Wintersong

Wintersong is the sixth album and first Christmas album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released in October 2006. It was produced by longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand and includes contributions from Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies.[6] The album also includes a collaboration with Jazz musician Diana Krall.[7] In 2015, all songs from Wintersong plus five more tracks were released as The Classic Christmas Album.

For the Paul Winter album, see Wintersong (Paul Winter album). For other uses, see Winter Song (disambiguation).

Wintersong
Studio album by
Sarah McLachlan
Released17 October 2006
Recorded1994, Spring-Summer 2006[1]
GenreChristmas music
Length45:43
LabelNettwerk (Canada)
Arista (US)
ProducerPierre Marchand
Sarah McLachlan chronology
Mirrorball: The Complete Concert
(2006)		 Wintersong
(2006)		 Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume 2
(2008)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Blogcritics(?)[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[4]
Slant Magazine[5]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"John Lennon, Yoko Ono3:28
2."What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)"William Chatterton Dix3:31
3."River"Joni Mitchell4:02
4."Wintersong"Sarah McLachlan3:31
5."I'll Be Home for Christmas"Walter Kent, Kim Gannon3:15
6."O Little Town of Bethlehem"Phillips Brooks, Lewis Redner3:51
7."The First Noel / Mary Mary"Traditional5:00
8."Silent Night"Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber3:48
9."Song for a Winter's Night"Gordon Lightfoot3:48
10."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane3:44
11."In the Bleak Mid-Winter"Christina Rossetti, Gustav Holst3:46
12."Christmas Time is Here" (featuring Diana Krall)Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelsen3:59

A "sampler" CD exists, featuring similar artwork on a cardboard sleeve, which omits "Happy Xmas", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "Song for a Winter's Night", and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".

Singles

"River" was released as a single from that album in September 2006.[8] The song was performed in mid-October on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show and reached No. 71 in the Billboard Hot 100.[9] McLachlan's video for "River" premiered on Yahoo! music, on 1 November 2006. Silent Night from this album was used in an ASPCA commercial

Charts
Year Single Chart Peak position[9]
2006 River Billboard Hot 100 71
2006 Pop 100 70
Hot Digital Songs 66
2007 Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 8
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 6
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 5

Sales

Wintersong debuted on the Billboard 200 album sales chart at number 42, selling about 20,000 copies in its first week.[10] The album later peaked at number 7 on the chart.[11]

Wintersong was also the best-selling holiday album of 2006 in the United States according to sales figures from Nielsen/SoundScan, with total sales of 759,000 copies that year.[12]

On 13 December 2007, Wintersong was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of one million copies in the U.S.[13] In Canada, it has sold over 200,000 copies, and has been certified Double Platinum.[14]

On the week of 17 December 2011, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 195.[15]

Personnel
  • Sarah McLachlan: Vocals, Piano, Harp, Dobro[16]
  • Pierre Marchand: Keyboards, Programming, Synth Bass, Quartet Manipulations, Vienna Keyboard Strings
  • Jim Creeggan: Double Bass
  • Colin Cripps: Guitar, Dobro
  • Diana Krall: Piano on "Christmas Time Is Here".
  • Ashwin Sood: Drums, Percussion
  • Luke Doucet: Guitar
  • Bill Dillon: Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Bass
  • Bob Doige: Sleigh Bells
  • Daryl Johnson: Bass
  • Vince Mai: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
  • Brian Minato: Bass
  • David Kershaw: Keyboards
  • David Sinclair: Guitar

Charts

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[23] 3× Platinum 315,000^
United States (RIAA)[24] Platinum 1,100,000[25]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. Brian Dakss (5 December 2006). "Sarah McLachlan's Atypical Christmas CD". Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Blogcritics review
  4. Entertainment Weekly review
  5. Slant Magazine review
  6. Katie Hasty (6 August 2006). "McLachlan Salutes Holiday Season On New CD". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2006.
  7. Wintersong SarahMcLachlan.com Retrieved 18 May 2007
  8. News SarahMcLachlan.com Retrieved 18 May 2007
  9. Sarah McLachlan Billboard.com Retrieved 18 May 2007
  10. Katie Hasty, "Diddy Scores First No. 1 Album In Nine Years", Billboard.com, 25 October 2006.
  11. Artist chart history for Sarah McLachlan (albums), Billboard.com.
  12. "Chart Watch Extra: Bring On Christmas!". Billboard. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  13. "RIAA Searchable Database – Gold & Platinum Certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  14. CRIA Gold & Platinum certifications for January 2007 Archived 26 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  15. "Music Albums", Billboard.com, 8 December 2011.
  16. AllMusic Allmusic.com Retrieved 18 May 2007
  17. "Sarah McLachlan Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  18. "Sarah McLachlan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  19. "Sarah McLachlan Chart History (Holiday Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  20. "Nielsen Music 2006 Year End Music Industry Report for Canada". Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original on 25 February 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. Paul Grein. "Chart Watch Extra: Bring On Christmas!". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 11 December 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. "2007: Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  23. "Canadian album certifications – Sarah McLachlan – Wintersong". Music Canada. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  24. "American album certifications – Sarah Mc Lachlan – Wintersong". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 26 October 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  25. Keith Caulfield. "Sarah McLachlan Talks 'Challenge' of Making New Holiday Album & Secrets of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
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