BRIAN WILSON: WHAT I REALLY WANT FOR CHRISTMAS (2005)
1) The
Man With All The Toys; 2) What I Really Want For Christmas; 3) God Rest Ye
Merry Gentlemen; 4) O Holy Night; 5) We Wish You A Merry Christmas; 6) Hark The
Herald Angels Sing; 7) It Came Upon A Midnight Clear; 8) Christmasey; 9) The
First Noel; 10) Little Saint Nick; 11) Deck The Halls; 12) Auld Lang Syne; 13)
On Christmas Day; 14) Joy To The World; 15) Silent Night.
This one will be done with in brief. As you
remember, the Beach Boys had already fulfilled their national obligation with a
Christmas album as early as 1964. However, now that Brian has officially
reached the natural age of a Santa Claus, he might have felt the need to
balance that early teenage offering with a well-aged, well-tempered reading of
the classics — in fact, a couple of the songs here are reprised from Christmas
Album, most noticeably the Wilson/Love co-written ʽLittle Saint Nickʼ and
ʽThe Man With All The Toysʼ. And yes, one more ʽAuld Lang Syneʼ for the world
to cherish and enjoy.
And what you get, in light of Brian's previous
career, is probably what you'd expect. Sincerity a-plenty, wonderful harmonies
from the Wondermints, pretty and tasteful arrangements played on a wide variety
of instruments — and that dear old crackly voice. Newly written songs include
the title track, with lyrics provided by Bernie Taupin (and if you're wondering
what it is that Brian really wants for Christmas, well, he couldn't get it even
if he were President), and ʽChristmaseyʼ, co-written with Jimmy Webb —
melodically, both are indeed «Christmasey», nothing particularly special or
irritating.
If you really love Beach Boy-style harmonies
for what they're worth, though, they do a really really fine job on the choral
numbers, such as ʽJoy To The Worldʼ and ʽSilent Nightʼ. This is, of course,
perfectly rehearsed professionalism rather than sparkly youthful enthusiasm,
but frankly, I am not sure which of the two I would prefer in 2005. And another
thing is that back in 1964, it was never clear if the Beach Boys sang these
Christmas carols because they really admired them, or because Capitol, or Papa
Murry, told them to — here it is perfectly obvious that Brian is enjoying the
process, and why shouldn't he? Come to think of it, of all veteran rockers it
is Brian Wilson, with his wonderfully childlike mind, who is the most natural
candidate for an old-fashioned Christmas release. Not that I'd truly recommend
this album — I don't usually recommend Christmas albums unless they have ʽThe
Night Santa Went Crazyʼ on them — but at least this one is not a total waste of
time. Lovely harmonies.
No comments:
Post a Comment