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Ranking every Beach Boys song/album: The Beach Boys Christmas Album (by Songwriter Jim Fusco)

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By Jim Fusco:

BEACH BOYS CHRISTMAS ALBUM:

We Three Kings of Orient Are – 9.5
*Little Saint Nick (single) – 10
Little Saint Nick (album) – 9.5
*Our Father – 5
*Auld Lang Syne (alternate) – 5
Santa’s Beard – 7 (LOVE the chord progression and the combination of Mike’s low part and Brian’s high part on “He wants to meet old Santa Claus”)
Christmas Day – 6
I’ll Be Home for Christmas – 7 (I consider this the standard for this song)
The Man with All the Toys – 7.5 (The same reason why I like this song is the reason why it gets docked some points. It has this “dark” sound to it that kinda doesn’t sound very Christmas-song like. However, I like the darker sound because I love those dark Christmastime nights)
Blue Christmas – 6.5
White Christmas – 6
*Little Saint Nick (alternate) – 6.5
Merry Christmas, Baby – 7
Santa Claus is Coming to Town – 5
Frosty the Snowman – 5
Auld Lang Syne – 4 (They couldn’t have done ONE more take to let Dennis have another chance?)

** This is one of my favorite albums. That doesn’t mean it’s the best by any means, but this always makes me SO happy. I have 200 Christmas songs and know how to play most of them. I love Christmas and everything that goes with it. This album contains songs that make me SO happy every time I listen to them, that it automatically brings back memories. I love Elvis’ first Christmas album because of that, too. Something about that innocence and that late ’50s, early ’60s Christmas time vibe… I’ll never live in that kind of world. I’ll never get to experience that, seeing as I grew up in the ’90s (and still growing, in fact, at 23). I hope to give my future children Christmases like that, and that’s why every note on this album is like gold to me. I listen to it about 50 times a year- more than any other album. I know the songs aren’t perfect and the recording sounds a bit rushed, at best. But, they’re voices are at top-notch form here. Classic. **

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“Soulful Old Man Sunshine” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to my Beach Boys Session for this week! Today, this song goes out by request, but I probably would’ve done it eventually, anyway.

This is a technically unreleased song called “Soulful Old Man Sunshine” that was only released on a compilation a few years ago.

I truly think the only reason the Beach Boys never released it is because of Carl’s “shun-shine” gaff in the middle 8.

I figured out this song’s chords by myself and even though I took some liberties, I think it stays true to the original.

Also, I think this is one of the few over-produced Beach Boys songs. That’s why I was so excited to strip all that excess out and just make an acoustic version. You’ll notice that I even sing a bit of it like Brian Wilson did in the original demo of the song, also included on that compilation. I love that version, too- it’s a bit more jazzy.

Thank you for making this ongoing series so incredibly popular! Don’t forget to RATE the songs, too!

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“You’re So Good To Me” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello all, and welcome to your weekend edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog with me, Jim Fusco. After two strong outings from Jeff and Chris, I decided to pull my ace-in-the-hole and do a Beach Boys song.  I always have good luck doing a Beach Boys cover song, as growing up, I would constantly sing these while in the car.  After a while, I think my voice just grew into the Beach Boys tone, so I’m able to bring you fairly accurate cover song videos here on the music blog!

This is an earlier Beach Boys song that doesn’t have way too much emphasis on the background vocals, so it was a nice transition into Laptop Sessions form.  Normally, I like to take more produced songs and turn them into cover song videos, but tonight, I’m taking a lesser-known song and bringing it to the public’s attention again.

I love the way Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys sings this song. It’s like he’s semi-screaming it at some points, but he’s singing about how someone is “so good” to him! I think this might have been an attempt to sound a bit more “macho” on Brian’s part, and if I were in his shoes, I would completely understand.  Of course, I think the “macho” aspect goes away on the falsetto, “And I love it, LOVE it!” line.  That’s okay, though, as it’s my favorite part of the song.  I’ve noticed lately that one of Brian Wilson’s strengths as a songwriter (and there are many) is his ability to write a great bridge.  Those catchy transition periods between the verses and choruses are usually my favorite parts of a song.  I’ve been putting a lot of focus on them in my original songs, as well.  For instance, in “Good Enough” off of my album, “Those Around Us”, I love the way the bridge came out.  It features really cool harmonies and a catchy tune.  Plus, I like the line, “And now my heart is hardened like a heart of gold.”

I hope everyone likes this one, even though it doesn’t have my favorite Mike Love low part in there. Gotta get Chris to stop correcting high school English papers one of these nights and do some more collaborations!  Actually, this cover song video doesn’t feature any of the background vocals.  The “la-la-la” part in the chorus can be considered annoying by some people.  In fact, it took away from my love of the song until just recently.  I guess it grew on me.  But, here I give you a version with no background vocals for the acoustic cover songs music video blog so you can hear just what a great little song “You’re So Good To Me” is!

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“Surfer Girl” (Beach Boys Cover)

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Welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions!

Tonight, I give you one of the Beach Boys’ greatest and most famous songs, “Surfer Girl”!

Of course, the Boys’ version has those great harmonies, but imagine this version as if Brian Wilson was the only one singing. Plus, it’s fun to sing the harmony parts while listening back to it.

I love the chords- those old-fashioned chords that rock music just doesn’t have anymore. It was fun to learn and Chris and I have been playing this for months.

Actually, I love playing this on Chris’ Fender electric, but I think it translates well on the nylon strings.

Hopefully I do this song justice because playing a huge hit like this always means there’s pretty big expectations.

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