On all of these songs he is accompanied by the United States Navy Band, conducted by Ned Muffley.

[1] Ives had performed previously with Muffley and the Navy Band: at a Christmas concert in Washington D.C. in 1974 and at the Boy Scout Jamboree in 1977.

On the basis of these encounters, Muffley invited Ives to participate in a 1977 Christmas Concert at the DAR Constitution Hall: "The weeks that followed were busy indeed as a special production, the brainchild of Master Chief Jere Wallace, entitled For the Love of Christmas, was scripted, focusing around a musical adaptation of Burl telling the story of Christmas to a group of children ... the personification of Santa Claus himself."

The genres of the songs range from folk ("The Friendly Beasts") to pop ("A Holly, Jolly Christmas").

Classic Ives songs are given a new feel by the involvement of the Sea Chanters, the official chorus of the U.S.