Day 17 - Christmas Is My Time of Year - Christmas Spirit

This is the opening track on a vinyl album that I actually own called 'Rockin' Christmas: The 60s'.. 

The song itself is a pretty mundane, throwaway ditty with little to recommend it, but it does have an interesting history. 

Written by Howard Kaylan and Chip Douglas of The Turtles, the track was recorded by the pair one day in 1968 under a pseudonym band name. When they arrived at the studio they found fellow Turtle Mark Volman there, he was working with Byrds alumni Gram and Gene Parsons (no relation), Linda Ronstadt, Gospel singer Bessie Griffin and two members of the Modern Folk Quartet who then all came into the Kaylan / Douglas session to help out on the record. 

That's a prodigious amount of talent to produce something so dull, making it something of an festive oddity.