Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Phil Spector released his magnum opus in the 1963 holiday season. Titled A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records, it’s hard to overstate the extent of Spector’s ambition and accomplishment on this album. Understand that this was just before the Beatles conquered American airwaves, and came at a point when Spector was being condemned by old-guard members of the entertainment industry as a “sharpie poisoning American culture.” It was also a time when the industry was dominated by singles, and long-playing albums were often filled with hastily-recorded second-rate material.