01. Baby It's Cold Outside (3:19)
02. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (feat. Kenny G) (2:13)
03. I'll Be Home For Christmas (feat. Barbra Streisand) (3:32)
04. This Christmas (feat. Chick Corea) (4:25)
05. Silent Night (4:48)
06. The Christmas Waltz (3:00)
07. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (feat. Cliff Richard) (4:36)
08. Winter Wonderland (feat. Tony Bennett and The Count Basie Orchestra) (2:30)
09. White Christmas (3:16)
10. I Think You Might Like It (3:11)
11. The Christmas Song (3:41)
12. Deck The Halls (feat. James Taylor) (2:41)
13. Auld Lang Syne / Christmas Time Is Here (Medley) (4:08)
Credits:
Written by Frank Loesser (1), Johnny Marks (2), Kim Gannon (3), Walter Kent (3), Buck Ram (3), Nadine McKinnor (4), Donnie Pitts (4), Traditional (5, 12, 13), Sammy Cahn (6), Jule Styne (6), Ralph Blane (7), Hugh Martin (7), Félix Bernard (8), Dick Smith (8), Irving Berlin (9), John Farrar (10), Mel Tormé (11), Bob Wells (11), Vince Guaraldi (13), Lee Mendelson (13)
Produced by Randy Waldman, Phil Ramone (8), John Farrar (10), Dave Grusin (12), James Taylor (12)
Executive Producer: Mark Hartley
Engineers: Dae Bennett, Woody Woodruff, Darwin Best, Don Murray
Mixing: Randy Waldman, Dae Bennett, Woody Woodruff, John Farrar (10)
Digital Editing: Bob McChesney, Kenny O'Brien, Joe Wolmuth, Christine Wu
Mastering: Erick Labson
Project Coordinator: Dana Sharpe, Dawn Darling, Anita Heilig
Design: Ryan Rogers
Photography: Rav Holly
Band:
Guitar: Gray Sargent
Bass: Paul Langosch
Piano: Monty Alexander
Sax: Rev. Dave Boruff, Brandon Fields
Trumpet: Charley Davis, Chuck Findley
Trombone: Bob McChesney
Drums: Harold Jones
Arranged by Randy Waldman, John Farrar (10), Dave Grusin (12), James Taylor (12)
Organ, Piano, Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer Bass, Horn Arrangements: Randy Waldman
Guitars: George Doering. Michael Landau, John Farrar (10), James Taylor (12)
Bass: Sam Farrar, Carlos del Puerto
Drums: Gregg Bissonette, Teddy Campbell, John Robinson
Percussion: Mike Fisher
Programming: Sam Farrar (10), John Farrar (10)
Conductor: Randy Waldman
Horn: The Christmas Horns
Oboe: Bernadette Avila
Flute: Heather Clark
Clarinet: Stuart Clark
Sax: Dan Higgins, Kenny G (10)
Irish Whistle: Chris Bleuth
Orchestra Director: Bill Hughes
Concert Master: Bruce Dukov
Violin: Bruce Dukov, Charlie Bisharat, Jacqueline Brand, Darius Campo, Lisa Donglinger, Juliann French, Tamara Hatwan, Christian Hebel, Natalie Leggett, Robin Olson, Carol Pool, Anatoly Rosinski, Tereza Stanislav, Alwyn Wright, Yelena Yegoryan, Ken Yerke
Viola: Robert Brophy, Caroline Buckman, Carrie Holzman, Shawn Mann
Cello: Timothy Loo
Celli: Timothy Loo, Christine Ermacoff, Paula Hochhalter, Jen Kuhn
Fiddle: Charlie Bisharat
Harmonium: Larry Goldings
Harp: Gayle Levant
Instrumentation: The Christmas Horn Section, The Tony Bennett Quartet (8)
Background Vocals: David Lasley, Kate Markowitz, Arnold McCuller
Release Notes:
This Christmas is a Christmas album by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, released on November 9, 2012 by Universal Music Enterprises. The first time that Travolta and Newton-John worked together was on the musical film Grease (1978), which they performed the songs "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights". Both the film and the songs were a commercial phenomenon. This album is the first new artistic work they have done together since the 1983 film Two of a Kind (which features the song "Take a Chance", performed by them). This Christmas is also the twenty-fifth studio album, following the 2008 release A Celebration in Song, and the third all-new Christmas album by Newton-John.
The album producer was the Grammy Award-winner composer Randy Waldman. All tracks are covers of classic Christmas songs, except "I Think You Might Like It", which was targeted as the "You're the One That I Want sequel." The song was written by Newton-John long-time collaborator John Farrar, who also wrote "You're the One That I Want", according to Newton-John: "If it wasn’t for that song, we wouldn’t be here talking about it 30 years later." The album also features the well-known musicians Kenny G, Barbra Streisand, Chick Corea, Cliff Richard, Tony Bennett, Count Basie Orchestra and James Taylor as special guests on some tracks. All of the album tracks were recorded in one take.
The idea from recording an album came when Newton-John sent a Christmas card to Travolta, noting that the songs of Grease become the best-selling duet in pop music history. Travolta commented: "I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t people want to hear us do other songs?’ and immediately came up with the idea of doing a holiday album together. From the moment we decided to do this, magic happened. Everyone we contacted agreed to do it." The two have been good friends since Grease was filmed, and agree to donate the artist proceeds from the album equally to their respective charities, the Jett Travolta Foundation for children's disabilities and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre.
The album debuted at number eighty-one on the Billboard 200, making the first Newton-John's album entry on top 100 since Back with a Heart, which peaked at number fifty-nine in 1998. On December 26, 2012 the album had sold 35,596 in the United States. This (2012) Christmas peaked at number thirty-three in Newton-John's native country Australia. Although no singles were released from the album, a music video for the song "I Think You Might Like It" was released on December 4, 2012. The video was directed by Rav Holly and Corey Molina and received generally negative reviews among music critics and the general public, which criticized the video low-budget production and bad acting. According to Billboard, the video was the thirteenth most watched music video on YouTube on week of December 22, 2012, having more than 6 million views in its first week.
