Happy Christmas is the seventh studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 and second Christmas album by American recording artist Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...

. The album was released on November 22, 2010 by Primary Wave Records. Simpson made an appearance on The Early Show

The Early Show

The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...

 to promote the album.

Background

It was revealed that Simpson had parted ways with her record label, Epic Records

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

, and signed a new record deal. Simpson was interviewed by E! News

E! News

E! News, previously known as E! News Daily and E! News Live, is a nightly entertainment newsmagazine program airing on E!: Entertainment Television. The program debuted on September 1, 1991 and talks about Hollywood celebrities and gossip...

and PopSugar

Popsugar

PopSugar.com is Sugar Publishing's celebrity news and gossip site. Founded in March 2005, the site is based in San Francisco, California.PopSugar is the flagship site for the Sugar Network, which now includes nine additional sites.-Editors:...

.com where she revealed that she is back in the studio, working on a new Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 album. On September 15, 2010, it was announced that Simpson was working with the producers of The-Dream and Tricky Stewart in her next two albums. On October 12, 2010, Simpson announced via Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 that she had completed recording this album. Simpson said that the concept of a new Christmas album came after PBS asked her if she would like to do a Christmas special. Simpson and PBS thought it would be a good idea to release an album along with a holiday special. The show premiered on television on December 4, 2010. The album was made available for streaming through Amazon.com. She also appeared on The Early Show

The Early Show

The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...

, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....

, Live with Regis and Kelly

Live with Regis and Kelly

Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...

, Access Hollywood

Access Hollywood

Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...

 and performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting.

Tricky Stewart told US Weekly

Us Weekly

Us Weekly is a celebrity gossip magazine, founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986. The publication covers topics ranging from celebrity relationships to the latest trends in fashion, beauty, and entertainment...

 about working with Simpson on the album: "We have actually have [talked about working together again]. I was so pleasantly surprised and happy with how everything came out! She is a gem just waiting to be rediscovered, so there is a definite possibility of us working together again in the future. She is fun and lighthearted but very serious about her singing. She is a little bit of an over-thinker sometimes because she puts so much pressure on herself. But, overall we had a great time making this record! We had to do it super fast — we started the negotiations and everything in October, which is really late for a Christmas album. But we got it done, it came out, and it's great — everyone loved it".

Critical reception

The album received a positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

 of Allmusic stated, "compared to 2004’s brassy Rejoyce: The Christmas Album, Happy Christmas exists on a small stage: Simpson doesn’t belt songs out, doesn’t seem intent on wowing an audience with her pizzazz. [...]She may be intent on being all things to all people, but her eagerness to please suits the season and helps make Happy Christmas a better holiday soundtrack than Rejoyce

Rejoyce: The Christmas Album

Rejoyce: The Christmas Album is the fourth studio album by American pop singer Jessica Simpson. It was released on November 23, 2004. It includes a duet with her sister, Ashlee Simpson, on the song "Little Drummer Boy". Additionally, it also includes a duet with Nick Lachey, Simpson's husband at...

."

Jon Caramanica from New York Times stated, "A Western-swing-influenced medley of “Here Comes Santa Claus

Here Comes Santa Claus

"Here Comes Santa Claus " is a Christmas song written by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman.Autry got the idea for the song after riding his horse in the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade in Los Angeles, during which crowds of spectators chanted, "Here comes Santa Claus". This inspired him to write a song...

” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is a Christmas song. It was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934....

,” sung by Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...

, and produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream

The-Dream

Terius Youngdell Nash , better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is known for co-writing "Umbrella" for Rihanna and "Single Ladies " for Beyoncé, as well as for his three solo albums, Love Hate, Love vs...

? Someone’s been paying attention to one critic’s holiday wish list. Ms. Simpson, who began her career several lifetimes ago as a Christian singer, hasn’t sounded as focused in years as she does on the feverishly pleasing “Happy Christmas,” which is produced largely by Mr. Stewart and The-Dream, the synth-bliss R&B tastemakers, employing full restraint here. The bland bigness of holiday music suits Ms. Simpson’s overpowering voice well, but even when she’s testing it, she sounds sharp, whether on the multitracked delirium of “Carol of the Bells

Carol of the Bells

"Carol of the Bells" is the common English language title of a Christmas carol of Ukrainian origin, which has in recent years grown in popularity, particularly in English-speaking countries. The work was originally a choral miniature composition by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych based on...

” or on an electric-blues version of “Merry Christmas Baby,” where she energetically over-emotes against a more laconic holiday messenger, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

"

Chart performance

The album sold 10,153 copies in its first week and debuted at number one hundred twenty-three on US Billboard 200, becoming Simpson's lowest peak in the US. It also debuted at number nine on Billboard Independent Albums and number twenty three on Top Holiday Albums chart.

Television special

Simpson and PBS announced that a Christmas musical special will air in the fall, in promotion with Simpson's new Christmas album. The special, entitled "Jessica Simpson: Happy Christmas" was available to watch on November 25, 2010 on Simpson's official website, and premiered on Saturday prime-time television on December 4th, 2010. The show features Simpson singing a collection of Christmas hits from Happy Christmas and her first holiday album Rejoyce: The Christmas Album

Rejoyce: The Christmas Album

Rejoyce: The Christmas Album is the fourth studio album by American pop singer Jessica Simpson. It was released on November 23, 2004. It includes a duet with her sister, Ashlee Simpson, on the song "Little Drummer Boy". Additionally, it also includes a duet with Nick Lachey, Simpson's husband at...

. Simpson was also joined by special guests including sister Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Nicole Simpson is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she rose to prominence with the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography and the reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show. In October 2005, following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released...

, Trey Lorenz

Trey Lorenz

Trey Lorenz is an African American singer and songwriter. He was born in Florence, South Carolina and is a graduate of Wilson High School.-Biography:...

, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

, and Carly Simon

Carly Simon

Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...

. This is the second Christmas TV special featuring Simpson, the first being "Nick and Jessica's Family Christmas" with ex-husband Nick Lachey

Nick Lachey

Nicholas Scott "Nick" Lachey is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and television personality. Lachey rose to fame as a member of the boy band 98 Degrees. He later starred in the reality television series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica with his then-wife, Jessica Simpson. He has released...

Track listing

(*) Denotes co-producer

Personnel

Credits for Happy Christmas adapted from Allmusic.

• Cacee Cobb - A&R
• Aaron Pearce - Arranger, Composer, Producer, Programming, String Arrangements, Vocals (Background)
• Josh Grabelle - Art Direction, Design, Layout
• Steven Dennis - Assistant Engineer
• Travis Harrington - Assistant Engineer
• Jason Sherwood - Assistant Engineer
• Martin Cooke - Assistant Vocal Engineer
• Lou Baxter - Composer
• Ralph Blane -Composer
• J. Fred Coots - Composer
• Kim Gannon - Composer
• Buddy Greene - Composer
• Walter Kent - Composer
• John Lennon - Composer
• Mykola Leontovich - Composer
• Mark Lowry - Composer
• Hugh Martin - Composer
• John Dudley Moore - Composer
• Terius Nash - Composer
• Yoko Ono - Composer
• Buck Ram - Composer
• Jessica Simpson - Composer

• Christopher Stewart - Composer
• Peter J. Wilhousky - Composer
• Haven Gillespie - Composer, Lyricist
• Michelle Gayhart - Copyist
• Norman Jean Roy - Cover Photo
• John Britt - Duet
• Willie Nelson - Duet
• Brian "B-Luv" Thomas - Engineer
• Andrew Wuepper - Engineer, Mixing
• Terius "The-Dream" Nash - Executive Producer, Producer
• C. "Tricky" Stewart - Executive Producer, Producer
• Tom Hemby - Guitar
• Michael Thompson - Guitar
• Chris Bellman - Mastering
• Ken Oriole - Mixing Assistant
• Wayne Haun - Orchestration, String Arrangements
• Kuk Harrell - Producer, Vocal Engineer, Vocal Producer
• Christy Hall - Production Coordination
• Jeremy Hunter - String Arrangements, String Engineer
• Josh Gudwin - Vocal Engineer

Charts

Chart (2010)	Peak Position
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	123
US Top Holiday Albums	23
US Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...	9

Release history

Region	Date	Label
Canada	November 22, 2010	EMI EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... Primary Wave Music Primary Wave Music Primary Wave Music is an American music publisher based in New York and Los Angeles. Signed artists with the publisher include Hall & Oates, Chicago, Kurt Cobain, Steve Earle, Steven Tyler, Bo Diddley and most recently, Jessica Simpson...
Germany
United Kingdom
United States