Customer Reviews

Ultimate Christmas

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The Beach Boys once recorded a song called "You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone." It's fitting, then, that author Brad Elliot, who wrote the group's exhaustive musical reference "Surf's Up," helped compile and write the liner notes for this intriguing, uneven Christmas collection.

Most Beach Boy fans know the first half of the LP; the group's official 1964 Capitol Christmas album (one of four LPs they released that year!) featuring Four Freshmen arranger Dick Reynolds, a 41-piece orchestra, and what the "Rolling Stone Record Guide" once called "some of the most nasal carols ever put on wax."

But many, like "Blue Christmas," "White Christmas," "We Three Kings of Orient Are," and a superb "Auld Lang Syne" (with and without Dennis Wilson's closing narrative) are sung sensitively and arranged with the complexity of the group's pop recordings. This is notably true of "Little Saint Nick," one of rock's best Christmas tracks featured at its best (the 45 single, debuting in stereo on a proper Beach Boys set) in its LP version, and in an odd, unreleased version sung to the melody of their "Drive-In." The set also includes a timid Brian Wilson interviewed by syndicated show host Jack Wagner in 1964.

Then you get the best tracks from a 1977 contractual obligation Christmas album Warner/Reprise rejected for 1978's "M.I.U. Album." Those remembering that flimsy set will find interesting the holiday takes on "Peggy Sue" (here with nonsensical Al Jardine lyrics as "Christmas Time Is Here Again") "Belles of Paris" (done as "Bells of Christmas") and "Kona Coast" (done as "Melekalikimaka."). The latter two sound better as Christmas songs and benefit from Jardine's 1998 remastering. (But nothing would have saved the awkward "(I Saw Santa) Rockin' Round The Christmas Tree." ) Several Christmas charity PSAs are also included.

Longtime Beach Boy fans will find "Ultimate Christmas" reinforces all they know about the group: timeless music matched to tragic history. The 1964 songs reveal Brian's songwriting/arranging influence and vision, while the 1977 tracks show a fractured group dynamic and roots-raw sounds that colored that year's "Beach Boys Love You." It shows a group quivering on the edge of breakup, seeming to forget (in the studio, anyway) the melodic sense that endeared, then frustrated its fans. "Ultimate Christmas," warts and all, is essential for Beach Boy fans and those of Christmas rock and roll generally, a ghost of California Christmas past.

This is the ablum that all others strive to beat. They wrote some of the classic rock christmas songs that almost everyone thinks of. The only groups to come even close in my opion are the MOTOWN christmas ablums

Sorry. Those of you who think this is substandard, something compiled just to get a Christmas album out, take a look at the extra tracks. This is, in essence, two Christmas CDs in one. One we are well familiar with, the other, a pleasant surprise (that is, those who aren't familiar with the bootlegged tracks). One of the most enjoyable Christmas CDs to come along in many years (enough of the Mariah Carey stuff).

It's got Brian Wilson's great songs like "Little Saint Nick" and "The Man With All the Toys," and many other surprisingly good songs. And for the traditional songs, who else would you want to hear sing Christmas songs than the Beach Boys with their wonderful harmonies?

The holidays would not be the same for us without this collection. Great liner notes and many Christmas pictures. Beach Boys Christmas tunes ...what more could you want?? Also newly available at Amazon.com, check out The Beach Boys:An American Band on DVD. Great interviews and rare live performances!! Don't miss the great Brian Wilson piano solo on Surf's Up - "I heard the word, won-der-ful thing, a children's song...."

The Ultimate BB Christmas CD is the one to buy.
Ironically, to me, the previously unreleased material, which the songs come from the never released 1977 Christmas album, is the reason to buy this version of the BB's Christmas album, as beautiful as the original Christmas album was. Why?:

1. One of the many things I love about Brian is his use of sleigh bells in his songs (where else do you have that?). Does the original BB's Christmas album have sleigh bells on any of it's songs? Unfortunately I can hear none;

2. Yet on the previously unreleased material on CD, which number ten songs, the first song, the single version of Little Saint Nick, has sleigh bells, as do many other of the previously unreleased materials. Now we have the sleigh bells with the Christmas music. Yes!;

3. In the original Christmas album, the beautiful acappela version of Auld Lang Syne has Dennis with a voice over, the previously unreleased material has this song without the voice over. You want a BB only song, this is one of them;

4. Dennis' Morning Christmas song alone is worth buying this CD, it is simply an amazing beautiful song written and produced by Dennis in 1977;

5. Track list of the previously unreleased songs on this CD:
Little Saint Nick (Single Version) [w/ sleigh bells!, glockenspiel and celeste, IMO much better than original album version]
Auld Lang Syne [acappela w/o Dennis' voice over]
Little Saint Nick [to the music of Drive-In]
Child Of Winter
Santa's Got An Airplane
Christmas Time Is Here Again
Winter Symphony [Brain's contribution to the 1977 Christmas album, absolutely beautiful song]
(I Saw Santa) Rock'in Around the Christmas Tree
Melekalikimaka
Bells of Christmas [a beautiful song by Al Jardine, Ron Altbach and Mike Love]
Morning Christmas

I am one of the biggest BW fans out there. Die hard since I was 5. The orignal album from 64 is in my opinion one of three greatest pop Christmas albums ever made. Even better than Phil Spector's XMAS album - which is another incredible album. However, desperate to release new material, Capitol dug up the still unreleased 77 album like a lot of other still unreleased material merely to lure the public into buying more product. In my opinion, this material was previously unreleased for a reason. While this hasn't always been the case with other prev unreleased material, the 77 album was atrocious. Anyone could have tossed off simplistic melodies contained on that album. Arrangements took little to no effort. It didn't sound like an album they put themselves into. As Murry would've said, This singing for money stuff just isn't gonna cut it. You gotta sing from your hearts. But I give the 64 album 5 of 5 stars. By far my favorite Christmas album. I also think Brian should have left his remake of LSN off of his 2005 solo xmas album. That was pretty bad too. Aside from that, his 05 album was pretty good taking into consideration that he's in his mid 60's. Still love his stuff and I've never missed a solo tour yet! Keep up those Good Vibrations Brian!

Love and Mercy,
Brett