ALBUM REVIEW: The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys' Christmas Album

    November of 1963 - Philles Records released their much-acclaimed A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records album, more commonly referred to as Phil Spector's Christmas Album. As it turns out, Brian Wilson had attended some of the album's sessions (his piano playing on "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" was scrapped, however, after Spector deemed his playing to be sub-par) - on top of that, Brian Wilson has regularly praised the album as one of his favorites ever made, probably due in no small part to the praise he constantly singles out towards Spector's production style. In the midst of his group's own artistic growth and evolution the following year, Brian brought the group in to do some Christmas numbers in an attempt to make a response to Spector - these sessions were only a month after the group's massive step forward that was All Summer Long. The resulting album from these sessions, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, is nothing short of a very fun LP. Obviously it's its own thing in comparison to their previous albums - one part original songs and another part standards, with the latter half having extensive orchestration from Dick Reynolds. Still, very few Christmas albums bring as much yule-tide joy to me quite like this album does.

    The original songs are all mostly relegated to the first half, and are, in all honesty, far from the maximalist sound of Spector's holiday recordings - what these songs are, though, are fun Christmas pop rock numbers. "Little Saint Nick" is as strong an album opener as any, albeit it was recorded a year prior to this album's release (unfortunately, the album lacks the rather beautiful "The Lord's Prayer" b-side from that single, but anyways). It's an enjoyable way to start, and it helps that "The Man With All the Toys" is an equally strong followup - wonder if it was ever released as a single. "Merry Christmas, Baby" is easily my favorite moment on the excellent sounding chorus - this song on its own does a far better job at capturing the Christmas spirit than pretty much any song on Spector's Christmas album, might I add. That isn't to say that everything from the originals camp is pure gold, however. "Santa's Beard" is finally growing on me, but for many listens I found the song to be too goofy to be overly enjoyable - I'm now to the point where I love songs like "When a Man Needs a Woman" from Friends, so goofiness isn't necessarily a concern for me anymore (well, at least not as much). On the other hand, "Christmas Day" is a bit of a snooze, especially compared to the other originals - it sounds like the gang's hearts just aren't in it with this one.

    The traditional tracks are themselves their own beast. With string arrangements from Four Freshmen arranger Dick Reynolds, they certainly sound good musically - almost in that Bing Crosby territory of instrumentation, which isn't a knock against it by any means. My only issue with these is that the originals are more consistently good, where the traditionals leave a bigger margin for fucking up - a commonly cited example is the simply bizarre instrumentation on the group's rendition "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," and while I find it to be a little endearing, I'd be lying if I said it was exactly what I wanted to hear from a rendition of this song. Other songs suit the Boys far better, such as the sublime "We Three King of Orient Are" or the upbeat rendition of "Frosty the Snowman." Other songs have some great potential, but I don't think are utilized the best - "Blue Christmas" is a lovely rendition but there's no harmony on it, which is the primary reason I listen to the group in the first place. The album, at the very least, ends strong with renditions of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and a beautiful acappella version of "Auld Lang Syne," albeit the version without Dennis' spoken word overdub is my preference - that being said, it's still acappella Beach Boys and is simply stunning.

     In terms of its placement in the group's catalog, one may be quick to write off The Beach Boys' Christmas Album as not a whole lot more than a peculiar oddity just before the first true flashes of the group's genius. Taken on its own, however, you'll find a lovely little pop album that I think is the perfect company to throw on this November to December. As someone who, admittedly, isn't the most die-hard Christmas music listener, I love listening to this thing. Sure, part of it is the Beach Boys fan in me, but something about it gives me an unfettered excitement for the holidays, and in the end, isn't that what Christmas music should do? On that front, it more than succedes.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to The Beach Boys' Christmas Album.