RETRO: ‘The Ventures Christmas Album’ (1965)
It’s the holiday season and if you’re like me, as much as you love those old Christmas standards sung by Bing Crosby, the Harry Simeone Chorale, Nat King Cole, and others, sometimes you need a change-of-pace, rock-‘n’-roll Christmas tune to shake things up. Of course you can go with the likes of super-predictable Brenda Lee’s “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree,” Elvis’ “Blue Christmas,” or, perhaps my favorite Christmas song, Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” but again, those are pretty much standards for most REBEAT readers. Instead, I’d ask you to give a listen to something different: the slightly more offbeat The Ventures Christmas Album from 1965. Of course, during the ’60s it wasn’t all that offbeat; peaking at #9, it actually out-charted Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You at #13 (where you’ll find Darlene Love’s aforementioned classic), and did almost as well as the famous Beach Boys Christmas Album (of “Little St. Nick” fame) which peaked at #6.
Today, however, this unusual little album is not well known, probably because while the Beach Boys sound is iconic and everlasting, as is Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound,” the Ventures guitar-driven surf rock sound has not stood the test of time so well. That being said, this album has one of the most creative approaches to traditional Christmas music I’ve ever heard. When we specifically think of the Ventures we think of their hits such as “Walk Don’t Run” and “Hawaii Five-O,” and at least the first of those is here — kind of. Let me explain.
What this album does is offer up Christmas standards, surf-rock style, and intercut guitar intros and riffs from other popular hits at the time. Johnny Rivers’ “Memphis” is incorporated into “Jingle Bell Rock,” Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs’ “Wooly Bully” is mixed into “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” The Searchers’ “When You Walk Into the Room” is melded into “Blue Christmas,” The Champs’ “Tequila” leads into “Frosty the Snowman,” and so on. My two favorites are “Sleigh Ride,” which opens with the Ventures own “Walk Don’t Run” and samples it throughout, and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which uses the Beatles’ “I Feel Fine” as its intro and also throughout the song. This may sound odd, but it’s actually exquisitely done and — for lack of a better expression — turns out to be pretty cool!
So, as you sit there sipping your eggnog, listening to Bing or Dino croon those old standards, go to iTunes and download it for the very low price of $5.99. You really have to hear this album to believe it; the Ventures make Christmas music rock!
