Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas etc., mainly because this bizarre situation was caused by my naive and atrocious lack of business acumen." Judy Garland's 1944 version of the song reached No. 27 on the "Billboard" charts. The lyrics Garland sang in "Meet Me in St. Louis" have been recorded with only slight variations by a number of artists, including Sinatra (in 1950 and 1963 single recordings), Bing Crosby (in "I Wish You a Merry Christmas"), Doris Day (in "The Doris Day Christmas Album"), Ella Fitzgerald (in "Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas"), The Pretenders (in the first "A Very Special Christmas" compilation), James Taylor (in
Christmas with Friends (India.Arie and Joe Sample album) standards and one is an original track. SoulTracks' Melody Charles viewed the track listing as "leisurely-paced". The midtempo “Favorite Time of Year” is the album's only original song. It was co-written by Arie's mother during a session in the recording studio with her daughter and Aaron Lindsey, and includes lyrics about Arie's family, such as how her mother created her stage clothing. She chose to cover "Merry Christmas Baby" as her grandmother had previously sung to her during her childhood. Sample plays the piano on four of the album's songs: "Let It Snow", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Silent