Description

In 1963, visionary producer Phil Spector, then at the peak of his creativity and cultural influence, created one of the firstand still one of the greatestrock n roll Christmas albums. Using the artist roster of his Philles labelthe Ronettes, the Crystals, Darlene Love and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeansand the legendary studio musicians of the Wrecking Crew, Spector applied his fabled Wall of Sound to a set of Christmas pop standards and holiday-themed originals.

The resulting album brilliantly merges the holiday spirit with the singular sonic uplift of the Spector sound. Highlights include the Ronettes bubbly reworkings of Sleigh Ride, Frosty the Snowman and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, the Crystals upbeat renditions of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Darlene Loves soulful readings of Winter Wonderland, White Christmas and the Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry/Phil Spector composition Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). A Christmas Gift for You concludes with a rare on-mike appearance by Spector himself, delivering a spoken holiday message to listeners.

A Christmas Gift for You originally had the misfortune of being released on November 22, 1963, the same day as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and was not a major commercial success. In the years since, however, it has been embraced as a beloved pop-culture touchstone, with many of its tracks becoming holiday airplay favorites. In 2003, A Christmas Gift for You was ranked Number 142 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Longtime Spector fan Brian Wilson has named it as his all-time favorite LP. The albums influence has also been reflected in cover versions by contemporary artists. Bruce Springsteen based his interpretation of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town on the Crystals Spectorized version, while U2 closely followed Darlene Loves original when covering Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).

Sundazeds new edition of A Christmas Gift for You is sourced directly from the original Philles label mono masters and is pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Listeners can now perfectly re-experience the original magic of this timeless holiday treasure!