The Smiley Smile Message Board

Way too good. I kinda wish Party! was attempted in '64 just so '65 could've been the Christmas album year. I've grown to tolerate Dick's arrangements, but I doubt I'll ever love them.

Since we don't have a time machine, I'll just say that the next best thing would be taking the stellar vocals the boys laid down in '64 and arranging more Brian inspired backing tracks. It could turn a slightly schmaltzy curious listen into a pretty respectable Christmas album imo.

I've thought about it a million times. Christmas music was made for Brian. 1966 would've been perfect. 2004 wasn't...

Pretty good, albeit probably leading to a premature death by Brian either by heart attack or suicide. ^_____^

We got the Christmas Album Brian wanted. He liked Dick's arrangements evidently.
I love the whole album.
Don't go getting all wacko revisionist; it was great then and it's great now. maybe the best Christmas Album by a Rock(pop) group ever!  

 How good would a Brian produced '65 Christmas album been?

Excellent.......

but not in stereo  :(

Swell. But the real question is how good would a Kanye West produced 2013 Christmas album be?

TRADGEDY GIRL

I always felt maybe Dick was called in to lighten Brian's workload a tad. Brian was under a lot of pressure in '64 with albums, singles, touring etc. I've always imagined it being a decision rooted in exhaustion, not adulation.

I want a 1977 Brian Wilson Christmas album. Call it Brian Loves Christmas or something. Yes!

I think it was said that Reynolds was called in because Brian had way too much sh*t going on at the time. Still, was Brian pleased with the results? I'd imagine so, but it's hard to tell given the 60s were all about pumping out forty albums a year.

The real question here, folks.


And the answer is - BITCHIN'. (possibly for all the wrong reasons)

Answer: probably great, but would have had the misfortune of being compared to Spector's, donchathink?

I wish Brian would've given Spector a run with The Beach Boys' Chrsitmas Album. I'm surprised he didn't; he was already using The Wrecking Crew. And with What I Really Want For Christmas. Another opportunity for Brian to do his Spector thing. We get a taste of it with "Christmas Day".

IDK, I think Brian was probably right to go for a different approach - that's Spector at the top of his game, and to try and explicitly top that a year or so later would have been nice now but maybe not desirable at the time. Not that I think it was the best approach (the side one tracks are some of my least favourite Beach Boys tunes, so lacklustre) but going for hymns/crooning the evergreens is a nice substitute.  And I like the arrangements on the ballads.

The 64 album is perfect.