The Sweetest Gift (Trisha Yearwood album)

The Sweetest Gift
Studio album by Trisha Yearwood
Released	September 13, 1994
Recorded	1994
Genre	Christmas
Length	32:32
Label	MCA Nashville
Producer	Garth Fundis
Trisha Yearwood chronology
The Song Remembers When (1993) The Sweetest Gift (1994) Thinkin' About You (1995) Alternative cover 2000 re-release

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	(favorable)[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]

The Sweetest Gift is the fourth studio album (and first Christmas album) by country singer Trisha Yearwood.

Yearwood sings a mixture of familiar traditional and popular material, along with more recent compositions such as "It Wasn't His Child" and "There's a New Kid in Town". Two of its tracks managed to achieve positions near the lower end of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart: "It Wasn't His Child" peaked at #60, and "Reindeer Boogie" at #63. The album rose to the #17 position in the Country Albums chart. A re-release of the album in 2000 has a different album cover, a promotional photograph taken during the Real Live Woman promotional period.

Yearwood covers a series of Christmas standards in a country music format. The album was a given a positive review by Allmusic, receiving 4 out of 5 stars.^[1]

Track listing

1. "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" (Bob MacGimsey) - 2:42
2. "Reindeer Boogie" (Charlie Faircloth, Hank Snow, Cordia Volkmar) - 2:38
3. "Take a Walk Through Bethlehem" (Ashley Cleveland, John Barlow Jarvis, Wally Wilson) - 3:49
4. "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 3:00
5. "It Wasn't His Child" (Skip Ewing) - 3:54
6. "Away in a Manger" (traditional) - 2:39
7. "The Sweetest Gift" (James Coats) - 3:02
8. "There's a New Kid in Town" (Don Cook, Curly Putman, Keith Whitley) - 4:27
9. "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne) - 2:26
10. "The Christmas Song" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) - 3:58

Personnel

Musical

• Bobby All — acoustic guitar
• Sam Bacco — percussion
• Eddie Bayers — drums
• Ashley Cleveland — harmony vocals
• David Davidson — violin
• Stuart Duncan — fiddle, mandolin
• Connie Ellisor — violin
• Paul Franklin — dobro, electric guitar, steel guitar
• Garth Fundis — harmony vocals
• Johnny Garcia — electric guitar
• Carl Gorodetzky — violin
• Jim Grosjean — viola
• Jay Hager — bass
• Aubrey Haynie — fiddle
• John Hobbs — string arrangements
• Dann Huff — electric guitar
• Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson — harmonica
• Lee Larrison — viola
• Brent Mason — electric guitar
• Robert Mason — cello
• Rick McClure — drums
• Nashville String Machine — strings
• Steve Nathan — piano, keyboards
• Scott Paschall — production assistant, assistant producer
• Dave Pomeroy — bass
• Becky Priest — piano
• Heather Risser — fiddle
• Matt Rollings — piano
• Pamela Sixfin — violin
• Alan Umstead — violin
• Mary Kathryn Vanosdale — violin
• Billy Joe Walker, Jr. — acoustic guitar
• Biff Watson — acoustic guitar
• Kristin Wilkinson — viola
• Trisha Yearwood — vocals, harmony vocals

Technical

• Katherine DeVault — art direction, design
• Garth Fundis — producer, engineer, mixing
• Carlos Grier — digital editing
• Jerry Joyner — design
• Gary Laney — design
• Senor McGuire — photography
• Scott Paschall — assistant producer, production assistant
• Denny Purcell — mastering
• Randee St. Nicholas — photography
• Dave Sinko — engineering, mixing
• Virginia Team — art direction
• Debra Wingo — hair stylist

Chart positions

Album

Chart (1994)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	17
U.S. Billboard 200	105
U.S. Billboard Top Holiday Albums	17

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions
		US Country
1995	"It Wasn't His Child"	60
1999	"Reindeer Boogie"	63

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Entertainment Weekly review
3. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 894. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.