Bruce Springsteen gives a 'Christmas Gift' to Darlene Love on stage in New York
Bruce Springsteen has Love for the holidays.
On Nov. 30, the Boss presented Darlene Love with a RIAA platinum album plaque for “A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector,” the 1963 album that includes Love's classic, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
Springsteen came on stage just before intermission at Love's Town Hall show in New York.
The song is “the absolutely the greatest Christmas rock 'n' roll song of all time,” Springsteen said. “That song and Darlene have been a part of our holidays for 60 years. Overdue but well deserved!”
Springsteen cited songs Love sang lead on like “He’s A Rebel” and “The Boy I’m Gonna Marry.”
“She's my forever crush,” Springsteen said. “It was Darlene's voice filled with teenage longing that made those songs hits.”
“A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector” was recorded in the summer of 1963 in Los Angeles and released Nov. 22, 1963 on Philles Records. It's currently available through Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment.
“When we recorded it, we had no idea it would be a song that people would play for over 60 years,” said Love in a statement. “But it's a great song. It's something that had never been done before: It's a great Christmas song and a rock 'n' roll Christmas song. I never get tired of singing it. And I never really get tired of singing it because I only do it at Christmas time.”
Love sang the song annually on “Late Show with David Letterman.” Little Steven Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul will be accompanying Love singing the song on TV's "The View" on Friday, Dec. 15. Van Zandt and his wife Maureen were also in attendance on Thursday.
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The new Cher “Christmas” album features Cher and Love singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home.” Sonny and Cher sang backup on the original version in 1963.
Upcoming holiday shows for Love include Dec. 15 at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, and Dec. 22 at the Newton Theatre in Newton.
Visit darleneloveworld.com for more info.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen gives Christmas Gift to Darlene Love on stage
