October 20th
album anniversaries

RCA’s Studio B in Nashville hosted these Christmas sessions in May and June 1971, with Felton Jarvis producing and The Imperials singing behind Elvis Presley on most of the songs. They were his first new Christmas recordings since Elvis’ Christmas Album in 1957.

The record opens with “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, which shared a November single with “Merry Christmas Baby”. “I’ll Be Home on Christmas Day” and “Holly Leaves and Christmas Trees” sit on the second side. Holiday albums were barred from Billboard’s main albums chart at the time, so its success showed on the separate Christmas chart, which it topped.

“The Wanderer” gave Donna Summer a number three hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and named her first album for Geffen Records. Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte produced it at Westlake Audio and Rusk Sound in Hollywood between March and July 1980, steering her from disco towards rock and new wave.

“Cold Love” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and the closing “I Believe in Jesus” was nominated for Best Inspirational Performance. “Who Do You Think You’re Foolin’” became the third single in February 1981.

Salaam Remi, Commissioner Gordon and Jimmy Hogarth were among the producers of Frank, which Amy Winehouse recorded through 2002 and 2003 at studios including Creative Space in Miami and Abbey Road in London.

“Stronger Than Me” came out two weeks before the album. “Take the Box” and “In My Bed” followed as singles in 2004, the year Frank was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize, and the album also earned Winehouse an Ivor Novello Award. Island released it in the UK first; other territories followed over the next few years, and the US edition arrived in November 2007.

Ronronner, the French word for purr, was Scott Walker’s first choice of title. Stephen O’Malley thought French listeners would find it too cute, so the collaboration with Sunn O))) became Soused instead, a word for being submerged in water.

Five years earlier, O’Malley and Greg Anderson had asked Walker to sing on Monoliths & Dimensions, and he declined. He approached them while writing the follow-up to Bish Bosch. In early 2014 the band brought their full stage equipment to his London studio space, and Walker produced the five long pieces with Peter Walsh, from “Brando” to “Lullaby”.

Willie Nelson joins Margo Price on “Learning to Lose”, a duet that runs past six minutes in the middle of the first side. Price produced All American Made with Jeremy Ivey, Matt Ross-Spang and Alex Munoz at Phillips Recording, and Third Man Records released it.

“Weakness” and “A Little Pain” came out as singles in the months before the album, while “Pay Gap” and “Nowhere Fast” follow the Nelson duet and the title song closes the record. Price had cited Tom Petty as an influence, and after his death in October 2017 she dedicated the album to him.

Lahai takes its name from Sampha’s paternal grandfather. His second album arrived on Young six years after Process, and he produced it with collaborators including El Guincho, Kwes, Kwake Bass, Teo Halm and Ricky Damian.

“Spirit 2.0” came first as a single in June, and “Only” followed in September. Yaeji, Ibeyi, Yussef Dayes and Morgan Simpson are among the guests, Owen Pallett arranged strings, and Léa Sen features on “What If You Hypnotise Me?”. The album topped the UK R&B albums chart, and Clash named it the best album of 2023.