The Smiley Smile Message Board

huh he celbrates christmas and all he must not be sucha bad guy after all

traditional newguy thread.

"is *insert song title* liked?"
"I've been listening to this song and it's great!  You guys NEVER talk about it!"

I'm not sure it's underrated either.  Any christmas song that makes it into the christmas music canon from a pop/rock band is hard to call underrated.

"Little Saint Nick" is a pop/rock season standard/classic. Hardly 'underrated'. But yeah, I love that tune.

I know I'm plugging them all the time, but here are the Fendertones with their living room rendition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jwcqNVZ6MM

This is the 3rd time I've seen you post a video of these Jokesters..No more please... :-[ (They ruined a classic with their cheesiness.)

This album is greater than Pet Sounds when played on christmas day.

This album is greater than Pet Sounds when played on christmas day.

I freaking love this song! It must be so hard to write a Christmas classic but they did it! Another plus is that virtually all of your family knows it unlike if you played them ADITLOAT. I love a lot of their Christmas stuff.

This is the 3rd time I've seen you post a video of these Jokesters..No more please... :-[ (They ruined a classic with their cheesiness.)

I absolutely love these guys - how can you react like that?

I was really happy to see Zooey Deschanel do a cover of it on her Christmas album

It baffles me that they left songs like Go & Get That Girl and AOCD in the vaults, whilst releasing utter, utter garbage like Loop De Loop Santa's Got An Airplane and Kona Xmas. Strange decisions...

They are corny and they pretty much ruin every beach boys song they sing...They need to leave it to the BB's. (Or at least come up with some original material.)

I don't like Christmas Day, except for that fantastically-cheesy (and it is cheesy!) organ solo. But the first four tracks on the album i love - i think they're all great, and yes Merry Xmas Baby is a gem.

I also don't think Christmas '77 was that bad. It certainly wasn't particuarly accomplished, but they could've made a great little EP/short album out of the strongest cuts.

i.e:
1. WINTER SYMPHONY
2. CHILD OF WINTER (the superior bootleg version with the 'Ding Dong Ding Go the Bells' chant throughout the entire fade, not the strangely lifeless released version)
3. MICHEAL ROW THE BOAT ASHORE

4. GO & GET THAT GIRL
5. (ALONE ON) CHRISTMAS DAY
6. HOLY EVENING

These are all at the very least pleasant productions, and Holy Evening is absolutely tremendous! It baffles me that they left songs like Go & Get That Girl and AOCD in the vaults, whilst releasing utter, utter garbage like Loop De Loop Santa's Got An Airplane and Kona Xmas. Strange decisions...

Love the song except for the lyric "Christmas comes this time each year." Really? No s--t, Sherlock.

I wish Mike had taken five extra seconds to change it to something better like:

"Christmas time is here again" or "How I love this time of year"

But in burying Mike for that lyric, I give him credit for calling Rudolph "Rudy." It adds to the charm of the song, seriously.

2. CHILD OF WINTER (the superior bootleg version with the 'Ding Dong Ding Go the Bells' chant throughout the entire fade, not the strangely lifeless released version)

Credits according to C-man are...
Little Saint Nick – Brian (piano, celeste), Dennis (drums), Carl (guitar, sleighbells), David (guitar), Al (bass, glockenspiel)

Seriously this song is so slept on..The way Mike delivers those Verses while Brian and the rest sing/hum those sweet harmonies to follow up right behind it is just so flawless. ;D
Mostly all my family members love this song and we always play it when everyone gets together on X-mas eve.  ;D (I showed my parents this song but somehow they all knew it before I even told them who sang it.)
I've never seen any of you post anything about this song or even mentioned it, shame on you all. >:(
Do any of you enjoy this cut?

"Cheesy"? "Corny"? How? Where? "Ruin every song they sing"? How do they do that?
Dude, as long as you don't give any reasoning whatsoever for hating The Fendertones I'll consider it trolling.  :-X

The Fendertones are a bunch of excellent musicians and some of their live renditions of BBs material sound even better than the BBs ever performed them live ("Let Him Run Wild"). They're 100% faithful to how the songs were recorded in the first place. They're fans like us and I find their passion in keeping BBs material alive most admirable.

So, if you could just give a glimpse of factual reasoning for hating these guys.... I'd appreciate it.  ;)

I hate to be even remotely near Newguy's side on something, but I'm not a fan of the Fendertones myself. They're impressive but I don't listen to things just because they're impressive. There's absolutely no feeling in their performances. Especially the vocals.

Btw, I didn't know that LSN is played every year at Christmas in commercials & on radio in the US. That must be very cool! I'm quite envious. In our country it is Melanie Thornton's "Holidays Are Coming" which I never liked.

@Aegir: I very much value your opinion, sir - but I got to disagree with you on that. Sure they ain't got no Carl (whose voice was pure emotion) singing "Good Vibrations" or Brian's soaring falsetto at the ready (but.. who does?) - nonetheless, it's not only in their instrumentalists' performances that I feel their passion for all things BBs/BW. It sure is hard to articulate those things.  :-\

@Newguy: I'd still like to see some arguments on the Fendertones' "cheesiness" et cetera.  :p

Let me ask, how it can be slept-on if you mention that your parents knew the song before you even showed it? I don't quite understand. As for me, I also don't think that LSN is underrated. Mind that The BBs performed it in one TV show back in 64 after its release, iirc. But anyway, it's a great song & I like your description & story. Little Saint Nick is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever! Though if tbh, I'd rather prefer The Man with All the Toys & Christmas Day (good to see that some of the Smiley Smilers like it too) than the subject. The latter is a very underrated cute Christmas gem. Love everything about it! Also, LSN with "Drivin" music is very entertaining! Dig Brian's Mike imitation.

And what about you, Newguy? What other Christmas songs do you like from that BBs album?

Btw, I didn't know that LSN is played every year at Christmas in commercials & on radio in the US. That must be very cool! I'm quite envious. In our country it is Melanie Thornton's "Holidays Are Coming" which I never liked.

Love the song except for the lyric "Christmas comes this time each year." Really? No s--t, Sherlock.

I wish Mike had taken five extra seconds to change it to something better like:

"Christmas time is here again" or "How I love this time of year"

But in burying Mike for that lyric, I give him credit for calling Rudolph "Rudy." It adds to the charm of the song, seriously.

There are many good songs, We Three Kings is an excellent cover with tremendous harmonies by The BBs!

I never hear anyone talk about "Santa's Beard" and I don't understand why.

I never hear anyone talk about "Santa's Beard" and I don't understand why.

You are not alone. Anytime anyone I know hears a Beach Boys song, they always come to me and tell me about it. Even friends that I don't see very often will call me because they heard a Beach Boys song and thought of me. It is kind of cool, really.

I've never heard this version. Other than the part you mentioned, is the mix significantly different?

As I said above, I love Santa's Beard. Despite my sentimental attachments, I think the modulation to minor in the chorus (is that what's happening?) is super endearing and inventive. Also, the chorus harmonies are really interestingly structured. Although I suppose that could be said for most BW songs...

As for the length, yes, I noticed that right after downloading it some time ago. But unlike GV, We Three Kings wasn't a single, right? As I recall, this thing was checked only in case of the singles, e.g. if it's too long for radio stations etc., record company workers would edit it a bit & cut a dozen of seconds.

Why did Brian wait so long to give Carl opportunities on lead vocals?

hang on to your ego?

Why did Brian wait so long to give Carl opportunities on lead vocals?

I suppose Carl could've had some confidence problems early on. What was he at the time of the Christmas Album, 16 or 17? On the other hand, he was singing/performing regularly in front of thousands of people. I mean, we're talking about singing "Frosty The Snowman", not "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times".

Hear Carl sing "What'd I Say" in January 1964, what's not confident about that performance?

What'd I Say doesn't even sound like the Beach Boys to me. I'm sure there's some sort of evidence to back it up, but the singer doesn't sound like any one Beach Boy to me and the instrumentation (most obviously the sax) sounds far too skilled to be the Beach Boys.