A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (1963)

A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (originally A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records, also known as Phil Spector's Christmas Album) is a multi-artist studio album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, originally released by Philles in November 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his Wall of Sound production style, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector's regular artists during this period. One month after its release, the album peaked at number 13 on Billboard magazine's special, year-end, weekly Christmas Albums sales chart.

In 2003, the album was voted No. 142 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. In 2017, it was ranked the 130th greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork. In 2019, it was ranked the greatest Christmas album of all time by Rolling Stone. The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Background and recording

Spector conceived the project while producing the Ronettes' single "Be My Baby" in July 1963. Although he was Jewish, he regarded Christmas as his favorite time of year, and sought to apply his Wall of Sound production method to an album of Christmas standards.

Recording took place over six weeks during August and September 1963 at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. Spector booked the studio for nearly that entire period, with single sessions occasionally extended through the next day. The project involved all his regular artists, including the Ronettes, Darlene Love, and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, as well as arranger Jack Nitzsche. Among the visitors to the sessions were the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who attempted to contribute piano to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" before Spector rejected his playing.

Engineer Larry Levine later described the intensive schedule as a "nightmare" that left his "nerves shattered" and the musicians fatigued: "It got to the point where Phil and I were at each other’s throats ... He had to have it out and then he wanted the tracks done as singles not as album tracks. I never wanted to work with Phil again after that." Ronettes vocalist Nedra Talley recalled, "You could sense that there was this side of who was gonna get what songs, and the fact that Ronnie and Phil were becoming an item, the others might have felt that there might be some favoritism to the Ronettes. But the other side was that it was so much fun being together and supporting each other and all singing on each other’s songs."

The album concludes with a spoken-word narration by Spector over an instrumental version of "Silent Night", in which he thanks the listeners and acknowledges everyone involved in the project. According to Levine, the original voiceover exceeded five minutes before being edited down to approximately two; Levine remembered Spector "extolling his virtue, how great he was, while trying to sound humble".

Reception

The album, released in the United States on November 22, 1963—the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated—was a relative failure at the time. Original pressings are scarce and collectable, now selling for $400–$500 in excellent condition.

In subsequent years, especially after its reissue on Apple, the album grew in popularity and is considered now to be a holiday classic. Several of its tracks became iconic Christmas songs for generations, such as the original 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 of Bruce Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is based in part on the Crystals' version of the song, and U2's late-1980s remake of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" that appeared on the first A Very Special Christmas album is patterned after the Darlene Love original that appeared on the Spector LP. The Ronettes' versions of "Frosty The Snowman" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" also usually get some radio airplay during the holiday season.

Commercial performance

On its initial release, the album held the No. 13 spot on Billboard's Christmas Albums chart for two consecutive weeks. An Apple reissue of the album went to No. 6 on the same chart in December 1972, which was its highest chart ranking. The album made its debut on the UK Albums Chart in 1972; it would re-chart in 1983, peaking at No. 19.