This Time of Year

{{Infobox album

| name = This Time of Year

| type = studio

| artist = June Christy

| cover = This Time Of Year.jpg

| alt =

| released = {{Start date|1961}}

| recorded = January 1961

| venue =

| studio = Capitol (Hollywood)

| genre = Vocal jazz, Christmas music

| length =

| label = Capitol{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBVjDwAAQBAJ&q=This+Time+of+Year+june+christy+1961&pg=PA2013-IA49|title=Goldmine Record Album Price Guide|first=Martin|last=Popoff|date=September 8, 2009|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781440229169|via=Google Books}}

| producer = Bill Miller

| prev_title = Do-Re-Mi

| prev_year = 1961

| next_title = Big Band Specials

| next_year = 1962

}}

{{music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-time-of-year-mw0000359840|title=This Time of Year - June Christy | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}

|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=2 |page=358}}

}}

This Time of Year is a 1961 Christmas album by American jazz vocalist June Christy, arranged and conducted by Pete Rugolo and released by Capitol Records.{{Cite web|url=https://news.allaboutjazz.com/june-christy-this-time-of-year|title=Jazz news: June Christy: This Time of Year|first=All About|last=Jazz|website=All About Jazz News}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyAEAAAAMBAJ&q=This+Time+of+Year+june+christy+1961+capitol&pg=PA38|title=Reviews of New Albums|magazine=Billboard|date=October 23, 1961|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|via=Google Books}}

Christy's only Christmas album, it consists entirely of original songs, unusual for its time. The recordings bear a similarity of having a melancholy tone to the album, all composed by the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Connie Pearce and Arnold Miller.

Critical reception

AllMusic called the album "unjustly neglected," writing that it "is that rarest of things -- a winter concept album of all new material that can be listened to even when the holidays are over."

Record collector Tim Neely, author of several Goldmine record collector guides, said in 2023 it was a "largely ignored Christmas album until the 1990s, when [The Merriest] became something of a staple on both easy-listening and jazz-oriented CD compilations. Even with that exposure, it didn’t really catch on."

CDs includingThe Merriest include: