"California Feelin'" 1974

[Andrew G. Doe]

Maybe it's been mentioned before (if so, apologies) but... aren't the similarities between this and Alan's cover on his solo album, well, striking ? 

[pixletwin]

Alan who? What solo album?

[Jason]

Jardine. A Postcard from California, to be exact.

[pixletwin]

Ahhhh yes. The extended "Three arch bay" bit.

I did notice. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I'm more blown away by the similarities between 1974 CF and Brian's intro on the 1978 version. Not exactly the same but much closer than I expected

[Wirestone]

For my money, Al's version might be the best single take on the song out there.

1974 version: Fun but definitely with a tongue in cheek.
1977 Spring version: Definitely a BW track, but the lead is lousy.
1978 version: A little sterile, although the harmonies are nice.
2002 BW version: Like the added call-and-response at the end and band's playing, but BW lead is a bit muddy.
2010 Al version: Committed, clear vocal, nice harmonies, respect paid to the song.

I would rank them thus: '10, '78, '02, '77, '74.

[Cabinessenceking]

I also noticed. Al cheated and got his MiC back in '09 then made everyone think he came up with it!


But seriously with the release of this demo, Barnyard Blues and My Love Lives On, while knowing that Good Timin, River Song, Hard Times and I think Pacific Ocean Blues, Make It Easy, All Of My Love and a few others were basically in the can it's amazing that nothing of this material surfaced on the following album. We were lucky enough to get It's Ok and Had To Phone Ya with terrible vocals instead.

Utterly amazing how they could fail to capitalise on this. What wereCARL AND DENNIS thinkin???    T_T

[HeyJude]

Maybe it's been mentioned before (if so, apologies) but... aren't the similarities between this and Alan's cover on his solo album, well, striking ? 

I thought the same thing as soon as I heard the 1974 version! It seems pretty likely to me that Al was referencing this version when he recorded his own. Pretty interesting.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I also noticed. Al cheated and got his MiC back in '09 then made everyone think he came up with it!


But seriously with the release of this demo, Barnyard Blues and My Love Lives On, while knowing that Good Timin, River Song, Hard Times and I think Pacific Ocean Blues, Make It Easy, All Of My Love and a few others were basically in the can it's amazing that nothing of this material surfaced on the following album. We were lucky enough to get It's Ok and Had To Phone Ya with terrible vocals instead.

Utterly amazing how they could fail to capitalise on this. What wereCARL AND DENNIS thinkin???    T_T

Plus they worked on Angel Come Home during the same time frame!

[petzounds29]

 I think Carl and Dennis were out-voted

[petzounds29]

 The Honeys version on the Stephen Kalinich lp is pretty nice

[petzounds29]

 I am not famieler with make it easy can someone clue me in ?

[Alan Smith]

Al's is definitely the greatest - but given the pool of versions he (and Matt) had to draw upon, and the time taken to complete, there's no way he could blow it.

Al has a particular knack for refining Brian's gear.  It would be great if he was producing the forhcoming Brian solo - although we'd have to wait until 2035 for the actual release.

[HeyJude]

Al's is definitely the greatest - but given the pool of versions he (and Matt) had to draw upon, and the time taken to complete, there's no way he could blow it.

Al has a particular knack for refining Brian's gear.  It would be great if he was producing the forhcoming Brian solo - although we'd have to wait until 2035 for the actual release.

Easy for me to say, but an ideal situation to me would be an album written by Brian, sung by Al (largely anyway), and produced by a third party who can really be objective and tell them what is good and what sucks. Joe Thomas got them closer I suppose on last year's album, but he's embroiled in group politics as well. They need someone to do with Nigel Godrich did to McCartney; just tell them when something kinda sucks. The BB's over the years have not only needed someone to tell them what sucks, they've also clearly been ignorant and too subjective about what is actually really good!

Back to "CF", I see the '74 recording as nothing more than an interesting curio. It's interesting as any demo-type recording is. It's interesting in the same way the "Hamburger/Cocaine Tapes" are interesting. The only other thing particularly interesting to me about the recording is that it does indeed sound *exactly* like what would happen if one crossed Brian's 1970 voice with his 1976 voice!

[Jim V.]

Back to "CF", I see the '74 recording as nothing more than an interesting curio. It's interesting as any demo-type recording is. It's interesting in the same way the "Hamburger/Cocaine Tapes" are interesting. The only other thing particularly interesting to me about the recording is that it does indeed sound *exactly* like what would happen if one crossed Brian's 1970 voice with his 1976 voice!

I gotta agree with you on the demo of "California Feelin'" basically being a curio. I waited all this time for it, and I guess I kinda built it up in my mind as some epochal event in Beach Boys history. Which it isn't.  But it is super interesting, especially knowing Brian's story as we do, but at the end of the day, it was just him excitedly layin' down a demo of a new song that he wrote. It surely isn't the definitive reading of the song, as it sounds like he's somewhat doing a Righteous Brothers impression on both the low (Bill Medley) and high (Bobby Hatfield) parts. Now what is the definitive version? I'm not sure many would agree, but I think the version from on disc four of MIC is. But I'm sure some people prefer Brian's solo version and some Al's. So to each his (or her) own.

[Bill Ed]

I'm very glad to see that at least a couple of people here appreciate Al's version as much as I do. Frankly, I had trouble understanding the excitement over the release of Brian's demo and the Beach Boys' aborted attempt at the song when it seemed to me a a definitive version has been out there for a few years.

[Jim V.]

I'm very glad to see that at least a couple of people here appreciate Al's version as much as I do. Frankly, I had trouble understanding the excitement over the release of Brian's demo and the Beach Boys' aborted attempt at the song when it seemed to me a a definitive version has been out there for a few years.

In most people's defense, I think the reason a lot of us were most interested in the demo version because we were interested to hear what a November 1974 Brian Wilson lead vocal would sound like on this tune.

[MBE]

Talking about Brian's voice now on the Sunflower thread, I do hear the damage on the 1974 demo far more than I thought. Not Back Home yet, but even Rollin Up To Heaven from a few weeks before sounds much less strained.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I know I've said this before, but...there are two things that struck me...

1)When Brian puts on a 'goofy' voice* he still sounds like young Brian. When he sings 'for real' he sounds like 78 Brian, which leads us to...

2) Going from everything we've now heard,  Brian sounds similar in 1974 and 1978 , which is just nuts.

* Surprised nobody commented yet that Peter Carlin's description of CF74 in his book is backwards? He writes it as 'normal at first,  goofy in the second part'!

[Jay]

AGD has also described the CF demo the same way that Carlin did.

[The Shift]

I'm very glad to see that at least a couple of people here appreciate Al's version as much as I do. Frankly, I had trouble understanding the excitement over the release of Brian's demo and the Beach Boys' aborted attempt at the song when it seemed to me a a definitive version has been out there for a few years.

Much prefer Al's version to anything else heard thus far. A gentle reading, with everything in proportion.  And And the backing vox are the most Beach Boys-like, somehow. And I like Beach Boys product when it sounds at its most Beach Boys-like. 

[Jesse Reiswig]

I'm fascinated by the '74 California Feelin'. It's absolutely clear now that Brian's original intention was to emulate a Randy Newman-style song. Now that I get this, I realize this is the only recording of the song to get the vibe right, despite its quirkiness, and that includes Al's version (though of the more "professional," shall we say, recordings, it comes closest). This will be my go-to version of the song, believe it or not. It speaks to a whole new direction that Brian could have gone in. A road not traveled.

[Jason]

Funny you mention that. California Feelin' does have a bit of a Randy Newman style to it, although, of course, without the biting satire.

[Smilin Ed H]

I was interested to hear it because of the way Timothy White built it up after he'd heard it.  I don't think it's a great song, but it is a good one and I love the demo and the fuller version on the box (though I also have a sneaking preference for Al's rather reverent version as far as 'finished' versions go).

[Andrew G. Doe]

AGD has also described the CF demo the same way that Carlin did.

Yup.