Wintersong

{{About||the album|Wintersong (Paul Winter album){{!}}Wintersong (Paul Winter album)|other uses|Winter Song (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Wintersong

| type = studio

| artist = Sarah McLachlan

| cover = SarahMcLachlanWintersong.jpg

| alt =

| released = 17 October 2006

| recorded = 1994, Spring-Summer 2006{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sarah-mclachlans-atypical-christmas-cd/|title=Sarah McLachlan's Atypical Christmas CD|author=Brian Dakss|website=CBS News |date=2006-12-05|access-date=2020-12-20}}

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Christmas music

| length = 45:43

| label = Nettwerk (Canada)
Arista (US)

| producer = Pierre Marchand

| prev_title = Mirrorball: The Complete Concert

| prev_year = 2006

| next_title = Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2

| next_year = 2008

}}

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r857256|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]

|rev2 = Blogcritics

|rev2score = (?){{Cite web |url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/12/09/192516.php |title=Blogcritics review |access-date=22 December 2006 |archive-date=6 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106225143/http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/12/09/192516.php |url-status=dead }}

|rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

|rev3score = B+{{Cite web |url=https://ew.com/article/2006/11/30/chris-willman-rates-new-holiday-music/ |title=Entertainment Weekly review |access-date=3 July 2013 |archive-date=25 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425204246/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1562769,00.html |url-status=live }}

|rev4 = Slant Magazine

|rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}[http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/sarah-mclachlan-wintersong Slant Magazine review]

}}

Wintersong is the sixth album and first Christmas album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released in October 2006. It was produced by longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand and includes contributions from Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies.{{cite web|title=McLachlan Salutes Holiday Season On New CD|publisher=Billboard|author=Katie Hasty|date=6 August 2006|access-date=21 December 2006|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/57594/mclachlan-salutes-holiday-season-on-new-cd}} The album also includes a collaboration with Jazz musician Diana Krall.[http://www.sarahmclachlan.com/wintersong.html Wintersong] SarahMcLachlan.com Retrieved 18 May 2007 In 2007, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In 2015, all songs from Wintersong plus five more tracks were released as The Classic Christmas Album.

Singles

"River" was released as a single from that album in September 2006.[http://www.sarahmclachlan.com/news/story.jsp?story_id=3204 News] SarahMcLachlan.com Retrieved 18 May 2007 The song was performed in mid-October on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show and reached No. 71 in the Billboard Hot 100.[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=sarah mclachlan|chart=all}} Sarah McLachlan] Billboard.com Retrieved 18 May 2007 McLachlan's video for "River" premiered on Yahoo! music, on 1 November 2006. Silent Night from this album was used in an ASPCA commercial

=Charts=

class="wikitable"

!Year

!Single

!Chart

!Peak position

2006

|rowspan="4"|River

|Billboard Hot 100

|align="center"|71

rowspan="2"|2006

|Pop 100

|align="center"|70

Hot Digital Songs

|align="center"|66

rowspan="3"|2007

|Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

|align="center"|8

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

|Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

|align="center"|6

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

|Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

|align="center"|5

Commercial performance

Wintersong debuted at number 42 on the Billboard 200 in the United States (chart issue for the week of 3 November 2006),{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2006-11-04|title=Billboard 200 (Week of November 4, 2006)|magazine=Billboard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203064603/http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2006-11-04|archive-date=3 February 2015|url-status=live|access-date=20 August 2024}} selling 20,000 copies in its first week.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/56861/diddy-scores-first-no-1-album-in-nine-years|title=Diddy Scores First No. 1 Album In Nine Years|last=Hasty|first=Katie|date=25 October 2006|magazine=Billboard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320041333/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/56861/diddy-scores-first-no-1-album-in-nine-years|archive-date=20 March 2015|url-status=live|access-date=20 August 2024}} The album peaked at number 7 in its seventh week on the chart,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2006-12-16|title=Billboard 200 (Week of December 16, 2006)|magazine=Billboard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128013222/http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/2006-12-16|archive-date=28 January 2015|url-status=live|access-date=20 August 2024}} with 116,000 copies sold for the tracking period ending 3 December.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/incubus-grenades-no-1-billboard-145564/|title=Incubus 'Grenades' No. 1 on Billboard 200|last=Morris|first=Chris|date=7 December 2006|agency=Associated Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118142757/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/incubus-grenades-no-1-billboard-145564/|archive-date=18 January 2022|url-status=live|access-date=20 August 2024|via=The Hollywood Reporter}} According to sales data from Nielsen/SoundScan, it was the best-selling holiday album of 2006 in the U.S. with a cumulative 759,000 copies sold for the year.{{cite magazine|url=http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/43185/chart-watch-extra-bring-on-christmas/|title=Chart Watch Extra: Bring On Christmas!|last=Grein|first=Paul|date=4 December 2009|magazine=Billboard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211194511/http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/43185/chart-watch-extra-bring-on-christmas/|archive-date=11 December 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=16 December 2009}}

On 13 December 2007, Wintersong was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of one million copies in the U.S.{{cite web|url=http://riaa.org/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Wintersong&artist=Sarah%20Mc%20Lachlan&format=ALBUM&debutLP=&category=SOLO&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&awardDescription=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=12&startYear=1958&endYear=2010&sort=Artist&perPage=25 |title=RIAA Searchable Database – Gold & Platinum Certifications |work=Recording Industry Association of America|access-date=16 December 2010}} In Canada, it has sold over 200,000 copies, and has been certified Double Platinum.[http://www.cria.ca/gold/0107_g.php CRIA Gold & Platinum certifications for January 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526084701/http://www.cria.ca/gold/0107_g.php |date=26 May 2010 }}. Retrieved 25 July 2007.

In 2011, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 195 on the chart issue for the week of 17 December.[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=sarah mclachlan|chart=Billboard 200}} "Music Albums"], Billboard.com, 8 December 2011.

Track listing

{{tracklist

| title1 = Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

| writer1 = John Lennon, Yoko Ono

| length1 = 3:28

| title2 = What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)

| writer2 = William Chatterton Dix

| length2 = 3:31

| title3 = River

| writer3 = Joni Mitchell

| length3 = 4:02

| title4 = Wintersong

| writer4 = Sarah McLachlan

| length4 = 3:31

| title5 = I'll Be Home for Christmas

| writer5 = Walter Kent, Kim Gannon

| length5 = 3:15

| title6 = O Little Town of Bethlehem

| writer6 = Phillips Brooks, Lewis Redner

| length6 = 3:51

| title7 = The First Noel / Mary Mary

| writer7 = Traditional

| length7 = 5:00

| title8 = Silent Night

| writer8 = Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber

| length8 = 3:48

| title9 = Song for a Winter's Night

| writer9 = Gordon Lightfoot

| length9 = 3:48

| title10 = Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

| writer10 = Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane

| length10 = 3:44

| title11 = In the Bleak Mid-Winter

| writer11 = Christina Rossetti, Gustav Holst

| length11 = 3:46

| title12 = Christmas Time Is Here

| note12 = featuring Diana Krall

| writer12 = Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson

| length12 = 3:59

}}

A "sampler" CD exists, featuring similar artwork on a cardboard sleeve, which omits "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "Song for a Winter's Night", and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".

Personnel

Sarah McLachlan - Vocals, Piano, Harp, Dobro[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r857256/credits|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic] Allmusic.com Retrieved 18 May 2007
Pierre Marchand - Keyboards, Programming, Synth Bass, Quartet Manipulations, Vienna Keyboard Strings
Jim Creeggan - Double Bass
Colin Cripps - Guitar, Dobro
Diana Krall - Piano on "Christmas Time Is Here".
Ashwin Sood - Drums, Percussion
Luke Doucet - Guitar
Bill Dillon - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Bass
Bob Doige - Sleigh Bells
Daryl Johnson - Bass
Vince Mai - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Brian Minato - Bass
David Kershaw - Keyboards
David Sinclair - Guitar

Charts

=Weekly charts=

scope="col"\|Chart (2006) !scope="col"\|Peak position
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
{{album chart\|BillboardCanada\|1\|artist=Sarah McLachlan\|rowheader=true\|accessdate=24 November 2016}}
{{album chart\|Billboard200\|7\|artist=Sarah McLachlan\|rowheader=true\|accessdate=24 November 2016}}
{{album chart\|BillboardHoliday\|1\|artist=Sarah McLachlan\|rowheader=true\|accessdate=24 November 2016}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

scope="col"|Chart (2006)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite web|url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2007/17/c6663.html |title=Nielsen Music 2006 Year End Music Industry Report for Canada |publisher=Nielsen SoundScan |access-date=24 November 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225043111/http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2007/17/c6663.html |archive-date=25 February 2007 }}

scope="row"|Canadian Digital Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

scope="row"|US Top Holiday Albums (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite web|url=http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/43185/chart-watch-extra-bring-on-christmas |title=Chart Watch Extra: Bring On Christmas! |author=Paul Grein |publisher=Yahoo! |access-date=24 November 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211194511/http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/43185/chart-watch-extra-bring-on-christmas |archive-date=11 December 2009 }}

scope="col"|Chart (2007)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2007/top-billboard-200-albums|title=2007: Billboard 200 Albums|magazine=Billboard|access-date=24 November 2016}}

|71

Certifications and sales

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|award=Platinum|number=3|title=Wintersong|artist=Sarah McLachlan|relyear=2006|certyear=2013|accessdate=26 October 2016}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Platinum|title=Wintersong|artist=Sarah Mc Lachlan|relyear=2006|certyear=2007|accessdate=26 October 2016|salesamount=1,100,000|salesref={{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7588040/sarah-mclachlan-making-new-holiday-album-macys-thanksgiving-parade|title=Sarah McLachlan Talks 'Challenge' of Making New Holiday Album & Secrets of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade|author=Keith Caulfield|magazine=Billboard|access-date=24 November 2016}}}}