When My Heart Finds Christmas
Encyclopedia
When My Heart Finds Christmas is American
artist Harry Connick, Jr.
's first Christmas album. Released in 1993, it is among the most popular holiday
collections of the past two decades in the United States
. Connick Jr composed four songs for the album: "When My Heart Finds Christmas", "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus", "The Blessed Dawn Of Christmas Day" and "I Pray On Christmas". The other songs are traditional Christmas songs
and carols.
The album proved to be the best-selling holiday album in the U.S.
for all of 1993, selling 748,000 copies that year according to Nielsen/SoundScan
.
As of October 16, 2011, When My Heart Finds Christmas was the tenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. during the SoundScan era of music sales (March 1991 – present), having sold a total of 3,080,000 copies according to SoundScan.
On December 6, 2005, the album was certified Triple Platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
for shipment of three million copies in the U.S.
Connick Jr.'s hour long CBS
-TV Christmas special, featuring Carol Burnett
and Aaron Neville
, also emerged a ratings winner, and was available on home video
in time for Christmas 1994.
The Harry Connick Jr. Christmas Special (Sony
1994) VHS
, with Harry Connick Jr. live at the Patages Theater, contains the songs
"Sleigh Ride," "Toyland," "I Pray On Christmas," "The Christmas Song
" (with Aaron Neville
), "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
," "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
," "Away in a Manger
," "The Blessed Dawn of Christmas Day," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "All I Want for Christmas," "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
," "Jingle Bells
," "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" and "When My Heart Finds Christmas."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
's first Christmas album. Released in 1993, it is among the most popular holiday
Holiday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
collections of the past two decades in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Connick Jr composed four songs for the album: "When My Heart Finds Christmas", "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus", "The Blessed Dawn Of Christmas Day" and "I Pray On Christmas". The other songs are traditional Christmas songs
Christmas Songs
Christmas Songs is a 2005 album by Diana Krall performed with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. This is Krall's first full-length album of Christmas songs , and her first studio album with a big band. It is her ninth album overall...
and carols.
The album proved to be the best-selling holiday album 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....
for all of 1993, selling 748,000 copies that year according to 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...
.
As of October 16, 2011, When My Heart Finds Christmas was the tenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. during the SoundScan era of music sales (March 1991 – present), having sold a total of 3,080,000 copies according to SoundScan.
On December 6, 2005, the album was certified Triple 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 three million copies in the U.S.
Track listing
- "Sleigh RideSleigh Ride"Sleigh Ride" is a popular light orchestral piece composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946; he finished the work in February 1948. Lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in a sleigh on a winter's day with another person,...
" (Leroy AndersonLeroy AndersonLeroy Anderson was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler...
, Mitchell ParishMitchell ParishMitchell Parish was an American lyricist.-Early life:Parish was born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky to a Jewish family in Lithuania. His family emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 3, 1901 on the SS Dresden when he was less than a year old...
) – 3:44 - "When My Heart Finds Christmas" (Harry Connick, Jr.Harry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
) – 4:32 - "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus" (ConnickHarry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
) – 4:39 - "The Blessed Dawn Of Christmas Day" (ConnickHarry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
) – 4:40 - "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!Let It Snow"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in 1945. The song was written in July 1945 in Hollywood, California during one of the hottest days on record. First recorded by Vaughn Monroe, it became a popular...
" (Sammy CahnSammy CahnSammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, Jule StyneJule StyneJule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
) – 2:34 - "The Little Drummer Boy" (Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone) – 3:41
- "Ave MariaHail MaryThe Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or Ave Maria is a traditional biblical Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Hail Mary is used within the Catholic Church, and it forms the basis of the Rosary...
" (Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, Sir Walter Scott) – 4:35 - "Parade of the Wooden SoldiersParade of the Wooden SoldiersParade of the Wooden Soldiers is a 1933 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop. It is now public domain.The instrumental title theme, "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" , was composed by Leon Jessel.-Synopsis:A large factory complex struggles to produce a single package, which is...
" (Ballard Macdonald, Leon JesselLeon JesselLeon Jessel, or Léon Jessel was a German composer of operettas and light classical music pieces. Today he is best known internationally as the composer of the popular jaunty march "The Parade of the Tin Soldiers," also known as "The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers." Jessel was a prolific composer...
) – 3:27 - "What Child Is This?What Child Is This?"What Child Is This?" is a popular Christmas carol written in 1865. At the age of twenty-nine, English writer William Chatterton Dix was struck with a sudden near-fatal illness and confined to bedrest for several months, during which he went into a deep depression...
" (William Dix, 16th Century English melodyGreensleeves"Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song and tune, a ground of the form called a romanesca.A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves". It then appears in the surviving A Handful of...
) – 3:11 - "Christmas Dreaming" (Irving GordonIrving GordonIrving Gordon was an American songwriter.-Biography:Irving Gordon was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he studied violin, and after attending public schools in New York City, went to work in the Catskill Mountains at some of the resort hotels in the area...
, Lester Lee) – 2:40 - "I Pray On ChristmasI Pray On Christmas"I Pray on Christmas" is a Christmas carol with music and lyrics by Harry Connick Jr. First released in 1993 on his multi platinum album When My Heart Finds Christmas...
" (ConnickHarry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
) – 3:48 - "Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReindeerRudolph the Red-Nosed ReindeerRudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. He is popularly known as "Santa's 9th Reindeer" and, when depicted, is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through...
" (Johnny MarksJohnny MarksJohnny Marks was an American songwriter. Although he was Jewish, he specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many standards, including "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" , "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" , "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" , and "A Holly...
) – 2:31 - "O Holy NightO Holy Night"O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau , a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem...
" (Adolphe AdamAdolphe AdamAdolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
, Placide Cappeau) – 6:45 - "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" (Frank LoesserFrank LoesserFrank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
) – 4:49
Musicians
- Harry Connick Jr. - Vocals, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Ben Wolfe - BassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
- Russell Malone - GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Brad Leali - Alto SaxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
- Will Campbell - Alto Saxophone
- Jerry Weldon - Tenor SaxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Ned Goold - Tenor Saxophone
- Dave Schumacher - Baritone SaxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
- Mark MullinsBoneramaBonerama is a brass funk rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.Bonerama was formed in 1998 by trombone players Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, who, from 1990 up until late 2006, were also members of Harry Connick Jr.'s big band...
- TromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Craig KleinBoneramaBonerama is a brass funk rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.Bonerama was formed in 1998 by trombone players Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, who, from 1990 up until late 2006, were also members of Harry Connick Jr.'s big band...
- Trombone - Lucien BarbarinLucien BarbarinLucien Barbarin is an American trombone player, born July 17, 1956, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Barbarin tours internationally with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and with Harry Connick, Jr....
- Trombone - Joe Barati - Trombone
- Roger Ingram - TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Dan Miller - Trumpet
- Jeremy Davenport - Trumpet
- Louis Ford - ClarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
- a 70-piece orchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
- a 42-voice choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
- Tracey Freeman - Producer
- Gregg Rubin - Engineer/ Mixer
Christmas TV Special
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-TV Christmas special, featuring Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
and Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums...
, also emerged a ratings winner, and was available on home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
in time for Christmas 1994.
The Harry Connick Jr. Christmas Special (Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
1994) VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, with Harry Connick Jr. live at the Patages Theater, contains the songs
"Sleigh Ride," "Toyland," "I Pray On Christmas," "The Christmas Song
The Christmas Song
"The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer...
" (with Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville
Aaron Neville is an American soul and R&B singer and musician. He has had four top-20 hits in the United States along with four platinum-certified albums...
), "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. He is popularly known as "Santa's 9th Reindeer" and, when depicted, is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through...
," "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen is an English traditional Christmas carol. The melody is in Aeolian mode. It was published by William B...
," "Away in a Manger
Away in a Manger
"Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in 1885 in Philadelphia and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain it is one of the most popular carols, a 1996 Gallup Poll ranking it joint second.-History of the lyrics:...
," "The Blessed Dawn of Christmas Day," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "All I Want for Christmas," "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers is a 1933 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop. It is now public domain.The instrumental title theme, "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" , was composed by Leon Jessel.-Synopsis:A large factory complex struggles to produce a single package, which is...
," "Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
," "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" and "When My Heart Finds Christmas."