A Very Special Christmas (album)
1987 compilation album by various artists
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A Very Special Christmas is the first in the A Very Special Christmas series of Christmas-themed compilation albums produced to benefit the Special Olympics. The album was released on October 12, 1987, and production was overseen by Jimmy Iovine for A&M Records. A Very Special Christmas has raised millions of dollars for the Special Olympics.[4] The cover artwork was designed by Keith Haring.
ReleasedOctober 12, 1987[1]
Length50:57 (Original version)
51:11 (Revised version)
51:11 (Revised version)
| A Very Special Christmas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cover art by Keith Haring | ||||
| Compilation album by various artists | ||||
| Released | October 12, 1987[1] | |||
| Genre | Christmas music, Children's music | |||
| Length | 50:57 (Original version) 51:11 (Revised version) | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Various artists chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| New Musical Express | 9/10[3] |
On January 16, 1998, the album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of four million copies in the United States.[5]
As of November 2014, A Very Special Christmas is the 19th best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 2,520,000 copies according to SoundScan.[6]
Track listing
- First pressings of the album contain a spoken introduction on The Pretenders' "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", presumably by a child. This introduction was later omitted, shortening the track by about 13 seconds.
- Starting in 1992, "Back Door Santa" was replaced by another Bon Jovi song, "I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas", which originally appeared as a B-side on their single "Keep the Faith".
Personnel
According to the liner notes:[7]
Musicians
- Bryan Adams – guitar (12)
- Kenny Aronoff – drums (6)
- Roy Bittan – piano (1, 15)
- Rupert Black – keyboards (5)
- Johnny Blitz – keyboards (12)
- Don Brewer – drums (11)
- Rosemary Butler – backing vocals (11)
- Chris Campbell – bass guitar (11)
- John Cascella – accordion (6)
- Sharon Celani – backing vocals (15)
- Clarence Clemons – saxophone (1)
- Larry Crane – guitar (6)
- Laura Creamer – backing vocals (11)
- Blair Cunningham – drums (5)
- Mickey Curry – drums (12)
- David Ervin – keyboards (11)
- Richard Feldman – drum programming and keyboards (2)
- David Freeman – guitar (1)
- Craig Frost – piano (11)
- Lisa Germano – fiddle (6)
- Donny Gerrard – backing vocals (11)
- Ms. Bobbye Hall – percussion (3)
- Richie Hayward – drums (3)
- Dorian Holley – backing vocals (11)
- Jimmy Johnson – bass guitar (3)
- Steve Jordan – drums (1)
- Charles Judge – synthesizer and string arrangements (3)
- Michael Landau – guitar (1)
- Annie Lennox – keyboards (2)
- Nils Lofgren – guitar (11)
- Darlene Love – backing vocals (3, 9)
- Steve Lukather – guitar (3)
- Robbie McIntosh – guitar (5)
- Coby Myers – bass guitar (6)
- Robbie Nevil – backing vocals (15)
- Pat Peterson – backing vocals (6)
- Darryl Phinnessee – backing vocals (11)
- Alto Reed – saxophone (11)
- Andrea Robinson – backing vocals (11)
- Keith Scott – additional guitar and backing vocal (12)
- T. M. Stevens – bass guitar (1, 5)
- Dave Stewart – drum programming (2)
- Crystal Taliefero – backing vocals (6), percussion (11)
- Dave Taylor – bass guitar (12)
- John Townsend – backing vocals (11)
- John Van Tongeren – keyboards (2)
- Rick Vito – guitar (11)
- Mike Wanchic – guitar (6)
- Waddy Wachtel – guitar (15)
- Jai Winding – piano (3)
- Edna Wright Perry – backing vocals (3)
Technical personnel
- Tom Banghart – assistant engineer (2)
- Jon Bon Jovi – arranger (13)
- Steve Boyer – assistant engineer (5)
- Joe Chiccarelli – mixing (11)
- Bob Clearmountain – mixing (1, 3–6, 9, 12, 13)
- Mark DeSisto – assistant engineer (11), additional engineering
- Peter Droll – assistant engineer (10)
- Steve Ett – engineer and mixing (8)
- Richard Feldman – engineer (2)
- John Fryer – engineer (14)
- Humberto Gatica – mixing (2, 15)
- Danny Grisgby – additional engineering
- Rob Jacobs – assistant engineer (1, 10), additional engineering
- Bruce Lampcov – engineer (5), mixing (5)
- David Leonard – engineer (6)
- Scott Litt – engineer (3, 5, 9)
- Jeremy Lubbock – arranger (10)
- Bob Ludwig – original mastering (4)
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering
- Kooster McAllister – engineer (13)
- Mark McKenna – assistant engineer (1, 3, 11), additional engineering
- Michael Morongell – assistant engineer (1)
- Alison Moyet – arranger and mixing (14)
- Dan Nash – assistant engineer (1, 15), additional engineering
- Peter Oxendale – arranger and mixing (14)
- Thom Panunzio – engineer (3, 9, 15)
- Toby Scott – engineer (4)
- Don Smith – engineer (1, 11)
- Pete Smith – engineer and mixing (7)
- Smudger – engineer (12)
- Roger Talkov – engineer (13)
- Richard Warren – arranger (15)
- Shelly Yakus – engineer (1, 10, 11, 15), mixing (10)
- Michael Young – engineer (13)
Sales
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | — | 210,000[8] |
| United States | — | 2,520,000[6] |