By Howie Edelson
The weather's turning, the days are getting shorter, and 2024 is quickly winding down. It won’t be long before yuletide breezes blow our way, bringing with them the customary lighting of fires, cooking turkeys, and a slew of new memories taking shape. Of course, Beach Boys music ALWAYS finds a spot in life’s greatest moments – with Thanksgiving being no exception. Although there’s no “Surfin’ Safari,” “Monster Mash,” or “Child of Winter” to underscore the big day, no Thanksgiving table is complete without candied yams, green beans, squash, mashed potatoes, and more. As always, The Beach Boys provide the perfect soundtrack for ANY get-together with their own take on, arguably, mother nature’s greatest offering – “VEGETABLES.”
“Vegetables” (or “Vege-Tables,” depending on how you roll) remains one of the highlights of both the SMiLE and Smiley Smile albums and was co-written by Beach Boys visionary Brian Wilson and collaborator Van Dyke Parks. A classic then and a classic still, the tune was even briefly considered for single release back in 1967. Brian recalled how he and Van Dyke initially teamed up: “I met him at a party once over at Terry Melcher's house. I listened to that guy talk, and I said, ‘That guy's articulate. He really knows how to talk.’ I thought, ‘I bet he'd be a good lyric writer.’ Sure enough, he turned out to be great. And I had to get used to the idea of kicking ideas around.”
During the SMiLE sessions, “Vegetables” was a vocal spotlight for Al Jardine, with intricately athletic backing vocals by the band. By the time it was released on September 1967’s Smiley Smile, it featured a scaled-back – but still driving – track showcasing a full group vocal. Frontman Mike Love admitted the group never worked harder on their vocals than during that historic year: “Vocally, The Beach Boys were still at their peak. Whatever reservations we had about SMiLE – and yes, I had them – we put them aside and did everything we could to help. Brian realized his dream. It was no different from what we did for ‘Good Vibrations’ or for Pet Sounds, no different from my mom’s Christmas parties when he gave us our parts and we sang them our best.”
“Vegetables,” which crept in and out of The Beach Boys’ setlists through the early 1970s, holds a special place in rock’s greater pantheon. Paul McCartney – only days after The Beatles wrapped their sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – visited Brian and the group on April 10, 1967, at L.A.’s Sound Recorders (Studio A), where the ‘Boys were laying down vocals for “Vegetables.” McCartney treated the gang to a solo piano reading of the then-unheard “She’s Leaving Home,” as well as spinning an acetate of the soon-to-be Sgt. Pepper finale, “A Day In The Life.” Although he doesn’t appear vocally, “Macca” can be heard somewhere buried deep on the “Vegetables” multi-tracks chomping on a carrot alongside The Beach Boys.
“Vegetables,” which ended up having some of the most complex backing vocals of The Beach Boys’ career, underscored how advanced SMiLE was – especially in the way the band sang. Carl Wilson recalled, “We did things in sections. There just might be a few bars of music, or a verse, or a particular groove, or vamp, or whatever you call it... You could put them one in front of the other or arrange it in any way you wanted. And we would – it’s odd how they do that. A really strange way of doing it, y’know? Cause usually, you just do the song and then that’s it. But it was sort of like making films, I think.”
The Bee Gees’ Maurice Gibb went on record as being a particular fan of the group’s initially released rendition of “Vegetables”: “The (album) that blew me away was Smiley Smile. I remember a song about vegetables, (sings) ‘I'm going to be (‘round) my vegetables.’ And I thought it was obviously about the general marketing industry (laughs) that does vegetables. But when I heard the harmonies and the arrangements of what they were doing, I thought, this is quite, like, quite scary. Because it was daring. It was something that wasn’t often heard. And that’s what I loved about that album.”
In November 1967, after a five-week break and only a couple of months after “Vegetables” was released, The Beach Boys undertook a 10-date Midwest and Eastern state run billed as their “Fifth Annual Thanksgiving Tour.” During the shows, the band premiered songs from their soon-to-drop 13th album – Wild Honey. Among the killer new tunes fans got to hear for the first time were the album’s title track, “Country Air,” “How She Boogalooed It,” and their upcoming single, “Darlin’.” In 2017, concerts from half of the Thanksgiving trek (Detroit, Michigan; Washington, D.C.; White Plains, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Boston, Massachusetts) were liberated and finally released on the acclaimed live vault collection, 1967 - Live Sunshine.
As fall transitions into winter, The Beach Boys MORE than have the holiday season covered. 1964’s The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album was crafted to honor both the past and the present, appealing to all generations by featuring a rock-based side of originals and another spotlighting traditional readings of Christmas evergreens.
Mike Love recalled how Phil Spector played an important part in spurring cousin Brian Wilson into formulating the group’s own iconic holiday set: “In August (1963), during one of Brian’s studio visits with Spector, he watched him produce songs for a Christmas album, which would feature mostly secular tunes, such as ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Frosty The Snowman.’ Spector’s was not the first Christmas album, but he helped redefine the genre with his tour-de-force production. Brian was inspired to create the group’s own Christmas classic – ‘Little Saint Nick.’”
As he had done with “Surfer Girl,” Brian Wilson began composing “Little Saint Nick” while driving in his car. Mike Love remembered, “I wrote ‘Little Saint Nick’ with Brian, lo these many years ago... We wanted to make Santa’s sleigh a hot rod, because we’d done ‘409,’ ‘Shut Down,’ ‘Little Deuce Coupe.’ If you listen to the background vocals of ‘Little Saint Nick,’ it could be like we’re the Vienna Boys Choir! It’s beautiful choral harmonies in a rock song.”
For half the album – including the band’s memorable take on “Frosty The Snowman” – producer Brian Wilson enlisted the help of The Four Freshmen’s arranger Dick Reynolds to spread his magic around the 41-piece orchestra that cradled the group’s vocals.
Half-rock/half-big band – a complete Christmas sound. The Beach Boys have always offered something for everyone.
Here’s to the start of a FANTASTIC holiday season.
Listen to The Beach Boys every chance you get – it’s proven to make life brighter!!!
Listen to The Beach Boys' Christmas Album: