George Strait at rehearsals for the 43rd Annual ACM Awards Show in Las Vegas. Photo provided by the Academy of Country Music.
July 8, 2008 — There are 169 shopping days remaining until Christmas, but if you want to get a jump on stocking stuffers, George Strait has you in his sights.
George has targeted Oct. 7 as the release date for Classic Christmas, a reissue of a 2006 holiday album he originally recorded for the Hallmark card chain. Originally titled George Strait Fresh Cut Christmas, the project features 10 yuletide standards, including "Up On The Housetop," "We Three Kings," "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" and "Deck The Halls."
"I wanted to put together a collection of my favorite traditional Christmas songs that I grew up listening to," George says of the CD. "It was hard to narrow it down to 10 of them, but I think I've done it. I hope these songs bring back good memories for my fans like they have for me."
It’s actually the third holiday album that George has assembled in his career. Merry Christmas Strait To You, released in 1986, went double-platinum; the 1999 project Merry Christmas Wherever You Are was certified gold; and George Strait Fresh Cut Christmas reached platinum.
Classic Christmas will feature the same 10 tracks as Fresh Cut, though the album will offer new artwork. Two of the songs on the CD — "Joy To The World" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful," — have also been recorded for a Faith Hill Christmas album due this fall.
The track list for George’s Classic Christmas includes:
• "Joy To The World"
• "We Three Kings"
• "Silent Night"
• "Jingle Bells"
• "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
• "Up On The Housetop"
• "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"
• "O Christmas Tree"
• "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing"
• "Deck The Halls"