This is gonna be a hoot!  The Ventures were, and still are, a Surf / Instrumental rock band that started in Tacoma, Washington in 1958.  They formed their classic line up in 1962 and remained together as such until 1984, except between 1968 – 1973, when they had a different lead guitar player.

It is safe to say The Ventures were the first American instrumental guitar band, the most popular American instrumental guitar band and the most successful.  Early in their career, they were a bigger hit in Japan than in the U.S., and still are bigger in Japan than in the U.S.

The Ventures mimicked the style of the British band The Tornados, who were a British guitar instrumental band starting around 1958.  Other American bands did as well, and with a West Coast influence, Surf music was born!

Does it seem likely that a Surf band would record a Christmas album?  I don’t know, but they did in 1965.  Back when the Christmas charts were full of Andy Williamses, Perry Comos and Johnny Mathises, there was The Ventures.

This CD reissue uses the same cover that appeared on their 1965 album, minus the Dolton Records logo.  It shows an ornately decorated holly wreath with two guitars and a bass guitar pushing through the opening.  The band’s logo and a track list appear on the right side of the cover.

The back of the CD resembles the back of the original album only slightly, but in a good way.  On the original album, the back showed two halves separated latitudinally.  At the top was the track list according to each side of the record and The Ventures logo and a small endorsement of the album.  On the bottom half of the back cover was a picture of all the previous Ventures albums available for purchase.  So, no real usable information there anyway.

The back of the CD uses the same Ventures logo and the words Christmas Album.  All the fonts match the original.  Below is a numerical track listing.  Taking up almost half of the space is a great black and white photograph of the band circa 1964.  That is not to be found on the original album anywhere, so that’s a plus for me.

The cover opens along a single fold-out.  On the left side, here we find the information from the back of the original album that we were missing.  It shows the CD title in large print and below that is the same endorsement that appears on the back of the original album.  Again, all lettering is in the same font as the original, including the text in the endorsement.  It’s always a bonus when the same fonts are copied.

The right side of the fold-out is an ad for ordering other Razor & Tie Christmas CDs.  It takes up the entire page.  The back of the front cover is similar to the back of the CD, but minus the picture of the band and the track listing.  In its place are reissue credits and the Razor & Tie logo.

There are no writer’s credits to be found anywhere, but that’s not a real problem because all the songs, except one original, are very popular Christmas songs.

The Ventures give Classic Christmas songs their own unique sound.  It is a strange outcome to say the least.  But this album did very well, going all the way to # 9 on the Billboard Christmas charts in 1965.

Every song starts out with a guitar passage that is from some other popular instrumental hit that came before this album was recorded.  That is to say, they kind of spoof, or steal, guitar passages from other songs and use them as part of the arrangements for the songs they are playing.  It really is a lot of fun.

The Ventures were ahead of their time even in 1962 because they used different recording techniques and guitar and organ settings that were experimental for their time.  Using fuzz controls, flanging, phase shifters, etc., The Ventures armed themselves with everything they had and produced a hip, go-go style Christmas album.

As I said, the fun is in trying to guess the song that they base their arrangements on.  I don’t have the space to go through all 12 songs, but I will say that they steal from themselves on the opening track.  Sleigh Ride uses the guitar rhythm from their first big hit, Walk, Don’t Run, in 1964.

Wooly Bully opens the song Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and is used as the recording model for this Christmas classic.

Having Ray Charles’ What’d I Say open for Jingle Bells is a real game changer.  You can hear the rhythm line from What’d I Say all throughout the song.

Chuck Berry’s Memphis gives a humorous and fun rhythm to Jingle Bell Rock.

Once the songs get going, you can recognize the tune, but the first four bars of the song give you no clue as to what might be coming next.  Such is the case with The Beatles’ I Feel Fine opening for Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

The best of the best may be The Champs’ Tequila setting the rhythm for Frosty The Snowman.  It’s all a hoot!

Beware, these are ALL guitar driven Surf / Instrumental Christmas songs.  This is not going to appeal to a lot of people.  This CD would mix in fine with Lounge Christmas music from the mid-sixties, Dean Martin, Herb Alpert, Billy May, and Al Caiola / Riz Ortolani.  But it is a fun Christmas record.  It’s from 1965 and it has become a Christmas classic.

I give this CD :

****