40 Years on at Strawberry Fields
December 10, 2020It Wouldn’t Be Christmas – Our Talk with Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr.
December 20, 2020Regarded as one of the greatest Christmas collaborations of all time, Phil Spector revolutionized how Christmas Albums were produced and engineered with his masterpiece, “A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector.” Interesting fact: the day of its release in 1963, it was originally pulled from the shelves on the same day as the JFK assassination.
Resubmitted in 1972 by Apple Records, a company founded by the Beatles, and re-titled “Phil Spector’s Christmas Album” the LP was an instant smash hit, and featured an all star cast of some of the best performers in the industry. Darlene Love’s Christmas Baby Come Home not only happens to be the only original track on the album, but also the one song routinely sung annually during the Christmas taping of the David Letterman show up until its final airing in 2014. The Ronnettes “Sleigh Ride” was also apart of this timeless production as well as “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” still considered by many to be the best Christmas song EVER.
Phil Spector’s genius was on full display with this Christmas Album, The album was not only voted as one of the greatest Albums of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2003, but has charted in five different decades, peaking at number 21 as recently as December 2019 on the Billboard Hot 100. Almost 60 years later the LP is still a permanent fixture on holiday playlists all over the world this time of the year.