Elvis' Christmas Album
| Elvis' Christmas Album | ||||
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| Studio album by Elvis Presley | ||||
| Released | October 15, 1957 | |||
| Recorded | 1957 | |||
| Genre | Christmas, country, gospel, rock and roll | |||
| Length | 30:09 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Steve Sholes | |||
| Elvis Presley chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Elvis' Christmas Album | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| MusicHound | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Rough Guides | |
Elvis' Christmas Album is the fourth studio album and first Christmas album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley on RCA Victor, LOC 1035, a deluxe limited edition, released in October 1957, and recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It has been reissued in numerous different formats since its first release. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was the first of two Christmas-themed albums Presley would record, the other being Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, released in 1971. The publication Music Vendor listed Elvis' Christmas Album on their singles charts for two weeks in December 1957 – January 1958, with a peak position of #49.
According to the latest certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America, Elvis' Christmas Album has shipped at least 13 million copies in the United States (3 million of the original 1957 release on RCA Victor, plus 10 million total copies of a "budget" edition first released by RCA Camden in 1970 and then by Pickwick Records in 1975). It is the first Presley title to attain Diamond certification by the RIAA, and is also the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of all time in the United States. The album has sold 15 million copies worldwide.
The original 1957 LP consisted of eight Christmas songs, and four gospel songs which had been previously released on the EP Peace in the Valley, catalogue EPA 4054, issued March 1957, peaking at number three on the Pop albums chart and at number 39 on the singles chart. The two album sides divided into a program of secular Christmas songs on side one, with two traditional Christmas carols and the gospel numbers on side two. Those included two spirituals by innovator Thomas A. Dorsey, "Peace in the Valley" and "Take My Hand, Precious Lord." Coincidentally, A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra released the previous month by that other 1950s singing icon, also divided into a secular and a traditional side.
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