A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector is the sound of the super-producer taking his trademark âWall of Soundâ style and smashing beloved Christmas carols into it. âWinter Wonderlandâ and âWhite Christmasâ now have more in common with âDa Doo Ron Ronâ and âHeâs a Rebelâ than they do the traditional yuletide aesthetic. Spector brings his best talent to provide the center for all of this ornamentation (ha!), and what emerges is not only the greatest holiday album ever recorded, but also one of the all-time greatest pop albums.
Â
Nostalgia permeates the songs here, and Spectorâs trademark operatic tendencies and grandeur only underscore these traits. Whether it is LaLa Brooksâ teenaged vocals adding a childlike glee to âRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeerâ or Bob B. Soxxâs impassioned statements on âThe Bells of St. Maryâs,â Spector gets some of the best emotional readings any of these songs have ever received. Ronnie Spectorâs innately sensual voice zaps the innocence out of âI Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,â but her carnality adds a knowing wink to the construct of the song that makes it sound and feel fresh.
Â
His maximalist tendencies also make these songs play like rock and roll riots throughout. âSanta Claus is Coming to Townâ is a rave-up that would sound right at home sandwiched in-between âThen He Kissed Meâ and âI Wonderâ on a Crystals album. Itâs the sound of a group of young girls turning a fairy tale promise into a barn burner and an excuse to dance in the snow. Same goes for âParade of the Wooden Soldiersâ where their breathlessly girlish voices cascade over a beat made of pounding drums, horns, and clanking percussion. Â
Â
While Ronnie Spector does melt âFrosty the Snowmanâ through the sheer force of her sexuality, itâs âSleigh Rideâ thatâs the biggest rocker on the album. Between the sound effects, the background chants of  âring-a-ling-a-ling ding-dong-ding,â Ronnieâs sex kitten invitation, and a swirling production that threatens to spiral off into chaos before eventually succumbing at the very end, âSleigh Rideâ would be the highlight of just about any other album. Yet it has to settle for merely being second best here.
Â
Darlene Love is the true MVP of this album, given her four solo appearances and background vocal work with Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, and thereâs no stopping her. Sheâs playful on the surreal âMarshmallow World,â dreamy on âWhite Christmas,â and a one-woman choir on âWinter Wonderlandâ as Spector layers her vocals on top of each other. Nothing beats âChristmas (Baby Please Come Home),â the lone original song on this album and an emotional tour de force. In what is quite possibly the strongest vocal performance of her esteemed career, Love belts, yearns, and pours her heart and soul out all across âChristmas.â Her passion is enough to cause a blizzard during a Texas summer.
Â
If there is one misstep on the album, itâs quite possibly the ending coda. Phil Spector speaks a few words of thanks before the entire recording artists harmonize a few lines of âSilent Night.â Itâs over just as quickly as it starts and the harmonized vocals are heavenly, but Spectorâs spoken word segment is a bit distracting. It doesnât affect the enjoyment of the album in any major way.
Â
It isnât the season until I listen to A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector at least once, typically more than that. More so than just about any individual album, A Christmas Gift for You is the purest distillation of Spectorâs genius. Although Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica comes closest to not only rivaling it in sheer pop spectacle and power, but in toppling it for supremacy. (The box set Back to Mono (1958 â 1969) is an entirely separate story as thatâs three discs of his best and brightest singles all in one collection, and this is included in that set anyway.) Itâs just one hell of a delightful piece of pop music at its greatest, and an absolutely essential and vital must-own album.
Â
DOWNLOAD: âChristmas (Baby Please Come Home)â