0 411a (right) with singer and arranger recording A Christmas Gift To You at LA's in 1963

-ALBUMS - REVIEW "Itnever snows in "

MM DEC 2 Phil Spector talks mono, and the troubled history of his White Christmas' stuff. I mean, everyyearthey have to revive Irving Berlin and tell him, 'It's Christmas Album. "It came out the day President Kennedy was assassinated..." Christmas -time again, Irving.' He must be 180 years old by now." THE LONG LEFT arm of Muhammad Spector's nowwaiting excitedlyfor a call from Spector took silly songs like "FrostyThe Ali snakes out, his fist beating a tattoo Ali himself. "He's my friend," says Spector.Ali Snowman", "I Saw MommyKissing Santa of wicked jabs on Bob Foster's tired, and Phil -both winners, both stripped of their Claus", "Rudolph The Red -Nosed Reindeer", puffy cheek. Five thousand miles away, Phil titles through jealousy and resentment for the "The Bells Of St Mary's" and "Parade Of The Spector sits, cross-legged and straight- way theybucked the system and held up a Wooden Soldiers" and transformed them into backed, his nose two feet away from the finger to the establishment. pop epics through the use of all the sound colour TV screen. "Scored!" he screams. Phil Spector revealed himself, briefly and components which had built his chart hits with "Scored! Scored again! Scored again!" unexpectedly, to the British media last week. the individual groups. He's never believed in SuddenlyAli goes into retreat, teasing Foster The reason was the release, this week or next, of spoiling the ship fora ha'porth of tar, and every to follow him on rubbery legs around the ring. his famous ChristmasAlbum. The album, effort was expanded to make this production His strength ebbing alongwith his confidence. originally recorded and half-heartedly as grand and perfect as his singles like "Then Foster tries one last time to connect with his released in 1963, was first He Kissed Me" and "Be opponent's jeering mouth. Somehow, he lands titledA Christmas Gift For My Baby". , a solid left -and -right combination. You and featured The "It went on for , Sonny "Missed! Missed again... atAli, he's Ronettes, Darlene Love, The Bono, HerbAlpert, Nino carrying Foster! He can take Foster anytime he Crystals, and Bob B Soxx & months. I never Tempo, and Jack wants! He's knocked him down six times, and The Blue Jeans, with a Nitzsche sat in LosAngeles' all theycan talk about is him getting cut! memorable Yuletide wanted to see him Gold Star Studios for weeks, "He's the champ, there's no one better. Get benediction spoken by the adding bits until the jigsaw him, Ali... scored again! Scored again!" grand master of record again after that" was complete. EventuallyFoster's legs betrayhis courage, production himself. The record was pressed, and he tumbles to the canvas for the eighth and It took between six and nine months to the jackets printed, and thousands of copies last time. Spector bounds to his feet, complete and cost in excess of $35,000. The were stacked in warehouses, waiting for release applauding with a fierce intensity. The TV amount of care put into the arrangements and in Novemberof 1963. "It came out the same day broadcast is a recording, and Spector saw the percussion overdubbingwas extraordinary. "It that President Kennedywas assassinated," fight "live" the previous night at a London went on for months," recalls his engineer, Larry Spectorremembers. "Naturally, that depressed cinema, by satellite from Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Levine, with a shudder. "I never wanted to see the whole country. Certainly no one was "That cut's onlysuperficial," he says, still him again after that. Day and night for months." buying Christmas records -everybodywas in staring at the screen. "Bundini told me it wasn't All the tracks were made like singles," says mourning, which was only right. Not onlywas it nothing important." Spector. "I did everything that Irving Berlin and the worst Christmas of all time, it was also the Bundini Brown, Ali's trainer, had telephoned Bing Crosbywouldn't want, because I was hottest Christmas in American history. It never Spector in London only hours after the fight. getting a bit bored with all the I'm dreaming ofa snows in California anyway."

138 I HISTORY OF ROCK 1972