The Miracles on compilations

.....As the first full Christmas album from the Motown group of labels, the 1963 LP CHRISTMAS WITH THE MIRACLES should have had the most opportunities to be represented on seasonal compilations. However, as the earlier posts this month attest, all other recordings made prior to its release either remained out of print or unheard entirely until 1990. Thus, there were no compilations until 1968, at which point two other original albums were out (from The Supremes and Stevie Wonder). The first compilation had a modicum of new material but otherwise drew from the three earlier albums. The only track from that first Miracles album used was the only original song, "CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY". In fact, although the album was routinely in print and the Miracles were a staple of the company's occasional Christmas compilations it would be over thirty years before any other song from the album appeared on a company compilation. Songs were usually drawn from the new 1968 material or their second Christmas album, out in 1970. The albums which carried "CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY" during that time were:

• VALP MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MOTOWN Motown MS681 (US) 12/06/68
• VALP CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAP Motown MS713 (US) 10/70 (same as 1968)
• VALP IT'S CHRISTMAS IN MOTOWN Music For Pleasure SPR90010 (UK) c.1973
• VALP WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS Natural Resources NR4011 (US) 10/78
• VACD MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MOTOWN MCA Special Products 737463850025 (US) 11/24/93 (This is not the same as the 1968/1970 album, no matter what the Barnes & Noble website tells you. It just has the same title.) This was reissued in 1996 with a different catalog number.

.....Over the next two decades each of the songs from the 1963 album appears on at least one compilation, with the possible exception of "SILVER BELLS", which is always presented by other performers. The largest sampling is found on CD OUR VERY BEST CHRISTMAS Uptown/Universal 153 356 2 (US) 10/12/99, which draws six songs from the first album and nine from the second, plus a new song from the 1968 compilation. Anyone interested in getting the traditional covers would be best served by getting the entire album; anyone looking only for the one original song would be better off getting it on any of a number of compilations that would also have otherwise scarce songs, such as the double disc VA2CD THE ULTIMATE MOTOWN CHRISTMAS COLLECTION Motown/Universal B0013383-02 (US) 10/13/09.