Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

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Not to be confused with Please Come Home for Christmas.
"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
Song by Darlene Love
from the album A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records
ReleasedNovember 22, 1963
GenreChristmas, R&B
Length2:49
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Phil Spector

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is a rock song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 seasonal compilation album, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. The song was written by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry (Phil Spector is also co-credited) and Love was given a demo of it over phone performed by them. She went on to record the song in studio, which became a big success over time and one of her signature tunes.[1] Love's later song, "All Alone on Christmas", which was used in the 1992 Christmas movie, Home Alone 2, referenced the song.

The song as recorded by Love was released as a single in 1963 (Philles 119)[2] and in 1964 (Philles X-125).[3] But the records did not chart in either year.

In December 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" first on its list of The Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs, noting that "nobody can match Love's emotion and sheer vocal power."[4]

As an example of the track's staying power, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" entered the Billboard Holiday 100 chart at No. 99 on the week ending December 13, 2014,[5] reaching an all-time peak position of No. 13 six years later (on the week ending December 19, 2020).[6] On the week ending December 29, 2018, the track entered the main Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time at No. 50, and attained an all-time peak position of No. 19 on the week ending January 2, 2021 (following its second chart re-entry).[7] On the official UK Singles Chart, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" made its first appearance on the week of 5 January 2017 at No. 74. It entered the same chart again one year later at No. 77, and again on the week of 20 December 2018 at No. 80, eventually reaching its overall chart peak to date of No. 22 two weeks later.[8]

In other media[]

Beginning in 1986 and continuing for 29 years, Darlene Love performed the song annually on the final new episode before Christmas of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC, 1986–92) and Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 1993–2014), 28 times in all. The exception was in 2007, when Love was unable to perform due to the Writers' Strike;[9] a repeat of her 2006 performance was shown instead.

She performed the song with Paul Shaffer and the show's house band (The World's Most Dangerous Band at NBC, the CBS Orchestra at CBS).[10] The band had been augmented over the years by strings and other instruments, as well as a full choir. In 2000, the US Air Force Singing Sergeants were the choir. One of the highlights of the performances was a sax solo by band member Bruce Kapler, who would make his entrance in entertaining ways, including being pulled in on Santa's sleigh, "flying" from the rafters on wires, walking down the steps of the audience risers, and appearing in a giant snow globe. It was known that Love's last appearance on Letterman's show would air on December 19, 2014, as Letterman had announced his retirement from hosting The Late Show. In addition to the publicity and anticipation for this final performance, Love's original version of the song reappeared on the Billboard charts, peaking at No. 21 on the publication's Holiday Digital Songs chart.

Love also performed the song on December 24, 2013 in front of traders at the New York Stock Exchange as the market closed for the day.

Beginning in 2015, the tradition of Love's annual performance of the song moved to The View (ABC, 2015–present), where it has continued during its last edition before Christmas in the years since.[11]

The song has been used in several movies – including during the opening credits of the 1984 film Gremlins, in a scene in GoodFellas in which some of the characters spend money from the Lufthansa Heist on lavish gifts, in Christmas with the Kranks, in the 2012 ABC Family TV movie The Mistle-Tones, in The Night Before, and most recently in the 2017 Hallmark Channel TV movie Christmas Getaway.

"Johnny (Baby Please Come Home)"[]

During the 1963 recording sessions for "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", Phil Spector thought the track was strong enough to warrant a non-seasonal version, and cut a version titled "Johnny (Baby Please Come Home)" at the same time as "Christmas" (also performed by Darlene Love). This version was not released to the public until 1976 as the final track on the Spector compilation album, Rare Masters Vol. 2 (Phil Spector International catalog number 2307 009). It was also released in January 1977 as the B-side of the UK release of Love's single, "Lord, if You're a Woman" (Phil Spector International catalog number 2010 019). "Johnny (Baby Please Come Home)" was also included on a 1997 European version of Love's 1992 compilation album, The Best of Darlene Love (The Philles Recordings) (a.k.a. The Story of Darlene Love, issued on Brussels' Marginal Records, catalog number MAR 074).

Cover versions[]

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" was not widely recognized after its initial release; however, it has since been covered many times by different artists over the years. The earliest cover version was by the Quiet Jungle, for the 1968 album The Story Of Snoopy's Christmas.

The song was recorded by U2 in July 1987 during a sound check in Glasgow, Scotland[12] during their Joshua Tree Tour. Darlene Love provided backing vocals.[citation needed] The song was released on the compilation A Very Special Christmas in 1987,[13] and on the album Unreleased & Rare in the digital box setThe Complete U2 in 2004.[citation needed]

Mariah Carey covered the song for her 1994 album Merry Christmas. The digital single reached No. 59 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart in 2011, and has sold more than 200,000 copies.[citation needed] Mariah sang her classic Christmas album cover of Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" in 2008 at The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!![14]

Cher, one of the original background singers at the Phil Spector studio session with Darlene Love, covered the song 36 years later in a dance version for A Rosie Christmas in 1999. The track featured vocals by Rosie O'Donnell using the Auto-Tune effect that had been used in Cher's hit "Believe".

A version by Joey Ramone appeared on his 2002 album, Christmas Spirit... In My House.

Jonathan Jackson covered the song for the ABC/CMT drama series, Nashville, which in turn was released on the accompanying album Christmas with Nashville

Other versions include those released by The Offspring, The New Bomb Turks, Lady Antebellum, The Mavericks, Dion, Michael Bublé, Jon Bon Jovi, Hanson, Little Mix, Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Lucy Hale, Melissa Etheridge, the Raveonettes, Jars of Clay, Anberlin, Slow Club, Josh Ramsay, Leona Lewis, Olivia Holt, Noah Cyrus, Smash Mouth, Matt Nathanson, Idina Menzel, Dropkick Murphys, and The Lumineers, among many others.

Certifications and sales[]

Darlene Love version[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[48]
Digital sales since 2011 		Gold 400,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Mariah Carey version[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[49] Gold 500,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel[]

Darlene Love version[]

References[]

  1. ^ Darlene Love on Phil Spector, Elvis, '20 Feet from Stardom' | Episode 26 | Music Is My Life Podcast, retrieved 2019-09-02, 27:53 you got to hear it, and they actually played the song for me over the phone.
    27:58 Wow.
    27:58 [LAUGHTER] From New York.
    28:01 It wasn't nothin' on it was just a demo.
    28:04 Ellie singing and Jeff playing.
    28:07 So it was a demo, so you really couldn't feel what it was all about.
    28:10 But once I heard the song,
    28:12 I said, "Wow, this is great."
    28:14 I thought it from the time I heard it,
    28:17 and I really heard it good before I recorded it.
    28:19 I thought it was going to be a great song.
    28:21 Yeah. I think the rumor out there,
    28:24 was that Ronnie was going to sing that one initially,
    28:26 but she couldn't bring it quite the way you could or is that just-
    28:29 I don't know where that came from.
    28:30 I have no idea.
    28:32 I didn't know that until I started hearing people ask me that question,
    28:36 "Wasn't this song written for Ronnie?"
    28:38 Yeah.
    28:38 I don't know maybe it was,
    28:40 but I listened to it on the telephone and we went in and recorded it so.
    28:46 Right.
    28:46 I don't know unless they said they were going to write a song for her, and that was it.
    28:51 But that's the only way can figure that started.
    28:55 'Cause I never heard it from Phil or heard it from Ellie or Jeff.
    28:59 Right. It's the danger of that Wikipedia website.
    29:02 That's right. [LAUGHTER]
    29:05 A lot of that stuff is,
    29:06 and I even tried to correct stuff on it
    29:08 but people are going to believe what they want to believe,
    29:11 and I said, "Listen, let them write what they want to write.
    29:14 Let people believe it,
    29:15 It ain't hurting me." [LAUGHTER]
  2. ^ "Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)".
  3. ^ "Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)".
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  11. ^ Scoop, T. V. "Scoop: Upcoming Guests on THE VIEW, 12/10-12/14 on ABC". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  12. ^ Rossen, Jake (21 December 2017). "The Bittersweet Story Behind A Very Special Christmas". Mentalfloss.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2019. [Music producer Jimmy Lovine] flew to Glasgow to record U2’s rendition of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" while the band was performing a sound check before a concert
  13. ^ "A Very Special Christmas, Album Track Listing". Allmusic.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Mariah Carey "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"". GRAMMY.com. 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
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  25. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 52/2018". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  26. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  27. ^ "Mūzikas patēriņa tops gadu mijā" (in Latvian). LAIPA. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  28. ^ "2019 52-os savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  29. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Mariah Carey – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
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  31. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Mariah Carey – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
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  33. ^ "2011년 53주차 Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  34. ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker – Vecka 52, 28 december 2018". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
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  36. ^ "Mariah Carey Chart History (Holiday 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  37. ^ "Mariah Carey Chart History (R&B Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  38. ^ "ARIA CHART WATCH #557". ARIA. December 28, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  39. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Michael Bublé – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  40. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Michael Bublé – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". Top Digital Download. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  41. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Michael Bublé – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
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  43. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Michael Bublé – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". Singles Top 100. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
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  49. ^ "American album certifications – Mariah Carey – Christmas". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 4, 2017.

External links[]

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