Darlene Love: Love For The Holidays by The Town Hall

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Stephane Wrembel, Music Director/Guitar Angelo Debarre, Guitar Serge Camps, Guitar Franck Anastasio, Guitar Ari Folman-Cohen, Bass Josh Kaye, Guitar Nick Driscoll, Woodwinds Nick Anderson, Drums Hugo Guezbar, Guitar Adrien Marco, Guitar Aurore Voilqué, Violinist/Vocalist Jean-Michel Pilc, Pianist

SATURDAY MAY 4, 2024

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2023 • 8PM THE TOWN HALL PRESENTS

DARLENE LOVE

LOVE FOR THE HOLIDAYS Darlene Love - Vocals Sam Appiah - Musical Director and Keyboard Crispin Cioe - Tenor Saxophone John Martin - Bari Saxophone and Trumpet Mick Gaffney - Guitar Gene Torres - Bass Alex Phayme - Drums Rosie Slater - Percussion Kareem Matcham - Keyboard Backup Singers: Milton Vann, Keesha Gumbs, Diamond White

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AB O UT DA RL E N E LOV E Called “one of the greatest singers of all time,” by Rolling Stone, Love’s “thunderbolt voice is as embedded in the history of rock and roll as Eric Clapton’s guitar or Bob Dylan’s lyrics,” according to The New York Times. After singing backup and un-credited lead for producer Phil Spector on hits such as “He’s a Rebel” and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love,” Love recorded the track “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” a song written for the 1963 compilation album, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. A hit at the time and Love’s signature holiday song, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” was rediscovered by a new audience in 1986 when David Letterman invited her to sing it on his Late Night Christmas show. The response was such that it became a yearly tradition for Love and Letterman, who famously dubbed her “The Queen of Christmas.” “When we recorded it, we had no idea it would be a song that people would play for over 60 years,” says Love, laughing. “I’ve never even dreamed of that. 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. So it was unusual — and here we are 60 years later.” One of her backup singers in that recording was 17-year-old Cherilyn Sarkesian, whom Sonny Bono, who was then working for Spector, was dating and brought to the session. Cher would soon become a star on her own. As if closing the circle, Cher decided to record her first holiday album earlier this year. Of course, she included “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” — and called on her old friend Darlene Love. “I wanted to make a Cher Christmas album,” she said in an interview. “So I called Darlene and said, ‘Darlene, I’m going to do the song, and I’m not going to do it without you.’ And she said, ‘No problem!’” Love laughs as she recalls the conversation. “We stayed in touch over the years,” she notes. “It hasn’t been like we haven’t seen each other in all these years. I went on tour with her as a backup singer on the Heart of Stone Tour in 1990. But it was amazing how this all happened. Cher is amazing. She’s probably one of the sweetest, dearest ladies you’ll ever know. And you would never know she’s very shy because, well, look, look at her on stage. She’s dynamite. And that’s what I loved about her. I’m humbled by the fact that she called me and wanted me. The song came out unbelievably well with us doing it together. I can’t wait for everybody to hear it.” A much-in-demand backup singer who worked with artists such as Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, Frank Sinatra, The Ronettes, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, and, of course, Sonny and Cher, Love went through challenging times as she tried to develop a solo career. As she raised a family in the 70s, she worked as a maid to make ends meet until she heard herself on the radio one afternoon. She remembers the moment vividly. “I was cleaning a bathroom, and it was Christmas time, and my song “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” came on the radio, and I was shocked,” she recalls. “I heard it and went: ‘Wow, look at me. There’s nothing wrong with what I’m doing, but I think I can do something better. I was given a gift, and that gift has not gone anywhere. I feel I have it within me.’ That night, I told that lady I was quitting my job.” At the time, nobody knew who she was because she was not using Darlene Love but her married name. “So this lady had no idea,” recalls Love with a chuckle. “When she found out that I was the lady that was cleaning her house, she called me. ‘Are you really Darlene Love? Couldn’t you sing @TownHallNYC | 3

and then come back to us?’ And I told her: ‘I can’t do but one thing at a time, and I have to put all my energy into the path I’m going to take,’” and she laughs heartily. By the mid-80s, she was acting in musical revues such as Leader of the Pack and Portrait of a Singer, both inspired by her life, and her singing was part of soundtracks of films including Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Love Actually, and Jingle All the Way. Along with her career as a vocalist, she performed on Broadway and in film as an actor, including four Lethal Weapon movies. Love was featured in the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which focused on the lives and work of backup singers. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary and a GRAMMY for Best Music Film. Some music stars might sometimes feel like prisoners of their hits, having to perform them over and over, but that’s not the case for Love and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) “ — and for good reasons. “Every time I sing that song, I find a new way to sing it,” she says. “I don’t change it up, but in my mind, I find another reason to make it beautiful and make it a great 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. I never do it any other time. My audience might clamor, scream, and holler for it. I tell them, “No, you have to come to my Christmas show. You haven’t got too much longer to wait.” --- Fernando Gonzalez 4 | @TownHallNYC

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Bank of America recognizes The Town Hall for its success in bringing the arts to performers and audiences throughout the community. /MÕXNTQÕCEMSEMMIAKÕAMMIUEQRAQX ÕVe commend you on creating an opportunity for all to enjoy and share a cultural experience.Õ(EQE RÕSNÕAMNSHEQÕ Õ XEAQR Visit us at bankofamerica.com/about.