CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS
BRIAN WILSON, AL JARDINE BRING BEACH BOYS’ HOLIDAY ALBUM TO HEINZ HALL
In December 1963, shortly after the assassination of JFK, The Beach Boys added some much-needed cheer to the holiday season with a rockin’ little Christmas tune called “Little Saint Nick.”
“To me, it was a terrific nod to the car songs that had become so popular,” says Al Jardine, a co-founding member of the band. “It has that great shuffle feel of ‘Little Deuce Coupe,’ and it captures the Christmas spirit, I think. It has that wonderful, typical Brian Wilson genius for melody. There’s just a special feeling about it.”
A year later, “Little Saint Nick,” now a classic, would become the lead track of “The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album,” the seventh album and first holiday record from the beloved LA surf-rock group. It will be played in full as part of the Brian Wilson show Monday at Heinz Hall, Downtown, with Mr. Jardine, ’70s-era Beach Boys member Blondie Chaplin and their always dazzling band.
The record, ranked by Rolling Stone in 2012 as the seventh best Christmas album of all time, was recorded in sunny California in June 1964 with a 40piece orchestra. They made the bold choice to open the album with five original songs, including the hit “The Man With All the Toys,” before getting down to “Frosty the Snowman,” “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” “White Christmas” and other standards.
“Brian came up with some really wonderful little ditties that we sprinkled throughout the album that gave it some newness and that made it a classic,” Mr. Jardine says. “His gift for arranging is amazing and he got to work with his favorite arranger, Dick Reynolds, who did the Four Freshmen harmonies, so he was in musical heaven. He got to work with his hero. Everyone was gung-ho and professional, and, of course, we were unstoppable, so we were up to the challenge, I think.”
Mr. Jardine ended up doing his first lead vocal for the group on the Wilson original “Christmas Day.”
“We recorded the track for it, and I played bass on it, so I guess it came up during a discussion. Brian wasn’t traveling a lot then so he would spread [the leads] around to the guys: ‘I’ll give you that one, that one to Mike, that one to Carl.’”
The album was a big success, going to No. 6 on the charts, even with the group not doing any shows or appearances to promote it, Mr. Jardine recalls.
“I don’t believe we did, no. We used to work up till Thanksgiving. That would be our last hurrah, and then we would just go home for the season.”
The Beach Boys recorded a second Christmas album in 1977, but it was rejected by Warner Bros. Records, and those songs were later incorporated with the ’64 songs on the 1998 compilation “Ultimate Christmas.” In 2005, Mr. Wilson revisited the holiday theme on “What I Really Want for Christmas,” so the current tour could touch on some of those songs as well.
They’re leaving it up to the young guns in the band to work out the fine details.
“Brian and I are really impressed with the fellas and the background singers,” Mr. Jardine says. “It takes a lot of work to put together the Christmas album. We haven’t revisited that one much and have never played it before. It’s fun to hear the guys work it out. There’s a saying, ‘the student becomes the teacher.’ These young guys in the band are now the teachers, and Brian and I are catching up.”
The 76-year-old Mr. Wilson, whose mental health struggles are well-documented, plays piano and sings during the shows but is liberal in delegating his parts to other members of the group. (Rob Bonfiglio, who is married to Brian’s daughter Carnie Wilson, is taking over for Mr. Jardine’s son Matt on the current tour, doing the falsetto parts.)
“He’s good,” Mr. Jardine says of Mr. Wilson. “Just being in his presence, I think, is enough. The audience will enjoy his performance. You gotta keep in mind that he’s the engine that made the whole thing go. He’s got a lot of stuff going on, when you think about what he’s created. And it’s a joy for him to hear it back. I think he sits in revelry sometimes just listening to all the component parts because this band is really good. They execute beautifully and it’s quite an experience. Sometimes you’ll think he’s not really present, but it doesn’t really matter because he’s enjoying it. As long as he’s having a good time, I’m having a good time.”