Merry Christmas, Baby is the first Christmas album by Rod Stewart and his 27th studio album overall, released on 30 October 2012. The album has proved to be a top 10 success in many countries including the UK, US, Canada and Australia. It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in November 2012 with over 1,000,000 copies sold in the US.
Critical reception
Merry Christmas, Baby received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 53, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 6 reviews.
Commercial performance Merry Christmas, Baby debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, with first week sales of 117,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, and spent a total of eight weeks in the top 10. With total U.S. sales of 858,000 copies in 2012 according to SoundScan, Merry Christmas, Baby was the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of the year. The album was also the year's fifteenth best-selling album in the U.S. according to Billboard and the ninth best-selling physical album in the U.S. according to the Nielsen Company's 2012 Music Industry Report.
In the UK, the album debuted at No. 2 on the Official Albums Chart and has so far spent six weeks in the top 10. It sold 421,000 copies in the UK in 2012 and its current UK sales stand at 636,000.
In Canada, the album spent eight weeks in the top ten of the Canadian Albums Chart, with three consecutive weeks at the No. 1 spot. It was the ninth best-selling album in Canada in 2012 according to year-end sales data from Nielsen SoundScan Canada with sales of 135,000.
Worldwide, the album achieved total 2012 sales of 2.6 million according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, making it the seventh best-selling album of the year.
Track listing All tracks produced by David Foster; except "Auld Lang Syne" produced by Rod Stewart and Kevin Savigar.
Note "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" uses a vocal sample of the Ella Fitzgerald recording of the same name
Personnel
Musicians and Vocalists Rod Stewart – vocals David Foster – acoustic piano (1–3, 6–8, 10, 15), keyboards (5, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16) Jochem van der Saag – synthesizers (1–12, 14–16) programming (1–12, 14–16), sound design (1–12, 14–16) Kevin Savigar – keyboards (13), programming (13) Dean Parks – guitars (1–3, 5–9, 11, 12, 14–16), guitar solo (4, 10), mandolin (16) Emerson Swinford – guitars (13) Jorge Vivo – additional guitars (14) Chuck Berghofer – bass (1, 2, 6–8, 10, 14, 15) Peter Erskine – drums (1, 2, 7, 10, 15) Matt O'Connor – percussion (2, 3, 5, 6, 9), additional percussion (11, 14) Jeff Driskel – saxophones (2, 6, 7) Dan Oestreicher – baritone saxophone (5, 9) Tim McFatter – tenor saxophone (5, 9) Dave Koz – saxophone solo (6) Jimmy Roberts – saxophone solo (9) Bob McChesney – trombones (2, 6) Trombone Shorty – trombone (5, 9), trumpet (5, 9) Chris Walden – trumpets (2, 6, 7), trombones (7) Chris Botti – trumpet solo (7) J'Anna Jacoby – violin (13) Caroline Campbell – violin solo (14, 16) Michael Bublé – vocals (3) CeeLo Green – vocals (5) Bridget Cady – backing vocals (5, 9) Kim Johnson – backing vocals (5, 9) Dieyelle Reed – backing vocals (5, 9) Ella Fitzgerald – sampled vocals (7) Mary J. Blige – vocals (11) Page LA Children's Chorus – backing vocals (12) Bobbi Page – vocal contractor (12)
Choir on "Auld Lang Syne" Mabvuto Carpenter Angie Fisher (also choir contractor) Kim Johnson Krystal Johnson Jason Morales Dieyelle Reed Will Wheaton
Gospel Choir Keith Allen Bridget Cady Bryan Terrell Clark David Daughtry Angie Fisher Melanie Fontana Kim Johnson (also choir contractor) Michelle Lewis Holly Palmer Dieyelle Reed Brandon Winbush Lucy Woodward
Children's Choir Madeline Bernstein Carson Billingsley Sam Binschadler Jackson Hatwan Katherine Ho Brandon Large Karissa Lee Emme Lehmann-Boddicker Claire McNeely Bobbi Page Jordan Santamaria
Music arrangements David Foster – arrangements, string arrangements (1–4, 9–14), horn arrangements (2, 5, 6, 8, 9) William Ross – string arrangements (1, 4, 10–15) Chris Walden – orchestra conductor (1–4, 8–15), horn arrangements (2, 6, 7), string arrangements (3, 8, 9) Isobel Griffiths – orchestra contractor (1–4, 8–15) Nathan Kelly – horn arrangements (5) Rod Stewart – arrangements (11–14) Kevin Savigar – arrangements (13) Dean Parks – arrangements (14) Jochem van der Saag – arrangements (14)
Production Jay Landers – A&R Katherine Tempesta – A&R coordinator Evelyn Morgan – A&R administrator David Hage – music copyist Thanh Tran – music copyist Jullian Peploe Studio – art direction, design Penny Lancaster – photography Arnold Stiefel – management
Technical credits Vlado Meller – mastering at Vlado Meller Mastering (Charleston, South Carolina) Jochem van der Saag – mixing, recording (1–12, 14–16), engineer (1–12, 14–16) Don Murray – recording (1–12, 14–16) Jorge Vito – recording (1–12, 14–16), engineer (1–12, 14–16) Kevin Savigar – engineer (13) Tom Weir – choir recording (13) Jack Miele – additional recording (1–12, 14–16) Jonathan Allen – orchestra recording (1–4, 8–15) Steve Price – orchestra recording (1–4, 8–15) John Barrett – orchestra Pro Tools engineer (1–4, 8–15) Matt O'Connor – technical assistant for Rod Stewart
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2012)Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (2012)PositionAustralian Albums (ARIA)20Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)96Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)16UK Albums (OCC)14US Billboard 200170 Chart (2013)PositionCanadian Albums (Billboard)15UK Albums (OCC)77US Billboard 20026
Certifications
Awards and recognition In February 2013, the album was nominated for a Canadian Juno Award in the International Album of the Year category.
References