I am ashamed to admit that I've never owned a copy of The Ventures' Christmas Album...until just a couple of days ago. This past Saturday, in search of my yearly Christmas record, I wandered into Bull Moose Music in Portland, Maine (actually, the description would be more accurate as: wobbled into because, at 20 degrees with gusty winds, it was fricken' cold!)

Trans Siberian Orchestra? No, thank you.

December by the Moody Blues? Uh...not this year.

One Wish: The Holiday Album - Whitney Houston? No, don't think so.

Ashanti's Christmas? (It's probably a little bit immoral to get a Christmas CD just for the pictures).

For some reason, The Ventures' Christmas Album cried out to me.

I was not disappointed.

So much fun to hear the classics reinterpreted by these kings of surf. Even more fun to hear snippets of classic pop & rock hits of the 1960's sprinkled in: "Walk Don't Run" turns into "Sleigh Ride", "I Feel Fine" becomes "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty The Snowman" starts off as "Tequila".

Since last year's Christmas CD also had a surf orientation, I may have to break with tradition and go for The Yearly Christmas Record, Part 2.

(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)