THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR REISSUE INCLUDES UNRELEASED MUSIC FOR ITS VINYL DEBUT

Available On Limited Edition Red And Green Vinyl, Deluxe Edition Of The Singer’s 2011 Holiday Album Includes Four Previously Unreleased Recordings,

Marking The First Posthumous Solo Music From Weiland’s Vault

New Lyric Video For Previously Unreleased Cover Of John Lennon And Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” Out Now 

 

LOS ANGELES – Inspired by celebrated crooners like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, Grammy® winner Scott Weiland recorded a deeply personal album of holiday standards in 2011 titled THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR. The original 10-song collection will be expanded with four unreleased recordings for its vinyl debut this holiday season, marking the first posthumous music to be released from the Weiland vault.

 

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR: DELUXE EDITION will be available on November 4 for $24.98 in two vinyl versions. The limited edition of 2,000 units of red vinyl will be available exclusively at the ScottWeiland.com, Rhino.com store and at indie retailers. The limited edition of 3,000 units of green vinyl will be available everywhere that vinyl is sold. The newly expanded holiday album also will be available the same day on digital and streaming services.

 

One of the previously unreleased tracks featured on the Deluxe Edition is Weiland’s stirring cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s anti-war anthem, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” Sadly, the song’s message is as relevant today as it was when it was released in 1971. Weiland’s version is available today on all digital download and streaming services, along with a new lyric video for the track featuring Weiland family Christmas photos.

 

The other unreleased tracks debuting on the upcoming Deluxe Edition were recorded at Weiland’s Lavish Studio during rehearsals for THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR. They offer alternate versions of three album tracks: “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” In addition to the bonus tracks, the Deluxe Edition also features newly updated album artwork.

 

Initially, the idea to record a holiday album grew out of Weiland’s 2009 performance of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” The singer said Sinatra’s legendary 1957 recording of the song, which featured an orchestra conducted by Gordon Jenkins, inspired his take on this sentimental favorite.

 

Likewise, many of the songs on THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR share similarly lush orchestrations, including horn and string arrangements by Michael Birnbryer and Jessica Catron, respectively. Weiland adds his honeyed baritone into the mix on timeless classics like “The Christmas Song,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “White Christmas,” and the title track.

 

Elsewhere on the album, Weiland delivers some surprising reinterpretations of holiday standards with his reggae version of “O Holy Night,” complete with steel drums, “Silent Night” propelled by a spritely bossa nova beat, and a jazzy “What Child Is This?” The collection also features the original “Happy Christmas And Many More,” a song Weiland co-wrote with Doug Grean, who also co-produced the album with him.

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR: DELUXE EDITION

LP Track Listing

 

Side A

1. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” *

2. “The Christmas Song”

3. “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”

4. “White Christmas”

5. “Silent Night”

6. “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”

7. “What Child Is This?”

 

Side B

1. “Winter Wonderland”

2. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”

3. “Happy Christmas And Many More”

4. “O Holy Night”

5. “White Christmas” – Lavish Studio Rehearsal *

6. “Winter Wonderland” – Lavish Studio Rehearsal*

7. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” – Lavish Studio Rehearsal *

 

* previously unreleased

Grammy®-Winning Daughter Duets With Her Late Father For The First Time On New Single Based On Donny’s Unreleased 1970 Demo For This Modern Holiday Standard

Digital Single For The New Song Available Today

More Than 50 Years Later, The Timeless 1970 Original Is Now Recognized As The First Black Christmas Carol 

 

LOS ANGELES – Grammy®-winning singers Lalah Hathaway and her late-father, Donny Hathaway perform a new duet that spans over 50 years on a new version of “This Christmas” that is available today. The track seamlessly weaves stunning new vocals that were recently recorded by Lalah with instrumentation and previously unheard vocals by Donny from an unreleased demo of the song from 1970.

 

The unreleased 1970 demo of the timeless holiday classic that serves as the foundation for this new version features a more relaxed tempo and tone than the original, as it features Donny playing acoustic piano, instead of the familiar electric heard on the original. Lalah sits in with her father as they trade verses and harmonize, their voices blending flawlessly on this heartfelt version of a modern yuletide classic.

 

“It’s really happening!!!! I am so honored to have my first recording with my dad be ‘This Christmas’!!! I hope this means as much to you as it means to my family!” says Lalah.

 

When Donny released the original version of “This Christmas” in 1970, he hoped it would be embraced as the first black Christmas carol, one authored and performed by African Americans. It took time, but the song eventually achieved a level of success that greatly exceeded Hathaway’s dreams. Today, “This Christmas” is the 30th most-performed holiday song of all time that continues to be heard everywhere each holiday season.

 

The story of how “This Christmas” became a celebrated yuletide anthem for black America is an interesting one. The tune originated in 1967 when Nadine McKinnor, a songwriting postal worker in Chicago, wrote the lyrics and melody during a historic blizzard. Three years later, her friend was decorating Hathaway’s home and office when it occurred to him that McKinnor should sing her songs for Hathaway. She did, and he immediately heard the potential in “This Christmas.”

 

In the fall of 1970, Hathaway composed the music and arrangement to “This Christmas” and entered the studio to record the song with some of the city’s top musicians, including members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who play strings on the track.

 

In early December, “This Christmas” was released as a non-album single on Atco Records. It peaked at #11 on Billboard’s Christmas Singles chart, but its major breakthrough was still more than 20 years away. The wheels for that success were set into motion in 1991, when “This Christmas” was added to a reissue of Atco’s 1968 Soul Christmas compilation. Since then, the song’s upbeat mix of blasting horns, surging strings and Hathaway’s sweet and soulful delivery have resonated with audiences around the world.

 

More than 50 years after it debuted, “This Christmas” has been recorded by a diverse group of artists that includes Destiny’s Child, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Lady A, and more recently Pentatonix, Pink Sweat$, and Jess Glynne, just to name a few.