Merry Christmas with Love is the first Christmas album and second studio album by American recording artist Clay Aiken. It was released on November 16, 2004, through RCA Records. The album consists of twelve tracks, featuring eleven cover versions of Christmas standards and carols and a medley consisting of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "O Come All Ye Faithful." Production on Merry Christmas with Love was overseen by Phil Ramone and Walter Afanasieff.
The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 270,000 copies in its first week. Aiken returned the following year with The Joyful Noise 2005 Tour, a 36-city, 40-concert tour across the United States and Canada from November to December 2005. In addition to musical performances, the concerts incorporated a theatrical element featuring a traveling cast of actors, singers, and dancers, supplemented by supporting performers from each host city. Pop-classical pianist William Joseph served as the opening act and contributed musically to the tour.
In December 2006, Aiken launched a Holiday Tour that visited 18 cities, primarily in the eastern United States. Performances were accompanied by local orchestras, which also opened each concert with a selection of seasonal music. Aiken’s 2007 holiday tour, Christmas in the Heartland, consisted of 21 dates and focused on the eastern United States. The tour began on November 26 in Wichita, Kansas, and concluded on December 22 in Merrillville, Indiana. Local orchestras accompanied the performances. Holiday stories submitted by fans were incorporated into the show and read aloud as introductions to four song selections. Aiken traditionally concluded his Christmas tours with his signature holiday song, "Don’t Save It All for Christmas Day."
Critical reception
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AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that "Aiken turns in a good holiday album. Actually, there are no surprises on the album — the song selections are all standards, the arrangements are traditional and unobtrusive, always emphasizing Clay's voice, and the record is given a safe, high-gloss sheen ideal for adult contemporary radio. If there are any surprises with Merry Christmas with Love[...] it's that his singing is better, more assured here than it was on Measure of a Man."
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Ceremony
! Category
! Result
|-
| rowspan="1"| 2004
| rowspan="1"| Billboard Music Awards
|Best Selling Christmas Album
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2005
| rowspan="1"| American Christian Music Awards
|Outstanding Yule CD
|
|-
| rowspan="1"| Billboard Music Awards
|Best Selling Christmas Album
|
|}
Commercial performance
Merry Christmas with Love debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 270,000 copies in its first week. This became Aiken's second US top-ten debut. The album set a new record for fastest-selling holiday album in the SoundScan era (since March 1991) and tied Celine Dion's record for the highest debut by a holiday album in the history of Billboard magazine. On January 6, 2005, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies.
Track listing
Personnel
Performers and musicians
- Allan Schwartzberg – drums
- Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
- David Finck – bass
- Nathan East – bass
- Ira Siegel – acoustic guitar
- Jeff Mironov – guitar
- Mike Landau – electric guitar
- Kenny Ascher – piano
- Steve Ferrera – harp, percussion
- Walter Afanasieff – keyboard
- Conesha Mone't – background vocals
- Quiana Parler – background vocals
- Jacob Juttrell – background vocals
- Angela Fisher – background vocals
- Michael McElroy – background vocals
- Clarke Anderson – background vocals
- Darryl Phinnesse – background vocals
- The McCrary Choir – background vocals
- Broadway Inspirational Voices – background vocals
- Kate Coffman – soprano
- Laura Dean – soprano
- Tanesha Gary – soprano
- Catrice Joseph-Hart – soprano
- Gerti Lee James – soprano
- Bertilla Baker – alto
- Tracy Nicole Chapman – alto
- La-Rita Gaskins – alto
- Lucia Giannetta – alto
- Danielle Lee Greaves – alto
- Maurice Lauchner – tenor
- John Eric Parker – tenor
- Glenn Rainey – tenor
- Eliseo Roman – tenor
- Christopher Zelno – tenor
Technical
- Andy Zulla – mixing
- Joel Moss – recording
- Mark Valentine – additional recording
- Emanuel Kiriakou – engineer
- Joe Wohlmuth – additional engineering
- David Channing – additional engineering
- Jay Spears – assistant engineer
- Mike Schroffel – assistant engineer
- Glenn Pittman – assistant engineer
- Alex Rodriguez – assistant engineer
- Dave Reitzas – lead vocal engineer
- Jorge Calandrelli – arrangement
- Patrick Williams – arrangement
- Rich Davis – production coordination
- Elena Barere – concert master
- Torrie Zito – conductor
- William Ross – conductor, arranger
- Humberto Gatica – orchestra engineer
- Sandy Decrescent – orchestra contractor
- David Lowe – orchestra contractor
- Jill Dell'Abate production manager
- Joe Yannece – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly performance for Merry Christmas with Love
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2004)
! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Year-end performance for Merry Christmas with Love
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2005)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 52
|}
Certifications
See also
- List of Billboard Top Holiday Albums number ones of the 2000s