Soul Searchin'

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

I loved this song when I first heard it on the Paley boot years ago but kinda lost interest when it appeared on GIOMH.

Listening to it now on the MIC box, I really think this song had some real hit potential if it had came out in 96. Not saying number 1 or anything like that but think it would have made a big impression.

Its a far better song than TWGMTR (IMO) and when you think of the SIP tracks that came before it...well...

Love the production and of course Carls vocal

[Nicko1234]

I loved this song when I first heard it on the Paley boot years ago but kinda lost interest when it appeared on GIOMH.

Listening to it now on the MIC box, I really think this song had some real hit potential if it had came out in 96. Not saying number 1 or anything like that but think it would have made a big impression.

Its a far better song than TWGMTR (IMO) and when you think of the SIP tracks that came before it...well...

Love the production and of course Carls vocal

Is it still Paley's version mixed with the flown in vocals?

[Micha]

MHO: The lyrics are better than TWGMTR, the music isn't.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I think it's a fantastic song, I do hold on to the unpopular opinion that I think the Gettin' In Over my Head version is better (just a better mix I think and I like Brian's vocal on the bridge), it's so great to have a Beach Boys version officially on disc.  You're Still a Mystery is great too.  It's a shame nothing more came out of those sessions, I think it would have been a very welcome comeback at the time.

[hypehat]

I fail to see why they couldn't have put another song from the Paley sessions on there - if we can get the monstrosity that is Brian's Back (a Mike Love solo cut) repeatedly classified as a 'Beach Boys rarity' I don't see why It's Not Easy Being Me or Chain Reaction Of Love could go on there.

'But Brian's the only Beach Boy on those!' I hear you cry, 'At least Carl sings the the chorus of Brian's Back, his soulful tones providing an oasis in an aural desert of horror!'.

Why yes, he is. But Mike clearly has no bones about finishing his tracks off with guitar overdubs in 2013 - Goin' To The Beach. There is still speculation that Brian cut a new lead vocal for You're Still A Mystery (I think it's from 1998, myself). Would it have been beyond reason to get Al Jardine to overdub a vocal now? He could do a good job on It's Not Easy Being Me.

Or, the unbridled horror of having Brian singing a Beach Boys cut all by himself?! Oh my god! Someone call the cops!

[MBE]

Well since we have Brian's Back, maybe Mike Come Back To LA would have been better? I'm serious!

[Andrew G. Doe]

I think it's a fantastic song, I do hold on to the unpopular opinion that I think the Gettin' In Over my Head version is better (just a better mix I think and I like Brian's vocal on the bridge), it's so great to have a Beach Boys version officially on disc.  You're Still a Mystery is great too.  It's a shame nothing more came out of those sessions, I think it would have been a very welcome comeback at the time.

I have some bad news for you - the GIOMH version is the exact same track (it's even mono - listen with cans) with a few new percussion overdubs and Brian's very shouty middle-eight. Succinctly, compared with the 'original', it sucks.

[Ted]

the GIOMH version is the exact same track (it's even mono - listen with cans)

The reverb and many of the backing vocals are stereo.

[Andrew G. Doe]

But the track - the instrumental track - is mono.

[Ted]

But the track - the instrumental track - is mono.

The core elements are mono but they're drenched in stereo reverb. The Beach Boys version, on the other hand, isn't mono at all - there's a guitar part during the intro that's panned hard left and is absent from Brian's version. There's also stereo reverb all over the track but not the same as on GIOMH. So it's a different mix, like Rocky Racoon said.

[Smilin Ed H]

Always thought this was a 'nice' song, but nothing more. Probably the best of several post 80 attempts to capture an older style - stuff like Getcha Back and It's Just A Matter of Time. Good to hear Carl, obviously. There are other songs I prefer from the Paley sessions.

[Micha]

I think it's a fantastic song, I do hold on to the unpopular opinion that I think the Gettin' In Over my Head version is better (just a better mix I think and I like Brian's vocal on the bridge), it's so great to have a Beach Boys version officially on disc.  You're Still a Mystery is great too.  It's a shame nothing more came out of those sessions, I think it would have been a very welcome comeback at the time.

I have some bad news for you - the GIOMH version is the exact same track (it's even mono - listen with cans) with a few new percussion overdubs and Brian's very shouty middle-eight. Succinctly, compared with the 'original', it sucks.

Why should that be bad news for him? Even if the backing track is exactly the same, at least the mastering does change the sound, and somehow he prefers the GIOMH version. If he's wrong thinking the backing track is a different mix, why should he care that he now knows he was wrong?

[phirnis]

One thing I always wanted to ask about this song, how did it end up being on an album by Solomon Burke?

[kwan_dk]

I was sooo disappointed when I heard the GIOMH version. To me what really makes the song is the cool bass vocals from Mike during the chorus on the old version. Really great song!

[Lowbacca]

One thing I always wanted to ask about this song, how did it end up being on an album by Solomon Burke?

[...] Singer and songwriter Joe Henry produced the set, and rather than trying to replicate the sound of a vintage Jerry Wexler session, he's taken a very different approach, going for a spare and open sound, with nothing but a subdued rhythm section, a guitar, and an organ (the latter played by Rudy Copeland, who performs the same honors at the church where Burke preaches) accompanying Burke on most of these 11 songs. Henry also put out a call for material worthy of Burke's gifts, and a number of his better-known fans responded, including Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, and Nick Lowe, all of whom contributed songs to the project. [...]

(source)

[HeyJude]

Dipped into the boxed set yesterday, and the two '95 group tracks were among the first I tracked. After hearing that they were futzed with, I was somewhat relieved that they weren't futzed with quite as much as I thought they may have.

"Soul Searchin'" is relatively unscathed. It actually has some additonal layers of group backing vocals we didn't hear before, and they do sound legit as far as being original, as I can hear Carl in the layers. Carl's bridge is messed with; it has somebody semi-doubling it, like it kind of weaves in and out of the mix. I honestly can't tell if it's a double-tracked Carl, or Brian, or Andy Paley, or someone else. I don't understand why they did this, as a clean and clear single Carl bridge vocal can be heard on the circulating version. In any event, this doubled version is still highly preferable to Brian's wonky bridge vocal on GIOMH.

[Jesse Reiswig]

I still think the original take, with Paley's lead, is actually the best.

[pixletwin]

Going to take 'Beaches in Min' off of my go-to TWGMTR and replace it with this. Maybe.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I think it's a fantastic song, I do hold on to the unpopular opinion that I think the Gettin' In Over my Head version is better (just a better mix I think and I like Brian's vocal on the bridge), it's so great to have a Beach Boys version officially on disc.  You're Still a Mystery is great too.  It's a shame nothing more came out of those sessions, I think it would have been a very welcome comeback at the time.

I have some bad news for you - the GIOMH version is the exact same track (it's even mono - listen with cans) with a few new percussion overdubs and Brian's very shouty middle-eight. Succinctly, compared with the 'original', it sucks.

Well now that I know you hate it, I guess I have to change my mind.

It's definitely a remix though.  It sounds to me only Carl's vocal and the basic track was used.  Otherwise Brian did all the backing vocals, it sounds to me like there's a saxophone and guitar that's not in the Beach Boys version, and reverb was put on Carl's vocal to amplify it.

[Wirestone]

I hate, hate, hate the GIOMH sax overdub. If for no other reason than there's a perfectly good organ solo on the song, and they just plopped some Mertens dithering on top. Yet they didn't mix out the organ! It all plays at full volume, and sounds pretty slobby.

That being said, I actually like Brian's take on the bridge lead, and his wall-of-Brians backing vox arrangement (if not delivery) is convincing.

One thing I always wanted to ask about this song, how did it end up being on an album by Solomon Burke?

[...] Singer and songwriter Joe Henry produced the set, and rather than trying to replicate the sound of a vintage Jerry Wexler session, he's taken a very different approach, going for a spare and open sound, with nothing but a subdued rhythm section, a guitar, and an organ (the latter played by Rudy Copeland, who performs the same honors at the church where Burke preaches) accompanying Burke on most of these 11 songs. Henry also put out a call for material worthy of Burke's gifts, and a number of his better-known fans responded, including Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, and Nick Lowe, all of whom contributed songs to the project. [...]

(source)

Paley knows Joe Henry and gave him the song. Got Paley in considerable trouble with the BW camp, IIRC.

Edit: Just relistened to Brian's solo version, and there are more positive points than I remembered! The guitar overdub is excellent, the backing vocals aren't as fussy, and the buildup to the final choruses (where Brian actually sounds a bit better than Mike on the bass vox) is quite effective.

[Wirestone]

Incidentally, I'm almost positive the "Mystery" vocal retake comes from the GIOMH sessions. It's known that Brian recorded a version of it then, and his delivery sounds consistent with his vocals from the mid-2000s (a bit slurry and distant, but not as peculiar-sounding as his mid-90s leads). I very much doubt it was from the retake he did for "Imagination" or from the TWGMTR sessions -- Linett doesn't work with Joe Thomas, and his approach to Brian's voice is very different.

Interesting point too -- production credit on SS is BW, AP and Don Was. Production credit on YSAM is Was, BW and AP. Suggests, perhaps, that the instrumental track of YSAM is actually the Was guys, while the track of SS (as we know) was taken fro the Paley sessions proper.

[Lonely Summer]

Incidentally, I'm almost positive the "Mystery" vocal retake comes from the GIOMH sessions. It's known that Brian recorded a version of it then, and his delivery sounds consistent with his vocals from the mid-2000s (a bit slurry and distant, but not as peculiar-sounding as his mid-90s leads). I very much doubt it was from the retake he did for "Imagination" or from the TWGMTR sessions -- Linett doesn't work with Joe Thomas, and his approach to Brian's voice is very different.

Interesting point too -- production credit on SS is BW, AP and Don Was. Production credit on YSAM is Was, BW and AP. Suggests, perhaps, that the instrumental track of YSAM is actually the Was guys, while the track of SS (as we know) was taken fro the Paley sessions proper.

I agree about the 'Mystery' vocal retake. I have the original on a cassette, and it definitely sounds much more mid-90's Brian than the one on MIC.

[Tony S]

I have always loved Soul Searchin. Carl sounds great to me; this could have been a huge hit for the guys....if only.....

[HeyJude]

Incidentally, I'm almost positive the "Mystery" vocal retake comes from the GIOMH sessions. It's known that Brian recorded a version of it then, and his delivery sounds consistent with his vocals from the mid-2000s (a bit slurry and distant, but not as peculiar-sounding as his mid-90s leads). I very much doubt it was from the retake he did for "Imagination" or from the TWGMTR sessions -- Linett doesn't work with Joe Thomas, and his approach to Brian's voice is very different.

Interesting point too -- production credit on SS is BW, AP and Don Was. Production credit on YSAM is Was, BW and AP. Suggests, perhaps, that the instrumental track of YSAM is actually the Was guys, while the track of SS (as we know) was taken fro the Paley sessions proper.

Was apparently cut backing tracks for both YSAM and SS, and that's what the BB's reportedly sang their vocals to. That would explain the Was credits. It was at a later date, with Carl's apparent vague assertion in mind that Was' backing track to SS was sub-par for some reason, that they glued the BB vocals onto Paley's old backing track. This was done when Carl was still alive, but without Carl's (or any BB) participation, and Carl probably never heard it. Since it was done back at that time, either technology didn't allow them to properly sync all of the BB backing vocals, and/or they weren't mixed in for some other reason, so that's how we hear more of the BB backing vocals on the new version. 

So we still have never heard the Was backing track to "Soul Searchin'." I'd be very curious to hear it, both in terms of how different it is and if any of us would actually feel it truly is sub-par.

[El Molé]

Dipped into the boxed set yesterday, and the two '95 group tracks were among the first I tracked. After hearing that they were futzed with, I was somewhat relieved that they weren't futzed with quite as much as I thought they may have.

"Soul Searchin'" is relatively unscathed. It actually has some additonal layers of group backing vocals we didn't hear before, and they do sound legit as far as being original, as I can hear Carl in the layers. Carl's bridge is messed with; it has somebody semi-doubling it, like it kind of weaves in and out of the mix. I honestly can't tell if it's a double-tracked Carl, or Brian, or Andy Paley, or someone else. I don't understand why they did this, as a clean and clear single Carl bridge vocal can be heard on the circulating version. In any event, this doubled version is still highly preferable to Brian's wonky bridge vocal on GIOMH.

I've listened to this quite a few times now and I can't tell what's going on during the bridge either. There are parts that sound like a doubled Carl (or even some sort of doubling effect) and parts that sound like a second vocal from somebody that I can't quite identify. It doesn't sound like the Paley vocal that's on one of the circulating vocals and I think that his phrasing was quite different from Carl's in a few parts, so they wouldn't wholly work well together. You're right that it weaves in and out of the mix and I think that's why it's hard to identify. For that reason it could easily be Paley, Brian or Carl - I've got no idea. I think it's probably one of those things that sounds slightly jarring to my ears just because I'm so used to the previously circulating version of Carl's bridge. It still sounds excellent.

I have to wonder if there was something up with Carl's bridge that somebody had an issue with, given that it's been modified here in some way (at least compared to the version we knew) and that it was also replaced by Brian in the previously released version.