This Time of Year

For the EP by Project 86, see This Time of Year EP.

This Time of Year is a 1961 Christmas album by American jazz vocalist June Christy, arranged and conducted by Pete Rugolo and released by Capitol Records.^[4][5]

This Time of Year
Studio album by June Christy
Released	1961 (1961)
Recorded	January 1961
Studio	Capitol (Hollywood)
Genre	Vocal jazz, Christmas music
Label	Capitol[1]
Producer	Bill Miller
June Christy chronology
Do-Re-Mi (1961) This Time of Year (1961) Big Band Specials (1962)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]

Christy's only Christmas album, it consists entirely of original songs, unusual for its time. The recordings bear a similarity of having a melancholy tone to the album, all composed by the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Connie Pearce and Arnold Miller.

Critical reception

AllMusic called the album "unjustly neglected," writing that it "is that rarest of things -- a winter concept album of all new material that can be listened to even when the holidays are over."^[2]

Record collector Tim Neely, author of several Goldmine record collector guides, said in 2023 it was a "largely ignored Christmas album until the 1990s, when [The Merriest] became something of a staple on both easy-listening and jazz-oriented CD compilations. Even with that exposure, it didn’t really catch on."

CDs includingThe Merriest include:

• ”Ultra Lounge: Christmas Cocktails Part 2” Capitol 1997
• "A Swingin' Christmas" EMI Capitol Music 1999
• "yule b' swingin' too" Hip-O 2000
• "A Capital Christmas" Capitol Records 2018

Track listing

1. "Christmas Heart" – 2:57
2. "Ring a Merry Bell" – 3:05
3. "Hang Them on the Tree" – 2:21
4. "The Little Star" – 3:08
5. "The Merriest" – 2:09
6. "This Time of Year" – 3:34
7. "Seven Shades of Snow" – 3:32
8. "Sorry to See You Go" – 2:24
9. "The Magic Gift" – 3:26
10. "Winter's Got Spring Up Its Sleeve" – 2:36

All compositions by Connie Pearce and Arnold Miller.

Personnel

• June Christy – vocals
• Frank Beach – trumpet
• Don Fagerquist – trumpet
• Dick Nash – trombone
• Kenny Shroyer – bass trombone
• Jim Decker – French horn
• Vincent DeRosa – French horn
• Richard Perissi – French horn
• Red Callender – tuba
• Sam Rice – tuba
• Bob Cooper – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, oboe
• Bud Shank – alto saxophone, flute
• Paul Horn – flute
• Ted Nash – flute
• Victor Arno – violin
• Israel Baker – violin
• Robert Barene – violin
• Anatol Kaminsky – violin
• Dan Lube – violin
• Alfred Lustgarten – violin
• Lou Raderman – violin
• Albert Steinberg – violin
• Gerald Vinci – violin
• Virginia Majewski – viola
• Ray Mehennick – viola
• Stanley Harris – viola
• Edgar Lustgarten – cello
• Eleanor Slatkin – cello
• Catherine Gotthoffer – harp
• Russ Freeman – piano
• Al Viola – guitar
• Joe Mondragon – bass
• Red Mitchell – bass
• Gene Estes – drums, vibes, celeste, bell
• Shelly Manne – drums

Tracks 1, 4, 6 Recorded Capitol Tower, Hollywood, 12 January 1961

Tracks 7, 9, 10 Recorded Capitol Tower, Hollywood, 19 January 1961

Tracks 2, 3, 5, 8 Recorded Capitol Tower, Hollywood, 23 January 1961