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originally published: 12/07/2019
(PRINCETON, NJ) — The Beagles have released “Love At Christmas Time” as a single (for digital distribution via CD Baby, Spotify and other major outlets) and a CD EP (available at shows) and will celebrate its release at the Rock & Soul Christmas show at the Paul Robeson Center of the Arts at 102 Witherspoon Street in Princeton on December 12, 2019 at 6:00pm.
The performance on December 12 marks the first opportunity people will have the opportunity to purchase the physical ”Love at Christmas Time” EP (which includes other romantic tracks from the Bed of Roses sessions). This holiday single follows up their acclaimed 2018 debut album Bed of Roses, which charted at #3 in the November 2018 issue of iCharts of New Jersey and received a rave review from John Pfeiffer’s The Shoreworld column in The Aquarian Weekly, describing it as “a breath of fresh air” that features “talent mixed with compositional style;” “takes you back to the earlier sounds of rock ‘n’ roll” and “won’t disappoint those looking for something different.”
“Love At Christmas Time,” a seasonal sequel to a track from Bed of Roses CD. calls to mind Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” Christmas records with celeste, chimes, triangle, sleigh bells, a rock band and 6 vocalists weaving traditional Christmas melodies around this original song. The Beagles and their expanded ensemble also captured the joy of these sessions as a music video.
The parallels to the Spector sound evolved naturally, as the inspiration for “Love at Christmas Time” came as The Beagles were rehearsing – with a line up expanded by members of Princeton’s Einstein Alley Musicians Collaborative – for their upcoming “Rock and Soul Christmas Show.” At this event, commissioned by the Arts Council of Princeton to celebrate Phil Spector’s seminal 1963 LP A Christmas Gift For You, the band will recreate 8 of those Ronettes, Crystals and Darlene Love classics, along with many of the later tunes it inspired.
The Beagles expanded lineup for their ”Love At Christmas Time” single includes: Rob Freeman: Vocals, Guitar, Production, Words & Music; Vanessa Rose: Vocals; Joy Okoye: Vocals; Ynes Simone: Vocals; Olive Joseph: Vocals; Steve Wolpert: Vocals & Alto Sax; Chris Clark: Bass; David Ross: Drums & Percussion; and Jay Posipanko: Keyboards.