Hard as it may be to believe, but Rod Stewart has gotten through five decades without succumbing to a holiday album.
That streak ends in 2012 with the release of Merry Christmas, Baby, an easygoing and chipper collection of secular seasonal standards.
A couple of carols are thrown in for good measure but these songs -- "Silent Night," "We Three Kings" presented as a duet with Mary J.
Blige -- along with a mildly incongruous "When You Wish Upon a Star," slide by easily on the mellow big-band swing of the rest of the record.
Song for song, Merry Christmas, Baby is very much of a piece with Rod's ongoing Great American Songbook series, with Stewart not straying from the familiar form of these songs and producer David Foster laying on all manner of soft, soothing sounds, whether it's acoustic guitars, synthesizers, strings, or a children's choir on "Silent Night." Very rarely does this hint at the Rod of the '70s -- and when it does on the closing "Auld Lang Syne," its intro given a spare folky treatment reminiscent of his Mercury work, it's a bracing, effective reminder of Stewart's skill as a singer -- and instead relies on a gladhanding charm that suits the season, not to mention Stewart in his crooning dotage.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Have Yourself a Merry Little ChristmasRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Rod Stewart | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 2 | Santa Claus Is Coming to TownJ. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie | Rod Stewart | Play | 02:48 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 3 | Winter WonderlandFelix Bernard, Richard B. Smith | Rod Stewart, Michael Bublé | Play | 02:26 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 4 | White ChristmasIrving Berlin | Rod Stewart | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | Merry Christmas, BabyLou Baxter, Johnny Moore | Rod Stewart, Cee Lo Green | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 6 | Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne | Rod Stewart | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?Frank Loesser | Rod Stewart, Ella Fitzgerald | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 8 | Blue ChristmasBilly Hayes, Jay W. Johnson | Rod Stewart | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 9 | When You Wish Upon a StarLeigh Harline, Ned Washington | Rod Stewart | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 10 | We Three KingsTraditional | Rod Stewart, Mary J. Blige | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 25 MB |
| 11 | Silent NightTraditional | Rod Stewart | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 12 | Auld Lang SyneTraditional | Rod Stewart | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 13 | Re-Suited Super Man | Rod Stewart, Trombone Shorty | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 46 mins | 106 MB | |||||
| 46 mins | 318 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Allen | Engineer |
| 2 | Keith Allen | Choir/Chorus |
| 3 | Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews | Featured Artist, Trombone, Trumpet |
| 4 | John Barrett | Pro-Tools |
| 5 | Lou Baxter | Composer |
| 6 | Chuck Berghofer | Bass |
| 7 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 8 | Felix Bernard | Composer |
| 9 | Madeline Bernstein | Children's Chorus |
| 10 | Carson Billingsley | Children's Chorus |
| 11 | Sam Bindschadler | Children's Chorus |
| 12 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 13 | Mary J. Blige | Primary Artist |
| 14 | Emme Lehmann Boddicker | Children's Chorus |
| 15 | Chris Botti | Featured Artist, Soloist, Trumpet |
| 16 | Michael Bublé | Primary Artist |
| 17 | Bridget Cady | Choir/Chorus, Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | Sammy Cahn | Composer |
| 19 | Mabvuto Carpenter | Choir/Chorus |
| 20 | Bryan Terrell Clark | Choir/Chorus |
| 21 | J. Fred Coots | Composer |
| 22 | David Daughtry | Choir/Chorus |
| 23 | Lotus Donovan | Talent Coordinator |
| 24 | Jeff Driskill | Saxophone |
| 25 | Peter Erskine | Drums |
| 26 | Angela Fisher | Choir/Chorus, Choir Contractor |
| 27 | Ella Fitzgerald | Primary Artist |
| 28 | Melanie Fontana | Choir/Chorus |
| 29 | Amy Foster | Composer |
| 30 | David Foster | Arranger, Composer, Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, String Arrangements |
| 31 | Katherine Frangetis-Tempesta | A&R |
| 32 | Haven Gillespie | Composer |
| 33 | Cee Lo Green | Primary Artist |
| 34 | Isobel Griffiths | Orchestra Contractor |
| 35 | David Hage | Music Copyist |
| 36 | Leigh Harline | Composer |
| 37 | Jackson Hatwan | Children's Chorus |
| 38 | Billy Hayes | Composer |
| 39 | Katherine Ho | Children's Chorus |
| 40 | J'Anna Jacoby | Violin |
| 41 | Jay W. Johnson | Composer |
| 42 | Kimberly Johnson | Choir/Chorus, Choir Contractor, Vocals (Background) |
| 43 | Krystal Johnson | Choir/Chorus |
| 44 | Dave Koz | Featured Artist, Saxophone, Soloist |
| 45 | Penny Lancaster | Photography |
| 46 | Jay Landers | A&R |
| 47 | Brandon Large | Children's Chorus |
| 48 | Karissa Lee | Children's Chorus |
| 49 | Michelle Lewis | Choir/Chorus |
| 50 | Frank Loesser | Composer |
| 51 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 52 | Bob McChesney | Trombone |
| 53 | Tim McFatter | Sax (Tenor) |
| 54 | Claire McNeely | Children's Chorus |
| 55 | Vlado Meller | Mastering |
| 56 | Jack Miele | Engineer |
| 57 | Johnny Moore | Composer |
| 58 | Jason Morales | Choir/Chorus |
| 59 | Evelyn Morgan | A&R |
| 60 | Don Murray | Engineer |
| 61 | Matt O'Connor | Percussion, Technical Assistance |
| 62 | Dan Oestreicher | Sax (Baritone) |
| 63 | Page LA Children's Chorus | Children's Chorus |
| 64 | Bobbi Page | Children's Chorus, Vocal Contractor |
| 65 | Holly Palmer | Choir/Chorus |
| 66 | Dean Parks | Guitar, Soloist |
| 67 | Steve Price | Engineer |
| 68 | Dieyelle Reed | Choir/Chorus, Vocals (Background) |
| 69 | Jimmy Roberts | Saxophone, Soloist |
| 70 | William Ross | String Arrangements |
| 71 | Jochem van der Saag | Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Sound Design, Synthesizer |
| 72 | Jordan Santamaria | Children's Chorus |
| 73 | Kevin Savigar | Arranger, Engineer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 74 | Richard B. Smith | Composer |
| 75 | Rod Stewart | Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 76 | Jule Styne | Composer |
| 77 | Emerson Swinford | Guitar |
| 78 | Traditional | Composer |
| 79 | Thanh Tran | Music Copyist |
| 80 | Jorge Vivo | Engineer |
| 81 | Chris Walden | Conductor, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements, Trombone, Trumpet |
| 82 | Paul Warren | Vocal Producer |
| 83 | Ned Washington | Composer |
| 84 | Tom Weir | Engineer |
| 85 | Willie Wheaton | Choir/Chorus |
| 86 | Brandon Winbush | Choir/Chorus |
| 87 | Lucy Woodward | Choir/Chorus |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |