''Christmas'' (also known as ''Mannheim Steamroller Christmas'') is the first

Christmas album 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, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Je ...

and sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

overall released by American musical group

Mannheim Steamroller Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music ensemble founded and directed by percussionist/composer Chip Davis in 1974. The group is known primarily for its '' Fresh Aire'' series of albums, which blend classical music with e ...

. It was the band's first album to chart on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, peaking at No. 50. On June 21, 2004, the album was certified 6× Platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America 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 ...

for shipment of six million copies in the United States since its 1984 release, making it one of the best-selling Christmas/holiday albums in the U.S. Seven of the album's 11 tracks were included in the group's 2004 compilation '' Christmas Celebration''. It is Manheim Steamroller's second best selling Christmas album (next to '' A Fresh Aire Christmas''), and as of November 2014, it was the seventh best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. during the

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold a total of 3,500,000 copies during that period according to SoundScan. 2019 marked the 35th anniversary of the album, which was celebrated with special-edition vinyl and compact disc releases.

Track listing

Personnel

* Louis F. "Chip" Davis Jr. - drums, percussion (including camel bells), recorder, bells, dulcimer, crumhorn, vocals, pencil, dry ice * Eric Hansen - bass, lute *

Jackson Berkey Jackson Berkey (born May 24, 1942) is an American composer, pianist and singer, best known for his work with Mannheim Steamroller, which he co-founded with Chip Davis in 1974. Early life and education Berkey was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania ...

- Baldwin S-10 piano, Davis harpsichord, clavichord, toy piano, Prophet 5 synthesizer, Fender Rhodes, camel bells, vocals * Ron Cooley - 6 and 12-string guitars * Willis Ann Ross - flute * David "High D" Kappy - French horn * Mary Walter - harp * Russell Powell - bass guitar * String section includes Steve Shipps (concertmaster), Richard Lohmann, Richard Altenbach, Grace Granata, Deborah Fuller, Scott Shoemaker (violins), Michelle Brill, Michael Strauss, Roxanne Adams (violas), David Low, Kim Rockshaw, Greg Clinton (cellos), Wayne Anderson, and Bill Ritchie (double basses) * Ron Dabbs - camel bells, sound effects engineer * Louis Davis Sr. - keyboard technician

References

{{Authority control 1984 Christmas albums Mannheim Steamroller albums Christmas albums by American artists American Gramaphone Christmas albums Classical Christmas albums 1980s instrumental albums New-age Christmas albums