The Christmas Guest: Stories and Songs of Christmas is a Country/Gospel/Christian album by Andy Griffith

Andy Griffith

Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...

. It was released on September 30, 2003 by Sparrow Records

Sparrow Records

-Background:Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then A&R director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by EMI in 1992, it is now part of the EMI Christian Music Group, and has been named by Billboard Magazine as "America's Best Christian Music Record Label"...

. The album combines traditional Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 stories with Griffith's interpretations of several holiday classics.

Track listing

1. "The Christmas Guest" (Story) (Grandpa Jones
   Grandpa Jones
   Louis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...
   
   , Bill Walker) - 5:33
2. "Joy to the World
   Joy to the World
   "Joy to the World" is a Christian Christmas carol.The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and...
   
   " - 2:04
3. "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
   O come, O come, Emmanuel
   O come, O come, Emmanuel is a translation of the Latin text by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin in the mid-19th century. It is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons , which now serves as a popular Advent hymn...
   
   "/"What Child Is This?
   What Child Is This?
   "What Child Is This?" is a popular Christmas carol written in 1865. At the age of twenty-nine, English writer William Chatterton Dix was struck with a sudden near-fatal illness and confined to bedrest for several months, during which he went into a deep depression...
   
   " - 3:36
4. "Jesus' Birth in Bethlehem, Luke 2" (Story) - 3:23
5. "Go Tell It on the Mountain
   Go Tell It on the Mountain (song)
   "Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual song, compiled by John Wesley Work, Jr., dating back to at least 1865, that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers...
   
   " - 2:19
6. "Away in a Manger
   Away in a Manger
   "Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in 1885 in Philadelphia and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain it is one of the most popular carols, a 1996 Gallup Poll ranking it joint second.-History of the lyrics:...
   
   "/"Golden Slumber" - 3:16
7. "Beautiful Savior" - 2:49
8. "The Juggler" (Story) (Larry Paxton, Kristin Wilkinson) - 6:56
9. "I Wonder as I Wander
   I Wonder As I Wander
   "I Wonder as I Wander" is a Christmas carol written by John Jacob Niles. The carol has its origins in a song fragment collected on July 16, 1933 by folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles....
   
   " - 2:58
10. "Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley" - 3:10
11. "Belleau Wood" (Story) (Garth Brooks
    Garth Brooks
    Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
    
    , Joel Henry) - 1:52
12. "Silent Night
    Silent Night
    "Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber...
    
    " - 3:00

Chart performance

Chart (2003)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	141
U.S. Billboard Top Christian Albums	8
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	21

Awards

In 2004, the album was nominated for a Dove Award for Country Album of the Year at the 35th GMA Dove Awards.

External links

• The Christmas Guest on Amazon
  Amazon.com
  Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...