Elvis Presley’s third studio album and first Christmas album were both published on RCA Victor‘s LOC -1035, a deluxe limited edition, on October 15, 1957. The album was created at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. Since its initial publication, it has appeared in a wide range of new formats. It was the first of Presley’s two Christmas-themed albums; the second, Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, came out in 1971, and both lasted four weeks at the top of the Billboard Top Pop Albums list. For two weeks in December 1957–January 1958, Music Vendor placed Elvis’ Christmas Album on their singles charts, peaking at No. 49.
Elvis’ Christmas Album and its reissues have sold at least 17 million copies in the US, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is also the best-selling Christmas album of all time in the United States and the first Presley record to get Diamond certification from the RIAA. It continues to be one of the best-selling albums of all time and the best-selling Christmas album in the world, with cumulative global sales of more than 20 million copies.
After the album’s debut, the Bing Crosby holiday classic “White Christmas,” which charted annually on the Billboard charts from 1942 through 1962, became the focus of controversy as Irving Berlin, the song’s composer, demanded that radio stations stop playing the song and the album as a whole. Berlin instructed his employees in New York to call radio stations across the United States and demand that the song be taken off the air after hearing Presley perform his tune, which he perceived as a “profane parody of his beloved yuletide favorite.” While the majority of US radio stations disregarded Berlin’s request, at least one DJ was let go for playing a song from the album, while the majority of Canadian stations refused to play it.
The original 1957 LP featured six well-known Christmas songs, two classic Christmas carols, and four gospel songs that were previously available on the EP Peace in the Valley, with the catalogue number EPA 4054, which was released in March 1957 and peaked at No. 3 on the Pop albums chart and No. 39 on the singles chart. On the first of the two LP sides, there is a secular Christmas music programme, while the gospel songs and two classic Christmas carols are on the second. Among these were “Peace in the Valley” and “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” two spirituals written by pioneer Thomas A. Dorsey. Unrelatedly, the previous month’s publication of Frank Sinatra’s A Jolly Christmas had separate secular and traditional versions.
Although “White Christmas” and “Silent Night” were among the classic Christmas tunes chosen, Presley also commissioned two brand-new songs from established songwriters. The other, “Santa Claus Is Back in Town,” a blues-based rock and roll song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was chosen by Presley to begin the album. One was “Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me).” They also wrote “Hound Dog” for Willie Mae Thornton and some of Presley’s biggest singles, including “Jailhouse Rock” and “Don’t,” as well as some of the 1950s rhythm and blues and rock and roll satire’s best-honed satire. These writers/producers worked with the Coasters.
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