Christmas With the Beach Boys

The Beach Boys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B0002Y4TY2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,177 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The never-out-of-style Beach Boys do a great job convincing the world that a SoCal Christmas is as snowy and cold as the rest of the world's winter wonderland. Featuring the classic "Little St. Nick," Christmas with the Beach Boys also offers the immense pleasure of the group's inimitable harmonies, arranged by one whose ear is that of an angelic choir director--resident L.A. genius Brian Wilson. Included are a couple of outtakes, a promotional tape for a local toy drive, and a brief interview with Brian about the record. But the real joys are the rearrangements of staples like "Blue Christmas," "We Three Kings of Orient Are," and "Auld Lang Syne," all featuring that unmistakable Beach Boys sound. Even the originals, including "The Man with All the Toys," "Child of Winter," and the intriguing "Winter Symphony," blend the magic of the season with the wonders of the boys from the beach. --Martin Keller

Product Description

2004 holiday release from the Rock legends led by the bottomless creative mind of Brian Wilson. Christmas music has always been filled with wonder and beauty but the Beach Boys are one of the few bands that have been able to successfully blend in a Rock 'n' Roll heart. Their harmonies are heaven-sent and Wilson's arrangements manage to transcend both Rock and holiday music, creating a sound all its own. This compilation features 25 tracks including 'Little Saint Nick', 'The Man With All The Toys', 'Santa's Beard', 'Merry Christmas, Baby', 'Frosty The Snowman', 'Christmas Day' and many more. EMI. . --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get "Ultimate Christmas" instead, November 17, 2006

By 

Music Maniac (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas With the Beach Boys (Audio CD)

"Christmas With the Beach Boys" is nothing more than a repackaging of the Beach Boys' "Ultimate Christmas" with a song omitted. The omitted song is "Christmas Time is Here Again," which is actually a rather catchy tune and has no justifiable reason to be omitted here. Don't waste your money on this lesser version when you can have a 5 star version with "Ultimate Christmas," which is indeed the ultimate Beach Boys Christmas CD.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sun & Snowdrops, January 3, 2005

By 

Kendal B. Hunter (Provo, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christmas With the Beach Boys (Audio CD)

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.

27 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is a duplicate release.....why bother?, November 7, 2004

By 

LuckyDan (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas With the Beach Boys (Audio CD)

Same thing....different cover.

Buy the previously released The Beach Boys "Ultimate Christmas" CD. It has all these songs plus the additional song "Christmas Time Is Here Again"
I rate THAT album 5 stars.
No point in rating this album or buying it when the formal release is still available.