''Christmas with Tammy'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

artist,

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

. It was released on November 9, 1970 via

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

and featured 12 tracks of

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

. The project was also Wynette's tenth studio album in her career and made an appearance on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Best Bets for Christmas chart. ''Christmas with Tammy'' was re-released several times in various formats. One

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

was spawned from the album. The project received a positive reception from critics following its release.

Background, recording and content

Tammy Wynette had reached her peak commercial success by 1970. She had a string of chart-topping country

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

during the late sixties and through 1970 with songs like "

I Don't Wanna Play House "I Don't Wanna Play House" is a song written by Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton. In 1967, the song was Tammy Wynette's first number one country song as a solo artist. "I Don't Wanna Play House" spent three weeks at the top spot and a total of ...

", " Take Me to Your World", "

D-I-V-O-R-C-E "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" is a song written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, and recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette. It was released in May 1968 as the first single and title track from the album ''D-I-V-O-R-C-E''. Wynette's versi ...

", "

Singing My Song "Singing My Song" is a song recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette, who co-wrote the song with Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton. It was released in March 1969 as the first single from her compilation album ''Tammy's Greatest Hits'' ...

" and her signature "

Stand by Your Man "Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album '' Stand by Your Man''. It ...

". She also won a series of accolades including a

Grammy award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

and recorded a series of studio albums during this period. Outside of Wynette's mainstream country albums, she also recorded an inspirational album in 1969 and a Christmas album in 1970. ''Christmas with Tammy'' was recorded in September 1970 at Columbia Studio B located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The project was produced by

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gle ...

. ''Christmas with Tammy'' consisted of 12 tracks. The liner notes described it as being "a return to the original meaning of Christmas", which referenced its

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

influence. Among its material were several country versions of traditional Christmas music. The traditional songs were included on the first half of the disc: " O Little Town of Bethlehem", " It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", "

Silent Night, Holy Night "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...

", " O Little Town of Bethlehem", " Joy to the World" and "

Away in a Manger "Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in the late nineteenth century and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols; a 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. Although i ...

". The second half of the album featured two covers of more recent Christmas selections: " Blue Christmas" and "

White Christmas White Christmas most commonly refers to: * White Christmas (weather), snowfall or snow-covered ground on Christmas Day * "White Christmas" (song), a 1942 song written by Irving Berlin White Christmas may also refer to: Film, television, and the ...

". She also covered George Jones's "Lonely Christmas Call". New holiday material was also included on the project: "One Happy Christmas" and "(Merry Christmas) We Must Be Having One".

Critical reception

''Christmas with Tammy'' was given a positive reception from critics and writers. In its original release, it was reviewed by ''

'' magazine who praised that traditional material was mixed in with "solid fresher tunes". ''Billboard'' critics also remarked that its new material would serve well as singles for the Christmas season. It was later reviewed by William Ruhlmann of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, who rated the project three out of five stars. Ruhlmann concluded that, "She and producer Billy Sherrill were playing it safe, which is not a bad thing in a Christmas album." Author of Wynette's 2010 biography,

Jimmy McDonough Jimmy McDonough is a biographer and journalist. He is best known for his biographies of Russ Meyer, Andy Milligan, Tammy Wynette, Al Green, and Neil Young. He is noted by critics for his remarkably exhaustive accounts and for his tendency to avoi ...

, commented on ''Christmas with Tammy'' as well. McDonough positively commented that the project was a departure from the "usual collection of random hits plus random songs of varying quality." McDonough further commented that Wynette's vocals "delivered" on the album.

Release, chart performance and singles

''Christmas with Tammy'' was originally released on November 9, 1970 on Epic Records. It was Wynette's tenth studio album and first studio collection of Christmas material. The album was issued as both a

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

and a

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

. Five songs were included on both sides of the discs. The album did not make the American ''Billboard'' country albums chart, but instead peaked at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' Best Bets for Christmas chart. In its original release, one single was spawned from the album: "One Happy Christmas". The single was also released in November 1970. ''Christmas with Tammy'' was re-released several times over the years. In Europe it was re-released twice in the seventies. In 1987, it was re-released in the United Kingdom as both an LP and as a cassette. In North America, it was re-released as a

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

and a cassette in 1991. In 1998, it was re-released following Wynette's death earlier that year. Only ten track were included on the 1998 version. The 1998 version was then issued digitally with ten tracks again. It was reissued in the 2010s by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, however a specific date is not known.

Track listings

Original version

''Christmas with Tammy Wynette''

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the original

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''Christmas with Tammy''. * The Jordanaires – backing vocals *The Nashville Edition – backing vocals *Billy Sherrill – producer *Tammy Wynette – lead vocals

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas with Tammy 1970 albums Albums produced by Billy Sherrill Christmas albums by American artists Country Christmas albums Epic Records albums Tammy Wynette albums