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Performer: Mannheim Steamroller
Engineer: Brad Underwood; John Archer; John Boyd; Brian Ackley; Wayne Jesz; Ron Dabbs; Hank Neuberger; Ian Gorman; Campbell Hughes; Norbert Grutzmann; Frankie Bucher; Denis Brochhausen; Roger Arnett; Terry Seefus; Dan Charette; Dave Cwirko; Louis Davis, Sr.; Mike Pierce; Bill Bradley; Chris Sabold; Matt LeJeune; Azoulas Sinkevicius; Tim Lauber; Joe Gastwirt; John Richards
Producer: Jackson Berkey; Chip Davis
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: Mannheim Steamroller: Chip Davis (vocals, hammer dulcimer, cornemuse, recorder, dulcian, crumhorn, drums, percussion, bells, wind); Jackson Berkey (vocals, toy piano, Fender Rhodes piano, harpsichord, clavichord, keyboards, bells); Liz Westphalen (vocals); Ron Cooley (12-string guitar, classical guitar, lute, bass guitar); Mary Walter (harp); Arnie Roth (vielle, violin); Eric Hansen (lute, bass guitar); Steve Shipps (violin); John Sharpe, David Low, Gregory Clinton (cello); Willis Ann Ross (flute); Roxanne Layton (recorder, crumhorn); Bobby Jenkins (oboe); David Kappy (French horn). Additional personnel include: Johnny Mathis, Lynndee Mueller (vocals); Chicago, Renaissance Le Doo Dah Band, The University Of Michigan Men's Glee Club, Bielefelder Kinderchor, Cambridge Singers. In 1984, Chip Davis released his first Christmas record on his own label, American Gramaphone, under the pseudonym Mannheim Steamroller. It contained classics and his own compositions done in a synthesizer-heavy, orchestral style he dubbed "18th-century rock & roll." That album would go on to sell millions of copies and 20 years later, the name Mannheim Steamroller was synonymous with Christmas music in many circles. To celebrate his 20th anniversary of rousing, rapturous synth anthems, Davis released CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION, a collection of MS's best holiday moments with one new track, "Celebration." "Celebration" is a fitting addition to the Mannheim Steamroller canon, opening with a light fanfare before elevating to thunderous instrumental flashes of energy and spirited emotion, throwing in elements of the classics "Deck the Halls" and "Joy to the World" for good measure. Davis's interpretation of the former is probably his best-known work, and the festive Steamroller version is also prominently included here. An appealing collaboration with Johnny Mathis on "O Tannenbaum," where a choral rendering gives way to a timeless Mathis vocal, provides another highlight of this compilation.

Mannheim Steamroller is the creation of former jingle composer Chip Davis, a Midwestern musician who first achieved success as the co-writer of the 1975 pop hit "Convoy." Davis used his royalties from that song to set up his own studio and launch the Steamroller, a project that fused instrumental pop with classical and jazz influences and a rock beat. Mannheim Steamroller's albums became wildly successful and set the stage for much of the "adult contemporary" and new age instrumental music of subsequent decades. Davis achieved perhaps his greatest popularity with a series of Christmas albums that have become perennial staples of the holiday season.

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