- A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector
Infobox Album |
Name = A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Type = Studio
Artist =Phil Spector
Released =November 22 ,1963
Recorded =
Genre = Christmas,Baroque pop
Length = 34:12
Label = Philles / ABKCO
Producer =Phil Spector
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:iduk6j4771t0~T1 link]
Last album = "Philles Records Presents Today's Hits "
(1963)
This album = "A Christmas Gift for You"
(1963)
Next album = "Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica "
(1964)"A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector" is an album of
Christmas songs , produced byPhil Spector , and originally released as Philles 4005 in 1963. Spector treated a series of mostlysecular Christmas standards to his trademark "Wall of Sound " treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector's regular artists during this period. It is one of only twelve long-playing records released on the Philles label, peaking at #13 on the Top Pop Albums chart. The album was reissued byApple Records in 1972, with different cover art and retitled "Phil Spector's Christmas Album"; this version went to #6.However, the album was a relative failure at the time — it was unfortunately released on
22 November 1963 , the same day as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In subsequent years, the album grew in popularity, considered now to be a holiday classic. Several of its tracks became iconic Christmas songs for generations, such as the original (and flop) single "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) ," and the well-known "Ring-a-ling-a-ling Ding-dong-ding" background vocals in The Ronettes' "Sleigh Ride ." The arrangement ofBruce Springsteen 's version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is based in part onthe Crystals ' version of the song.RS500|142 The album has been released several times on different labels: the original release on Philles and the 1972 reissue on Apple were followed by additional reissues on Warner-Spector (1974 - the first version to feature a stereo mix of the songs), Pavillion (1981), Passport (1984), and Rhino (1987). The first CD issue came in 1989, a remastered release on ABKCO which restored the original title, artwork, and mono mix. The album also appeared as the fourth disc of ABKCO's 1991 Spector box set, "Back to Mono", and as the second disc of the 2006 U.K.-only ABKCO compilation "The Phil Spector Collection". As of 2007 both the "Back to Mono" box and the standalone CD version of "A Christmas Gift for You" had been taken out of print by ABKCO; there are no current plans for a further U.S. reissue.
Brian Wilson ofthe Beach Boys , well-known as a fan of both the Ronettes and Spector, has cited this album as his favorite album of all time. [Aidin Vaziri, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/18/PKGQIF66TV1.DTL&type=printable Pop Quiz: Brian Wilson] , San Francisco Chronicle, December 18, 2005]Personnel
*
Jack Nitzsche –arrangements , percussion
*Louis Blackburn – horns
*Hal Blaine - drums
*Sonny Bono - percussion
*Leon Russell - piano
*Roy Caton - trumpet
* Steve Douglas - saxophone
*Frank Capp - percussion
*Barney Kessel - guitar
*Jay Migliori - saxophone
*Bill Pitman - guitar
*Ray Pohlman - bass
*Irv Rubins - guitar
*Tommy Tedesco - guitar
*Nino Tempo - guitarAdditional Personnel
*
Johnny Vidor Strings
*Larry Levine - engineerTrack listing
"Recorded at Gold Star recording studio"
Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.