Andy Williams - Christmas Album (1963) Vinyl and 50 similar items

Catalog Number: CS-8887 Condition Details: Still in ORIGINAL SHRINK-WRAP (opened). Vinyl plays with occasional light-crackles (play-graded). Make New Discogs XSM-75355 G2B G1P Cover has a few creases near edges; light scuffing (front/back). Inner-sleeve is generic white. Spine is unbroken and easy-to-read. Minor shelf-wear along top/bottom-edge. Some wear to corners. Opening is a little rough with wear and signs of use and divots. Red label with Columbia around the edge. (Not a cut-out.) Tracks: White Christmas Medley Happy Holiday Holiday Season - The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year A Song And A Christmas Tree (The Twelve Days Of Christmas) Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells The First Noel O Holy Night Away In A Manger Sweet Little Jesus Boy The Little Drummer Boy Silent Night, Holy Night About The Record: The Andy Williams Christmas Album is the first Christmas holiday album released by the singer. A No. 1 smash on the Billboard charts, and it would prove to be the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams. Though it was also the album that introduced Williams' perennial holiday classic It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Columbia instead opted to release Williams' cover of White Christmas as the album's promotional single at the time. A front-page story in Billboard magazine on Nov. 23, 1963, made clear the album was already destined to be a big hit, reporting: "Though the majority of retailers around the country that were contacted reported that Christmas product sales were just starting, they have already singled out the new Andy Williams Christmas Album as the probably No. 1 LP for the next two months; at least of those albums thus far on the market. It is already registering heavy sales, as is his single White Christmas. From 1963 to 1973, Billboard published special weekly Christmas Albums and Christmas Singles sales charts. For all five weeks that these special charts were published in 1963 (for the weeks ending November 30, 1963 through December 28, 1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album was the No. 1 selling Christmas album, while Williams' cover of White Christmas was the No. 1 selling Christmas single. The Andy Williams Christmas Album spent three weeks as the number one selling Christmas album during the holiday season of 1964, and one week as the No. 1 selling Christmas album during the holiday season of 1965. It charted on Billboard's Christmas Albums chart at least one week for each of the years that the chart was published. By December 14, 1964, The Andy Williams Christmas Album had been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500,000 copies in the United States. Platinum certification in the United States was awarded on November 21, 1986.