What I Really Want for Christmas
Encyclopedia
What I Really Want for Christmas is the seventh studio album by Brian Wilson
and his first seasonal release. It was released by Arista Records
in October 2005 and features many traditional Christmas songs, as well some of Wilson's originals, including remakes of The Beach Boys
' "Little Saint Nick" and "The Man with All the Toys". As a bonus, Wilson elected to include a sampling of seasonal recordings initially available on his website a few years earlier.
Critical reaction to the album was mixed; the album eventually peaked at #200 for one week on the Billboard 200 chart in the US, though "Deck the Halls" became a surprise Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit.
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
and his first seasonal release. It was released by Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
in October 2005 and features many traditional Christmas songs, as well some of Wilson's originals, including remakes of The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
' "Little Saint Nick" and "The Man with All the Toys". As a bonus, Wilson elected to include a sampling of seasonal recordings initially available on his website a few years earlier.
Critical reaction to the album was mixed; the album eventually peaked at #200 for one week on the Billboard 200 chart in the US, though "Deck the Halls" became a surprise Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit.
Track listing
All tracks Traditional; except where indicated- "The Man with All the ToysThe Man with All the Toys"The Man with All the Toys" is a Christmas song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1964 album The Beach Boys' Christmas Album. As a single that year it had limited success "The Man with All the Toys" is a Christmas song written...
" (Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, Mike LoveMike LoveMichael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
) – 2:59 - "What I Really Want for Christmas" (Wilson, Bernie TaupinBernie TaupinBernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...
) – 3:50 - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" – 3:27
- "O Holy NightO Holy Night"O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau , a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem...
" – 4:28 - "We Wish You a Merry ChristmasWe Wish You a Merry Christmas"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a popular secular sixteenth-century English carol from the West Country of England. The origin of this Christmas carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy...
" – 2:36 - "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" – 3:34
- "It Came Upon a Midnight ClearIt Came upon a Midnight Clear"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" is a poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Lancaster, Massachusetts...
" – 3:08 - "The First Noel" – 4:47
- "Christmasey" (Wilson, Jimmy WebbJimmy WebbJimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
) – 4:08 - "Little Saint NickLittle Saint Nick"Little Saint Nick" is a Christmas song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love and originally performed by their group The Beach Boys. It was first released as a single in December 1963, reaching number three on the Billboard Christmas charts and peaking at #69 on the regular weekly sales chart...
" (Wilson, Love) – 2:11 - "Deck the Halls" – 2:36
- "Auld Lang SyneAuld Lang Syne"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
" – 1:29 - "On Christmas Day" (Wilson) – 3:23
- "Joy to the WorldJoy to the World"Joy to the World" is a Christian Christmas carol.The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and...
" – 2:06 - "Silent NightSilent Night"Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber...
" – 0:49- Tracks 13–15 are bonus tracks, 13 and 15 having originally appeared on Wilson's website during 2000 and 2001. Track 14 was co-produced by an uncredited Joe Thomas and originally released in October 1997 on an obscure Christmas compilation.