''A Partridge Family Christmas Card'' is a Christmas album (and the fourth studio album) by

the Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...

, released in November 1971. The album's case contains a reproduction of a

Christmas card A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during ...

signed by the whole Partridge Family, the stars of a 1970s sitcom. The song "My Christmas Card to You" was original, but the remainder of the tracks were standards. Like most of the Partridge Family songs, the lead vocals are sung by

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...

, who played Keith Partridge in the show. The album also features one of the few Partridge Family recordings featuring

Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...

as the lead singer ("The Christmas Song"). ''A Partridge Family Christmas Card'' was the best-selling Christmas album in the United States during the

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

season of 1971. It was the number 1 album on ''

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 advertis ...

'' magazine's special Christmas Albums sales chart for all four weeks that the magazine published the chart that year. The album was reissued in 1992 on CD and is also available as mp3 downloads. Lead guitarist for

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Kirk Hammett Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2023, Hammett, along ...

, cited this record to be the first album he owned during an appearance on " Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Track listing

Only two tracks, "Winter Wonderland" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", were featured on the TV show (in the second-season episode "Don't Bring Your Guns to Town, Santa")

Track listing

Personnel

Dennis Budimir Dennis Matthew Budimir (June 20, 1938 – January 10, 2023) was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of the Wrecking Crew. Biography Budimir learned to play piano and guitar in his youth and first played profe ...

, Louie Shelton - guitar * Max Bennett - bass *

Mike Melvoin Mike Melvoin (May 10, 1937February 22, 2012) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He served as chairman and president of The Recording Academy and worked as a prolific studio musician, recording with Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, ...

- piano *

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

- drums * Jackie Ward, John Bahler, Ron Hicklin, Tom Bahler - background vocals *

Wes Farrell Wesley Donald Farrell (December 21, 1939 – February 29, 1996) was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Farrell was born in New York, United States. Farrell's catalogue incl ...

- arrangement of rhythm tracks *John Bahler - arrangement of vocal background Track list and credits verified from the album's liner notes.

Recording dates

August 25, 1971 *"White Christmas" *"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" August 26, 1971 *"Blue Christmas" *"Jingle Bells" *"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" *"Winter Wonderland" *"Frosty the Snowman" August 28, 1971 *"My Christmas Card to You" *"The Christmas Song" *"Sleigh Ride" *"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" See recording dates for this and other Partridge Family albums at ''The Partridge Family Recording Sessions''

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partridge Family Christmas Card The Partridge Family albums 1971 Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Albums produced by Wes Farrell Albums recorded at United Western Recorders Bell Records albums Pop Christmas albums