday season on both secular and Christian radio stations. Although not as successful as Age to Age, A Christmas Album still peaked in the Top Ten of the Christian chart and spawned a Top 20 Christian radio single in "Emmanuel." The album would eventually be certified gold in 1985, and platinum in 1989. A Christmas Album was listed at No. 40 in the 2001 book, . In 2016, Grant re-recorded the song "Tennessee Christmas" as the title track of a new Christmas album. The song was released as a single from the album and charted at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart in December 2016.
Track listing
Personnel
- Amy Grant – lead vocals, background vocals
- Shane Keister – Fender Rhodes, Yamaha GS-1, Oberheim OB-8, Memorymoog, Minimoog, acoustic piano
- Michael W. Smith – acoustic piano, Yamaha GS-1, Yamaha GS-2, vocoder
- Gary Chapman – acoustic guitar, pedal steel guitar, background vocals
- Jon Goin – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, guitar
- Dean Parks – acoustic guitar
- Mike Brignardello – bass
- Paul Leim – drums, LinnDrum, Simmons drums, sleigh bells, wood blocks
- Victor Feldman – shaker, percussion
- Lenny Castro – percussion
- Farrell Morris – percussion, bell tree, glockenspiel, coconut shells
- Alan Moore – string arrangements, choir arrangements, horn arrangements, woodwind arrangements
- Gavyn Wright – concertmaster
- The Martyn Ford Orchestra – strings, horns, woodwinds
- The Nashville Contemporary Brass Quintet – horns
- Tom McAninch – horns
- Fred Bock – choir director
- Hollywood Presbyterian Choir – choir
- Bill Champlin – background vocals
- Tamara Champlin – background vocals
- Carmen Twillie – background vocals
- Steve George – background vocals
- David Page – background vocals
- Richard Page – background vocals
- Debbie Hall – background vocals
- Sandy Hall – background vocals
- Edie Lehmann – background vocals
- Jim Baird – additional engineer
- Brown Bannister – producer
- Michael Blanton – cover art concept, executive producer
- Mike Borum – family photography
- Kevin Burns – assistant engineer
- Gary Chapman – executive producer
- Ken Corlew – additional engineer
- Gene Eichelberger – additional engineer
- Bill Farrell – cover photography, scenery
- Steve Ford – assistant engineer
- Daniel Garcia – assistant engineer
- Amy Grant – liner notes
- Dan Harrell – cover art concept, executive producer
- Dennis Hill – art direction
- Brent King – additional engineer
- Jerry Mahler – assistant engineer
- Rich Markowitz – assistant engineer
- Jack Joseph Puig – engineer, mixing
- Mike Ross – additional engineer
- Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab, Hollywood, California
- David Schober – assistant engineer
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1984 | Top Contemporary Christian | 9 |
| 1985 | Top Holiday Albums | 5 |
| 1991 | Top Pop Catalog | 5 |
Singles – CCM Magazine
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1984 | "Emmanuel" | Christian Radio–Adult Contemporary | 20 |
Awards
GMA Dove Awards| Year | Winner | Category |
| 1984 | A Christmas Album | Recorded Music Packaging of the Year |