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http://www.youtube.com/user/BoydProductionGroup

I Liked it. Nice and fun version.

Nicely done -- and with some stop-motion animation, to boot!

Now that was a pleasant surprise. Who is Rachel and the Reindeerz drummer?

I miss the very prominent synth from the BBs original, but this was a really good version. Kayla may have some competition! ;)

Keith Moon.

yep...found it full of fun....  :)
enjoyed it

6000 posts in and you're starting to slip, Andrew. It's obviously Bonham  ;D

Indeed, you just wait for my BB Christmas vids! ;)

MSMUSIC and FOOTHILL RECORDS presents RACHEL AND THE REINDEERZ cover of the Beach Boys' 1974 Christmas tune "Child of Winter," written by Brian Wilson and Stephen Kalinich (and interpolating the old standard "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Gene Autry & Oakley Haldeman).  This new version was produced by Alan Boyd and Mark Linett, and features Rachel Wolfe on lead and backing vocals, former Beach Boy David Marks on lead guitar, Dane Conover on tack piano, and Alan Boyd on the rest.  Carnie and Wendy Wilson's kids (Lola & Lucy Bonfiglio, and Leo, Beau, Jesse, & Willem Knutson) provided the recitation.

The video, starring Rachel and Stevie (with David and Alan), was directed and edited by Alan Boyd, and produced in collaboration with a stellar crew of highly talented Children of Winter:  Chris M. Allport, Todd Friedrichsen, Tracy Landecker, Stephon Litwinczuk, Shannon Mansion, Todd Roskin, & Billy Smith.  Special thanks to Jenn Carno, Betty Collignon, Tina & Deni Carno, Mark Linett and Margaret Gwynne.  Cameo appearances by Greg Bravard and Monty & Duncan Linett. Archival stock footage from the BPG collection.

The song is available now at Amazon in a limited edition vinyl release from MsMusic, and will be featured on the upcoming Stephen John Kalinich album, CALIFORNIA FEELING, coming soon from MsMusic and featuring all new recordings from Carnie and Wendy Wilson, The Honeys, David Marks, Carl B. Wilson, and many more!

The vinyl EP also includes "The Violin That Played Itself" by Steve Kalinich, and Alan Boyd's "Christmas Bunny."

http://www.amazon.com/California-Christmas-Feeling-Kalinich-Reindeerz/dp/B004DMBPLE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1291325952&sr=8-1

http://www.foothillrecords.com/

Put it in perspective...
If it would have been Mike Love on leadt in stead of the girl... what would your comments have been... seriously?
//RD

I love "Child of Winter", so my response would still have been positive. Sexism and the Beach Boys? Have the two concepts ever met?

Dada...
I'm not looking at the sexism angle here! I'm looking at the fact that no one would label a not-so-very-serious-project from Mike as fun and entertaining or a pleasant surprise...
//RD

Actually, I've always loved the original, and felt that it was a highly underrated song.

No-one ? Hugely sweeping - and as it happens, equally inaccurate - statement. Valid on the Bloo, maybe, but nowhere else unless one subscribes to the infantile "Brian good/Mike evil" mindset.

liked it so much i bought a copy off amazon. looks nice....

Child Of Winter has been released as a audio single on iTunes. There are two versions, though.  Child Of Winter - Single 3:09 and Child Of Winter-master - Single 2:58. Why 2 versions? The difference seems to be the former is sans kids on the spoken word part and the latter has them like the video.

Must say that I love the Bob Dylan/Allen Ginsberg  homage with Stephen...  In fact, I love everything about the video.  Here's something on Undercover News about it:
http://www.undercover.fm/news/12955-brian-wilson-s-grandchildren-and-stephen-kalinch-wish-you-a-merry-christmas

Pretty awesome all around!

I know it's been stated before here and perhaps elsewhere, but Brian is an absolute melodic genius!!!!!

The "master" version is the correct mix. The other unfinished mix was posted by mistake and should be removed soon....... till then its an exclusive rarity that lacks David Mark's guitar and the kid's parts.

Thanks to Dr. Beach Boy and Mark L. for the info that the song is on iTunes.  I downloaded both versions and have a definite preference for the supposedly unfinished "single version" without the kids spoken voices, as opposed to the "master version" with them.  (And, I'm a big fan of David Marks' guitar playing, but it's mixed rather low here and the song works either way for me in that regard.)  

While I prefer the song without Brian's grandkids spoken part, the kids voices are don't detract from the song in the way that Brian's voice did back when I bought the single in early 1975.  Why the BBs single of Child of Winter was released only two days before Christmas in 1974 remains one of those eternal BB mysteries.  When I found out about the record's existence, I recall going to Tower Records in Hollywood a few days after Christmas and being told they had sent back all their Christmas records.  I found it a few months later at a San Diego record store and was thoroughly enjoying the song until it came to the jarring spoken interlude.

I found the part about it's collectability interesting
>>The song ‘Child of Winter’ by Rachel and the Reindeerz will be an instant collectable, as it will only be released on vinyl.<<
Since it's been made available , in two versions, on iTunes, wouldn't that sort of neagte the collectability of the vinyl version?
Tho, does the vinyl have both versions on it? 

Hello, are we not reading properly today, or are we just being obtuse for the hell of it ?

Mark said "The other unfinished mix was posted by mistake..."

So I suppose what you['re trying to get clear here, is that the vinyl has both versions( one a mystery uncredited track) while the unfinished iTunes version is a mistake? 

Tsk,tsk! Are our collective panties in one big, tangled bunch once again? ::)

Nope - what you're trying to do is be smart by playing the mentally handicapped person. And failing.

There's a song lyric in there somewhere :lol

Well, I can't speak for the ladies around here, but I think a video with a cute girl dancing and singing an Xmas song over a 69 year old Mike doing the same, is a little...... cuter. That's all.

You sound like you're trying to wind AGD up, but IT'S AN UNFINISHED MIX PUT UP THERE BY MISTAKE THAT HE'S TRYING TO GET ITUNES TO REMOVE.

My, aren't you the perceptive one.  And you've taken to screaming about it, to boot.  Must be something you learned in school
Tho, Why you think  AGD would want to have iTunes remove the mistaken track, is beyond me.  If I participated in the iTunes thing, I'd want a mistaken track to stay there long enough for everyone everywhere to find it. 
Then we'd have Whirled Peas. 

Getting back to a discussion of Child of Winter by Rachel and the Reindeerz -- I hereby rescind my statement of a couple of days ago that I prefer the supposedly unfinished "single version" without the kids spoken voices, as opposed to the "master version" with them.  Upon further repeated listening, BW's grandkids voices do add a nice touch to the song, but mainly I have grown accustomed to David Marks guitar parts, and the song just doesn't sound as good without them.  in fact, I wish his parts were mixed a little louder.  This new version is a cool Christmas song with a really nice lead vocal.  Thanks to all who were involved in reviving this 1974 Brian Wilson and Steve Kalinich composition for 2010.

It is a nice version, and the vinyl version sold out fairly quickly on Amazon.
Not certain how many copies they made available for sale there, or even how many total.

on the cardboard sleeve it also lists www.foothillrecords.com
so one maybe can still pick up a vinyl copy there

Sorry to shout.
But seriously, just read Linett's post upthread and try to piece this incredibly dull misunderstanding together?

No misunderstanding, just someone playing the mentally handicapped person 'cause they think they're being amusing. I know the state of play, you know the state of play. Cool.

Or not actually "playing", if you know what I mean.

Alan Boyd's "Christmas Bunny" is on SideB Music's 'Rockin' The Mistletoe,' but the flip side, Stephen Kalinich's beautiful "THe Violin That Played By Itself (A Christmas Story" is a very moving holiday tribute.