In The Swing Of Christmas is the third Christmas-themed album by Barry Manilow. Released on November 1, 2007, it was available exclusively at Hallmark Gold Crown stores. The album was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA in 2008, and was nominated for a Grammy in the ‘Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album’ category at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
Produced and arranged by Manilow and co-produced by Scott Erickson, the album features more of a swing jazz style than his previous Christmas releases. The jazz ensemble MaD Fusion (Matt Herskowitz—piano, Mat Fieldes—bass, and David Rozenblatt—drums) accompanied Manilow on four tracks, and The Randy Kerber Trio (Randy Kerber—piano, Mike Valerio—bass, and Joe LaBarbera—drums) was featured on five tracks, along with various other musicians. The first track, “Silver Bells”, was performed a capella, with Manilow overdubbing all of the vocals himself. The album included instructions for downloading a bonus track, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”.
Tracks
1 Silver Bells (Ray Evans; Jay Livingston) 02:38
2 Carol Of The Bells/Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpont; Traditional) 02:46
3 Joy To The World/It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (Eddie Pola; George Wyle; Traditional) 03:08
4 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin; Ralph Blane) 04:07
5 Violets For Your Furs (Matt Dennis; Tom Adair) 03:22
6 O Tannenbaum/Winter Wonderland (Dick Smith; Felix Bernard; Traditional) 02:58
7 Christmas Time Is Here (Lee Mendelson; Vince Guaraldi) 04:36
8 The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) (Mel Tormé; Robert Wells) 03:19
9 Toyland (Glen MacDonough; Victor Herbert) 03:24
10 Count Your Blessings (Irving Berlin) 03:50
11 Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (Johnny Marks) 02:26
12 Christmas Is Just Around The Corner (Barry Manilow; Bruce Sussman) 02:51
Musicians
1 Silver Bells
2 Carol Of The Bells/Jingle Bells
| Bass | Mat Fieldes |
| Drums | David Rozenblatt |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Matt Herskowitz |
| Background Vocals | Randy Crenshaw |
| Background Vocals | Susan Stevens |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
3 Joy To The World/It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
| Bass | Mat Fieldes |
| Drums | David Rozenblatt |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Matt Herskowitz |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
4 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
| Bass | Mike Valerio |
| Drums | Joe Labarbera |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Randy Kerber |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
5 Violets For Your Furs
| Bass | Mike Valerio |
| Drums | Joe Labarbera |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Randy Kerber |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
6 O Tannenbaum/Winter Wonderland
| Bass | Mat Fieldes |
| Drums | David Rozenblatt |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Matt Herskowitz |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
7 Christmas Time Is Here
| Bass | Mat Fieldes |
| Drums | David Rozenblatt |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Matt Herskowitz |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
8 The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
| Bass | Mike Valerio |
| Drums | Joe Labarbera |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Randy Kerber |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
9 Toyland
| Bass | Mike Valerio |
| Drums | Joe Labarbera |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Randy Kerber |
| Flute | Tom Scott |
| Sax | Tom Scott |
| Trumpet | Warren Luening |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
10 Count Your Blessings
| Bass | Mike Valerio |
| Drums | Joe Labarbera |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Keyboards | Ron Pedley |
| Piano | Randy Kerber |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
11 Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
| Bass | Chuck Berghofer |
| Drums | Gregg Field |
| Guitar | George Doering |
| Piano | Mike Lang |
| Programming | Scott Erickson |
| French Horn | Brian O’Connor |
| Trombone | Andy Martin |
| Trombone | Charlie Morillas |
| Trumpet | Warren Luening |
| Trumpet | Jeff Bunnell |
| Trumpet | Dan Fornero |
| Woodwinds | Sal Lozano |
| Woodwinds | Eric Marienthal |
| Woodwinds | Jay Mason |
| Percussion | David Rozenblatt |
| Background Vocals | Randy Crenshaw |
| Background Vocals | Susan Stevens |
| Background Vocals | Jeff Gunn |
| Background Vocals | Scottie Haskell |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
12 Christmas Is Just Around The Corner
| Bass | Leland Sklar |
| Drums | John Ferraro |
| Guitar | Tim Pierce |
| Keyboards | Jim Cox |
| Background Vocals | Jeffrey Foskett |
| Background Vocals | Michael Lloyd |
| Background Vocals | Patti Lloyd |
| Background Vocals | Debbie Lytton |
| Background Vocals | Greg O’Connor |
| Background Vocals | Jenni Snyder |
| Background Vocals | Susanna Wolk |
| Vocals | Barry Manilow |
Liner Notes
Producer – Barry Manilow
Co-producer – Scott Erickson
Producer (Associate) – Marc Hulett
Producer (Executive) – Garry C. Kief
Arranged By – Barry Manilow
Arranged By (Backing Vocals) – Randy Crenshaw (Track 2)
Arranged By (Horns) – Randy Kerber (Track 9)
Arranged By (Additional) – Roger Treece (Track 1)
Orchestrated By (Vocals) – Roger Treece (Track 1)
Engineer (Additional) – Greg Bartheld, Koji Egawa
Engineer (Assistant) – Charlie Paakkari, Dan Monti, Justin Pintar, Mark Gray
Mastered By – Doug Sax, Sangwook Nam
Mixed By – Scott Erickson
Mixed By (Additinal) – Don Murray (Track 1)
Recorded By – Don Murray
Design – Hallmark Marketing Studio
Photography – Jeff Katz
Mastered At The Mastering Lab
Mixed At Studio At The Palms
Mixed At SongLee Studio
Mixed At Firehouse Studios
Recorded At Studio At The Palms
Recorded At Capitol Studios
Recorded At Pepper Tree Studio
Recorded At SongLee Studio
Phonographic Copyright Arista Records LLC
Copyright Arista Records LLC
Copyright Hallmark Licensing Inc
In The Swing Of Christmas is the third Christmas-themed album by Barry Manilow. Released on November 1, 2007, it was available exclusively at Hallmark Gold Crown stores. The album was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA in 2008, and was nominated for a Grammy in the ‘Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album’ category at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.