The Beach Boys Album: “Christmas with the Beach Boys”

This is the Beach Boys Christmas album, which has be reissued many time over-which is an indication of how good it is. The Beach Boys are famous for the car antics, but there is a spiritual, and holy side to them, and this album bring it to the forefront. This should not surprise anyone familiar with Franklin Graham (Billy Graham's son), who still wears leather jackets and drives Harleys from his "Wild Oats" days.

This arrangement reflects the original 1964 album, with the first half (tracks 1-6) being the Beach Boys teenager music, and the second half (tracks 6-12) being the more artistic side. This arraignment was the usual format for "Today" and "Summer Days (and nights)" -as if they wanted to hid Brian Wilson and his proto-Pet Sounds on the B-sides of their albums.

I think their version of "We Three Kings" is the highlight of the entire album-It brings you to tears.

The second half of the CD has the hidden gems. It has the alternate versions of "Little Saint Nick," sung to "Drive In," and the a capella "Aud Lang Syne," without Denny's Christmas Message.

The most surprising tracks were "Mele Kalikemaka" and "Bells of Christmas," which were originally tracks from the MIU album: "Kona Coast" and "Bells of Paris." As the liner notes indicate, they did an abortive second Christmas Alum which morphed into MIU.

For the history of "Santa's Got An Airplane," get a copy of "Endless Harmony" (ASIN: B00004R95Y). this was an old track of Al Jardine's which has been reworked twice. It's a fun song, with chord progressions similar to "Got To Know The Woman."

I am grateful that Capitol is releasing these lost tracks that only a die hard Beach Boys fan could love. The only drawback is that that they left "The Lord's Prayer" off of this album. It is a wonderful a capella piece that was the B-side to "Little Saint Nick." This track belong on this album, and with the CD being 58 minutes, there is plenty of space for the two minuet song.

Like the person who previously left a comment has said, this is exactly the same as the other Beach Boys release "The Ultimate Christmas" with one song missing. However, i personally haven't ever seen that release sold anywhere, and i only have a copy that my friend made me. So even though that release already exists, it's still cool that they decided to re-release it for this years holiday season, since it's a top notch Christmas album with wonderful Christmas songs that i listen to every holiday season ever since i discovered it.

The first half is better than the other half, since it's essentially the original Beach Boys Christmas album that was officially released in 1964. They were in their prime then, and their voices are gorgeous as usual. Perfect for these songs, including the cute little pop tunes that Brian wrote himself, like the big Christmas season hit "Little Saint Nick". Out of the seasonal covers, "Blue Christmas" is my favorite. We won't hear Brian singing this beautifully solo until around the Pet Sounds album.

The second half is also very enjoyable, but not as good since this is the late 70s now, and needless to say the Beach Boys aren't as good as they used to be. That's really nit-picking though since it's really nice to have more Beach Boys Christmas songs besides just the original 1964 album. My favorites include the flopped obscure 1974 single "Child Of Winter", the absolutely gorgeous and romantic "Morning Christmas" by Dennis Wilson, and Brian's "Winter Symphony". The rest are quite good as well, only complaint here is that some of the songs are actually tunes from the 1978 album MIU turned into Christmas songs. That's not the group's fault though because these Christmas songs came first before they were rejected by the record company.

So if you don't already have these Christmas songs, definitely buy! It's one of the best Christmas albums out there it'll be a perfect addition to your Christmas music collection. If you already have the Ultimate Christmas release, then don't bother. Nothing new on here, and it's just a re-release to take advantage of the holiday season. Needless to say, i hope that more people buy it and discover either the Beach Boys's music as a whole, or at least appreciate them through Christmas songs. I personally can't wait to hear this album again, as i've been saving it for the holiday season.

I'm glad I got this CD, it has a lot of songs with a good mix of slower and spirited ones. Nevertheless, it fell short of what I was hoping for.

What I was wanting mostly, but it wasn't there, was the great stereo sound of the original Beach Boys Christmas Album way back in the 60's. The HIGH FIDELITY STEREO SOUND of the vocal intro. to Little Saint Nick on that album was REALLY SPECIAL...wow, what voices and what harmony! Conversely, the vocal and instrumental mix on this CD are, in my opinion, not so good (the volume of the vocal and instrumental parts is disproportionate: the vocal is too loud, the instrumental too soft). And, this CD doesn't have that great stereo sound of the original BB's Christmas Album.

Other reviewers have said that this is basically "The Ultimate BB Xmas Album" with a couple of songs omitted. I have that collection but on cassette. So I was thrilled when I found out I could get virtually the same thing on CD. It contains all three versions of "Little Saint Nick" and some rare stuff afterwards. I agree that in some cases the vocals and instrumentals sounds out of sync, in terms of volume mostly. But the songs speak (or sing) for themselves.

We all know the stuff from the original 60s album (tracks 1 - 12). Tracks 13 and 14 are really bonus tracks. From the newer stuff, I would say Santa's Got an Airplane, Winter Symphony and the Child of Winter/Here's Comes Santa Claus medley are the standouts. Bells of Xmas and the Hawaiian song which I can't spell have nice vocal touches as well. The announcements and the Brian Wilson interview are a nice way to end the CD.

From the original album cuts, I like the single version of Little Saint Nick with the xylophone sounds added to it. The Man With All The Toys, Merry Christmas Baby and Santa's Beard are favorites of mine. Frosty and I'll Be Home For Christmas are nicely done, and I think the Beach Boys version of "We Three Kings" is one of the best versions of that song ever done.

This is a great CD to add to your holiday music selection. You'll listen to it for years to come.

I love the Beach Boys and grew up with their music while at the beach in So. Cal. The album has some good hits but when they decided to sing old Xmas songs not original scored by them I found it boring. Best to stick with their own scored music. This is what makes them the Beach Boys