''Once Upon a Christmas'' is a collaborative studio album by

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. It was released on October 29, 1984, by

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert * Niko Moon (RCA/River Ho ...

. The album was produced by Rogers with

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

. It was Rogers' second Christmas album, following 1981's ''

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

'', and Parton's first. The album's release was accompanied by a

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television special, ''Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember''. The album was certified 2× Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in 1989.

Background

Rogers and Parton first worked together in 1976 when Rogers was a guest on Parton's syndicated variety series, '' Dolly''. The pair joined forces again on Rogers' 1983 single, " Islands in the Stream", which was a number one hit. Rogers contacted Parton in late 1983 to see if she would be interested in doing a Christmas album with him. Due to the pair's busy schedules, recording didn't take place until August 1984. According to an article in ''

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 ...

'', the album was completed and mixing had taken place by late September. In an issue of '' Cashbox'', Rogers said of the album, "I was raised in a Baptist family and I've always thought of Christmas as a special time, a time when families who might be apart the rest of the year can come close together again. Something special also happens when Dolly and I get together: it's a case of the whole being even greater than the sum of its parts." Parton said, "This is the first Christmas special or album that I've ever done, so when Kenny called me with the idea, I jumped at it. Kenny and I love singing together; I think the blend of our voices creates a real electricity that comes across on record. He also has a real Santa Claus spirit. He makes working fun, and approaches things like I do, enjoying the people around him."

Release and promotion

The album was released October 29, 1984 on LP, CD, and

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 th ...

. Rogers and Parton promoted the album's release with a television special titled ''Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember'', which aired December 2, 1984 on

. The Bob Giraldi directed special featured performances of all ten songs from the album. These range from a performance with Rogers and Parton as

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

and Mrs. Claus to a performance at a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

party in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

London to a rousing finale in a down-home country church. The television special was viewed by 30 million people. Following the special, a video excerpt of the "Christmas Without You" performance was serviced to television stations. Three singles were issued simultaneously in November 1984: "The Greatest Gift of All" (a duet), "Medley: Winder Wonderland/Sleigh Ride" (a Dolly Parton solo), and "The Christmas Song" (a Kenny Rogers solo). "The Greatest Gift of All" peaked at number 40 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. It also peaked at number 53 on the

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart and number 81 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. The Parton solo, "Medley: Winder Wonderland/Sleigh Ride", did not chart during its initial release, but peaked at number 70 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart in January 1999. Rogers' solo, "The Christmas Song", failed to chart. "Christmas Without You" was issued as a single in Europe in November 1984 and peaked at number 88 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It would be issued as a single in the United States in November 1985, but failed to chart. A fifth single, "I Believe in Santa Claus", was issued in the United States in November 1987 and also failed to chart.

Critical reception

In a positive review, ''

'' said the album "shows signs of emerging as a seasonal blockbuster." The review called Parton's compositions "lively" and said that the album is "devoid of schmaltz" and "sparkles with warmth."

Accolades

The album received the

Canadian Country Music Association The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3rd, 1973 when a g ...

Award for Top Selling Album in 1985. , - , 1985 , ''Once Upon a Christmas'' , Top Selling Album , , -

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 19 on the ''

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

chart dated December 15, 1984. It peaked at number 12 on the chart dated January 12, 1985. The album has spent a total of 35 weeks on the chart as of December 2019. The album also peaked at number 31 on both the ''Billboard'' 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart. The album also saw success in European countries, peaking at number 33 on the Norwegian Albums chart, number 37 on the Dutch Albums chart, and number 40 on the Swedish Albums chart. The album received Gold and Platinum certifications from the

on December 3, 1984, and was certified 2× Platinum on October 25, 1989, for shipment of 2 million copies. The album received Gold and Platinum certifications from

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

on December 1, 1984. The album was certified 3× Platinum on November 14, 1985, and 4× Platinum on January 21, 1987. It was certified 5× Platinum on April 13, 1988, for shipments of 500,000 copies.

Reissues

In 1997, the album was reissued on the

BMG Special Products Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

label with an altered track listing. The song order was slightly rearranged and Rogers' two solos were omitted ("The Christmas Song" and "Silent Night"). However, Parton's 1982 recording of "

Hard Candy Christmas "Hard Candy Christmas" is a song written by composer-lyricist Carol Hall for the musical ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas''. Near the end of the original play, individual girls of the brothel sing lines of the verses as they are preparing to ...

" from ''

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is based on a story by King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grang ...

'' was added.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. Performance * Dolly Parton – vocals * Kenny Rogers – vocals * Erich Bulling – keyboards, synthesizer programming * Jimmy Cox – keyboards *

– keyboards, rhythm arrangements * John Hobbs – keyboards *

Randy Waldman Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. In 2019, Waldman's arrangement of the " Spider-Man Theme" on his ''Superheroes'' album garnered the Grammy Award f ...

– keyboards * John Goux – guitars * Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitch ...

– guitars *

Fred Tackett Fred Tackett (born August 30, 1945) is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known as a member of the band Little Feat. In addition to his work with Little F ...

– guitars *

Kin Vassy Charles Kindred Vassy (August 16, 1943 – June 23, 1994) was a singer-songwriter, who in addition to his solo recordings also recorded with other artists, most notably Kenny Rogers, Frank Zappa and Elvis Presley. In the 1960s, Vassy was a mem ...

– guitars *

Billy Joe Walker Jr. Billy Joe Walker Jr. (February 29, 1952 – July 25, 2017) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He composed singles for Eddie Rabbitt, including " I Wanna Dance with You", " That's Why I Fell in Love with You" and " ...

– guitars * Dennis Belfield – bass *

Joe Chemay Joe Chemay is an American bassist and background singer, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked wi ...

– bass * Neil Stubenhaus – bass *

Ed Greene Ed Greene is an American drummer and session musician. In 1971 he recorded with Donald Byrd (''Ethiopian Knights'', 1972), together with Thurman Green, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Sample, Bobbye Porter Hall, David T. Walker, and W ...

– drums *

Paul Leim Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

– drums, percussion * John Robinson – drums *

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

– percussion * Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangements, rhythm arrangements Production * David Foster – producer * Kenny Rogers – producer * Debbie Caponetta – production assistant *

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean-born American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. Gatica's inte ...

– engineer, mixing *

Tommy Vicari Thomas Vicari (born August 24, 1948) is an American recording engineer, mixing engineer, record producer and scoring mixer known for his work with Quincy Jones, Gino Vannelli, Nicholas Britell, Thomas Newman, Prince, George Duke and Barbra Strei ...

– engineer * Terry Christian – additional engineer * Larry Fergusson – additional engineer * Tom Fouce – additional engineer * Stuart Furusho – additional engineer * David Leonard – additional engineer * Laura Livingston – additional engineer * Bob Pickering – additional engineer * John Richards – additional engineer * Stephen Schmitt – additional engineer * Stephen Shelton – additional engineer * Wally Traugott – mastering Other personnel * Sandy Gallin – management for Dolly Parton * Tzetzi Ganev – Dolly Parton's costume * John Coulter Design – art direction * Ken Kragen for Kragen & Company – management for Kenny Rogers *

Reid Miles Reid Miles (July 4, 1927 – February 2, 1993) was an American graphic designer and photographer best known for his work for Blue Note Records in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Reid Miles was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 4, 1927 but, ...

– front and back cover photography * Dianne Roberson – Dolly Parton's hair * Cassie Seaver – Dolly Parton's makeup * Diana Thomas – creative consultant for Dolly Parton * Gene Trindl for CBS Photography – inner sleeve photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Once Upon a Christmas (Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton album) 1984 Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Kenny Rogers albums Dolly Parton albums RCA Records Christmas albums Albums produced by David Foster Vocal duet albums Country Christmas albums 1984 television specials Canadian Country Music Association Top Selling Album albums