Must See TV: Merry Christmas From Darlene Love!

Tomorrow evening 23 December on The Late Show With David Letterman marks one of our favorite annual viewing experiences of the holiday season. The fantastic Darlene Love will appear for the 25th consecutive year to sing the Spector-era classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" along with Paul Shaffer and The CBS Orchestra - and probably their own augmented "Wall of Sound." [Check your local listings, but in the US the standard starting time of the show is 11.35pm EST/PST and 10.35pm CST.]

And this year should prove to be all the more festive with the recent news that Ms. Love was finally notified that she will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Our Christmas wish granted.

To get you in the spirit, here's the original recording from 1963's A Christmas Gift To You From Phil Spector:

Sneak Preview of Bruce Springsteen's "The Promise"

This coming Tuesday 16 November Columbia Records will release the outtakes of Bruce Springsteen's Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions, recorded back in 1977 and 1978. The Boss & The E Street Band had famously been away from the recording studio for almost three years due to a managerial dispute. But then Springsteen came to The Record Plant in New York City with a wealth of material, and this 21 (22?) track archive stands as a great double LP addition to his wonderful catalog.

The majority of the record could be peeled off and titled Born To Run 2.0. "Gotta Get That Feeling" is a full-on Phil Spector era tribute which could have been sung by one of his stable of great girl groups. (Hint to Darlene Love - make this your next single.) The British Invasion is revisited in "Outside Looking In" and The Righteous Brothers are bowed to with reverence via "Someday." And Bruce's deep affection for Memphis soul is reflected in two of the best tracks on the record: the call and response anthem "Ain't Good Enough" and the Miami Horns powered "It's A Shame," punctuated by a fine harmony vocal from Little Steven Van Zandt.

But The Promise also provides a glimpse of what an extended Darkness might have been. And while it's certainly hard to quibble with the tight structure of a four-star album, there are definitely some tunes that must have come close to making the cut. The title song and "One Way Street" are in the same vein. And a serious argument can be made for "Because The Night": alas, Springsteen couldn't find the right lyrical fit until he handed it off to Patti Smith, who then took her version to the Top 10 a year later.

What is also revelatory about this compilation are the compositions that ended up in the hands of or influenced other artists, showing the versatility of Bruce the songwriter: "Fire" (The Pointer Sisters), "Talk To Me" (Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes) and "City of Night" (certainly meant for Willy DeVille).

The Promise is no throwaway of odds and ends. It is a worthy addition to the Bruce Springsteen canon.

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Preview The Promise in its entirety (via Spinner.com), and enjoy the promotional film below.

Albums You Must Own (#6 and #7 in a series)

Vince Guaraldi Trio
A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy 1965)

In December of 1965, the CBS Television Network broadcast a new animated special based on a story by Charles M. Schulz the author of the popular daily comic strip Peanuts. Since then it has literally been a yearly staple of the holiday circuit, entertaining two generations of fans to its sweet comedic but spiritual message.

At the core of the A Charlie Brown Christmas is the music performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, a mix of holiday standards and new originals in the jazz tradition. Schulz himself picked fellow San Francisco Bay Area native Guaraldi for the soundtrack.

Born in 1928, Guaraldi began playing the piano around age seven. By the time he was a teen, he had learned the boogie-woogie and blues style by listening to masters like Jimmy Yancy and Lux Lewis. In his twenties, like many other jazz musicians, Guaraldi took to the bebop mastery of Bud Powell and the impressionistic playing of Bill Evans. He gained some notoriety in the San Francisco and was signed to local label Fantasy Records. After spending some time on the road with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and declining offers to tour the country as a solo, Guaraldi settled into regular performance at Bay Area clubs.

In 1962 lightening struck for Guaraldi. He scored an unexpected hit with his own composition of "Cast Your Fate To The Wind." Originally a B-side of a single released locally, a Sacramento DJ flipped the 45 over and kept playing the song every hour. It caught on nationally, reaching the top ten of the U.S. pop charts. In addition, Guaraldi received a Grammy for Best Jazz Composition in 1963.

Planning the special in 1963 with Schulz, producer Lee Mendelson heard "Cast Your Fate" on the radio and decided to contact Guaraldi about authoring the soundtrack. The musician's interested was keen because he was a reader of the comic and had two children of his own. Within weeks Guaraldi presented Mendelson with what would become "Linus and Lucy." Mendelson recalled: "As soon as I heard it, I knew it was perfect. When I brought the tape for A Charlie Brown Christmas to Charles Schulz, he fell in love with it. I have always felt that one of the key elements that made that show was the music. It gave it a contemporary sound that appealed to all ages."

"Linus and Lucy" has become a jazz standard. A rolling boogie-woogie piece, it allows the kids to cut loose and dance to Schroeder's piano while Charlie Brown is trying to get them to rehearse for the annual Christmas pageant.

The other stand-out track has to be "Skating," which translates beautifully onto the screen as the children a try to catch snowflakes in their mouths while gliding along on the ice.

Vince Guaraldi went on to score fifteen Peanuts specials and a feature film before his untimely death in 1976 at the age of 47.

WATCH the entire A Charlie Brown Christmas and enjoy the Guaraldi soundtrack on Hulu.

Darlene Love, The Ronettes, Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, The Crystals

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector (Phillies 1963)

Produced by Phil Spector

Unfortunately released on the date of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector almost was relegated to the permanent cut-out bin. Instead, despite being released on numerous record labels, it has probably become the most critically acclaimed holiday record in the annals of rock and roll. And cited by Brian Wilson as his favorite of all time.

The array of singers on the record were from the stable of "Wall of Sound" producer Phil Spector. Seasonal classics jump off the album: Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," The Ronettes' "Sleigh Ride," and The Crystals' "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" all are standouts. They have led to notable "covers" by Bruce Springsteen and U2, among others.

The musicians playing on the records are noteworthy for rock enthusiasts. They included Jack Nitzsche (future producer of albums by Neil Young, among others), Hal Blaine (one of the most respected session drummers over the years) and Leon Russell (a fine piano player and singer in his own right, but also a credited player on records by George Harrison, Joe Cocker and Bob Dylan).

FURTHER LISTENING AND VIEWING:
The Ronettes sing "Sleigh Ride."

U2's cover of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home."

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band perform "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

Darlene Love + The Late Show = Christmas

For the 24th consecutive year, the wonderful Darlene Love will appear tonight on The Late Show with David Letterman. Ms. Love will sing the Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich holiday classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." [Note: Barry & Greenwich wrote 25 songs that were certified gold or platinum. Ellie Greenwich died earlier this year at the age of 68.] The song was originally released on the 1963 holiday compilation A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector.

Expect a powerhouse performance from Ms. Love, backed by Paul Shaffer & The CBS Orchestra, additional musicians (including strings) and a gospel choir, replicating the "Wall of Sound" production made famous by Spector. Don't miss it.

For a preview, here's her appearance from 1995. TNOP notes it as further evidence that Darlene Love should be elected - not just nominated - to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.