This November marks the 60th anniversary of the release of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love.
Yes, it was 1963.
The song became an anthem and Darlene Love was coronated the Queen of Christmas. She’s performed it every year since then. For about 25 years in a row she sang it on David Letterman’s talk show ith Paul Shaffer leading the band.
You may not know this but among the then unknown stars on the original Phil Spector recording was Cher. She’s singing lead back up and you can hear very clearly. (You can also hear Darlene’s sister, Edna Wright, who went on to fame with her group, The Honey Cone, and “Want Ads.”) Also on that legendary record: Sonny Bono playing drums, Leon Russell on keyboards, and Hal Blaine on drums.
Wow!So now today Cher released the cover of her upcoming Christmas album, but no track info. But I can tell you that this summer Cher and Darlene recorded a 60th anniversary version of the song, this time with both of them on leads. The new “Baby Please Come Home” will be on Cher’s Christmas album, which is great for her and Darlene and bad news for Mariah Carey.
Mariah, of course, thinks she’s the Queen of Christmas because of her perennial hit, “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Every year, it’s number 1. But this blockbuster from Darlene and Cher should be a grand slam home run. The combination of these power voiced Spector divas on their 60th anniversary version? Magic!
