I think I voted for Pet Sounds Live.

Take the DVD! The DVD!

For sure! It's a million times better!

According to Billboard's current info, Deck the Halls is at #8 and We Wish You A Merry Christmas is at #29 on the Adult Contemporary charts. I wonder if the album will get above 200 - the interest level seemed to pick up in the last days before Christmas... In any case, that's pretty neat to have two songs in the top 40.

The thing with Brian´s lead-vocal on "Little Saint Nick" is: IT ROCKS!!! Probably because he is almost out of breath during the whole song. Mike´s lead sounds too relaxed to me now. Weird, but true.

I know what you mean, maybe it's the combo of the stronger rhythm section and the vocals that I'm describing. I agree with what you said about Mike's lead, but I'm not sure I like Brian's any better. I guess I really do prefer Jeffrey's cover to either of the others. It seems to strike a balance between a sense of rhythm and pace. Jeff's is somewhere between the old recording which can be a bit ponderous, and being a bit "in your face" which is what I hear in the new recording.

There's no bad recording in the trio, it's just a matter of preference I guess. And it sure is a fun song, a real classic.

OT - While you've got "Tributes and Rarities" in the player to hear LSN be sure and listen to FISH! Jeff's vocals are astounding.

Little St. Nick - I prefer the pace and rhythm of the vocals on the BBs recording, otherwise they are pretty much equal to me. So I give the edge to the 1964 recording - although what might be my favorite recording of LSN is Jeffrey Foskett's "Tributes and Rarities" cover. He does the old ML bass parts really well, and his leads are spot on.

Little Saint Nick is a 1963 recording.

Okay, my error. I meant the original BBs recording, which I had in mind as 1964 for some reason...

Jeffrey Foskett's falsetto is every bit as good or better than Brian's was on the BBs cut.

So why does Brian need to be there, then? If Foskett IMITATING Brian is, nay just as good, BETTER than Brian himself, why not have the wonderful, earthshaking, heartbreaking Wondersplints rerecord ALL The BB records!!!!!!! The technology is so much better now, and Foskett is such a better singer than Brian was! And this band is so much better than those musicians Brian was FORCED to use in the 60's, because these Wonder-guys were too young at the time! Those were just TEMPORARY versions of the songs until the REAL versions could be waxed. Let's send our thoughts in to Melinda now and get this underway! Time's a-wastin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brian has/had a magnificent falsetto, and rarely do you get a chance to hear it bettered. But Jeffrey also has a remarkable voice, and he did a remarkable job on TMWATT.

He wasn't "imitating" anybody. By that line of reasoning only the first performance of any work is not an imitation. However if you prefer to think of it as an imitation that's fine too. Whatever you call it, when he starts singing "He's the man with all the toys..." it's magic.

My hat is off to Brian and the band.
Auld Lang Syne alone is worth the price of admission.
The band pulls off vocals the original boys could never.
Even the Freshmen themselves would/should be jelous.
Pete

Interesting observations Pete. I've wondered how the earlier stuff would compare myself, so I took the time to compare some BBs versions vs. the versions on this CD. Here's a brief summary of my thoughts

The Man With All The Toys: The WIRWFC version has so much more energy and drive than the old BBs version. Jeffrey Foskett's falsetto is every bit as good or better than Brian's was on the BBs cut. The added sax/vocal section is wonderful, and completes the song in a way the old one never did for me. It's probably the best integrated sax work on any BW recording. So I much prefer the WIRWFC version.

Little St. Nick - I prefer the pace and rhythm of the vocals on the BBs recording, otherwise they are pretty much equal to me. So I give the edge to the 1964 recording - although what might be my favorite recording of LSN is Jeffrey Foskett's "Tributes and Rarities" cover. He does the old ML bass parts really well, and his leads are spot on.

Auld Lang Syne - two magnificent performances. The Ultimate Christmas version without Dennis' spoken word section is a killer. So is the new version. I can't make a choice here, it's not possible. a tie.

Overall - IMHO, the 1964 album has no tracks on it to compare with "Christmasey" or "What I Really Want For Christmas". Toss in the bonus of "On Christmas Day" too. The traditional carols/songs? Both recordings have nice performances of them. So on balance, I find WIRWFC to be my favorite. The proof is in the listening - I only listened to the Ultimate Christmas CD once this year, I must have listened to WIRWFC a hundred times.

[tough]

Whew, tough call...

In no particular order:

1. Melt Away - from IJWMFTT
2. WIRWFC - beautiful music, gorgeous group singing, very poignant lyrics by B.T.
3. GIOMH (live, not recorded - live it was magnificent)
4. Love & Mercy - the full version, like on the Tribute video or Tsunami benefit
5. Lay Down Burden

On Christmas Day, Christmasey, Your Imagination, There's So Many, & This Isn't Love were all in contention too.