ADVENT CALENDAR: Dec 1st - The Beach Boys

Recently, it's been difficult to escape from Christmas music. If you've ventured out to the shops recently, you will have probably heard lots of it, and if you can bear to sit through TV advert breaks you will have probably been hearing it since late September.

I ignore it all, and then get extra festive when December arrives. So Rewind/Fast Forward will be celebrating the Christmas song with this ADVENT CALENDAR feature, which will be running up until Xmas with a fine festive track each day. I'm going to try to steer clear of the usual stuff that you're probably all sick of by now, but today I will begin with one of the more familiar ones...

Even though The Beach Boys inevitably evoke memories of summer, the melodies of Brian Wilson and the magic of the festive season seem to go hand in hand... 'Little Saint Nick' is the opening track on my self-compiled Christmas CD, which I traditionally listen to when putting the decorations up each year. The festive season doesn't begin for me until I've heard this. The 1963 single was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. It was first released as a single in December 1963, reaching number three on the Billboard Christmas charts and peaking at #69 on the sales chart. Essentially, 'Little Saint Nick' is a festive variation on the "hot rod song", replacing the usual car-theme with Santa Claus and his sleigh. The idea for the song was partly inspired by record producer Phil Spector's plans to record a Christmas album. Brian Wilson attended recording sessions for Spector's legendary festive LP, and originally played piano on the song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", but was dismissed by Spector due to his Supposedly substandard piano playing.

'Little Saint Nick' was also featured on The Beach Boys' Christmas Album in 1964, minus the overdubbed sleigh bells from the original single mix. The song borrows its rhythm and structure from the group's 1963 hit "Little Deuce Coupe', and some versions of the song include a xylophone. An alternative version of the track uses the melody from 'Drive In'. In 1977, the Beach Boys attempted to follow the first xmas album with 'Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys', but it was rejected by their label. The entire Christmas Album plus selections from the Merry Christmas sessions were later assembled for the 1998 compilation Ultimate Christmas.