Merry Christmas, Baby (album)

{{Music ratings

| MC = 53/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/merry-christmas-baby/rod-stewart|title=Critic Reviews for Merry Christmas, Baby|publisher=Metacritic|accessdate=14 December 2015}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/merry-christmas-baby-mw0002417678|title=Rod Stewart – Merry Christmas, Baby|publisher=AllMusic|date=16 October 2012|accessdate=14 December 2015}}

| rev2 = BBC Music

| rev2score = (positive){{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/p3d3/|title=Music – Review of Rod Stewart – Merry Christmas, Baby|first=Mike|last=Diver|publisher=BBC}}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Simpson|first=Dave|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/13/rod-stewart-merry-christmas-review|title=Rod Stewart: Merry Christmas, Baby – review|work=The Guardian|date=13 December 2012|accessdate=14 December 2015}}

| rev4 = The Independent

| rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Montgomery|first=Hugh|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-rod-stewart-merry-christmas-baby-decca-8429929.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-rod-stewart-merry-christmas-baby-decca-8429929.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Album: Rod Stewart, Merry Christmas, Baby (Decca)|work=The Independent |date=22 December 2012|accessdate=14 December 2015}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5Score = 3/10{{cite web|last=Montgomery|first=Hugh|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/rod-stewart/13940|title=Rod Stewart – 'Merry Christmas, Baby'|work=NME|date=13 December 2012|accessdate=14 December 2015}}

| rev6 = Slant Magazine

| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Scheiman|first=Ted|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/rod-stewart-merry-christmas-baby|title=Rod Stewart Merry Christmas, Baby|publisher=Slant Magazine|date=30 October 2012|accessdate=14 December 2015}}

}}

Merry Christmas, Baby received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 53, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 6 reviews.

Merry Christmas, Baby debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, with first week sales of 117,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan,{{cite magazine|last=Caulfield |first=Keith |url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/retail/alicia-keys-rod-stewart-aiming-for-no-1-1008031162.story |title=Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart Aiming for No. 1 on Next Week's Billboard 200 Albums Chart |magazine=Billboard |date=29 November 2012 |accessdate=15 December 2012}} and spent a total of eight weeks in the top 10.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/2013-01-05/billboard-200|title=Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts |magazine=Billboard |accessdate=2013-01-03}} With total U.S. sales of 858,000 copies in 2012 according to SoundScan, Merry Christmas, Baby was the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of the year.{{cite web|url=http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/chart-watch-extra-top-albums-2012-160100135.html|title=Chart Watch Extra: Top Albums of 2012|last=Grein|first=Paul|publisher=Yahoo Music|date=3 January 2013|accessdate=3 January 2013}} The album was also the year's fifteenth best-selling album in the U.S. according to Billboard and the ninth best-selling physical album in the U.S. according to the Nielsen Company's 2012 Music Industry Report.{{cite magazine|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|title=Adele's '21' 2012's Best Selling Album; Gotye Has Top Song|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1481614/adeles-21-2012s-best-selling-album-gotye-has-top-song|magazine=Billboard}}{{cite web|title=The Nielsen Company & Billboard's 2012 Music Industry Report|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-nielsen-company-billboards-2012-music-industry-report-2013-01-04|work=MarketWatch}}

In the UK, the album debuted at No. 2 on the Official Albums Chart and has so far spent six weeks in the top 10.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/albums-chart/ |title=Official UK Albums Top 100 – 15th December 2012 | Official Albums Chart |publisher=Official Charts Company |accessdate=15 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20131020181851/http://www.officialcharts.com/albums-chart/ |archivedate=20 October 2013 }} It sold 421,000 copies in the UK in 2012{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-albums-of-2012-revealed-1785/ |title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Albums of 2012 Revealed! |last=Lane |first=Dan |date=2 January 2013 |publisher=Official Charts Company |accessdate=26 January 2013}} and its current UK sales stand at 636,000.{{cite news|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-20-biggest-christmas-albums-of-the-century__17392/|title=The Official Top 20 biggest Christmas albums of the century|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=14 December 2018|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=17 December 2018}}

In Canada, the album spent eight weeks in the top ten of the Canadian Albums Chart, with three consecutive weeks at the No. 1 spot. It was the ninth best-selling album in Canada in 2012 according to year-end sales data from Nielsen SoundScan Canada with sales of 135,000.{{cite magazine|last=Bliss|first=Karen|title=Adele, Gotye Top SoundScan Year-End Charts in Canada|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/global/adele-gotye-top-soundscan-year-end-charts-1008085162.story|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=10 January 2013}}

Worldwide, the album achieved total 2012 sales of 2.6 million according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, making it the seventh best-selling album of the year.{{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/documents/RIN2013.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409080309/http://www.aria.com.au/documents/RIN2013.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 April 2013|title=Record Industry in Numbers: The recorded music market in 2012|date=9 April 2013}}

• All tracks produced by David Foster; except "Auld Lang Syne" produced by Rod Stewart and Kevin Savigar.{{cite AV media notes|others=Rod Stewart|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|year=2012|type=booklet|publisher=Verve Records|id=0602537103683}}

{{track listing

| headline =

| total_length = 46:04

| title1 = Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

| writer1 = Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane

| length1 = 4:31

| title2 = Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

| writer2 = J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie

| length2 = 2:48

| title3 = Winter Wonderland

| note3 = featuring Michael Bublé

| writer3 = Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith

| length3 = 2:26

| title4 = White Christmas

| writer4 = Irving Berlin

| length4 = 3:49

| title5 = Merry Christmas, Baby

| note5 = featuring CeeLo Green & Trombone Shorty

| writer5 = Johnny Moore, Lou Baxter

| length5 = 3:53

| title6 = Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

| note6 = featuring Dave Koz

| writer6 = Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne

| length6 = 2:51

| title7 = What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

| note7 = featuring Ella Fitzgerald & Chris Botti

| writer7 = Frank Loesser

| length7 = 3:43

| title8 = Blue Christmas

| writer8 = Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson

| length8 = 3:30

| title9 = Red-Suited Super Man

| note9 = featuring Trombone Shorty

| writer9 = Rod Stewart, David Foster, Amy Foster

| length9 = 3:11

| title10 = When You Wish upon a Star

| writer10 = Leigh Harline, Ned Washington

| length10 = 3:47

| title11 = We Three Kings

| note11 = featuring Mary J. Blige

| writer11 = John Henry Hopkins Jr.

| length11 = 3:27

| title12 = Silent Night

| writer12 = Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr

| length12 = 4:24

| title13 = Auld Lang Syne

| writer13 = Traditional, Robert Burns

| arranger13 = Kevin Savigar

| length13 = 3:45

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Deluxe edition bonus tracks

| total_length = 57:25

| title14 = What Child Is This?

| writer14 = Traditional, William Chatterton Dix

| length14 = 4:17

| title15 = The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

| writer15 = Mel Tormé, Robert Wells

| length15 = 3:39

| title16 = Silver Bells

| writer16 = Jay Livingston, Ray Evans

| length16 = 3:25

}}

;Note

• "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" uses a vocal sample of the Ella Fitzgerald recording of the same name{{cite web|last=Idelson |first=Karen |title=Audionamix mixes Old, New with Tech Wizardry |publisher=Variety |date=10 January 2013 |url=https://variety.com/2013/music/news/audionamix-mixes-old-new-with-tech-wizardry-1118064186/amp/}}

Main

• Rod Stewart – lead vocals, musical arrangements (11–13)
• Jochem van der Saag – synthesizer programming (1–12)
• David Foster – acoustic piano (1–3, 6–8, 10), keyboards (5, 9, 11–12), string arrangements (1, 3–4, 9–13), horn arrangements (2, 5–6, 8–9), musical arrangements (11–13)
• Kevin Savigar – keyboards (13), programming (13), musical arrangements (13)

Guest Musicians

• Mary J. Blige – lead vocals (11)
• Chris Botti – trumpet solo (7)
• Michael Bublé – lead vocals (3)
• Ella Fitzgerald – sampled lead vocals (7)
• CeeLo Green – lead vocals (5)
• Dave Koz – saxophone solo (6)
• Trombone Shorty – trombone, trumpet (5, 9)

Additional Vocalists

• Bridget Cady – backing vocals (5, 9)
• Mabvuto Carpenter – choir vocals (13)
• Angela Fisher – choir vocals (13), Gospel Choir contractor
• Kimberly Johnson – backing vocals (5, 9), choir vocals, choir contractor (13)
• Krystal Johnson – choir vocals (13)
• Bobbi Page – vocal contractor (12)
• Page LA Children's Choir – backing vocals (12)
• Dieyelle Reed – backing vocals (5, 9), choir vocals (13)
• Will Wheaton – choir vocals (13)
• Gospel Choir – Keith Allen, Bridget Cady, Bryan Terrell Clark, David Daughtry, Melanie Fontana, Holly Palmer, Dieyelle Reed, Brandon Winbush and Lucy Woodward

Additional Instrumentalists

• Chris Walden – orchestra conductor (1, 3, 4, 8–13), trumpet (2, 6, 7), horn arrangements (2, 6, 7), string arrangements (3, 8, 9), trombone (7)
• Isobel Griffiths – orchestra contractor (1, 3, 4, 8–13)
• Dean Parks – guitar (1, 2, 3, 5–9, 11, 12), guitar solo (4, 10)
• Emerson Swinford – guitar (13)
• Chuck Berghofer – bass (1, 2, 6–8, 10)
• Peter Erskine – drums (1, 2, 7, 10)
• Matt O'Connor – percussion (2, 3, 5, 6, 9), additional percussion (11)
• Jeff Driskel – saxophone (2, 6, 7)
• Jimmy Roberts – saxophone solo (9)
• Tim McFatter – tenor saxophone (5, 9)
• Dan Oestreicher – baritone saxophone (5, 9)
• Bob McChesney – trombone (2, 6)
• Nathan Kelly – horn arranger (5)
• William Ross – string arrangements (1, 4, 10–13)
• J'Anna Jacoby – violin (13)

• Producers – Rod Stewart (Tracks 1–13); David Foster (Tracks 1–12); Kevin Savigar (Track 13).
• A&R – Jay Landers
• A&R Coordinator – Katherine Frangetis-Tempesta
• Recorded by Don Murray, Jochem van der Saag and Jorge Vito.
• Additional Recording – Jack Miele
• Engineers – Jochem van der Saag and Jorge Vito
• Recorded at Chartmaker Studios, Henson Recording Studios, The Village Recorder, Satinwood Studio and Studio City Sound (Los Angeles, CA); Garage Studios (Palm Beach, FL); Echo Beach Studios (Jupiter, FL); Fudge Recording Studio (New Orleans, LA).
• Orchestra recorded by Jonathan Allen and Steve Price at Abbey Road Studios (London, England) and Angel Recording Studios (Islington, England).
• Choir recorded by Tom Weir at Studio City Sound.
• Mixed by Jochem van der Saag at Blue Studios (Malibu, CA).
• Mastered by Vlado Meller at Vlado Meller Mastering (Charleston, SC).
• Art Direction and Design – Jullian Peploe Studio
• Photography – Penny Lancaster
• Management – Arnold Stiefel

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|artist=Rod Stewart|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=2015|access-date=28 December 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|artist=Rod Stewart|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=2012|access-date=18 February 2014}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Ireland|type=album|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|artist=Rod Stewart|award=Platinum|certyear=2012|access-date=26 January 2013}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=album|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|artist=Rod Stewart|award=Platinum|id=2013-01-04|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|number=2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Poland|type=album|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|artist=Rod Stewart|award=Gold|relyear=2012|certyear=2013|access-date=20 April 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|artist=Rod Stewart|award=Platinum|number=2|id=9647-1824-2|salesamount=636,000|salesref=|access-date=18 February 2013}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=Merry Christmas, Baby|artist=Rod Stewart|award=Platinum|certref=}}

{{Certification Table Bottom}}

In February 2013, the album was nominated for a Canadian Juno Award in the International Album of the Year category.{{cite web|title=2013 Juno Award Nominees |url=http://junoawards.ca/nominees-winners/ |publisher=CARAS |accessdate=20 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221085934/http://junoawards.ca/nominees-winners/ |archivedate=21 February 2013 }}

{{Reflist}}

{{Rod Stewart |state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Rod Stewart albums

Category:2012 Christmas albums

Category:Albums produced by David Foster

Category:Christmas albums by English artists

Category:Verve Records albums