Well, as the title suggests, this is a
Christmas album, by the
Beach Boys. It's also not very good, but considering this was their third album of the year, that's not surprising.
Side one is a collection of
Brian Wilson songs (since his mid-90s lawsuit,
Mike Love gets a co-writing credit on all these), mostly on the subject of
Santa Claus and/or being sad because your girlfriend isn't there at Christmas. Side two is more of the same, except older songs, with orchestration by Dick Reynolds, who had worked with the
Four Freshmen - a big influence on the
Beach Boys.
The album also has
Al Jardine's first lead vocal - on
Christmas Day
In 1998 the album was reissued as Ultimate Christmas, with a selection of previously unreleased songs, mostly outtakes from the
MIU Album sessions. These are mostly of little interest, but Brian's
Winter Symphony is beautiful, and
Dennis Wilson's
Morning Christmas is stunning.
Original tracklising:
- Little Saint Nick
- The Man With All The Toys
- Santa's Beard
- Merry Christmas, Baby
- Christmas Day
- Frosty The Snowman
- We Three Kings Of Orient Are
- Blue Christmas
- Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
- White Christmas
- I'll Be Home For Christmas
- Auld Lang Syne
And bonus tracks on Ultimate Christmas:
- Little Saint Nick (Single Version)
- Auld Lang Syne (Alternate Mix)
- Little Saint Nick (Alternate Version)
- Child Of Winter (Christmas Song)
- Santa's Got An Airplane
- Christmas Time Is Here Again
- Winter Symphony
- (I Saw Santa) Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
- Melekalikimaka
- Bells Of Christmas
- Morning Christmas
- Toy Drive Public Service Announcement
- Dennis Wilson Christmas Message
- Brian Wilson Christmas Interview
The album is currently available on
Capitol Records as Ultimate Christmas
The line-up for this album was
Brian Wilson,
Carl Wilson,
Dennis Wilson,
Mike Love and
Al Jardine. The original album was produced by
Brian Wilson, the bonus tracks by
Brian Wilson,
Dennis Wilson and/or
Al Jardine , depending on the song.
Previous album -
All Summer Long
Next album -
Beach Boys Concert