Beach Boys - Hip Christmas Music (www.hipchristmas.com)

Support www.hipchristmas.com! Shop at Amazon, Apple Music, and more...

The Christmas music of the Beach Boys (read more) may not be the hardest rocking stuff, but it will be some of the warmest and most heartfelt stuff you'll ever find under your tree. To purchase that music, you need look no further than Ultimate Christmas (1998), a sterling CD compilation of nearly every seasonal song the group ever waxed. These include the group's 1964 Capitol LP, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (itself nicely remastered several years before Ultimate Christmas was released); a few rare singles and mixes; and a bevy of mostly unreleased tracks from the 1970's. True fans of these melodious sons of Hawthorne, California will cherish every moment of this generous CD, but the real treasures - the ones you'll return to again and again - are the five original compositions from The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, all written by wunderkind Brian Wilson (though Mike Love also received credit after a 1996 lawsuit).

Now, I love The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, and I will defend its place in my Top 20 Albums (as part of Ultimate Christmas) till my dying day. But, even I will admit that five songs are thin evidence. This fabulous fivesome represents some of the best music the group ever cut, putting forth a genuinely original vision of the season - humorous, touching, and slightly twisted. But, it adds up to less than 10 minutes, and it's not even the whole first side of the album. So, let's talk about each one and what makes it special.

listen
A car song send-up, Little Saint Nick kicks off The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, but it began life as a hit single in 1963, reaching #3 on Billboard's Christmas chart, then hitting #6 in 1964. After songs about surfing, the Beach Boys were best known for songs about cars and drag racing like "409," "Shut Down," and "Little Deuce Coupe." "Little Saint Nick" simply applies that formula to the holidays. Turns out, Santa doesn't just drive a sleigh, he's got a candy apple red toboggan with a four-speed stick!
listen
The Man With All The Toys may have been Brian Wilson's attempt to write a new Christmas standard. It's a simple, bouncy, catchy song featuring Wilson's falsetto on the chorus and Mike Love's nasal tenor on the verses. It was also released as a single, peaking at #6 on Billboard's Christmas chart in 1964. The song tells the story of one man's furtive encounter with Santa Claus - who is never mentioned by name.
listen
Santa's Beard is the funniest of the five original songs on Christmas Album, telling the story of the singer's little brother's encounter with a department store Santa. "He pulled the pillow out of his shirt" and "yanked the beard right off of his chin," bemoaning, "you're not really Santa Claus." It ends happily, however, when the tyke concludes, "He's just helpin' Santa Claus."
listen
I reserve particular kudos for the rollicking Merry Christmas Baby (not the laconic Charles Brown classic), which is the sauciest of the bunch and one of my Top 100 Songs. "My baby told me she don't want to hold me and kiss my lips anymore," sings Mike Love, begging his girl to take him back. "I'll want to kiss her, if just for Christmas," he admits. The song portrays a romantic scenario bordering on adult, and the group's performance is beautiful and understated - even Mike Love acquits himself with one of his most sensitive vocals.
listen
My personal favorite, however, is the gentle, nostalgic Christmas Day, which features guitarist Al Jardine's first recorded lead vocal. My heart always melts when he sings, "You never outgrow the thrill of Christmas Day." Like "Merry Christmas Baby," it reflects Brian Wilson's rapidly maturing sensibilities, and it points the way towards Pet Sounds and beyond. Songs like "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows" were just around the corner.

Extra Points for Originality

So, that's five great songs - case closed. But, it's also worth noting that most Christmas albums of the day - even the good ones - had one or two original songs, at best, and they were usually written by professional songwriters. Elvis Presley's Christmas Album had two - both written by the celebrated team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller - while Phil Spector's Christmas Gift For You and the Ventures' Christmas Album had one each. Christmas With The Everly Brothers didn't have any - though that was the least of its problems. Brian Wilson - as well as trailblazers like Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, and the Beatles - broke the mold. After them, musicians were expected to write their own music to be taken seriously as artists.

The rest of The Beach Boys' Christmas Album LP is very traditional, but it yields its own rewards. Primarily, it consists of six Christmas favorites arranged by Dick Reynolds - most famous as arranger for the Four Freshmen, a key influence on Brian Wilson - and sung by the Beach Boys with a studio orchestra. It concludes with Brian Wilson's a cappella arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne," over which Dennis Wilson gives the group's Christmas wishes for their fans. My favorites are the chipper, big band arrangement of "Frosty The Snowman," the Four Freshman-influenced take on "I'll Be Home For Christmas," and a like-Elvis-never-happened version of "Blue Christmas" featuring Brian Wilson's yearning lead vocal.

The first half of Ultimate Christmas is filled out with a few rarities from the Christmas Album sessions, including the original single version of "Little Saint Nick," which I prefer to the LP remix, and it's presented here in a new stereo mix. The single version is punchier, with the band higher in the mix, and it's easily identified by the additional bells and xylophone in the introduction. Ultimate Christmas also includes a surprising alternate version of "Little Saint Nick" with the original lyrics sung over a completely different backing track - the same one as "Drive In," a song from the group's 1964 LP, All Summer Long.

Christmas Time Is Here Again

The remainder of Ultimate Christmas is a blast, but the songs are cut from a completely different cloth - specifically, the eclectic California rock that typified the Beach Boys during the 1970's. Ever since the rise of psychedelia and acid rock in the 1960's, the Beach Boys had been struggling between their desire to create music relevant to the times and their financial need to maintain their popularity. It was a tough balance to strike, and they tended to lurch between dense, introspective, often brilliant music that no one wanted to hear and brazenly nostalgic, sometimes brilliant songs like "Do It Again" and "It's OK."

During those days, the Beach Boys considered releasing a new Christmas album, and they cut more than an album's worth of new seasonal songs during the same 1977 sessions for what would become M.I.U. Album, so named because it was recorded at the Maharishi International University in landlocked Iowa. But, Reprise Records, the group's current label, rejected the album - arguably wisely. At the time, Christmas music was deeply unfashionable, and it might have permanently sunk the group's fortunes. Roughly 20 years later, Ultimate Christmas gave us eight of the songs - roughly half of those recorded during the sessions - and they make for a fascinating, sometimes goofy listen.

All eight are original songs, though, like many Beach Boys records from this period, some of the tracks were pieced together from disparate sources. "Santa's Got An Airplane," for instance, uses the backing track for an unreleased 1969 song, "Loop De Loop (Flip Flop Flyin' In An Aeroplane)," which would eventually see the light of day on the Endless Harmony soundtrack. "Christmas Time Is Here Again" uses the backing track from the group's cover of Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue," which was ultimately released on M.I.U. Album. The same goes for "Melekalikimaka," which would appear on M.I.U. Album as "Kona Coast," and "Bells Of Christmas," which was recut as "Belles Of Paris." Brian's "Child Of Winter (Christmas Song)" is perhaps the best song of the bunch, but it had already been released as a single in 1974 - though briefly, and with very little commercial impact.

[close]

Of the rest, Dennis Wilson's "Morning Christmas" is the most surprising - an unusual, inventive, gorgeous song much in the same style as Pacific Ocean Blue, his 1977 solo album. Brian's "Winter Symphony," on the other hand, is easily the weirdest of the bunch - an unsettling, albeit affecting, minor key meditation on watching the world pass by.

Ultimate Christmas includes five of the tracks from the lost album - reportedly called Merry Christmas From the Beach Boys - plus three that were apparently dropped from consideration. Depending on who you ask, that leaves seven or eight tracks from the M.I.U. Christmas sessions unreleased to this day. In 1993, during their extended campaign to reissue the Beach Boys' catalog on compact disc, Capitol Records considered releasing the album, as evidenced by a promotional cassette circulated at the time. That didn't happen, and the eight songs on Ultimate Christmas are our consolation prize.

Ultimate Christmas concludes with some ephemera like the group's 1977 Christmas toy drive PSA for an Oregon radio station. But, it adds up to a consummate view of the holiday recordings of one of rock's greatest groups - absolutely invaluable.

Consumer notes

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album has been reissued countless times since 1964. I'd argue that the most significant was the 1991 compact disc, remixed and remastered with four bonus tracks, including "The Lord's Prayer," the non-LP b-side of the original 1963 "Little Saint Nick" single. That's the version available for download and streaming, minus the bonus tracks. More recently, it's been reissued in a variety of colorful vinyl editions.

Ultimate Christmas was repackaged and reissued in 2004 as Christmas With The Beach Boys minus an essential track, "Christmas Time Is Here Again." Still great, but I'd recommend chasing down the original. Christmas Harmonies (2009) repeated the formula, this time reducing the track count to just 15. Also, beware the many, many budget-priced Beach Boys Christmas albums floating around the market. They are usually called Merry Christmas From The Beach Boys or Beach Boys Christmas, and they usually have eight to ten tracks from the original 1964 Christmas Album. They may be cheaper, but they are uniformly inferior to Ultimate Christmas, which is well worth any price.

Alone On Christmas Day

During the 1980's and beyond, the Beach Boys never really broke up, but they would record and tour fitfully - sometimes with Brian Wilson, sometimes without. Not surprisingly, a lot of solo recordings would emerge, and more than a few revolved around Christmas. Easily the most important of the bunch is Brian Wilson's 2005 solo album, What I Really Want For Christmas, mostly recorded after he fully emerged from his well-publicized struggle with mental health and substance abuse problems.

During this late-in-life renaissance, Wilson toured and recorded with a rotating cast of distinguished players, including Beach Boys guitarist Jeff Foskett, multi-talented Andy Paley, and members of highly regarded power pop act, the Wondermints. All of them contributed to What I Really Want For Christmas, which I would characterize as an imperfect record with strong highlights. It is certainly well played and produced, but much of it is dedicated to traditional carols that generally bore me to tears. Brian and his stellar crew turn in perfectly serviceable versions of songs like "Silent Night," "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," and "O Holy Night" but, well, been there, done that.

As usual, the main attractions for me are the original songs, and What I Really Want For Christmas includes two brand new Brian Wilson compositions: the title track, written with Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin, and "Christmasey," a collaboration with legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb ("Wichita Lineman," "MacArthur Park," "Highwayman"). It also includes "On Christmas Day," an original song that Brian first offered as a free download through his website in 2000. The critics were kind of underwhelmed, but I think all three songs are fine additions to Wilson's eccentric legacy - even if I wouldn't call them masterpieces.

What I Really Want For Christmas is rounded out with new versions of "Little Saint Nick" and "The Man With All The Toys" from the 1964 Christmas Album. The latter song, in particular, really sparkles, rocking much harder than the original. Perhaps the brightest aspect of the album, however, is that it ushered in the annual tradition of Brian and his band playing a series of festive Christmas shows. I witnessed their show in Austin, Texas, in 2018, and it was a little sad to see the elderly Wilson struggle with his vocals. He was simply no longer up to the task. But, when the whole band gathered around him to close the show with his own arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne," Brian looked so happy - and I shed a few tears.

From Sunshine To Snowflakes

Of the other four Beach Boys from their classic lineup, two died fairly young: Dennis Wilson in 1983 at age 39 and Carl Wilson in 1998 at age 51. The two who survived, Mike Love and Al Jardine, have both released Christmas music. Jardine's output amounts to just three digital singles, including a poorly recorded live version of "Christmas Day" (2009), the song he sang on the 1964 Christmas Album, and the cute-but-cloying "Hurry Up, Hurry Up Santa Claus" (2015), pandering shamelessly to the kiddie crowd. By far, my favorite is "Sunshine To Snowflakes" (2017), a paean to Christmas in California that blends beautifully into the Beach Boys' tradition.

Mike Love, meanwhile, has been much more prolific. He was, in fact, the first Beach Boy to record Christmas music under his own name, appearing in a long-forgotten TV special called Scrooge's Rock 'n' Roll Christmas (1983) starring Jack Elam, of all people. A soundtrack album was released on a budget label called Hitbound, which also released it as a RadioShack exclusive called Christmas Party. It was a fairly star-studded effort - even if those stars were badly faded - also featuring Three Dog Night, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Mary MacGregor, the Association, Bobby Goldsboro, and Dean Torrence (of Jan & Dean). Scrooge's Rock 'n' Roll Christmas has never been reissued in any digital format, but that's no great loss. The whole LP consists of unremarkable, undistinguished covers of Christmas standards, though Mike Love's duet with Dean Torrence on "Jingle Bell Rock" is arguably the highlight.

Many years later, Mike Love returned to the trough with "Santa's Goin' To Kokomo" (2006), a genuinely awful song meant to cash in on the Beach Boys' 1985 smash hit, "Kokomo." After that, I lowered my expectations considerably. But, a decade hence, Love defied those expectations, first with a fine single, "(You'll Never Be) Alone On Christmas Day" (2015), and then with a surprisingly good album, Reason For The Season (2018).

Love For Christmas

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge Mike Love fan. I genuinely appreciate his contributions to the Beach Boys' music, but he's a litigious, egomaniacal blowhard who's never appreciated how lucky he was to hitch himself to the Wilson family bandwagon. In that light, and especially after the "Santa's Goin' To Kokomo" fiasco, I fully expected to be disappointed by both records.

Happily, I was not. "(You'll Never Be) Alone On Christmas Day" was a new version of one of those lost tracks from the Beach Boys' 1977 album, and it turned out to be as good or better than anything I'd yet heard from those sessions. Love wrote the song with Ron Altbach, who had been the keyboardist for King Harvest, whose "Dancing In The Moonlight" was a huge hit in 1972. After King Harvest dissolved, Altbach essentially became an auxiliary member of the Beach Boys, particularly during the sessions for M.I.U. and its follow-up, L.A. Light (1979).

And, while not great, Reason For The Season far exceeded my expectations. I expected Mike Love to phone in a bunch of tired old Christmas carols, and roughly half the album fits that bill. But, if you take Reason For The Season as a whole, Love seems very engaged in the process and, not insignificantly, he's in pretty good voice for a man approaching 80 years of age. He roped in just about his whole family to play and sing, and he wrote or commissioned five pretty spiffy original songs, including the title track, the aforementioned "Alone On Christmas" single, and the rousing opener, "Celestial Celebration," which pointedly recalls the Beach Boys 1965 masterpiece, "Good Vibrations." And then there's "Finally, It's Christmas," written by the group Hanson of "MMMBop" fame. They recorded it as the title song of their own 2017 Christmas album, and for Love's new version, they provided harmonies almost as rich as Brian, Carl, and Dennis.

So, both Brian's What I Really Want For Christmas and Mike's Reason For The Season are solid records, certain to please the Beach Boys faithful and likely to entertain casual fans. But, do they add a lot to the Beach Boys' holiday legacy? Not really. That legacy will always be based on those five original songs on The Beach Boys' Christmas Album. Start there, and work your way out. [top of page]