A Conversation with Phil Spector – HuffPost 12.13.13

Mike Ragogna: Why do you think A Christmas Gift For You has become one of the most cherished holiday albums of all time?

Phil Spector: Because I turned Christmas songs into real music. This album made what was just once a year songs into year round songs. I really wanted to show that Christmas songs were really beautiful songs written for anytime of the year, and could be sung by anybody anytime of the year. I wanted to make masterpiece songs and prove a point that Christmas music was great music. I made each song like a hit record. I was not just making music that would be here today and gone tomorrow. I truly believed this about every record I made. That it was going to be elevator music and department store music. That I was going to be the Irving Berlin of tomorrow and I had to think of the future. That I was not just making music for today but for tomorrow. Philles Records’ moto was “tomorrows music today.” It was on each record jacket.

MR: What are your memories about recording the music, what was it like in the studio with the artists and all the musicians?

PS: During the making of the album, it was 100 degrees outside and we were trying to make it feel like it was 20 degrees. The experience working with the artists and musicians was fabulous. It was a ton of work but I just remember everyone having fun and such a great time. And we weren’t just working on the Christmas album. We were doing a ton of radio and TV shows up North as well as two other tracks–“I wonder” and “A fine fine boy.” During the recording process, I was trying to forget what Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole previously did and how traditional Christmas songs had been like. I wanted to make upbeat songs that had never been done this way before. It was a real risk for me because you never knew if the public was going to accept them or not or even catch on.

MR: How did you decide what songs to record?

PS: I picked out my favorite songs. And I didn’t just want to pick your basic standards. I chose “The Bells of St. Mary” because I heard Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters version on the back of his “White Christmas” record. Clyde was one of my favorite singers. I chose Bobby Sheen–Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans–because I felt that he sounded just like Clyde. “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” was a classical tune from 1897, which I knew I could completely change the song and make an upbeat, progressive version. I chose “Marshmallow World,” originally not a Christmas song either, because I just loved the lyric. Carl Sigman co-wrote “Marshmallow World” and said that my version was his favorite. It was even used in his autobiography. I didn’t want to just record Christmas songs. I wanted to record songs and make songs of the season. I wanted one original hit song on the album and that was “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love. With “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” I completely changed almost the entire song, especially the bridge, because I wanted it to copy “Da Doo Ron Ron.” From that day forward, everyone copied my version rather than the original–Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, etc.

MR: What was it like hearing your song on the radio or on someone else’s record player for the first time?

PS: It was “To Know Him Is To Love Him” in 1958. I was only 17 years old. It was all so very exciting. I remember when Art Laboe played it at Scrivener’s Drive-In on Labrea and Sunset on KRLA. My song went to #1 in LA. I would go into Wallach’s Music City on Sunset and Vine everyday to check the record sales.

MR: Do you find yourself playing this album for enjoyment around the holidays?

PS: Not at first. Once JFK was assassinated, the entire country was completely somber. No one was celebrating anything. There really was not a Christmas that year. Years later, I definitely did. It is still one of my favorite albums.

MR: Can you believe it’s been 50 years?

PS: No. It seems like I was in the studio just yesterday. Like me and George Harrison were together shooting my new cover photos for the re-release on Apple Records. I was wearing the Santa Claus outfit with the back to mono button on my beard and a Santa hat. George told me this was his favorite album.

MR: How do you think A Christmas Gift For You will be looked at 50 more years from now?

PS: The same. Sounds like it was made yesterday. Everything today sounds mechanical.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

PS: Amy Winehouse said it best: “Try to get your records to sound like Phil Spector.”

Phil Spector Answers Transcribed by Rachelle Spector