Welcome to Discograffiti’s exploration of The Beach Boys’ seventh studio album, this one packed with holiday cheer and orchestral sparkle. In this episode, special guest David Beard and I talk about Brian’s album-length excuse to work with one of his heroes, Four Freshman arranger Dick Reynolds, whose expertise with the 41-piece orchestra that plays on half this LP foreshadows Brian’s just around the corner on Pet Sounds. We also discuss whether this was a dry run for an A-Side/B-Side tonal discrepancy that wound up coming heavily into play on 1965’s Today! LP, as well as what exactly happened with the group’s botched late-1970s Christmas album sequel.

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Sneak Peek: linktr.ee/discograffiti

Full Episode: Patreon.com/Discograffiti

I support a wife and a six-year-old son with Discograffiti as my sole source of income.

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Note: It’s mentioned in this episode that Brian didn’t work with arranger Dick Reynolds again until his unreleased 1977 LP Adult/Child, but in fact they did collaborate again for a single orchestral session which went unreleased, held ostensibly to boost Brian’s confidence prior to getting started on Pet Sounds. More details to come in Season 2.

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