Ultimate Christmas

The Beach Boys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000009RVB
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,261 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #30 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Pop Vocal
  • #32 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Noels
  • #39 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Surf Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"Little Saint Nick," the Beach Boys' 1963 classic, is undoubtedly one of pop music's coolest original Christmas songs. Hanson rocked it more recently, and decades later the original still sounds as hot as the California sun on this special combination of previously released and unvaulted alternate takes and never-released material, including a distinctly different arrangement of "Nick" and a fun, loopy ditty called "Santa's Got an Airplane." While many of the songs here are fodder for completists--and will sound uneven to others--it's hard to resist a record that features real rarities and Christmas material from 1964. Dig master Brian Wilson singing solo on "Blue Christmas" from the '64 Christmas Album and his keenly orchestrated "Winter Symphony" (for a 1977 Christmas disc that was never released, much of which is highlighted throughout this CD) with the warm, brassy instrumental bridge, plus a couple of fun public-service announcements and a Christmas-themed interview with the group's eccentric genius. --Martin Keller

Product Description

Audio CD.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars If you hap-happen to be reading this review right now... December 4, 2004

By Johnny Heering

Format:Audio CD

This is indeed the "Ultimate" Beach Boys Christmas CD. The first 12 tracks are the entire original Beach Boys Christmas Album. I'm sure most of you are already familiar with this classic album, so I don't need to discuss it in detail. Next we have the awesome single version of "Little Saint Nick". Then there is an alternate mix of "Auld Lang Syne" without Denny's voiceover, which really shows off the boys beautiful a capella singing. Then there's the oddball version of "Little Saint Nick" sung to the backing track of "Drive-In". Next we get the great but rare 1974 single "Child of Winter". In 1977, the Beach Boys recorded a second Christmas album, intending it to be their last album for Warner/Reprise. But Warner rejected the album, and it was never released. Seven of the songs from that album appear here for the first time. They are actually pretty good, for the most part. Interestingly, most of the songs are rewritten versions of songs that they had already started working on, with lyrics rewritten to be about Christmas. The CD closes with two Toys For Tots public service announcements, and a promotional interview that Brian did for the original Christmas album. This is the only Beach Boys Christmas CD you'll ever need.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars All Things Christmas December 6, 2001

By Musings

Format:Audio CD

It certainly is "The Ultimate Christmas," as this extended-length CD scrapes together every recording the Beach Boys ever made having anything to do with Christmas, including two old radio spots and an interview with Brian circa 1964.

The bulk of the CD comes from The Beach Boys Christmas Album, which included several Brian-written pop classics ("Little Saint Nick," "The Man With All the Toys") on side one, and lushly arranged traditional Christmas songs ("Blue Christmas," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town") on side two. Think a Hollywood soundtrack or Sinatra album circa 1962 and you've got the idea, although arranger Dick Reynolds isn't quite up to Nelson Riddle's status. Still, it does sound rather nice, and is no worse than other Christmas albums of the era (save Dennis' stumbling voiceover on "Auld Lang Syne"). The CD includes *three* versions of "Little Saint Nick" (the single version and the album version, plus one with a totally different melody swiped from their song "Drive-In").

Unfortunately, the rest of the CD is filled with outtakes from a planned (and, fortunately, not released) second Christmas LP from 1977. Warner Brothers refused to let the Beach Boys' swan song on their label be a quickie Christmas cash-in (so they wound up with the subpar M.I.U Album instead). To save money (or time), however, most of the songs from M.I.U. were reworked versions of the songs from the Christmas album ("Belles of Christmas" = "Belles of Paris"). Brian's participation in these sessions was sporadic, and Dennis' one contribution, "Morning Christmas," is a solo (it's the best song of the bunch, although Alan Jardine's "(I Saw) Santa Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" adds historical value for the assortment of Beach Boys kids on the disk, including Wendy and Carnie Wilson, later of Wilson Phillips).

It's a decent disk on the whole, but be prepared to program your CD player.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The perrenial Xmas classic plus the unreleased followup. October 2, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

In 1963, "Little St. Nick" was the Beach Boys' holiday offering, to great success. A year later, they released an album, half orchestrated classics and half surf-pop Beach Boys songs, which seems to go gold every December. In 1977, in an attempt to fulfil their Warners recording contract, the band recorded another, albeit ragged, Christmas album, which is now, finally, released. These gems range from the pop-corn of 1974's "Child of Winter" to Dennis'enigmatic "Holy Evening", here re-titled. The CD also contains a couple of radio promo spots, which are interesting to the collector, and a few obscure pieces. All in all, an ultimate collector's Christmas album that will hopefully put all the other Capitol repackages of this material out of print. The original 1977 MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BEACH BOYS also featured a few badly sung medleys; the only salvageable (releasable) one being found on Carny & Wendy Wilson's HEY SANTA! CD.