[1] Christmas Here with You (Bridges/Payton/Roundtree) - 5:08
[2] White Christmas (Berlin) - 4:20
[3] The Christmas Song (Torme/Wells) - 3:57
[4] Away in a Manger (Murray/Murray/Traditional) - 2:45
[5] This Christmas (Hathaway/McKinnor) - 4:32
[6] Silent Night (Gruber/Mohr) - 5:03
[7] The Little Drummer Boy (Davis/Onerati/Onorati/Simeone) - 7:45
[8] Christmas Delight (Benson/McNair) - 3:49
[9] Merry Christmas/Baby (Baxter/Brown/Moore/Moore) - 5:06
[10] Merry Christmas to You (Benson/McNair) - 4:07
[11] Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Blane/Martin) - 3:50
[12] 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Moore/Payton/Rountree) - 6:28
The Four Tops:
Levi Stubbs - Vocals, Arranger, Producer
Abdul "Duke" Fakir - Vocals, Arranger, Producer
Renaldo "Obie" Benson - Vocals, Arranger, Producer
Lawrence Payton - Vocals, Arranger, Producer, Executive Producer
Aretha Franklin - Vocals on [1],[2],[6]
The Ridgeway Sisters - Vocals
Rochon Westmoreland - Electric Bass, Electric Guitar
George Roundtree, Jr. - Synthesizer, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming,
Orchestral Arrangements
Gerald Jensen - Guitar
Jack Dryden - Upright Bass
Benjamin F. Corbett, Jr. - Drums
Sam Tundo - Percussion
Arrangement, Percussion Assistant
Guy Abrahams - Direction
Paul Riser - Arranger, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements,
Orchestral Arrangements, Percussion Marcus Belgrane - Solo
Instrumental, Flugelhorn, Soloist
Mark Abbott - French Horn
Brian Kennedy - French Horn
Bryan Kennedy - French Horn
Corbin Wagner - French Horn
Ray Alexander - Trumpet
Bill Boyd - Trumpet
Rusty Smith - Trumpet
Harry Miedema - Tenor Saxophone
Lenny Price - Soprano Saxophone
Tim Gordon - Alto Saxophone
Doug Henry - Baritone Saxophone
Mally West - Tenor Saxophone
Chris Buckholz - Trombone
Don Baker - Oboe
Doug Cornelson - Clarinet
Ervin Monroe - Flute
Jeffrey Zook - Flute
John Driver - Trombone
Marcus Wagner - Flugelhorn
Peter Radd - Grand Piano
Geoffrey Applegate - Violin
Emmanuelle Boisvert - Violin
John Hughes - Violin
Marguerite Deslippe - Violin
Robert Murphy - Violin
Stephen Molina - Bass Violin
Rick Robinson - Bass Violin
Lenore Sjoberg - Violin
Bruce Smith - Violin
Linda Smith - ViolinUpright
Margaret Tundo - Violin
Adam Stepniewski - Violin
Hart Hollman - Viola
Glenn Mellow - Viola
Alexander Mishivaevski - Viola
James Vanvalkenberg - Viola
John Thurman - Cello
Marcy Chanteaux - Cello
Mario DiFiore - Cello
Pat Terry - Harp
Ronnie McNair - Arranger, Producer
Bill Dern - Executive Producer
Craig Burbidge - Engineer, Mixing
Rob Chiarelli - Engineer, Mixing
Mike Jacopelli - Engineer, Mixing
Michael Iacopelli - Engineer, Mixing
Tom Baker - Mastering
Paul D. Allen - Assistant Engineer
Paul Allen - Assistant Engineer
Dwayne Jones - Assistant Engineer
Larry Quateman - Assistant Engineer
Tony Rambo - Assistant Engineer
Fred Bridges - Production Coordination
Allyson Strauss - Design
1995 CD Universal Special Products 530585
1995 CS Motown 530585
2009 CD Spectrum Music SPECX106
This 1995 release, Christmas Here with You,
marks the Four Tops' first Christmas album - features classic holiday
songs such as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Away in a
Manger," "Christmas Song," "Little Drummer Boy," "'Twas the Night
Before Christmas," and "Merry Christmas, Baby." Aretha Franklin
supplies vocals on two tracks - "White Christmas" and "Silent Night" -
which just adds to this predictable but festive holiday release.
Gina Boldman - All Music Guide
Christmas Here with You
is an unusually bombastic affair that even a diehard Tops fan will have
trouble tuning into. Entirely overproduced and disappointedly
uninspired through almost 12 cuts, the disc is rich in cliché but poor
in imagination. Even select cameos from Aretha Franklin,
who rises to the occasion only to oversing her parts, can't rescue the
effort. Although the string-driven arrangement of "Silent Night" proves
engaging and things do pick up a bit halfway through, most folks will
wonder what happened to the Motown magic that gave us all those good
times.
