Dig It, because my name is Maggie. I like hearing them sing about me!!

How do I use this site without getting computer AIDS?

I would love for there to be a good sized book written about this album. Between Brian ditching the actual country of Holland sessions, to how the individual songs came about, a travelogue of what Carl and the gang did in their time off in Holland, how the new members (Blondie and Rickie) fit into the band, Van Dyke saving the album with SOS, etc.

Heck, maybe this can turn into Bill Pohlad’s Love and Mercy II

I’ll be sure to play this album today.

I've been thinking about writing that book for years.

If you do, know you have one definite buyer already!

It’s such a crazy premise: building a studio, flying in recording equipment, houses and cars bought for the band. The musical leader of the band so uninterested in the sessions that he drinks all the time and eventually crashes his car into a telephone pole. Two African rock musicians add their flair to the album. I would read the hell out of that book.

I wonder why they spent so much to make Holland. Did they believe moving abroad would somehow give them a hit? I have often thought about what the band's finances must have been like in the early 1970s when their last hit was years behind them.

Something

Oh darling

I wonder if Brian and Mike are wearing the more eye-catching shirts to make them stand out from the "less important" members of the group?

Oh Darling

Al could sing the phonebook and i would listen!

Maybe... I think that would betray his dorkdom though, just like this light piece of fluff.

money

I now had the chance to listen to it. Al's voice is great, we know that.
But I don't think the song is that good and I hate the Beach Boys-parody like background vocal-arrangements. Mike uses stuff like that on his solo recordings (his new recording of "Alone on Christmas day" got destroyed by that imo) and Al at least in this case has done the same. I'm always up and happy for Al releasing new material. But I think he deserves much better than this (like NPP, that's how his voice should be used imo).
But not to forget, this isn't supposed to be a statement from Al as an artist but probably just a fun thing to do for him every now and then. Therefor I can appreciate it.

What so you mean he deserves better? He didn't have to record it.

A throwaway with the "merry christmas baby" line tacked on to give it a holiday theme. 3.

The art looks so cheap and tacky. Couldn't they just use a photograph of Al as Santa or something?

....

Please Please Me: Anna (Go To Him) -- The singing is passionate and the chorus momentous. The best Beatles cover song IMO
With the Beatles: All I've Got To Do -- John's sexiest song. Another passionate vocal.
A Hard Day's Night: I Should Have Known Better -- Very cute and very chirpy. Definitely the catchiest track on the album.
Beatles For Sale: I'll Follow The Sun -- Great phrase to write a song around! Effortless and pretty.
Help!: Ticket To Ride -- John's vocal is sexy but it also had their most mature lyric to date; it was possibly Lennon's first song to admit his own faults ("She said that living with me was bringing her down.")
Rubber Soul: In My Life -- Another giant leap forward for Lennon as a lyric writer as well as a melodist. Also, who else wrote about death in a pop ballad back in the 60s?
Revolver: Eleanor Rigby -- Great story, melody, and strings. McCartney's most poignant moment.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: She's Leaving Home -- Amazing collaboration between John and Paul. John's response lyrics seal the deal.
Magical Mystery Tour: Strawberry Fields Forever -- Totally surreal, but also heartfelt. It could have been a flop if he wasn't influenced by acid, but it ended up being one of the best songs of all time.
The Beatles: Julia -- Tender, heartbreaking, poetic. An improvement over the similarly themed In My Life, and also one of the greatest love songs of all time.
Yellow Submarine: Hey Bulldog -- A rather slight song, but I guess I had to pick a "favorite."
Abbey Road -- I Want You (She's So Heavy): Utter musical genius. Captures the torture of love impecabbly. An extremely ambitious moment for John.
Let It Be -- The Long and Winding Road: Sentimental, but also bluesy. Something McCartney seems to excel at.

Today's song is Little Saint Nick.

I like that it has the backbeat of Little Deuce Coupe, and I like Mike's perky vocals. I like it enough to give it FOUR.

I think it is interesting that the song's initial melody (heard in the Alternate version) was partially recycled for both Drive-In and Amusement Parks USA. It started as a much more pronounced hot-rod rocker before becoming the bubblegum Christmas classic we all know and love.

Has anyone ever figured out what instrument (or "instrument") was used to create the clip clop sound in God Only Knows?

I hope to God we get more Old Man River!!!

I'm guessing the part where Mike gets pissed off at Brian's perfectionism and walks out of the session will be edited out. That probably didn't help Brian finish the song.

I want to hear more of what's available of OMR too.

On that note, on Sunshine Tomorrow/2/Live did they edit out Mike's banter about how low Heroes and Villains charted? I honestly haven't listened too much into the live stuff yet.

I hope to God we get more Old Man River!!!

octopussssss

One thing that has always bugged me is the fact that the group didn't seem to take their concert performances seriously in the 60's. Sure, they had some great moments. and were a great live group when they wanted to be. But if you listen to the "A Vocal Element" bootleg, somebody is always laughing or making a joke, or even talking during a song. It seems like they didn't really become a serious concert act until Blondie and Ricky joined the group.

I personally find most of their 60s live work unlistenable.

What does Blondie Chaplin do for fun?

Can't forget Mike and Dean's Jingle Bell Rock!

I love the music video. Dean Torrence is really cute!

This is a shock to me, but I bought tickets for 20 bucks four years ago to see them at a fair in rural Wisconsin.

🐙 🌺 🌹 🌱

I love it. Brian needed you in 1967!

Bathroom window