Mannheim Steamroller Christmas (also known as Christmas 1984) was the first Christmas music

Christmas music

Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...

 album released by new age

New Age music

New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...

 musical group Mannheim Steamroller

Mannheim Steamroller

Mannheim Steamroller is an American music group founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey, known primarily for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.-Beginnings:...

. The group has released five subsequent Christmas studio albums, most recently Christmasville

Christmasville

Christmasville is Mannheim Steamroller's ninth Christmas album overall. It was released in 2008 on CD by American Gramaphone and features 13 Christmas songs...

in October 2008. It was the band's first album to crack the Billboard album chart, peaking at #50.

On June 21, 2004, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas was certified 6× Platinum

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...

 by the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

 for shipment of six million copies in the United States since its 1984 release, making it one of the best-selling Christmas/holiday albums in the U.S.

Best-selling Christmas/Holiday albums in the United States

This page shows the best-selling Christmas albums in the United States. It includes artists from all over the world, but it only includes sales in the United States of America....

As of October 16, 2011, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas was the seventh best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. during the Nielsen/SoundScan

Nielsen SoundScan

Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...

 era of music sales (March 1991-present), having sold a total of 3,480,000 copies according to SoundScan.

Track listing

• Songs are traditional except where noted

1. "Deck the Halls" – 3:43
2. "We Three Kings
   We Three Kings
   "We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns...
   
   " (Hopkins) – 3:45
3. "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
   Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
   "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabelle" is a Christmas carol which originated from the Provence region of France in the 16th century. The song is usually notated in 3/8 time....
   
   " – 2:32
4. "Coventry Carol
   Coventry Carol
   The "Coventry Carol" is a Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew...
   
   " – 2:38
5. "Good King Wenceslas
   Good King Wenceslas
   "Good King Wenceslas" is a popular Christmas carol about a king who goes out to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen . During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step,...
   
   " – 3:29
6. "Christmas Sweet: Wassail
   Wassail
   The word Wassail refers to several related traditions; first and foremost wassailing is an ancient southern English tradition that is performed with the intention of ensuring a good crop of cider apples for the next year's harvest...
   
   , Wassail" – 2:20
7. "Christmas Sweet: Carol Of the Birds" (Bas-Quercy) – 2:03
8. "Christmas Sweet: I Saw Three Ships
   I Saw Three Ships
   "I Saw Three Ships " is a traditional and popular Christmas carol from England. A variant of its parent tune "Greensleeves", the earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by William B. Sandys in 1833...
   
   " – 1:28
9. "Christmas Sweet: "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" – 1:37
10. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" – 4:19
11. "Stille Nacht" (Gruber) – 5:26

Personnel

• Louis Davis, Jr. - drums, percussion (including camel bells), recorder
• Eric Hansen - bass
• Jackson Berkey
  Jackson Berkey
  Jackson Berkey is an American composer, pianist and singer, best known for his work with Mannheim Steamroller, which he co-founded with Chip Davis in 1974.-Early life and education:...
  
  - piano, harpsichord, synthesizer, camel bells
• Ron Cooley - 6 and 12-string guitars
• Willis Ann Ross - flute
• David "High D" Kappy - French horn
• Mary Walter - harp
• String section includes Steve Shipps (concertmaster), Richard Lohmann, Richard Altenbach, Grace Granata, Deborah Fuller, Scott Shoemaker (violins), Michelle Brill, Michael Strauss, Roxanne Adams (violas), David Low, Kim Rockshaw, Greg Clinton (celli), Wayne Anderson, and Bill Ritchie (bass violins)
• Ron Dabbs - camel bells, sound effects engineer
• Louis Davis, Sr. - keyboard technician