Last night I heard a Christmas tune that I hadn’t heard before. The song featured a female singer, and was strongly reminiscent of the 1960s. It sounded similar to that big “Wall of Sound” made famous by Phil Spector. When I listened to the saxophone solo in it, I thought it sounded familiar as well. After All Alone on Christmas was over, I fired up Google, and I was stunned to find out that the tune was from the Home Alone 2: Lost in New York soundtrack.
Source: partyingpieces on eBay.com
How had I missed this Christmas tune? Was I concussed? Did I slip into some kind of weird holiday coma in 1992—and all years since—whenever that particular song came on the radio? I have no explanation for how I could have missed Darlene Love’s performance of this Steve Van Zandt holiday tune.
My research into All Alone on Christmas turned up a lot of interesting factoids.Here are some of the more interesting ones1:
- The single did better in the UK than in the US. It peaked at #31 on the official UK Singles Chart, but only #52 on the US Billboard Radio Songs chart, and #83 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
- The E Street band was featured in the track, and yes, that was Clarence Clemons doing the tenor solos. (Facts that are of course confirmed once you watch the video.)
- The horn section is actually a group called the Miami Horns. They have been around since the mid 1970s, when they were formed by Bruce Springsteen’s guitar player Steve Van Zandt. The Miami Horns have toured and/or recorded with acts like: Springsteen, Diana Ross, Gary U.S. Bonds, Sheryl Crow, and Eric Clapton, just to name a few.2
- Darlene Love is by no means a stranger to the music scene. Her original, Phil Spector-produced Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), was a strong influence on Van Zandt’s production of All Alone on Christmas.
So without further ado, here is the 1963 hit that secured Darlene Love’s spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Being a bari player, I do feel I need to mention that hard-working bari player trying to belt out a solo at 1:15.
If you want to see Darlene Love perform this classic rock and roll Christmas song, check out the David Letterman show on December 20. According to Love’s website, she will be taping her annual Christmas performance on the 19th, for airing the next day. BTW, this will be her 28th straight year performing with the CBS Orchestra.
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1 Source: Wikipedia page on All Alone on Christmas.
2 Source: Wikipedia page on The Miami Horns
Is there any music for the saxophone solo played in this song?
I don’t know. Have you tried to google it? Usually stuff comes up that someone has done up via MuseScore and posted or asked questions about.
This is really a simple tune that would be very easy to transcribe yourself. If you have never tried transcribing a solo yourself, this would be the ideal one to start with. For many of the notes you can even see Clarence Clemons’ fingerings, which would help a lot.
What gives this solo its sound is of course Clemons’ unique tone that made his work instantly recognizable. It wasn’t his Keilwerth saxophones, or his MPs–his nephew now plays those and sounds nothing like him–it was how his physiology, and how that combined with his technique and gear combined together.