A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector [Digitally Remastered By Phil Spector]

The Crystals, famous for Then he kissed me and Da doo ron ron, sing brilliant, energetic versions of Santa Claus is coming to town, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and Parade of the wooden soldiers. The Ronettes, famous for Be my baby, are equally brilliant on Frosty the snowman, Sleigh ride and I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus. Bob B Soxx and the blue jeans, famous for Zip-a-de-doo-da, also excel on Bells of St Mary's and Here comes Santa Claus.

Darlene Love, whose biggest success was as lead singer of the Crystals on He's a rebel, sings four songs here, a rare chance for her to be credited as a solo performer. Christmas (Baby please come home) is the only original song here. White Christmas includes the rarely heard verse about being in Beverley Hills. The other two, Marshmallow world and Winter wonderland, are also outstanding.

The closing Silent night is just a series of spoken acknowledgements set to a backing track. Don't worry about that - the twelve songs that go before set the standard for Christmas rock albums when it was first recorded and still do, because nobody has bettered it in the forty years since.


Phil Spector does a "Wall of Sound" Christmas album   December 25, 2005
30 out of 31 found this review helpful

I was never enamored with the results when Phil Spector tried the "Wall of Sound" approach with the Beatles on "Let It Be," but that failure was the exception that proves the rule. In 1963 Spector actually decided to use his approach to produce one of the great Christmas albums of all time. The goal was to have a holiday album that would stack up against both other Christmas albums and the pop albums produced by his quartet of artists: Darlene Love, the Ronettes, the Crystals, and Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans. The artists split up the first dozen tracks on "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector," with everybody joining together for "Silent Night" as the album's grand finale.

Darlene Love was never really a success as a solo artist, although she did the lead vocals on "She's a Rebel." But she gets to make or break this album by singing the opening track, "White Christmas," and making it clear the song can work if not being crooned by Der Bingle. "Marshmallow World" is fun but a trifle, while her "Winter Wonderland" may be the best track on the album, with "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" a soulful plea not to be separated for the holidays. No wonder Love got the most tracks on the album. The Ronettes were sisters Veronica (Ronnie) and Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley rock a bit more than usual with their version of "Frosty the Snowman" and keep the spirit going with "Sleigh Ride" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."

The change of pace offering on the album would definitely be Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans doing "The Bells of St. Mary," although "Here Comes Santa Claus" is certainly more in keeping with the rest of the record. This was Spector's studio group and compared to the rest of the album you can understand why they only got two tracks. The best effort by the Crystals is obviously "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," which surely was the model for the better known rocking version by the Boss. Their version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" does not work nearly as well (it is one of those songs where you would swear it is really one of Spector's Top 10 hits with different words, which simply shows the producer was creating the effect he wanted here). "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" is in the same mode, but there is a sense in which the "Wall of Sound" is just effective.

Spector comes out to wish everybody the very merriest of Christmases and happiest of New Years for "Silent Night," which is a reminder of when music groups used to talk directly to their fans on records. That seems a bit strange now, but what stands out more is how the simple musical arrangement at the end is such a complete change of pace from the rest of the album, so that "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector" ends on a much quieter note. But up to that point this is certainly one of the high energy Christmas albums of all time and if you need a burst of musical energy to get you through decorating, cooking, or whatever, this one fits the bill.


Christmas Is Finally Here!   January 1, 2004
Mr. Richard D. Skerritt (Nottingham, United Kingdom)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

Well this set is truly superb!

It has that great Christmas feel to it and you can play it on repeat all day without getting fed up with it.

The Ronettes and Darlene Love tracks are the standout tracks for me but saying that The Crystals `Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer` is the best yule hear!

Do a great deed and buy it- you will not regret it!


A Christmas essential   December 3, 2000
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is without a doubt the greatest Christmas album ever made. When listening to it you can tell that it wasn't made as a cynical money making machine (like a lot of Christmas albums) but as a celebration of the love of Christmas, music and as a testament to the genius of Phil Spector. I urge you to buy it, play it and when you do Christmas will never be the same without it again.


The soundtrack to all my Christmas's   November 5, 2002
crosbysleftear
41 out of 44 found this review helpful

Who can't like this album? I grew up listening to this album every Christmas and it remains a firm favourite now. Containing the very best of Phil Spectors crop of talent, the versions of the songs on this album will always be considered definative(at least by me).

If you remember this album from the past, buy it. Its still great.

If you've never heard this album, buy it. I million times better then all the other Christmas compilations with the same tracks on.

The best Christmas album in the world...ever!