(Side 2 of the compilation featured various tracks from Streisand's Columbia labelmates Doris Day, Jim Nabors, and Andre Kostelanetz.)

Streisand also recorded an alternate, English-language version of "Gounod's Ave Maria" during sessions for the album in 1966.

This track remained unreleased until 2005 when it was licensed to a Starbucks Christmas compilation CD titled Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, William Ruhlman gave it a retrospective four and a half (out of five) stars and called it "a timeless classic", stating that "If Simply Streisand ... indicated that Streisand was overly reverent when it came to standards, reverence was no problem with seasonal fare."

[4] On May 5, 1999, A Christmas Album was certified Quintuple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of five million copies in the United States.