Time to jingle your bells with “Red’s Animated Advent Calendar”, starting with a great song from Phil Spector‘s holiday album “A Christmas Gift for You”: a classic version of “Sleigh Ride” from The Ronettes.

The Ronettes produced some memorable hits in just two years: “Be My Baby”, “(The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up”, “Do I Love You?” and “Walking in the Rain”. The group broke up in 1967 and lead singer Ronnie Spector never achieved much success as a solo act.

Ronnie died January 12 at the age of 78 after a brief battle with cancer. Her book “Be My Baby: A Memoir” was updated just before her death. It’s a candid and sometimes disturbing tale of her tumultuous relationship with husband Phil Spector, and it’s on Amazon Kindle. A great read.

After being shut out for many years, The Ronettes were finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 by Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. In the book’s introduction he asks, “Do I have to tell you that Ronnie’s got one of the greatest female rock and roll voices of all time? She stands alone.”