The Preiss Tape

[SonoraDick]

)
06) Let The Wind Blow - Amy Vocal (2:11) - apparently from a 1970 session for Brother Records.

Is anything known about "Amy", or why she was covering this song in 1970?

[jbliss]

Let me try to clear up some of the confusion here. Back in the mid '70's, I was a friend and neighbor of Byron Preiss. I had been a huge fan of The Beach Boys since the very beginning of their career and was a struggling independent record producer. One day in 1976, Byron and I were hanging out and I said to him, we should do a book about the Beach Boys. End of discussion. About a month later he asked to borrow my collection of magazine articles, pictures, etc. I had saved on the band and then...about a month after that, he came by and said, Guess what, we're doing the authorized biography of The Beach Boys. He was able to work a deal through Hanna-Barbera (The Flinstones) who at the time had the merchandising rights to the BB.
Cut to the fall of '77. Byron had worked extremely hard on the book. At my suggestion he had talked to some of the recording engineers and was going to cover the Smile album. I was also to do the Beach Boy's discography for the book. His biggest frustration was he had been unsuccessful in trying to talk directly to the members of the band. And we did not know that after playing a free concert in NY in Sept. '77, the band had a big fight and broke up.
Byron then received a call from Stan and Steve Love, saying that at least some of the guys would be together in Iowa and that he could talk to them there. So we got on a plane for MIU not having any idea what to expect.
As we were parking our rental car, we ran into Mike Love, who greeted us and said there is one rule..no cigarette smoking because they were trying to get Brian to quit. A few minutes later, Brian comes walking up to us, introduces himself, and is very excited when we show him artwork for Cool Cool Water and explain a little bit about the book. Things got a little crazy after that. The backing band was there as well as Stan and Steve Love and Dianne Rovell. Al Jardine arrived that evening. Diane was getting phone calls from Marilyn, who was talking to Carl Wilson. Everyone applauded when Diane had received word that Carl was back in the group. Later that night we spent hours talking to Al and then Mike.
We ended up staying 4 or 5 days because Brian kept putting off talking to us. On the third day Byron and I were hanging out, still waiting on Brian, when we spotted Diane sitting by herself. A rare moment when she wasn't at Brian's side. We went over to talk to her and she was as nice as could be. I asked her if there were any plans to do more recording with Spring. She was amazed that we even knew about Spring and said that Brian wanted to cut "This Could Be The Night", but that they couldn't find a copy of the record. When I told her I had a copy, she got really excited and said, I would do anything to get my hands on that. Half kidding, I said, how about a copy of the Smile tapes. To our amazement, she said no problem. Like it was an easy request to fulfill. Wow!!!
The next morning, they finally got Brian to have breakfast with us. Later that day you could see Brian's mood changing for the worse and Byron and I decided it was a good time to leave.
Of course, I sent my copy of This Could Be The Night to Diane as promised, as well as a tape of a song I was producing at that time. We spoke a few times by phone also. And sure enough, after a while Byron received a copy of demos for the California Feelin' album which became MIU. Also included was the tape which has become known as the Preiss tape.
I will come back later and explain what happened next, if there is any interest.

Jeff Deutch 

[Sheriff John Stone]

Any interest? Please.....continue! And post as much as you want!

[The Shift]

Wonderful tale... Keep it comin', please do!

[Andrew G. Doe]

Jeff makes a very valid point: for old-timers like me , "the Preiss Tape" refers exclusively to the first circulating Smile tape.

[DonnyL]

keep the stories coming !

[Alan Smith]

Thanks, Jeff - of huge interest, would love to hear more; especially about what happened immediately after you or Byron P hit the play button - cheers - A

[Mikie]

Jeff makes a very valid point: for old-timers like me , "the Preiss Tape" refers exclusively to the first circulating Smile tape.

And it didn't take long for it to start circulating.  I remember getting mine around 1979 or 1980!

[jbliss]

Continued from before...So Byron knocks on my door, hands me the cassettes, and tells me to make a copy for myself as long as I promise to not make copies for anyone else. I don't remember if I asked where they came from, whether it was directly from Diane or from Stan Love. It certainly didn't come from Dennis Wilson. We never got to meet him.
Byron wrote about the Smile songs from what he heard on the tape, from listening to the Smile songs which had been released..such as Cabinessence, other written accounts..as from Teen Set, and a tiny bit from what Brian had said at MIU..for instance I had asked Brian what the "air" section of the "Elements" was going to be and he answered that they had cut an instrumental piece.
A few months after Byron's book came out, I received a phone call, asking if I was the person involved with the book. It was Brad Elliot asking. I turned down his request to make a copy for him, but he kept calling and calling. He offered $1,000 for a copy next. I was flat broke at the time and it was very tempting, but again I turned him down.  Finally, he called saying that he was representing a collector, who had to remain nameless. Would I be willing to trade for a large batch of unreleased Beach Boys material including songs like Loop De Loop which I was dying to hear. I broke down and agreed to a trade. We continued to talk by phone and I ended up spending hours and hours helping him with his book, "Surf's Up". I asked that my credit be minimal because I wasn't sure if Byron would be upset.
A number of years ago, Brad admitted publicly that he was the one who turned the tape. In 2004, while in London for BWPS, I met "the collector" who was involved with the trade. A great guy who I will keep nameless at this time.

Jeff Deutch

[Banana]

Great story!  I definitely don't blame you for breaking down and making the trade.  It`s all great music and it deserves to be heard...not locked away in a vault.

[18thofMay]

Awesome Jeff!! Great insight, like a time capsule!

[Bud Shaver]

Whoa!  This is better than History Detectives.  Thanks for the story.

[petsite]

Jeff was nice enough to talk with me when I had my old PetSite web page. Glad to see he is still keeping in contact. Thanks for all your info Jeff. It's like old home week here!

And Jeff, tell the story you told me of seeing Brian alone at the piano singing in his "old" voice at MIU.

[MBE]

Thanks Jeff. I got to talk to Byron once and he was a nice guy. I think he said he met Dennis sometime. Maybe later? Anyhow I still like the book very much and feel it remains an attrative product.

[Mikie]

So after all these years I'm now understanding the source(s) for my first Smile bootleg (which I received on a Maxell UDXLII cassette tape) and later on 3 or 4 vinyl bootlegs.

B. Priess   ->   J. Deutch   ->  B. Elliott   ->  P. R. (who added the M. Davis 'HCTHM' track to replace "Air")   ->  M. Plummer.  

So that made my tape copy four generations from the original source!  And the vinyl SMiLE boots (1983 - 1985) were two generations from the source. Interesting.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I wish I could've been a fan in those days. I was just getting into the group in 1995, and I missed a lot of the intrigue.

[jbliss]

Jeff was nice enough to talk with me when I had my old PetSite web page. Glad to see he is still keeping in contact. Thanks for all your info Jeff. It's like old home week here!

And Jeff, tell the story you told me of seeing Brian alone at the piano singing in his "old" voice at MIU.

I think it was the second day that I spent at MIU. Byron was in a meeting with Stan and Steve. I was just wandering around and decided to take a peek at the studio that was still under construction at MIU. There were 2 buildings on the MIU campus that the Beach Boys were leasing. One building had the rooms where they were all living in. One floor was a large common area that was part lounge, part cafeteria/dining area. It also had a large outdoor deck area where you could hang out. The second building was where the studio was. At that time, the rest of that building was pretty empty. This was at the beginning of their time at MIU. As I entered building 2, it seemed like nobody was inside. But, as I got closer to the studio, I could hear some sound leaking out. As I slowly approached closer, I could clearly hear that it was Brian, playing piano and singing. I didn't recognize what he was playing and I now tip toed the rest of the way to the door, not wanting to disturb him. Brian was definitely in there by himself. What I was hearing was a very upbeat song. What truly amazed me was...this was not the voice from 15 Big Ones, or Love You, or MIU. This was the "old" Brian, pure as could be. WTF!
I wanted to hear more, but I was really afraid I would get caught lurking around. I quickly got out of there, but it was an amazing few minutes and quite a mystery at that.

[MBE]

Those sessions have Brian in good voice thanks for the cool story.

[LeeDempsey]

Hi Jeff! 

Let me add that Jeff is one of the nicest guys I've ever met through Beach Boys fandom, and via his years in the music industry, has lots of great stories to tell!

Lee

[37!ws]

Continued from before...So Byron knocks on my door, hands me the cassettes, and tells me to make a copy for myself as long as I promise to not make copies for anyone else.

HA!! So now we know the origin of people handing out CDs to people and saying, "Don't tell anyone you have this!" (and of course within weeks finding out that everybody you know has the same music and was told the same thing!)

Thanks for sharing your stories, Jeff...and it just goes to support my theory that if Brian wants to, he can still use his old voice (Well, at least up to a point; I don't know if he still can at 70)...case in point -- the "Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel" demo...

[Banana]

Yeah, interesting take on Brian's voice.  Even with the abuse he put his throat through...I think his voice was a lot less "damaged" than people have stated.  I think it was more of a decision on Brian's part to not use that voice.  Personally, I find that he's been singing with more confidence as of late (on record and on stage).  He's still got a powerful voice when he wants to unleash it.

[petsite]

Jeff was nice enough to talk with me when I had my old PetSite web page. Glad to see he is still keeping in contact. Thanks for all your info Jeff. It's like old home week here!

And Jeff, tell the story you told me of seeing Brian alone at the piano singing in his "old" voice at MIU.

I think it was the second day that I spent at MIU. Byron was in a meeting with Stan and Steve. I was just wandering around and decided to take a peek at the studio that was still under construction at MIU. There were 2 buildings on the MIU campus that the Beach Boys were leasing. One building had the rooms where they were all living in. One floor was a large common area that was part lounge, part cafeteria/dining area. It also had a large outdoor deck area where you could hang out. The second building was where the studio was. At that time, the rest of that building was pretty empty. This was at the beginning of their time at MIU. As I entered building 2, it seemed like nobody was inside. But, as I got closer to the studio, I could hear some sound leaking out. As I slowly approached closer, I could clearly hear that it was Brian, playing piano and singing. I didn't recognize what he was playing and I now tip toed the rest of the way to the door, not wanting to disturb him. Brian was definitely in there by himself. What I was hearing was a very upbeat song. What truly amazed me was...this was not the voice from 15 Big Ones, or Love You, or MIU. This was the "old" Brian, pure as could be. WTF!
I wanted to hear more, but I was really afraid I would get caught lurking around. I quickly got out of there, but it was an amazing few minutes and quite a mystery at that.

I remember when you told me that story....it still moves me.

Guys, I know its rundant to say, but, Jeff is a treasure! Thanks for being here!

Bob

[guitarfool2002]

Seconded! I remember Jeff about 8-9 years ago posting on one of the early versions of the Smile Shop and addressing/answering the "Air" comments among other things in Preiss' book. It's great to hear the facts from the source, and again thanks for taking the time to post the information!

Might I also suggest to either this board's operators or even other online sources like AGD's site that some of Jeff's posts or this entire thread be archived and made available as a search resource. For those future fans who may have the same questions about the "Preiss Tape" or other issues around it, this thread would appear to be one of the most definitive sources anyone would access, and the information is firsthand and airtight.

History Detectives indeed! Just a suggestion, don't let this information get lost in the shuffle.

[jbliss]

Hi Jeff! 

Let me add that Jeff is one of the nicest guys I've ever met through Beach Boys fandom, and via his years in the music industry, has lots of great stories to tell!

Lee

Hi Lee and thanks for the kind words. But if we are talking about nice guys, Lee tops the list. A number of years ago, my Hotmail account was hijacked. All my contacts received an email stating that I was stranded in Malaysia and to please send money to help me out. I didn't know Lee very well, but he was ready to send some money to help out. Luckily, I was able to tell him it was a hoax before he did so. That really restored my faith in humanity. Thanks again.

[LeeDempsey]

Hi Jeff! 

Let me add that Jeff is one of the nicest guys I've ever met through Beach Boys fandom, and via his years in the music industry, has lots of great stories to tell!

Lee

Hi Lee and thanks for the kind words. But if we are talking about nice guys, Lee tops the list. A number of years ago, my Hotmail account was hijacked. All my contacts received an email stating that I was stranded in Malaysia and to please send money to help me out. I didn't know Lee very well, but he was ready to send some money to help out. Luckily, I was able to tell him it was a hoax before he did so. That really restored my faith in humanity. Thanks again.

You're welcome, Jeff.  It was actually a plausible story, given your history of managing / promoting U.S. bands in the Far East, so I almost fell for the scam.

All of you guys in the NY area - you, Tom, John, Mike P., Rick C., etc. -- are all great guys.

Hope your health is holding up.

Take care,

Lee