Already having
refined his famous “wall of sound,” a monophonic Wagnerian approach to rock-accented
pop, producer Phil Spector turned his talents to producing a holiday album. A Christmas Gift for You (1963) was a
tour de force featuring singers from Spector’s stable of recording artists,
including Darlene Love and The Ronettes, performing “Frosty the Snowman,”
“White Christmas” and other familiar sleigh bell tunes in the soulful,
rocked-up context of his wall of sound production. This season’s CD reissue,
the classic’s umpteenth repackaging, serves as a reminder that Spector
sprinkled magic in his studio in the decade before he began his long descent
into darkness.
