Tuesday Top Ten: Ranking the Songs on the Phil Spector Christmas Album

Since it's the holiday season, that means we get to listen to one of the best holiday albums ever made:  1963's A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector.  Eleven years ago, I explained why it is so great, and I recommended that you purchase it.  Since you have all undoubtedly done so since then, I now feel comfortable ranking the songs on the album.

Released on the day JFK was shot, A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector is so revered that it was ranked #142 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums in rock and roll history.  To be clear, the list encompassed all albums, not just holiday music.  Legendary producer Phil Spector used his "Wall of Sound" production technique to bring the both standards and new holiday songs to life, creating iconic Christmas songs that have been used in movies, TV shows, commercials, and the like for the last 55 years.

Setting aside Spector -- who is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and arguably the greatest producer in rock and roll history -- the list contributors to the album is amazing:

• The artists are The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, and Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans.  Both The Ronettes and Love are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hell, one could argue that Darlene Love got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of this album.
• Among the many legendary session musicians who performed on the album were Sonny Bono (percussion), Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell (piano), Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Hal Blaine (drums), and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Steve Douglas (saxophone), and Ray Pohlman (bass), who was credited with being the first electric bass player in LA in the '50s.
• Love's hit (now a Christmas classic), "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" was co-written by Spector and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (who also gave us legendary pop hits like "Da Do Ron Ron," "Then He Kissed Me," "The Leader of the Pack," "Be My Baby," "Hanky Panky," "Do-Wah-Diddy," "Chapel of Love," and "River Deep - Mountain High").

Alright, so you know the album is great, but let's get to the point of this post:  ranking the thirteen songs on the album.  There's not a bad song on the album, so it was hard.  Bear in mind that these rankings are purely subjective and 100% inarguable.

13. "Silent Night" by Phil Spector and Artists (Track #13)

This is a spoken-word "thank you" from Phil Spector with "Silent Night" playing in the background, so I'm not sure I'd even consider it a proper song, but it's on the album, so I included it on the list.

12. "Frosty the Snowman" by The Ronettes (Track #2)
The Wall of Sound meets the world's most recognized snowman.

11. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by The Crystals (Track #8)
This is another one where the Wall of Sound exhibits itself and brings new life to a holiday classic.


10.  "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" by The Crystals (Track #10)
Horns are front and center in The Crystals' version of this originally instrumental holiday song.


9. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by The Ronettes (Track #7)
A solid version of a story of yuletide infidelity.


8. "White Christmas" by Darlene Love (Track #1)
This is a '60s take on arguably the most iconic Christmas song, and Love delivers.  I love the spoken-word interlude in the middle of the song, where Love laments that she is in Los Angeles, but "longing to be up north."


7. "Marshmallow World" by Darlene Love (Track #6)
It may be a marshmallow world in the winter, but always remember:  don't eat the yellow marshmallows.

6. "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans (Track #12)

I think this is one of the better exhibitions of the Wall of Sound on this album, with the backing vocals and instruments as much a part of the song as the lead vocals.

5. "The Bells of St. Mary's" by Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans (Track #3)
Bobby Sheen, aka Bob B. Soxx, belts out this one, with the help of the backing vocals of the Blue Jeans, aka Darlene Love and Fanita James, taking the song to heights that the writers of the song surely could not have envisioned when they wrote it in 1917.


4. "Winter Wonderland" by Darlene Love (Track #9)
I like this version of "Winter Wonderland" because it has soul.  The vocals are great, and although it's credited to Darlene Love, it's really sung by backing vocalists (not sure who, but perhaps the Crystals or the Blossoms), and Love only comes in at the end.  The song just has a good feel.


3. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" by The Crystals (Track #4)
This version of a Christmas classic inspired Bruce Springsteen's now-iconic live version that we all know and love.  The Wall of Sound is in full effect in this song, kicking in after the spoken-word intro and overwhelming you with holiday cheer.


2. "Sleigh Ride" by The Ronettes (Track #5)
The Ronettes crush this holiday classic, from the horse sound effects to Ronnie Bennett Spector's lead vocals to the backing "ring-aling-aling-a-ding-dong-dings."  It's far and away my favorite version of this song.  Ronnie could sing death dirges and make them sound good.

1. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love (Track #11)
I mean, this is just a classic -- probably a top five Christmas song ever.