A Very Special Christmas 3 released October 7, 1997! It featured the Smashing Pumpkins classic holiday song, "Christmastime". The album was the third edition sold to benefit the Special Olympics, and included other rock artists like Chris Cornell, Blues Traveler and Patti Smith.
Essentially a solo Billy Corgan performance to R&B producer Arif Mardin's production, "Christmastime" was recorded in December 1996 at The Hit Factory in New York City while Corgan was producing Ric Ocasek's solo record, Troublizing. An acoustic Sadlands demo version from 1996 is the first known recording and was included on the 2014 reissue of Adore.
Spin magazine said the song would "make you fall in love with [The Smashing Pumpkins] all over again," praising Corgan's "heartbreakingly alive" vocals that "carefully unspooled a ribbon of melody through minor-key harmonics given Mozart-like momentum" by Mardin's production.
The song has never been performed live, but the recording was played at the end of the final 20th Anniversary tour show on December 8, 2008, as the band handed out presents from a coffin.
A Very Special Christmas 3 peaked at #31 on the Billboard 200, and at #2 on the Holiday Albums chart. It was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA in January 1998.
https://spcodex.wiki/A_Very_Special_Christmas_3
https://spcodex.wiki/ChristmastimeA Very Special Christmas 3 released October 7, 1997! It featured the Smashing Pumpkins classic holiday song, "Christmastime". The album was the third edition sold to benefit the Special Olympics, and included other rock artists like Chris Cornell, Blues Traveler and Patti Smith.
Essentially a solo Billy Corgan performance to R&B producer Arif Mardin's production, "Christmastime" was recorded in December 1996 at The Hit Factory in New York City while Corgan was producing Ric Ocasek's solo record, Troublizing. An acoustic Sadlands demo version from 1996 is the first known recording and was included on the 2014 reissue of Adore.
Spin magazine said the song would "make you fall in love with [The Smashing Pumpkins] all over again," praising Corgan's "heartbreakingly alive" vocals that "carefully unspooled a ribbon of melody through minor-key harmonics given Mozart-like momentum" by Mardin's production.
The song has never been performed live, but the recording was played at the end of the final 20th Anniversary tour show on December 8, 2008, as the band handed out presents from a coffin.
A Very Special Christmas 3 peaked at #31 on the Billboard 200, and at #2 on the Holiday Albums chart. It was certified Gold (500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA in January 1998.
https://spcodex.wiki/A_Very_Special_Christmas_3
https://spcodex.wiki/Christmastime
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