The Beach Boys' Christmas Album facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Beach Boys' Christmas Album |
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| Released | November 9, 1964 | |||
| Recorded | October 20, 1963; June 18–30, 1964 | |||
| Studio | Capitol and Western, Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Pop, Christmas | |||
| Length | 27:37 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Brian Wilson | |||
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The Beach Boys' Christmas Album is a special holiday album by the famous American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on November 9, 1964, by Capitol Records. The album has 12 songs: five new songs written by the band and seven classic Christmas tunes.
This album became very popular during the Christmas season year after year. When it first came out, it reached number 6 on the Billboard Christmas LP's chart. Over time, it sold so many copies that it was certified gold. Many people, including music historian James Perone, think it's one of the best holiday albums from the rock era.
Brian Wilson, the band's leader, produced and arranged the rock songs on the album. For the traditional Christmas songs, he asked Dick Reynolds to arrange the music for a 41-piece orchestra. The Beach Boys then added their vocals to these orchestral tracks.
Only one single was released from the album. It was the original song "The Man with All the Toys" with the band's version of "Blue Christmas" on the other side. Another popular song, "Little Saint Nick", had already been released the year before but was included on this album.
The Beach Boys tried to make another Christmas album in 1977 called Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys. However, their record label decided not to release it. Later, in 1998, all the songs from the original Christmas Album were put together with some songs from the unreleased 1977 album to create a new collection called Ultimate Christmas.
Contents
Making the Christmas Album
The idea for The Beach Boys' Christmas Album came after Brian Wilson heard another famous Christmas album. This was A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records by Phil Spector, released in 1963. Brian had even gone to some of the recording sessions for Spector's album. He played piano on the song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" but was asked to stop because his piano playing wasn't quite good enough.
The first side of the album has mostly new rock songs about Christmas. These were written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The second side features classic Christmas songs, both fun and religious. These songs have orchestral music arranged by Dick Reynolds.
Recording Sessions
Most of the songs for the album were recorded between June 18 and June 30, 1964. This was just one month after the band finished their All Summer Long album. The song "Christmas Day" is special because it's the first Beach Boys song where Al Jardine sings the main part.
The album was released in two sound versions: mono (one speaker) and stereo (two speakers). The stereo mix for this album was the last true stereo mix for a Beach Boys album until 1968's Friends.
During these recording sessions, the band also recorded some other songs that weren't used on the Christmas album. These included orchestral versions of "Jingle Bells" and an original song by Brian Wilson called "Christmas Eve." There were also early versions of songs like "Little Honda" and "Don't Hurt My Little Sister".
Ultimate Christmas Compilation
In 1998, a special collection called Ultimate Christmas was released. This album includes all 12 songs from the original Christmas Album in stereo sound. It also has many bonus songs, like the 1974 single "Child of Winter". Plus, it features several songs that had never been released before from the 1977 album that was never finished, Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys.
Song List
Mike Love received writing credits for the songs marked with a (*) after a court case in 1994.
| Side one | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Little Saint Nick" | Love | 1:59 | ||||||
| 2. | "The Man with All the Toys" |
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1:32 | ||||||
| 3. | "Santa's Beard" | Love | 1:59 | ||||||
| 4. | "Merry Christmas, Baby" | Love | 2:22 | ||||||
| 5. | "Christmas Day" | Al Jardine | 1:35 | ||||||
| 6. | "Frosty the Snowman" | B. Wilson | 1:54 | ||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "We Three Kings of Orient Are" | 4:03 | |||||||
| 2. | "Blue Christmas" | B. Wilson | 3:09 | ||||||
| 3. | "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" |
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2:20 | ||||||
| 4. | "White Christmas" | B. Wilson | 2:29 | ||||||
| 5. | "I'll Be Home for Christmas" | B. Wilson | 2:44 | ||||||
| 6. | "Auld Lang Syne" |
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1:19 | ||||||
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Total length:
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27:37 | ||||||||
| 1991 CD reissue bonus tracks | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Lead Vocals | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "Little Saint Nick" (single version) () | Love | 2:01 | ||||||
| 14. | "The Lord's Prayer" | The Beach Boys | 2:34 | ||||||
| 15. | "Little Saint Nick" (alternate take) () | Love | 1:56 | ||||||
| 16. | "Auld Lang Syne" (alternate take) | The Beach Boys | 1:19 | ||||||
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Total length:
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35:27 | ||||||||
Who Played on the Album?
Here are some of the people who helped make The Beach Boys' Christmas Album:
The Beach Boys
Other Musicians and Staff
- Dick Reynolds – orchestra conductor
- Al Viola – guitar
- Jimmy Rowles – piano
- Jack Sperling – drums
- George “Red” Callender – tuba
- Chuck Britz – engineer (for stereo mix)
Album Charts
This is how The Beach Boys' Christmas Album performed on music charts:
| Chart (1964) | Peak position |
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| US Christmas LP's (Billboard) | 6 |
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
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| US Billboard 200 | 107 |
| Chart (2022) | Peak position |
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| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 65 |
See also
In Spanish: The Beach Boys' Christmas Album para niños
