''The Animals' Christmas'' is the sixth post- Simon & Garfunkel studio album and the first Christmas album by vocalist

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 h ...

, and is a collaborative album with

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

, released in October 1986 by Columbia Records. The album was written by

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...

and features vocals by Garfunkel, Grant, and Wimbledon King's College Choir. ''The Animals' Christmas'' tells the story of the

Nativity of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...

from the perspective of the animals present. The album received positive reviews, with one writer calling it "one of the best Christmas albums of the '80s." The album failed to chart.

Background

During the early 1980s, Jimmy Webb began writing the songs that would become ''The Animals' Christmas'', based on a children's book about the Nativity of Jesus by Anne Thaxter Eaton. Garfunkel became interested in the project because he felt it was "born out of the love of a musical person to make music." In his 1989 book, ''Still Water: Prose Poems'', Garfunkel wrote about his experience with the project.

Production

''The Animals' Christmas'' was recorded between December 23, 1984 and December 12, 1985. The orchestra was recorded at

CTS Studios Cts or CTS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * Chinese Television System, a Taiwanese broadcast television station, including: ** CTS Main Channel () ** CTS Education and Culture () ** CTS Recreation () ** CTS News and Info () (o ...

in Wembley, England. The boys' choir was recorded at St. Paul's Church in Southfields, South-west London, England. Vocals were recorded at Air Studios in Montserrat, West Indies. Amy Grant's vocals were recorded at Bullet Recording in Nashville, Tennessee. The organ was recorded at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Overdubs were recorded at

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...

in New York City.

Packaging and artwork

The original album contained a 12-page booklet with lyrics in four languages: English, Spanish, French, and German. The album cover art was created by Abby Levine.

Critical reception

Writer David A. Milberg called the album "one of the best Christmas albums of the '80s."

Track listing

All songs were written by Jimmy Webb, except where indicated. #"The Annunciation" – 2:38 #"The Creatures of the Field" – 2:31 #"Just a Simple Little Tune" – 2:54 #"The Decree" – 3:25 #"Incredible Phat" – 4:59 #"The Friendly Beasts" (Traditional, Jimmy Webb) – 3:24 #"The Song of the Camels" (Elizabeth Coatsworth, Jimmy Webb) – 2:46 #"Word from an Old Spanish Carol" – 3:41 #"Carol of the Birds" – 2:00 #"The Frog" – 5:15 #"Herod" – 4:21 #"Wild Geese" – 3:33

Personnel

Music *

– vocals, producer, remixing *

– vocals *

– piano, producer, composer, arranger * Carl Davis – conductor * Michael Jenkins – choir director *

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

– orchestra *

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...

Choir – choir, chorus * Stephen Bayly – vocals * Del Costello – vocals * Nicholas Dykes – vocals * Jonathan Jenkins – vocals * Michael Lee - vocals * Paul Halley – Hammond organ *

Rob Mounsey Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17 ...

– synthesizer *

Elliott Randall Elliott Randall (born June 15, 1947) is an American guitarist best known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's song "Reelin' in the Years" and Irene Cara's song " Fame". The ...

– electric guitar *

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in " Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliv ...

– banjo, acoustic guitar * George Young – saxophone * Joe Osborn – bass guitar *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...

– drums * Gordon Gottlieb – percussion Production *

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road'' ...

– producer, engineer, remixing *

Roy Halee Roy Decker Halee (born 1934) is an American record producer and engineer, best known for working with Simon & Garfunkel, both as a group and for their solo projects. Early life He grew up on Long Island, New York. His father, also named Roy ...

– engineer * Jon Kelly – engineer * Stuart Breed – assistant engineer, remixing * Nicole Graham – remixing * Greg Calbi – mastering * Elizabeth Coatsworth – composer, text * Anne Thaxter Eaton – compilation * Christopher Austopchuk – art direction * Abby Levine (www.abbyart.com) – artist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Animals' Christmas, The 1985 Christmas albums Amy Grant albums Art Garfunkel albums Albums arranged by Jimmy Webb Albums produced by Jimmy Webb Christmas albums by American artists Columbia Records Christmas albums Vocal duet albums Christmas cantatas Pop Christmas albums Albums produced by Geoff Emerick Concept albums