Was waiting for a Christmas parade to start this past Saturday, and they had some Christmas music playing over a PA system where we were, and next thing I knew, they were playing "Child of Winter"!  No "Little Saint Nick" or "The Man with All the Toys" or one of the '64 traditional songs....but "Child of Winter".  Talk about random...

Where in the world was this? I think my mind would explode. Such an underrated holiday song.

Also, surprised they played virtually all of H&V on Mr. Robot, one of the better musical choices this season.

That Instagram post is very interesting. Is it a new clip of him, or an older one that they just decided to use? The harmony part he sang was pretty nice.

Not sure but they don’t put a lot of references to Sunflower on his Instagram, so maybe (hopefully) it’s part of new interviews done for promotion of this period.

This Friday and not even an announcement

Bizzare

There was no official announcement from, say, Beach Boys social media accounts and the official site, prior to the release of last year's copyright set either.

That said, it's concerning that there has been little info on the release shared beforehand from Alan and Mark unlike last year. Probably they're too busy working on the box set though.

It has always blown my mind the complete lack of marketing for these projects - I mean, how much effort does it take to post one little blurb about a new set that you can buy on iTunes? Brian's Facebook, The Beach Boys Twitter account, etc etc...even just a handful of people becoming aware and buying the set due to social media marketing would make the 10 seconds it takes to post a message worth it.

Seriously. It’s probably the easiest and cheapest way to promote this stuff, especially if there’s digital only components or timed releases.

Brian’s Instagram did post a clip of him talking about Cool, Cool Water a couple days ago. Doesn’t mention any possibly upcoming release but it is like a little hint in a way, if you’re already thinking of it. Nice clip either way, he can’t remember the name of either a mellotron/Moog but he sounds real interested and in a good mood.

Does anyone here have the tape that sold a couple years ago? If so, I read over on the Hoffman boards that Child of Winter is a different mix than the 45 or the Ultimate Christmas remix.

Not even sure of the differences between those two issues as I haven’t done a side by side comparison, but I’d be curious to know how the “album”/tape mix sounds.

I know this may be a long shot, but have there ever been songbooks released for the So Tough and Holland albums?  I've found them for Sunflower, Surf's Up, and 15 Big Ones, but not the two that I really want.  Just wondering if they have ever been available.

I'm pretty sure I saw Holland once, along with Love You at a bookstore in Berkeley. Don't know why I didn't get either. Would love to own a Sunflower song book, didn't know one came out for it. I only have an old collection with Pet Sounds and some other songs from that period--pretty cool that the Sea of Tunes address on it is from my hometown though.

Definitely have a love-hate relationship with digital music, but it would be cool to listen to the streaming version before Christmas. I doubt there will be a hard copy if Friends and 20/20 didn't get one, even if there is more "critical acclaim" for the Sunflower/Surf's Up era. Seems they only did it with Wild Honey because of the new stereo mix really.

Al looks like he might not have been keeping it clean here. 

Exactly what I was thinking. Brian actually looks more sober, despite the beer can in hand.

It's happening people!!! 

We're coming into the era of these releases I've been waiting for, my favorite beach boys era

This!!

I've been eagerly waiting to hear the backing tracks of This Whole World, All I Wanna Do and At My Window for so long now. If it's like the Wild Honey boxes this should be amazing.

As someone who was a serious fan of jazz and Gershwin before getting into The Beach Boys/BW I was a bit skeptical about the album when its imminent release was announced. Not necessarily because I didn't think Brian wasn't capable of performing the songs, but rather, because I feared my familiarity with all of the songs (except the new ones) would taint the experience. I feared I would be a bit bored and unsurprised by the album. When "TLIILY" started streaming some of those fears dissapated. Brian was singing his sweetest in years and the arrangement was very pretty.

Now that I've heard the whole thing, I'm pretty blown away by most of it. At very least in Brian's top 3 solo recordings and just refreshingly unique, indeed. I've never really enjoyed "I Loves You, Porgy" no matter who sang it. Don't know why. But Brian's wonderful version (especially that great tag) really made me see the song I've been skipping all these years. I thought "Summertime" was going to be completely unnecessary--so many have already put down amazing versions. Brian's is creepy, bluesy and definitely deserves to be here. "I Got Rhythm" is one of the best "nostalgic" throwback songs in the entire BB/BW canon, and there's a lot of them as we all know. But the highlight for me is "Someone to Watch Over Me". Already one of my absolute favorites in the Gershwin songbook, Brian's hauntingly gorgeous arrangement takes it to a whole new place. It's like hearing it for the first time. "Nothing But Love" kicks despite the weak title--dig the flying harmonies and cheezy "15 Big Ones" organ.

All together a wonderful album, even with some minor flaws. It'll be spinning for quite a while. And it excites me as to what Brian might do next.

However, it suffers from the usual BW Band problem - the massed vocals sounding just more MOR AOR than I'd like - just a little bit bland, the guts EQd and mixed out of them. This is mostly four or five men's voices but sounds too much like something from a Val Donnican Christmas Special. And also it would be nice if one could hear the individual parts as I bet these are gorgeous harmonies, but just sound like a vague wash. TLOS suffered from the same problem) Could be due to the low bitrate of the stream/mp3 and perhaps a little related over-compression.

Another disappointment is the use of a synth instead of an actual bass guitar. Its a shame, as a real bass would have added real warmth. Message Man from the TLOS sessions suffered from the same.

The exact reason I don't really listen to TLOS or BWPS that often. I know it sounds crazy to many but I prefer GIOMH because at least Brian's backing vocals have some sort of feeling, a texture to them that is more listenable to me than the overly smooth sound when his band sings.

To the song: at first I wasn't that impressed but after several listens that's changed. Subtle, but very good. Wonderful arrangement. Another one of those far out tags, too. Definitely excited to hear the rest of the album.

However, it suffers from the usual BW Band problem - the massed vocals sounding just more MOR AOR than I'd like - just a little bit bland, the guts EQd and mixed out of them. This is mostly four or five men's voices but sounds too much like something from a Val Donnican Christmas Special. And also it would be nice if one could hear the individual parts as I bet these are gorgeous harmonies, but just sound like a vague wash. TLOS suffered from the same problem) Could be due to the low bitrate of the stream/mp3 and perhaps a little related over-compression.

Another disappointment is the use of a synth instead of an actual bass guitar. Its a shame, as a real bass would have added real warmth. Message Man from the TLOS sessions suffered from the same.

The exact reason I don't really listen to TLOS or BWPS that often. I know it sounds crazy to many but I prefer GIOMH because at least Brian's backing vocals have some sort of feeling, a texture to them that is more listenable to me than the overly smooth sound when his band sings.

To the song: at first I wasn't that impressed but after several listens that's changed. Subtle, but very good. Wonderful arrangement. Another one of those far out tags, too. Definitely excited to hear the rest of the album.

Well, discounting the obvious (i.e. songs like "Caroline, No" or "Don't Talk..."), all the voices on "The Surfer Moon" sound awfully similar to me.

Of the seven vocal tracks on "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times", six are Brian.

Which part is not Brian on that track? I thought they were all him...

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've been thinking "California Calling" might be genius...

I just found a '65 picture (that's what was said at least) of Dennis mplaying piano. Since we don't have too many early pics of him at the piano, I thought I'd upload it. Hopefully this time it works, as I've had some problems with getty images these last few days. Now I'm gonna upload it form my computer.

Interesting. Please tell me those aren't their hats sitting on the piano?

"Watcher of the Skies" is rocking and all, but King Crimson always gets short changed in a genre they basically kicked off. They're like the Beach Boys--influential and yet they have many albums that were not commercially popular at all. The best use of the mellotron, in my opinion, comes from their first album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KovJ7WLh2Qc

Listen to that!

I love this song--should've been on MIU for sure. Why two covers and yet not this great song?

Are Sherry Holt's the ones from their 80s world tours, like with sail boats and palm trees, etc, along with the BB logo? Those ones are pretty awesome, though its hard to find decent sizes--I got their 83 tour shirt for my girlfriend because the one I found would've never fit me unfortunately.

I have that BB/BF shirt though. Love both bands, so why not, plus it's hilarious.

Sounds like the Chantays "Pipeline"-UK group from 1963, #16. This information is  from my forthcoming, yet to be titled book.

You know what sounds like the main melody from "Pipeline"? The little melody at that break right before the fade starts in "Til I Die"...about 1:28-1:35. Wonder if Brian was consciously quoting or it was just a coincidence.

That's just Brian's arrangements paying homage to the "surf" sound they started with. The same thing comes up in "Melt Away" to my ears: that echoed bass (?) guitar doing the arpeggiated notes. And the bass in "I'm So Young" especially. It does add a nice touch to "Here Today" also.

I love the tag on that song.

Question: So I know Brian's not like a word wizard or anything, but what's with all the "D" names?

Pretty sure Fataar contributed the boss Moog solo on "Leaving". On another note, I think these two guys are shortchanged a bit when it comes to BB history. Did they get inducted into the Hall of Fame with the rest of the guys? If not, what a travesty. But on a whole, I'm sure "people" don't even know the BBs had these two extremely talented guys with them for a while. They add so much to the records they're on; and hearing them harmonize on "Funky Pretty"...its too bad they didn't stick around. It could've been a 7 man super band.

In the end they did what their fans wanted them to do; perform the hits that made them famous. As it always has and will be; their fortunes and their legacy will ride on the shoulders of one Brian Wilson.

That's the thing. I love Brian--his music has given me solace and pleasure, peace for almost 10 years now, through some of the most formative years I've lived yet. But it's a shame that he has always been the crux of the band to the public, because all of the guys had so much to offer. But what can defeat the power of American fanaticism and celebrity? I guess all this is what makes the Boys not only a great band, but an amazing, distinctly American story.

I think the Beach Boys legacy would be completely different if Endless Summer had not come out, and instead the band had gone in a more collaborative direction. Think about it, Surfs Up hit #29, Holland #36, and The Beach Boys In Concert #25, in the U.S. Rolling Stone named Holland one of the "albums of the year". Of course, they wouldn't have been the superstars they became, but I think they would have risen to be a commercially and artistically viable unit that got respect.

I misunderstood you saying "some of my pool footage" -- I thought you meant that you had shot it. That's how it read(s). Although I obviously can't tell who a cameraman is on a piece of footage -- I CAN tell by by the fact of Brian's frame, his shirt, his hair, and the signature single sideburn of the winter of '67, that the footage was of that exact era.  And since I know that you moved out West the weekend of Woodstock, I was confused. Now I'm not.

Hey, he does only have one sideburn...what's up with that?