''The Animals' Christmas By Jimmy Webb'' is the sixth solo studio album and the first Christmas album by vocalist

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...

, and is a collaborative album with

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She began her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...

, released in October 1986 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. The album was written by

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He achieved success at an early age, winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the age of 21. During his career, he established himself as one of Am ...

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

Nativity of Jesus The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew and Gospel of Luke, Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in Herodian kingdom, Roman-controlled Judea, th ...

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 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 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 orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

– orchestra *

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

Choir – choir, chorus * Stephen Bayly – vocals * Del Costello – vocals * Nicholas Dykes – vocals * Jonathan Jenkins – vocals * Michael Lee - vocals * Paul Halley – Hammond organ * Rob Mounsey – synthesizer * Elliott Randall – electric guitar * Eric Weissberg – banjo, acoustic guitar * George Young – saxophone * Joe Osborn – bass guitar *

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

– drums * Gordon Gottlieb – percussion Production * Geoff Emerick – producer, engineer, remixing * Roy Halee – 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 1980s concept albums