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Tuesday 20 December 2016

Merry Christmas From The Beach Boys


I'm not sure whether it is actually surfing weather at this time of the year in California. One thing is for sure, however, it will be a dammed site hotter than it is here
Sadly not the original The Beach Boys Christmas Album from 1964 but a compilation from 1990 entitled The Beach Boys Christmas Songs. The original was released following on from the success of Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift To You from 1963
Christmas Songs contains the same songs as the original but in a different order and I suspect it is not an official Beach Boys recording.It is certainly not listed in their discography.
Good tunes though

The Beach Boyd - We Three Kings of Orient Are

The Beach Boys -I'll Be Home For Christmas

10 comments:

  1. I lasted an even shorter time on today's tunes than the previous offerings of this week. Having heard a few seconds of these two I am confident that for the rest of the week Things Can Only Get Better

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    1. Maybe you should start another blog, George, so we can have the fun of leaving snarky comments about your selections. ;-)

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  2. Don't want to come over like a git, but the Spector Christmas album appeared to be a failure at the time of release as it came out the same day as Kennedy was assassinated and did not sell in gthe numbers expected.

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  3. Made myself out as a bit of a fud there didn't I?

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  4. Love The Beach Boys but this wasn't really their finest hour! All this Christmas music is making me really sad this year - Turns out that writing about the tracks of your years is fine for most of the year but not at Christmas. Bah humbug.

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  5. As someone who has listened to the Beach Boys' Christmas Album since I was knee high, I think the order of the songs is vitally important. The first five songs (all but the last track of side 1) are BB originals. The final seven songs are standards. I love them all. This is my second favorite Christmas album behind A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector. I think the best moment is Brian on his own with no other vocals for a rendition of Blue Christmas. Still gets me every time. Back in '98 the album was reissued on CD as Ultimate Christmas with a bevy of bonus tracks from the same sessions and more from later years. The standout is Brian's contribution to a second Christmas album that was to come out in '78 but was shelved. Ultimate Christmas is well worth picking up. The sound of the original album is tremendous.

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  6. Whoops. I didn't name that song from Brian from the shelved album. It's called Winter Symphony. Worth checking out.

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