Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music Publishing have struck an historic licensing deal to release, through Sony’s Legacy Recordings, the monumental catalog of Phil Spector’s Philles Records recordings from a range of artists including the Ronettes, the Crystals, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, Lenny Bruce and more. The new deal covers the United States, with an international roll-out to follow.
The first release under the new arrangement will be a Legacy Recordings reissue of the seminal yuletide pop classic A Christmas Gift for You, one of only 12 full-length albums to be released during the history of the Philles label Originally released as A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records in 1963, the album, repackaged and retitled (as “Phil Spector’s Christmas Album”) for the Beatles’ Apple Records, rocketed to #6 on the Billboard 200 in 1972, securing its enduring reputation as the template for holiday pop music. Out of print since 2007, A Christmas Gift for You presents a repertoire of iconic seasonal sounds including the Ronette’s “Sleigh Ride” and “Frosty the Snow Man” and Darlene Love’s electrifying performance of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” a majestic pop heartbreaker written for the album by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector.
