Best Wishes for a Happy New Year 2011 /Merry Christmas 2010 For All of You

Doo Wop

The Cameos

From Philadelphia, this group only made one record in November 1957 as "The Cameos," but the group members were no strangers to the Philly R&B group harmony recording scene.  Named after the Cameo label for this one release, the Cameos personnel included Oscar "Cisco" Williams, John "Pancho" Christian, Reggie Price, Rufus Hunter and Tony Lewis.

Cisco Williams, Pancho Christian and Reggie Price were from North Philadelphia and had previously sung with the Quadrells (Whirlin' Disc label).  Rufus had been with the Magnificents out of Chicago.  Later, Cisco, Reggie and Pancho (along with Kent Peeler of the Dreamers on Grand and Roosevelt Simmons of the Sensations) would form the core of the Universals ("Again").  Cisco, Pancho and Reggie would also sing with the later Turbans.

Cisco did the lead on this up tempo Christmas classic. 

The A Side  

And A Happy New Year  The B Side 

And last but not least , slowin it down a little bit

ABBA around the Piano

Our Church Choir at Perimeter Mall Atlanta -Flash Mob

From Dunwoody United Methodist Church to you Dec 10 2010
Merry Christmas

Leon Russell Slippin into Christmas 1972

The forgotten Christmas classic, which was only released on a 45 rpm back in 1972.For much more Leon Russell, please go to the Tulsa Area Music Archives - you'll be glad you did .  Leon is amazing .

http://www.preservemusic.org/

For much more Leon Russell, please go to the Tulsa Area Music Archives - you'll be glad you did .  Leon is amazing .

http://www.preservemusic.org/

Well I'm slipping into Christmas
I'm sliding into New Year
And I'm missing all your kisses
Baby, since you're not here

The special thing you give me
I won't find underneath my tree
And I'm feeling sad and lonesome
Wishin' you were here with me!


And I'm feeling a kind of useless
By the second hand Christmas tree
And I'm slinking into sorrow
These blues have got a hold on me

Well I know 'tis the season to be jolly
But Scrooge ain't got a thing on me
And so I'm slipping into Christmas
Wishing you were here with me!


Well I'm slipping into Christmas
Sliding into New Year
And I'm missing all your kisses
Darlin' since you're not here

Whoa, deck the halls with teardrops
Scrooge ain't got a thing on me
So I'm slipping into Christmas,
Wishing you were here with me!

Whoa, sittin' right here on my knee
Well, it's gonna be a blue Christmas!!!!

Darlene Love Live - Letterman 2008 plus wikipedia info

In this clip , Paul Schaffer plays the great piano lick ( at about 2:45 into the clip )
that Leon Russell , Rock and Roll Hall of Fame  inductee--finally ! -did on the original starting about 2 minutes into the song .

And Here is the Original

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records
Compilation album by Phil Spector
Released	November 22, 1963
Genre	Christmas, Baroque pop
Length	34:12
Label	Philles Records
Producer	Phil Spector
Professional reviews
Allmusic  link
Phil Spector chronology
Philles Records Presents Today's Hits (1963) A Christmas Gift for You (1963) Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes featuring Veronica (1964)

Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records (later re-released as A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector) is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 4005 in 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his trademark "Wall of Sound" treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector's regular artists during this period. It is one of only twelve long-playing records released on the Philles label, peaking at number 13 on Billboard magazine's special, year-end, weekly Christmas Albums sales chart in December 1963.^[1] The album was reissued by Apple Records in 1972, with different cover art and retitled Phil Spector's Christmas Album; this version went to number 6 on Billboard's special Christmas Albums sales chart in December of that year.^[1]

However, the album was a relative failure at the time and was released on 22 November 1963, the same day as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Original pressings are now scarce and collectable, now selling for $400-$500 in excellent condition.^[2]

In subsequent years the album grew in popularity and is considered now to be a holiday classic. Several of its tracks became iconic Christmas songs for generations, such as the original (and flop) single "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," and the well-known "Ring-a-ling-a-ling Ding-dong-ding" background vocals in The Ronettes' "Sleigh Ride." The arrangement of Bruce Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is based in part on the Crystals' version of the song , and U2's late 80s cover of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" that appeared on the first "A Very Special Christmas" album is patterned after the Darlene Love original that appeared on the Spector LP . The Ronettes version of "Frosty The Snowman" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" also usually get some radio airplay during the holiday season.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 142 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album has been released several times on different labels: the original release on Philles and the 1972 reissue on Apple were followed by additional reissues on Warner-Spector (1974, the first version to feature a stereo mix of the songs), Pavilion (1981), Impression (1983 as a cassette PSLK2), Passport (1984), and Rhino (1987). The first CD issue was also on Rhino in 1987, co-credited to Phil Spector International RNCD 70235 and restoring the album's original mono mix. The second CD issue was in 1987 as well, on Chrysalis (CCD 1625) in monophonic for the UK market. This one is co-credited "Spector Records International" and features the slightly different international artwork. The more common third CD issue came in 1989, a remastered release on ABKCO which restored the original title, artwork, and mono mix. The album also appeared as the fourth disc of ABKCO's 1991 Spector box set,Back to Mono, and as the second disc of the 2006 UK-only ABKCO compilation The Phil Spector Collection. Sony Music took over distribution rights to the Philles Records catalog in 2009 and re-released the remastered mono album on its Legacy Recordings imprint on October 27 of that year.^[3] TheSundazed label also reissued the album on vinyl in 2009.

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, well-known as a fan of both the Ronettes and Spector, has cited this album as his favorite of all time.^[4]

[edit]Track listing

Recorded at Gold Star recording studio

Track	Song Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Time
1.	White Christmas	Irving Berlin	Darlene Love	2:52
2.	Frosty the Snowman	Steve Nelson and Walter Rollins	The Ronettes	2:16
3.	The Bells of St. Mary's	A. Emmett Adams and Douglas Furber	Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans	2:54
4.	Santa Claus Is Coming to Town	J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie	The Crystals	3:24
5.	Sleigh Ride	Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish	The Ronettes	3:00
6.	Marshmallow World	Carl Sigman and Peter DeRose	Darlene Love	2:23
7.	I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus	Tommie Connor	The Ronettes	2:37
8.	Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer	Johnny Marks	The Crystals	2:30
9.	Winter Wonderland	Felix Bernard and Dick Smith	Darlene Love	2:25
10.	Parade of the Wooden Soldiers	Leon Jessel	The Crystals	2:55
11.	Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)	Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector	Darlene Love	2:45
12.	Here Comes Santa Claus	Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman	Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans	2:03
13.	Silent Night	Josef Mohr and Franz X. Gruber	Phil Spector and Artists	2:08

[edit]Personnel

• Jack Nitzsche – arrangements, percussion
• Louis Blackburn – horns
• Hal Blaine - drums
• Sonny Bono - percussion
• Leon Russell - piano
• Roy Caton - trumpet
• Steve Douglas - saxophone
• Frank Capp - percussion
• Barney Kessel - guitar
• Jay Migliori - saxophone
• Bill Pitman - guitar
• Ray Pohlman - bass
• Irv Rubins - guitar
• Tommy Tedesco - guitar
• Nino Tempo - guitar
• Johnny Vidor - strings
• Larry Levine - engineer

[edit]References

1. ^ ^a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920-2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc.. p. 229. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
2. ^ http://www.popsike.com/PHIL-SPECTORCHRISTMAS-ALBUMMINT-ORIG63-LPBLUE-LABEL/130336116493.html
3. ^ http://www.billboard.com/news/phil-spector-catalog-to-be-reissued-1004017963.story#/news/phil-spector-catalog-to-be-reissued-1004017963.story
4. ^ Michael deMartin, [1], Pet Blog: Pet Sounds at 40: An Appreciation , July 12, 2006

Pink Martini - Carol of the Bells

A change of  pace .
From Wikipedia :

Pink Martini is a 12-member "little orchestra"^[1] from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1994 by pianist Thomas M. Lauderdale. They draw inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop. Band leader Thomas Lauderdale describes the band's sound as "music of the world without being world music. If the United Nations had a house band in 1962 hopefully Pink Martini would be that band." "My hope is that we’re creating exquisite musical wallpaper which can be turned up or down, and played on almost any occasion, from background music to a love affair to vacuuming around the house."^[2]

Darlene Love : All Alone At Christmas with E Street Band and Christmas Baby Please Come Home

From Wikipedia:

All Alone On Christmas" is a song written and arranged by Steve Van Zandt and recorded by Darlene Love with members of both The E Street Band and The Miami Horns. It was originally featured on the soundtrack of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.^[1] It was also released as a CD single which included an instrumental version.

The third track on the single was a Christmas remix of The Capitols "Cool Jerk" which was also taken from the same film soundtrack. The single was influenced by Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and is recorded in the style of the Spector-produced Love song "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". The single featured a promotional photo of Love with the five members of the E Street Band who featured on the track.^[2] A promotional video featured Macaulay Culkin "producing" as Love performed the song with The E Street Band and The Miami Horns. The song was also featured in the film Love Actually^[3] and in the 2001 Italian film Merry Christmas.

During the first year of her run in the Broadway musical Hairspray, Love re-recorded the song using the show's cast and band as backup on the charity recording Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for A Cure Vol. 7. The song references Love's earlier holiday recording "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". The song was covered by RuPaul for his 1997 Christmas album entitled "Ho, Ho, Ho".

Cool Jerk - Original ( The uncle sings it in the shower in Home Alone )

Dr Strange and the Lovers - Santa's Brothers

Big thanks to Dennis Bell and his Golden Oldies web site . Check it out , you will be impressed and love it !

http://home.insightbb.com/~dennismbell/oldies/

All I Want For Christmas Is You--- Mariah Carey

Yes , I know it is a lip sync but still a good show .It's Christmas

The Delvets from 1961

I Want a Boy For Christmas  Enjoy . From End Records

I'd Like To Give U One

Written by Barry Upton, the brains behind Steps, this cheeky song was a Christmas 2004 hit and has been remixed for 2005.
Feel Free to Sing Along , lyrics are included