"The Beach Boys' Christmas Album" is the seventh studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on November 9, 1964, by Capitol Records. The album features five original songs and seven Christmas-themed standards, marking the band's first holiday album. It achieved long-term success, peaking at No. 6 on Billboard's Christmas LP chart upon its release and later earning a gold certification. Music historian James Perone described it as "one of the finest holiday albums of the rock era."
The album's creation was influenced by Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records (1963), which Brian Wilson had attended recording sessions for. Wilson had even played piano on "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" but was dismissed by Spector for his "substandard" playing. The album's A-side consists primarily of original Christmas-themed rock songs written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, while the B-side features both secular and religious Christmas standards, which were given orchestral backings arranged by Dick Reynolds, who was known for his work with the Four Freshmen, a group that Wilson admired.
The album's single, "The Man with All the Toys," was released alongside the group's rendition of "Blue Christmas." The previous year's hit single "Little Saint Nick" was also included on the album.
Recording for the album took place between June 18 and 30, 1964, shortly after the completion of the All Summer Long album. Notably, "Christmas Day" featured the first lead vocal from Beach Boy Al Jardine. The album was released in both mono and stereo formats. The stereo mix, prepared by engineer Chuck Britz, would be the last true stereo mix for a Beach Boys album until Friends in 1968.
While the album included orchestrated versions of "Jingle Bells" and an instrumental of "Christmas Eve" (an original Wilson composition), some outtakes from earlier sessions also appeared, including the unreleased versions of "Little Honda" and "Don't Hurt My Little Sister."
In 1998, Ultimate Christmas was released as a compilation, featuring all the tracks from the original album in stereo, along with bonus tracks like the 1974 single "Child of Winter" and previously unreleased songs from the band's 1977 Christmas album sessions, which had been rejected by their label.
