Cool Yule is a holiday album by American singer Bette Midler. It was released on October 10, 2006, through Columbia Records. The album features many standard Christmas tunes as well as a reworking edition of her hit "From a Distance". In 2008, Cool Yule was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category.
Critical reception
AllMusic editor Marisa Brown found that "the Divine Miss M shows off her stuff (including a very able backing band/orchestra) on all the tracks [...] and sounds good the whole time. Because she doesn't add much to the songs that hasn't already been done before, Cool Yule may not replace anyone's [duet partner] Johnny Mathis holiday albums yet, but it's still a pretty strong collection of well-done Christmas standards from a well-known and popular artist."
Chart performance Cool Yule failed to chart upon its October 10, 2006 release. It was not until November 25, 2006, the album made its debut on the US Billboard 200. It peaked in the week of December 6, 2006, rising from number 35 to number 33 on sales of 47,000 copies. By July 2007, Cool Yule had sold 271,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Track listing All tracks produced by Robbie Buchanan.
Notes "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" served as a bonus track on CD albums released at Target.
Personnel
Christopher Autopchuk – art direction Rick Babtist – trumpet William Baker – copyist Russell Bartmus – copyist Leanne Becknell – woodwind Steve Becknell – French horn Tom Bender – mixing assistant Gordon Berg – copyist Wayne Bergeron – trumpet Charles Bisharat – violin David Blumberg – conductor, orchestral arrangements, copyist Chandler Bridges – engineer Robbie Buchanan – piano, arranger, conductor, keyboards, producer, orchestration, orchestral arrangements, track arrangement Caroline Campbell – violin Darius Campo – violin Dave Carpenter – upright bass Lily Chen – violin Paul Cohen – cello Vinnie Colaiuta – drums Dennis Collins – background vocals Larry Corbett – cello Rose Corrigan – woodwind Datz Pyle, Debbi – contractor Brian Dembow – viola Joel Derouin – violin Andrew Duckles – viola Bruce Dukov – concert master Katharine Edmonds – copyist Bill Edwards – copyist Johnson Enos – background vocals, vocal arrangement Tabitha Fair – background vocals Alma Fernandez – viola Gary Foster – woodwind Matt Funes – viola Steve Genewick – digital editing Mark Graham – copyist Alan Grunfeld – violin Mick Guzauski – mixing Al Hershberger – violin Dan Higgins – woodwind Sean Holt – background vocals Stephen Holtman – trombone Greg Huckins – woodwind Alexander Iles – trombone Bob Jackson – mastering assistant Sharon Jerry-Collins – background vocals Bashiri Johnson – percussion JoAnn Kane – copyist Ana Landauer – violin Jay Landers – liner notes, executive producer Natalie Leggett – violin Gayle Levant – harp Bill Liston – woodwind Dane Little – cello Doug Livingston – steel guitar Bob Ludwig – mastering Warren Luening – trumpet Larry Lunetta – trumpet Barry Manilow – producer Arif Mardin – orchestral arrangements Andy Martin – trombone Liane Mautner – violin Joe Meyer – French horn Jaclyn Morse – production coordination Helen Nightengale – violin Robin Olson – violin Michael O'Neill – photography Charles Paakkari – assistant engineer Sid Page – violin Alyssa Park – violin Searmi Park – violin Sara Parkins – violin Dean Parks – guitar Danny Perito – copyist Victor Pesavento – copyist Joel Peskin – woodwind Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone John A. Reynolds – French horn Eric Rigler – Uilleann pipes, Irish whistle Dennis Rivadeneira – mixing assistant William Ross – arranger, conductor, orchestration, orchestral arrangements, track arrangement Aaron J. Sala – background vocals, vocal arrangement Chris Soper – assistant engineer Ken Stacey – background vocals Tereza Stanislav – violin Beverley Staunton – background vocals Bette Sussman – background vocals, associate producer, vocal arrangement, track arrangement Phil Teele – trombone Fonzi Thornton – background vocals Cecilia Tsan – cello Jonathan Tunick – arranger, conductor, orchestration Karen Van Sant – viola Josephina Vergara – violin Shalini Vijayan – violin Windy Wagner – background vocals Randy Waldman – piano, keyboards Helen Barbara Werling – copyist Patrick Williams – arranger, conductor, orchestration, vocal arrangement, orchestral arrangements, track arrangement Frank Wolf – track engineer Terry Woodson – librarian, copyist Phil Yao – French horn Gina Zimmitti – contractor
Charts + Chart performance for Cool Yule Chart (2009) Peakposition
References