News

The Making Of A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

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Darlene Love details the recording of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" from the 1963 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame-inducted album
Darlene Love
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(Since its inception in 1973, the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame has enshrined nearly 1,000 recordings across all genres. The Making Of … series presents firsthand accounts of the creative process behind some of the essential recordings of the 20th century. You can read more Making Of … accounts, and in-depth insight into the recordings and artists represented in the Hall, in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition book.)

 

 

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Phil Spector And Various Artists
Philles (1963)
Album
Inducted 1999

(As told to Tammy La Gorce)

What I remember most about making ["Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"] is that we were doing it at the hottest time of the year. It was August when we were recording. And we would go into the studio at 1 in the afternoon, and we wouldn't leave till 1 or 2 in the morning. We never knew what time of day it was because we were working with Phil Spector, who worked us until our tongues were hanging out of our heads. But it was still fun.

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" was the only original song on [A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector]. [Writers Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Spector] came up with this great song, but because it was an original I was kind of scared. I thought, "You're gonna come along and do a brand-new song?" But after we finished doing it, everybody just kind of stopped and stared. It was like, "Wow, what did we just do?" It had this power, even in the session.

And a lot of people didn't know Leon Russell was our piano player. When we got to the end of the song, he was playing so much he was sweating. I don't think all he was playing at the end even made it onto the record, but he was playing so hard he actually played himself off the end of the bench. Well, thank God that ended the session. After he did that we were like, "OK y'all, it's time to go home."

(Tammy La Gorce is a freelance writer whose work appears regularly in The New York Times.)

News

Deck The GRAMMY Hall

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The GRAMMY Hall Of Fame's holiday classics
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Jan 5, 2016 - 9:07 am

The holiday season is the only annual celebration that could be said to have inspired its own genre of music. Not formally a genre, of course — holiday music comes in all varieties, from blues, rock and country to classical and hymns — but no other holiday has inspired such a vast canon of songs. Christmas carols date back as early as the 13th century, when presumably Mongols, crusaders and Byzantines took a break from sacking various cities to allow for a holiday feast and singing.

Of course, many traditional holiday carols, and even many popular holiday songs, predate the era of recorded music, which is the focus of the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame. Even fewer holiday songs have definitive renditions. Performing rights society ASCAP lists chestnuts such as "Winter Wonderland," "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" among its top 10 most performed classic holiday songs, a milestone generally reached through multitudes of cover versions.

Still, in the recorded music era, a handful of songs that would be as missed on Dec. 25 as presents and eggnog have been the subjects of enduring, classic recordings, eight of which have been inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame to date.

"All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)" (1948)
Spike Jones & His City Slickers
Inducted: 2007

Jones, who predated "Weird Al" Yankovic by some 40 years as pop's premier parodist, enjoyed one of his best-known recordings with this farcical carol. Written by grammar school music teacher Donald Gardner in 1944, the Slickers' original recording, with childlike vocals by group member George Rock, hit No. 1 in 1949. "I was amazed at the way that silly little song was picked up by the whole country," Gardner said in 1995. It might be considered an early tuneup that Jones was the drummer on Bing Crosby's indefatigable "White Christmas."

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Vince Guaraldi Trio
Inducted: 2007

The 1965 holiday TV special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was destined to be a dud, at least based on the initial reaction to the finished show by both its producers and the network, who thought its pacing and dashed-off animation would doom the show. But like Charlie Brown's forlorn Christmas tree, there was beauty beneath the dying needles. It won a big audience, critical acclaim, an Emmy, and a Peabody Award and has aired annually every year since its first broadcast, celebrating its golden anniversary in 2015. Its soundtrack, with original music written by Vince Guaraldi and performed by his trio, was a risk, matching West Coast jazz to an animated TV show. Again, it proved a surprise hit. The network "didn't think jazz fit properly," show executive producer Lee Mendelson said in a 2006 interview. Still, the show aired basically as is, and the album has never gone out of print since. 

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector (1963)
Phil Spector And Various Artists
Inducted: 1999

Though primarily a behind-the-scenes record producer, Spector was so well known and popular in his own right in the early '60s that he issued this holiday album, calling on his stable of artists (the Crystals, the Ronettes and Darlene Love, among others) to perform holiday classics as well as the now widely loved original "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." The album has become part of our holiday music soundtrack since its 1963 release. "After we finished [recording 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)'], everybody just kind of stopped and stared," Love told GRAMMY.com in 2013. "It was like, 'Wow, what did we just do?' It had this power, even in the session."

"The Christmas Song" (1946)
Nat "King" Cole
Inducted: 1974

Both ASCAP and BMI cite it as one of the most performed holiday songs of all time. Mel Tormé and lyricist Bob Wells wrote the song during a hot Los Angeles summer in 1944 as a way to trick themselves into feeling cooler. Cole recorded four versions. The inducted version was first, cut simply with his trio. A final version made in 1961 with a full orchestra is the one to which you likely roast chestnuts today. The list of covers is nearly infinite, and includes unlikely versions by Big Bird and the Swedish Chef, Daffy Duck, Bob Dylan, Twisted Sister, and Kim Taeyeon of K-pop group Girls Generation, highlighting the song's universal reach. After the initial 1946 recording, according to Performing Songwriter, Tormé and Wells pointed out the grammatical error Cole sang in the bridge: "To see if reindeers really know how to fly." Cole was a perfectionist, but correcting that error was not likely the reason for the three additional versions of the song.

"Feliz Navidad" (1970)
Jose Feliciano
Inducted: 2010

Was it the first Spanglish hit? Certainly it could be argued it's the most recognized Spanish-language holiday song in the popular canon. Released in 1970, "Feliz Navidad" soon became a heavy-rotation holiday standard, despite Feliciano's low-key expectations. "I never thought it would be as popular as it is and the big hit that it is," he told CBS' "Sunday Morning" in 2006. In a controversy that resonates perhaps even more deeply today, the song was parodied in 2009 using offensive stereotypes of Latin American immigrants to the United States. Feliciano, a native of Puerto Rico, elegantly rebuffed the parody by re-enforcing the song's initial intended message: "This song has always been a bridge to the cultures that are so dear to me, never as a vehicle for a political platform of racism and hate," he wrote on his website.

My Favorite Things (1961)
John Coltrane Quartet
Inducted: 1998

The Sound Of Music — Soundtrack (1965)
Julie Andrews & Various Artists
Inducted: 1998

Though originally written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the musical "The Sound Of Music," "My Favorite Things"' wintery images and ode to things gift-related ("brown paper packages tied up with strings") have since made it closely associated with the holidays. Andrews' version, included in the 1965 film The Sound Of Music, is no doubt the most definitive. Coltrane entered the Hall with a very different version, a nearly 14-minute modal jazz masterpiece. The song had taken on its holiday symbolism at least as early as 1964, when Jack Jones included it on The Jack Jones Christmas Album. Many holiday covers have followed, but these two Hall-inducted versions are among our favorite things.

"Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1949)
Gene Autry
Inducted: 1985

It's true, Rudolph was all a marketing ploy. But it could be argued in this case that the commercialization of the holiday season had a timeless, positive result. In 1939 a Montgomery Ward store in Chicago commissioned a holiday story to help beef up sales. Ad copywriter Robert L. May was selected to write the story. After considering names, including Roland and Roddy, Rudolph was born. The books Ward printed were a hit. Next, May asked his songwriter brother-in-law to write a tune to his story. Johnny Marks obliged, Gene Autry cut it, and it reportedly sold 30 million copies. That led to a 1964 animated TV special, and Rudolph went down in history. For Autry, the singing cowboy who already had a massive film and singing career before Rudolph, this holiday diversion from his usual country repertoire became the biggest hit of his career.

"White Christmas" (1942)
Bing Crosby, The Ken Darby Singers
Inducted: 1974

Guinness World Records credits Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas" with selling at least 50 million copies, making it the best-selling single ever. Written by Irving Berlin — and another holiday classic written in warm weather conditions — the song was first recorded by Crosby, with the Ken Darby Singers, as part of the 1942 film Holiday Inn. Reportedly cut in 18 minutes, the original recording is not the one we're familiar with today. Crosby rerecorded it in 1947 after the original master was damaged, with attention paid to making the new version as close to the original as possible. Berlin won his only Oscar for the song. Both "White Christmas" and "The Christmas Song" were among the first five titles inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame.

Keith Jarrett playing piano

Keith Jarrett

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Interview

Pianist Keith Jarrett: The story of 'The Köln Concert'

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GRAMMY-nominated pianist discusses overcoming adversity for the recording of his GRAMMY Hall Of Fame-inducted album in Germany
Keith Jarrett
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

(Since its inception in 1973, the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame has enshrined nearly 1,000 recordings across all genres. The Making Of … series presents firsthand accounts of the creative process behind some of the essential recordings of the 20th century. You can read more Making Of … accounts, and in-depth insight into the recordings and artists represented in the Hall, in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition book.)

 

 

The Köln Concert
Keith Jarrett
ECM (1975)
Album
Inducted 2011

(As told to Don Heckman)

The story of how The Köln Concert recording was made begins with ECM Records founder Manfred Eicher and I doing a driving tour of solo concerts in Europe. Some of them were recorded, some of them were not. But the Cologne concert [in Germany] was one that was definitely scheduled to be recorded. However, for a 24-hour period before we got to Cologne we had not slept at all. When we arrived at the hotel, I tried to take a nap. But it was impossible to do so. 

The producer of the concert came to take us to the [Cologne Opera House] in his Rolls-Royce, a car that was so over the top that we could have eaten dinner in it, on the perfectly made wood panels. But we didn't really learn the problems we were facing until we arrived at the hall. I went onstage and realized, "Hey, I have a Bösendorfer [piano] here and it's not the right size and it sounds like a modified electric harpsichord." And then we found out that they couldn't get the right piano, even though it existed, because their rental truck was gone.

At that point, we probably said all kinds of curse words. And we started to tell the engineers, "Maybe you can just pack up." But then Manfred and I both sort of thought that was crazy. The recording equipment was already set up. So we decided to just make a tape of the performance, even it if was just for ourselves. So we went to dinner. It was already late, I was due to go onstage soon, we'd had so many hassles, and the piano was such a terrible instrument. And I hadn't slept anyway. So I was in almost hell. Then we went to this Italian restaurant where, for some perfectly symmetrical reason, we were served way last. Everyone else was eating, I was the one who was going to play in an hour, and I still didn't have any food. And then when they finally brought the food, I was still hungry, because I wasn't happy with the food they served.

All I remember after the restaurant fiasco is taking a peek at the engineers sitting, waiting with their equipment. They had everything ready. And I started thinking, "I'm going to do this." I remember putting my fist up in the air on the way out [from] backstage. I just looked at Manfred and [said], "Power!" or something. 

Someone told me that, in the very beginning of that performance, what I was playing was imitating the bells in the lobby — the little phrase they play to tell the audience when it's time to go in to the theater. To my knowledge, I have no idea [if] that was true. But then something interesting happened. It just seemed like everybody in the audience was there for a tremendous experience, and that made my job easy. What happened with this piano was that I was forced to play in what was — at the time — a new way. Somehow I felt I had to bring out whatever qualities this instrument had.

And that was it. My sense was, "I have to do this. I'm doing it. I don't care what the f*** the piano sounds like. I'm doing it." And I did.

(Don Heckman has been writing about jazz and other music for five decades in The New York Times,Los Angeles Times, Jazz Times, Down Beat, Metronome, High Fidelity, and his personal blog, the International Review of Music.)

The Moody Blues' Mike Pinder, Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, and Graeme Edge

(l-r) The Moody Blues' Mike Pinder, Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, and Graeme Edge

Photo: Michael Putland/Getty Images

Feature

The making of the Moody Blues' 'Nights In White Satin'

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Justin Hayward details the making of the Moody Blues' 1972 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame-inducted hit
Justin Hayward
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

(Since its inception in 1973, the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame has enshrined nearly 1,000 recordings across all genres. The Making Of … series presents firsthand accounts of the creative process behind some of the essential recordings of the 20th century. You can read more Making Of … accounts, and in-depth insight into the recordings and artists represented in the Hall, in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition book.)

"Nights In White Satin"
The Moody Blues
Deram (1972)
Single
Inducted 1999

(As told to John Sutton-Smith)

I came to the band as a songwriter trying to find an outlet for my songs. They had only been together for a short time and cut "Go Now" and that was about it. The three guys that were left, after [bassist] Clint [Warwick] and [singer/guitarist] Denny [Laine] left, their heart wasn't into the rhythm & blues stuff. Mike [Pinder] was into doing new material and so was I, so we stopped wearing the blue suits and overnight it changed for us.

I got back from a gig about 4 in the morning, sat on the edge of the bed and just wrote down the basic thing. I was at the end of one love affair and at the beginning of another. And I do write letters never meaning to send, so there's quite a lot of truth to that song. When I played "Nights [In White Satin]" initially to the other guys, they were quite unimpressed until Mike did that phrase on the mellotron. I have to give him a lot of credit for that.

[Producer] Tony Clarke gave me a wonderful guitar sound and he knew how to record my voice, and with Mike he got that mellotron sound that is so sensational. The recording was a very happy relaxed time, because we didn't think we were under any pressure. It wasn't a huge career thing. We just wanted to get our stage act recorded, really, and here was this opportunity to make this stereo demonstration record for Decca. Hardly anyone had stereo, so it would only appeal to a few people, but it gave us a chance. Peter Knight the orchestral arranger had seen us and liked our material and said the best way to do it was to record the orchestral breaks between our songs.

I was the only one in the studio when they recorded the London Festival Orchestra. They only did it once. They did a rehearsal with Tony Clarke, and prepared the tape long enough with blank tape onto a 4-track, with Peter Knight, counting down. It's unbelievable how they did this. They'd already put the songs in the right order with the gaps in between, and then Peter would conduct the orchestra to his own voice counting. They rehearsed it once without [recording] it, no alternative take or anything, then took a break for a cup of tea, then they did a take and that was it; it was over.

We first heard ["Nights In White Satin"] in our transit van, going to a gig up north. They played it on the radio, and we pulled over. It was, like, spooky. There was something strange about it, that we hadn't really heard when we were playing it, but you got when you listened to it.

I had no idea that FM radio in America would pick it up and that "Nights…" would happen. I often wonder to this day what it is about the record that people like, because there's hardly anything on it. I mean we double-tracked the guitar, Mike did some double-tracking on his mellotron, and we were really only bouncing between two-track and four-track anyway. There's some fabulous Decca echoes on it, but there's really nothing else. 

(John Sutton-Smith is a music journalist and TV producer who helped establish the GRAMMY Foundation's GRAMMY Living Histories oral history program, currently comprising almost 200 interviews.)

GRAMMYs

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Feature

Making of: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Mr. Bojangles"

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Guitarist/vocalist Jeff Hanna discusses hearing the recording of the group's GRAMMY Hall Of Fame-inducted classic
Jeff Hanna
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

(Since its inception in 1973, the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame has enshrined nearly 1,000 recordings across all genres. The Making Of … series presents firsthand accounts of the creative process behind some of the essential recordings of the 20th century. You can read more Making Of … accounts, and in-depth insight into the recordings and artists represented in the Hall, in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition book.)

 

 

"Mr. Bojangles"
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Liberty (1970)
Single
Inducted 2010

(As told to Roy Trakin)

We were rehearsing for Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy in this giant [Seeburg] Jukebox warehouse in Long Beach, Calif., where [bassist] Les Thompson's dad was a distributor. Driving home one night, I heard the tail end of this song on the radio. There was no back-announcing on FM, so we had no idea who or what it was. I pulled the car over to listen, and my eyes just welled up. The song really moved me.

The next day, I announced I'd heard this beautiful tune we ought to record. [Guitarist] Jimmy Ibbotson jumped up and blurted, "I think I know what song you're talking about," ran to the parking lot, popped the trunk on his Dodge Dart, and under the spare tire — I'm not sure it was even in a sleeve — was the 45 of "Mr. Bojangles." When he left New Castle, Ind., for California, he was given the single by this hippie — whom he described as a witch — telling him, mysteriously, "You should have this."

We excitedly ran into the jukebox factory, found a playable turntable, put some pennies on the disc — there was no amplification, so we had to listen on these tinny speakers — and pulled the lyrics as best we could. We actually screwed up a couple of the words on the final record.

We recorded at World Pacific Studios on West 3rd St. in L.A., where a lot of amazing jazz and R&B records were made. I sang lead on "[Mr.] Bojangles," with Jimmy doing harmonies. We actually switched up on the last verse, where I went up to the high harmony. We wanted to use accordion and mandolin together because the emotional impact was so beautiful. John [McEuen] came up with the gorgeous mandolin part, while Jimmy and I did the cross-picking on guitars. We were big fans of the Band's "Rockin' Chair," [on which] Robbie [Robertson] played this tremolo Archtop.

I remember performing the song live before the album release, and seeing some of the waitresses get all moony. And I thought, "Wow, this must be good." We'd already released one single, "Some Of Shelly's Blues," which we used to sing with Linda Ronstadt, but it peaked at No. 64, so we were pretty disappointed. Then, one day, we got a call from Liberty Records that an FM station in Shreveport, La., was wearing out "Mr. Bojangles," and the phones were lighting up. This was all for a five-minute waltz about an old guy and his dog. But people just loved and responded to the song. It was the emotional high point of our set.

[Producer] Bill McEuen was a fan of this Lightnin' Hopkins' record with Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Big Joe Williams called "Down South Summit Meetin','' which had all these spoken word interludes. McEuen had previously recorded several conversations with his wife Alice's great Uncle Charlie on their front porch, which he edited and placed as the intro to "[Mr.] Bojangles." Taking these two raw pieces of art and combining them turned out to be genius. We're very proud of that record.

My personal favorite is Jerry Jeff Walker's original. He always liked Nina Simone's cover. After it became a hit, Sammy Davis Jr. would give us a shout-out when he performed it.

(Roy Trakin, a senior editor for HITS magazine, has written for every rock publication that ever mattered, some that didn't, and got paid by most of them.)