Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Seven

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector (1963) had a long way twisted path to become the landmark Christmas album that it is today.  The album, originally titled A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records, had the misfortune of being released on the same day that President Kennedy was assassinated and was considered a flop for Spector's Philles records and faded off into obscurity.  It was re-released by Apple Records in 1972, at which point it finally started getting the recognition that it deserves.  Many of the songs have been included on various film soundtracks and have been included on countless Christmas playlists. 

While the tracks from The Ronettes, The Crystals, and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans are all wonderful, to me the two tracks that stand out the most on this album are Darlene Love's renditions of Marshmallow World and Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).  With the unmistakable Wall of Sound treatment and Darlene Love breathtaking vocals elevate these tracks above the rest of the album.  Here's a listen...

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Six

I really wish we still had honest to goodness variety shows like they did in the fifties, sixties, and seventies.  By variety show, I mean the kind with skits, musical numbers, and a jovial yet nonthreatening host.  Having recently watched  Andy Williams: Best of Christmas, a DVD that shows a compilation of some of the highlights of his annual Christmas specials, I have come to wish for these simpler times.  I was taken aback by the complete lack of cynicism that Andy Williams and his family had when producing these specials.  They just wanted to put on a great family friendly show that would be the highlight of the Christmas viewing schedule in years gone-by.  It is also clear that the Andy Williams crew spared no expense when producing these shows.  The costumes and sets are amazing for a show that in those days would only ever be shown on television once or twice. 

To modern eyes something like the Andy Williams show may seems like something incredibly quaint and geeky (it seems like the Osmonds were perpetual guests), but I urge people to seek out some of the clips on YouTube.  You can have a laugh about the goofy clothes they wear and enjoy some warm Christmas television like our parents used to enjoy.  Here's a sampling...

Tweleve Days of Christmas: Day Five

Have yourself a merry little suicide? For Frank Capra, the holidays were the perfect time for dejected men to find redemption after being snapped from the brink.  This occurs in two of his classic movies.  The obvious Capra film that falls into this category is the Christmas standby It's a Wonderful Life (1946), where Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey reconsiders suicide with some help from his guardian angel Clarence.  The second is Capra's 1941film, Meet John Doe, where the titular character (played by Gary Cooper) almost jumps form the top of City Hall on Christmas Eve, after being used by a scheming political magnate to be the spokesperson for the common man.  Instead of an angel, John Doe finds the will to live when common men everywhere come to his rescue to show that men can triumph over society's evils. In the end both men learn that there's something worthwhile in life, but the suicide angle seems a little extreme...

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Four

Bogie and Bacall

What is it about vintage Christmas trees and tinsel?  It seems like all Christmas trees of a certain era were considered outcasts if their boughs aren't dripping with long luscious tinsel tendrils.  Let's commemorate some of the glorious firs of yesteryear...

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Three

There are few Christmas specials that are as iconic as A Charlie Brown Christmas.  You can buy your own Charlie Brown tree and the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack has found its way into permanent rotation in Christmas playlists.  For me, perhaps the most iconic part of the special is when the Peanuts gang breaks into spontaneous dance.  If you think about it, it's a pretty simple scene.  Every character on screen must have no more than a dozen cells devoted to their individual dance motion, and those movements are repeated over and over again, yet somehow it's magic. It makes me wish that everyone would break into their own spontaneous Charlie Brown dance.  Here's the original and a pretty convincing imitator...