197B. SNEAK PEEK INTO DAVID BEARD ON THE BEACH BOYS’ CHRISTMAS ALBUM

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.

There’ll be a short sneak peak running publicly for free, but the entirety of this podcast will only be accessible on the Major Tier of Discograffiti’s Patreon. Don’t miss the full episode, or you’ll only be getting part of the story. Get it as a one-off, purchase the entire Beach Boys Season 1, or better yet just subscribe.

Sneak Peek: linktr.ee/discograffiti

Full Episode: Patreon.com/Discograffiti

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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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