Christopher Cross (album)
Christopher Cross is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, released on December 27, 1979, by Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Michael Omartian and recorded in July 1979, the album was one of the first in popular music to be digitally recorded, utilizing the 3M Digital Recording System.
Cited as one of the most influential soft rock albums of the late 1970s and early 1980s, it won five Grammy Awards at the 1981 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist, with Cross becoming the first artist to win the four major categories in the same year.
Reception
According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album was "a huge hit and widely acclaimed, at least among industry professionals, leading to multi-platinum success and Grammys." In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Erlewine says that while its success as a soft rock album has little cachet with most listeners, it "remains one of the best mainstream albums of its time" because of consistent song quality and Cross's skillful musicianship: "Yes, he does favor sentimentality and can be very sweet on the ballads, but his melodicism is rich and construction tight, so there's a sturdy foundation for the classy professional gloss provided by his studio pros and friends, including indelible backing vocals by Michael McDonald."In retrospective appraisals, Christopher Cross is regarded as a key release of yacht rock music. For Spin in 2009, Chuck Eddy lists it among the genre's eight essential albums. Vinyl Me, Please magazine's Timothy Malcolm includes it in his 2017 list of the 10 best yacht rock albums, explaining that, "It’s actually a sonic outlier for the yacht rock genre, heavy on acoustic guitar and strings. But its message fits the genre, and yeah, it’s still undeniably smooth." For The Vinyl District's online publication in 2018, Michael H. Little calls it the genre's best album as well as one of its smoothest, crediting it for making Cross "the face of soft rock".
Track listing
'Mary Ann' was originally written for the YAMAHA World Music Festival in Japan and released in 1980 as a Japan only single.Personnel
- Christopher Cross – lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, guitar solo
- Michael Omartian – acoustic piano, synthesizers, backing vocals
- Rob Meurer – synthesizers, electric piano, celesta, acoustic piano, organ
- Jay Graydon – guitar solo
- Larry Carlton – guitar solo
- Eric Johnson – guitar solo
- Andy Salmon – bass
- Tommy Taylor – drums
- Lenny Castro – percussion
- Victor Feldman – vibraphone, percussion
- Jim Horn – saxophone
- Jackie Kelso – saxophone
- Don Roberts – saxophone
- Tomás Ramírez – sax solo
- Lew McCreary – trombone
- Chuck Findley – trumpet, flugelhorn
- Assa Drori – concertmaster
- Nicolette Larson – backing vocals
- Michael McDonald – backing vocals
- Valerie Carter – lead and backing vocals
- Myrna Matthews – backing vocals
- Marty McCall – backing vocals
- Stormie Omartian – backing vocals
- Don Henley – backing vocals
- JD Souther – backing vocals
Production
- Producer – Michael Omartian
- Assistant Producer – Michael Ostin
- Engineer and Mixing – Chet Himes
- Second Engineer – Stuart Gitlin
- Mastering – Bobby Hata
- Artwork – Danny Henderson and James Flournoy Holmes
- Design – James Flournoy Holmes and Wonder Graphics
- Flamingo Concept – Jim Newhouse
Accolades
Cross, the album and the hit "Sailing" won the following Grammy Awards:| Year | Category | Winner |
| 1981 | Album of the Year | Christopher Cross |
| 1981 | Grammy Award for [Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)|Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)] | "Sailing" |
| 1981 | Record of the Year | "Sailing" |
| 1981 | Song of the Year | "Sailing" |
| 1981 | Best New Artist | Christopher Cross |
Producer Michael Omartian accepted the Album of the Year award on behalf of Warner Bros. Records and the album's personnel.