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V.A.: A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records

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On November 22, 1963, “Philles” label released “A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records”, an album of Christmas songs. It was recorded September – October 1963, at “Gold Star” in Hollywood, and was produced by Phil Spector. In 2003, the album was ranked at no. 142 on “Rolling Stone” magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, and in 2019, it was ranked the greatest “Christmas Album of All Time”.

Personnel:

  • Darlen Love – performer (White Christmas, Marshmallow World, Winter Wonderland, Christmas, Baby Please Come Home)
  • The Ronettes – performer (Frosty the Snowman, Sleigh Ride, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)
  • Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans – performer (The Bells of St. Mary’s, Here Comes Santa Claus)  
  • The Crystals – performer (Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers)
  • Phil Spector – performer (Silent Night)
  • Barney Kessel – guitar
  • Bill Pitman – guitar
  • Tommy Tedesco – guitar
  • Nino Tempo – guitar
  • Irv Rubins – guitar
  • Leon Russell – piano
  • Al De Lory – piano
  • Don Randi – piano
  • Ray Pohlman – bass
  • Jimmy Bond – bass
  • Hal Blaine – drums
  • Sonny Bono – percussion
  • Frank Capp – percussion
  • Jack Nitzsche – percussion, arrangements
  • Jay Migliori – saxophone
  • Steve Douglas – baritone saxophone
  • Roy Caton – trumpet
  • Lou Blackburn – horns
  • Johnny Vidor – strings
  • Larry Levine – engineer

Track listing:

  1. White Christmas – Irving Berlin
  2. Frosty the Snowman – Steve Nelson, Walter Rollins
  3. The bells of St. Mary’s – A. Emmet Adams, Douglas Furber
  4. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie
  5. Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish
  6. Marshmallow World – Carl Sigman, Peter DeRose
  7. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Tommie Connor
  8. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer – Johnny Marks
  9. Winter Wonderland – Felix Bernard, Dick Smith
  10. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers – Leon Jessel
  11. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home – Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Phil Spector
  12. Here Comes Santa Claus – Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman
  13. Silent Night – Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber

Hal Blaine

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On March 11, 2019, Harold Simon Belsky aka Hal Blaine died aged 90. He was musician (drums) regarded to be one of the most recorded studio drummers in the history of the modern music. He had more than 35,000 recording sessions in various music genres including big number of film and TV soundtracks. He worked with Shelley Fabares, The Crystals, Jan & Dean, The Beach Boys, Dean Martin, Lorne Greene, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Byrds, Sonny & Cher, Barry McGuire, Petula Clark, Nancy Sinatra, The Mamas & the Papas, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Rivers, The Supremes, The Association, Simon & Garfunkel, Tommy Roe, The 5th Dimension, Henry Mancini, The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, The Partridge Family, The Raiders, Barbra Streisand, John Denver, Captain & Tennille, Diana Ross, Sam Cooke, Van Dyke Parks, John Lennon, Lulu, Dennis Wilson, Paul Simon, Richard Harris, Glen Campbell, Emitt Rhodes, Art Garfunkel, Juice Newton, Michael Nesmith, Cher, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, J.J. Cale, José Feliciano, Bobby Darin, Rosanne Cash, Cass Elliot, Rodney Crowell, Dion DiMucci, Paul Anka, Barry Mann, Emmylou Harris, Jackie Lomax, Elkie Brooks, Helen Reddy, John Philips, Thelma Houston and Leonard Cohen. As leader Blaine released five albums.

Phil Spector

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On January 16, 2021, Harvey Phillip Spector died aged 81. He was musician (guitar, piano), vocalist, songwriter and music producer. He developed music production “Wall of Sound”, he described as “Wagnerian approach to rock and roll”. Spector started the music career as member of the band Teddy Bears, at age of 21 he co-founded “Philles Records” and became the youngest ever US label owner to that point. In the 60’s he wrote songs or produced music for The Ronettes, The Crystals, Ike & Tina Turner, produced Beatles album “Let It Be”, and few solo John Lennon and George Harrison recordings. He also worked with Leonard Cohen, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector, The Wrecking Crew, The Righteous Brothers, and The Ramones. In 1973 Spector won “Grammy Award for Album of the Year” for co-producing Harrison’s “Concert for Bangladesh”, in 1989 he was inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, and in 1997 he was inducted into the “Songwriters Hall of Fame”. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at number 63 on their list of “The Greatest Artists in History”.In 2009, he was convicted for the 2003 murder of the actress Lana Clarkson and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison, where he died.