Craft Recordings is delighted to announce the debut vinyl release
of Natalie Cole’s bestselling, 1994 holiday album, Holly & Ivy. Holly & Ivyhas been remastered by George Hornand
Anne-Marie Suenramat Fantasy Studios and pressed on 180-gram vinylat RTI. A CD
reissue will be released on the same day. This year marks the 25th anniversaryof
the acclaimed album—which was the first of several holiday outings in Cole’s
career.
Cole
was inspired to record Holly & Ivy after a call from longtime friend and
prolific songwriter Michael Masser. Collaborating with the legendary lyricist
Gerry Goffin, Masser had written an original holiday song entitled "No
More Blue Christmas’" with the singer in mind. From there, Cole decided to
make an entire album of Christmas music, following in the footsteps of her
father—singer Nat King Cole—whose LP, The Magic of Christmas, was the
top-selling holiday title of the 1960s, and whose rendition of “The Christmas
Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is one of the most famous yuletide
recordings in history.
Co-Produced
by Tommy LiPuma, Holly & Ivy offers an R&B twist on holiday favorites
and features several songs which Cole’s father had made popular decades before,
including “Caroling, Caroling,” “The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot,” and,
of course,“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).” Also of
note is an exuberant, gospel rendition of “Joy to the World,” featuring the
choir from the Los Angeles Friendly Baptist Church, as well as Cole’s take on
the bluesy “Merry Christmas Baby.” Accompanying the singer are a host of
talented players—jazz pianist Cedar Walton, drummer Harold Jones, and R&B
artist Patrice Rushenon keyboards—among them.
In a
1994 interview with Jetmagazine, Cole called Holly & Ivy, “A
non-traditional album,” and hoped that the collection would remind listeners
about the true spirit of the holiday season. Upon its release, the soulful
album was received warmly by fans and critics alike. Billboard called it the
“rarest of Christmas albums: an elegant set with appeal that could outlast the
season,” while Entertainment Weekly proclaimed it to be “brassy and bustling…As
warm and toasty as a hot toddy.” Certified Gold by the RIAA, Holly & Ivy
peaked at Number 36 on the Billboard Top 200. In 2013, it once again charted,
landing at Number Six on Billboard’s Holiday Albums chart, nearly two decades
after its release.
A
nine-time GRAMMY Award-winner, Natalie Cole (1950–2015) grew up in a musical
family—the daughter of trailblazing artist Nat King Cole and jazz singer Maria
Hawkins Ellington. Cole, however, paved a distinctive path for herself and rose
to fame in her own right. Her 1975 debut, Inseparable, spawned hit songs “This
Will Be (An Everlasting Love),” and “Inseparable”—earning the singer two
GRAMMYS, including Best New Artist, and establishing Cole as the first
African-American recipient in that category. The singer would maintain a steady
presence on the R&B and Pop charts throughout the ’70s, with hits like
“I’ve Got Love on My Mind” and “Our Love.” In 1977, Cole became the first
female artist to release two Platinum-certified albums in one year (for
Unpredictable and Thankful).
Towards
the end of the ’80s Cole made a triumphant return to the radio waves with hits
like “Jump Start (My Heart),” “I Live for Your Love,” and a dance-pop cover of
Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac.” But it was her 1991 tribute album to her
father, Unforgettable…With Love, which put Natalie Cole back in the spotlight.
The album, which went to Number One on the Billboard 200, earned the singer six
GRAMMY Awards and, to-date, has sold over 14 million copies worldwide. Cole
continued to find success performing American standards throughout the next two
decades of her life, with albums like Stardust (1996) and Ask a Woman Who
Knows (2002). In addition to her prolific work in the music industry, Cole also
penned two memoirs and flourished as an actress—even playing herself in a
dramatic, award-winning performance in Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story,
based on her first autobiography, Angel on My Shoulder. Over the course of her
storied and inspiring forty-year career, Cole released a total of 23 studio albums,
with over 30 million copies sold, worldwide.
VINYL
TRACK LISTING
Side A
Jingle
Bells
Caroling,
Caroling
The
First Noel
No
More Blue Christmas
Christmas
Medley: Jingle Bell Rock, Winter Wonderland, Little Drummer Boy, I’ll Be Home
For Christmas
Merry
Christmas Baby
Side B
Joy to
the World
The
Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot
A Song
for Christmas
Silent
Night
The
Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
The
Holly and the Ivy
*The
CD version mirrors the vinyl track list.
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