One of our favorite television holiday traditions was Darlene Love’s annual visit to David Letterman’s show – first Late Night on NBC, then The Late Show on CBS – to sing her Phil Spector-produced Christmas classic, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” When Letterman went off the air in 2015, Love vowed to retire the song from television performances; she’s gone back on her promise, but we’re not complaining.
The performance came via The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’s recurring “classroom instruments” segment, one of the few Tonight signatures that don’t drive us to madness – primarily because it functions as a showcase of the ingenuity of his house band, the Roots. They were joined for the performance by a Pitch Perfect 3-promoting Anna Kendrick, who held her own in a duet with the venerable Ms. Love. Check it out:
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” first appeared on A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector, which as you surely know, is part of Flavorwire’s Holiday Canon.