Merry Christmas Baby – O Come All Ye Faithful
Edited 08-nov-1971
Single, Studio B RCA Nashville
- Merry Christmas Baby
- O Come All Ye Faithful
Reference:74-0572
A-Side: Merry Christmas Baby
Recorded: May 15, 1971 RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee
Author: Lou Baxter & Johnny Moore
B-Side: O Come All Ye Faithful
Recording: May 16, 1971 RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee
Author: Arranged By Elvis Presley
Publication date: November 9, 1971
Released in November 1971 Merry Christmas Baby / O Come All Ye Faithful was Elvis’ Christmas single. It was curious that this single was released after the LP had already been released. As a general rule, singles were promotional for the future LP, but in this case it was not like that. This single contains one of Elvis’ best songs of the 70s. It may be a Christmas song, but we are looking at an impressive blues.
Recorded in the May 1971 sessions at Studio B in Nashville, this song had been a hit with the singer Charles Brown, but in Elvis’ hands, nothing was the same again. It is a clear example of what Mr. Presley could do when he had the right material… inspiration took hold of him and left us these gems. This song alone justified the entire Christmas LP. He was so comfortable that the version lasts longer than the original 5:44. James Burton’s guitar solo was added later.
The B-side, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” was a standard Christmas song. Recorded at the same sessions in May 1971, it does not complement the A-side well. It is quite the opposite, a well-executed song, but lacking in energy and inspiration. I’ll Be Home On Christmas Day would have been a much more suitable B-side.
Commercially, it did not chart on the Billboard charts, and sales did not exceed 100,000 copies, mainly because these two songs were already part of the Christmas album that was already released prior to the single’s release.
Information provided by Club Elvis Spain http://www.clubelvis.org
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