Brian Wilson's Secret Bedroom Tapes - LA Weekly 1-30-14

[bossaroo]

Here are the songs that have official releases

Good Vibrations 30 years box set: H.E.L.P. is on the Way, Games Two can Play, I just Got My Pay
Endless Harmony: Break Away "demo"
Made in California: Sail Plane Song, We're Together Again, Old Man River, Back Home (1970), Where is She?, Soulful Old Man Sunshine, California Feelin' demo (1974.)
No Pier Pressure: In the Back of my Mind (1975)
California Feeling 2: Lucy Jones
A World of Peace must come: America, I know You

"Soulful Old Man Sunshine" was on Endless Harmony prior to being reissued on Made In California, but otherwise looks like an accurate list to me.  Several others have appeared in altered form (i.e. "Won't You Tell Me" was on the Sunrays - Vintage Rays box set with the same instrumental track but with a Rick Henn lead vocal), but not in the version described by Chidester in his article.

Lee

and the original version of Sail Plane Song on Endless Harmony is superior to the one we got on MIC

[The_Beach]

Here are the songs that have official releases

Good Vibrations 30 years box set: H.E.L.P. is on the Way, Games Two can Play, I just Got My Pay
Endless Harmony: Break Away "demo"
Made in California: Sail Plane Song, We're Together Again, Old Man River, Back Home (1970), Where is She?, Soulful Old Man Sunshine, California Feelin' demo (1974.)
No Pier Pressure: In the Back of my Mind (1975)
California Feeling 2: Lucy Jones
A World of Peace must come: America, I know You

"Soulful Old Man Sunshine" was on Endless Harmony prior to being reissued on Made In California, but otherwise looks like an accurate list to me.  Several others have appeared in altered form (i.e. "Won't You Tell Me" was on the Sunrays - Vintage Rays box set with the same instrumental track but with a Rick Henn lead vocal), but not in the version described by Chidester in his article.

Lee

and the original version of Sail Plane Song on Endless Harmony is superior to the one we got on MIC

I always thought they were the same song! What is the difference?

[Aomdiddlywalla]

Here are the songs that have official releases

Good Vibrations 30 years box set: H.E.L.P. is on the Way, Games Two can Play, I just Got My Pay
Endless Harmony: Break Away "demo"
Made in California: Sail Plane Song, We're Together Again, Old Man River, Back Home (1970), Where is She?, Soulful Old Man Sunshine, California Feelin' demo (1974.)
No Pier Pressure: In the Back of my Mind (1975)
California Feeling 2: Lucy Jones



Use those things you have on either side of your head......
A World of Peace must come: America, I know You

"Soulful Old Man Sunshine" was on Endless Harmony prior to being reissued on Made In California, but otherwise looks like an accurate list to me.  Several others have appeared in altered form (i.e. "Won't You Tell Me" was on the Sunrays - Vintage Rays box set with the same instrumental track but with a Rick Henn lead vocal), but not in the version described by Chidester in his article.

Lee

and the original version of Sail Plane Song on Endless Harmony is superior to the one we got on MIC

I always thought they were the same song! What is the difference?

[Aomdiddlywalla]

Here are the songs that have official releases

Good Vibrations 30 years box set: H.E.L.P. is on the Way, Games Two can Play, I just Got My Pay
Endless Harmony: Break Away "demo"
Made in California: Sail Plane Song, We're Together Again, Old Man River, Back Home (1970), Where is She?, Soulful Old Man Sunshine, California Feelin' demo (1974.)
No Pier Pressure: In the Back of my Mind (1975)
California Feeling 2: Lucy Jones
A World of Peace must come: America, I know You

"Soulful Old Man Sunshine" was on Endless Harmony prior to being reissued on Made In California, but otherwise looks like an accurate list to me.  Several others have appeared in altered form (i.e. "Won't You Tell Me" was on the Sunrays - Vintage Rays box set with the same instrumental track but with a Rick Henn lead vocal), but not in the version described by Chidester in his article.

Lee

and the original version of Sail Plane Song on Endless Harmony is superior to the one we got on MIC

I always thought they were the same song! What is the difference?

Use those things you have on either side of your head ....

[John Manning]

Here are the songs that have official releases

Good Vibrations 30 years box set: H.E.L.P. is on the Way, Games Two can Play, I just Got My Pay
Endless Harmony: Break Away "demo"
Made in California: Sail Plane Song, We're Together Again, Old Man River, Back Home (1970), Where is She?, Soulful Old Man Sunshine, California Feelin' demo (1974.)
No Pier Pressure: In the Back of my Mind (1975)
California Feeling 2: Lucy Jones
A World of Peace must come: America, I know You

"Soulful Old Man Sunshine" was on Endless Harmony prior to being reissued on Made In California, but otherwise looks like an accurate list to me.  Several others have appeared in altered form (i.e. "Won't You Tell Me" was on the Sunrays - Vintage Rays box set with the same instrumental track but with a Rick Henn lead vocal), but not in the version described by Chidester in his article.

Lee

I reckon we can also include:

From the GV box:

"It's Over Now" (Brian Wilson)
"Still I Dream of It" (Brian Wilson)

And "Still I Dream of It" from the I Just Wasn't Made for These Times soundtrack

[c-man]

Here are the songs that have official releases

Good Vibrations 30 years box set: H.E.L.P. is on the Way, Games Two can Play, I just Got My Pay
Endless Harmony: Break Away "demo"
Made in California: Sail Plane Song, We're Together Again, Old Man River, Back Home (1970), Where is She?, Soulful Old Man Sunshine, California Feelin' demo (1974.)
No Pier Pressure: In the Back of my Mind (1975)
California Feeling 2: Lucy Jones
A World of Peace must come: America, I know You

"Soulful Old Man Sunshine" was on Endless Harmony prior to being reissued on Made In California, but otherwise looks like an accurate list to me.  Several others have appeared in altered form (i.e. "Won't You Tell Me" was on the Sunrays - Vintage Rays box set with the same instrumental track but with a Rick Henn lead vocal), but not in the version described by Chidester in his article.

Lee

and the original version of Sail Plane Song on Endless Harmony is superior to the one we got on MIC

I always thought they were the same song! What is the difference?

Same song, different mix.

[LeeDempsey]

I reckon we can also include:

From the GV box:

"It's Over Now" (Brian Wilson)
"Still I Dream of It" (Brian Wilson)

And "Still I Dream of It" from the I Just Wasn't Made for These Times soundtrack

I thought of those as well, but Chidester's definition of the "Bedroom Tapes" cuts off at 1975 with the hiring of Landy.

Lee

[Stephen W. Desper]

COMMENT:

Enough is enough.  The LA Weekly rag article is pure fantasy.

1)  There was no recording equipment in Brian's Bellagio Bedroom. I have been in that bedroom hundreds of times. I have sat on the bed and talked with Brian many times. I have helped Marilyn put Brian into that bed when he was in a stupor from drugs.

2)  I stayed in the adjacent bedroom to Brian's bedroom many times when sessions ran late. I am very familiar with that wing of the house. There were no tape recorders, microphones, or such equipment upstairs. Only a portable cassette recorder on the bed stand that Brian used to listen to the radio once in a while.

3)  The equipment in the living room was for playback only. I know because I installed the system.

4)  It was all anyone could do to get Brian to record downstairs in his 16-track studio. There was no secret recording room or recording done somewhere else.

5)  Even the illustration showing Brian surrounded by microphones is bogus. Add at least 350 pounds to the Brian-figure to be accurate. If you were going on conjecture you might assume that Brian, being a drug-crazed musician, was thin and physically demented, but this only underscores the inaccuracy of the article and the pipe dream this article really is. I wonder what was in the author's pipe to dream up such an accounting?

6)  Any recording Brian or anyone under contract was the property of Warner's or Capitol. There are no secret tapes. This is a business, the recording business. It is big business with lots of money involved, legal obligations, and a team of people to pull it off.  

You all can continue to conjecture about this topic if you wish, but it is all only an exercise in imagination.

That's my take,  ~Stephen W. Desper

[Nile]

COMMENT:

Enough is enough.  The LA Weekly rag article is pure fantasy.

1)  There was no recording equipment in Brian's Bellagio Bedroom. I have been in that bedroom hundreds of times. I have sat on the bed and talked with Brian many times. I have helped Marilyn put Brian into that bed when he was in a stupor from drugs.

2)  I stayed in the adjacent bedroom to Brian's bedroom many times when sessions ran late. I am very familiar with that wing of the house. There were no tape recorders, microphones, or such equipment upstairs. Only a portable cassette recorder on the bed stand that Brian used to listen to the radio once in a while.

3)  The equipment in the living room was for playback only. I know because I installed the system.

4)  It was all anyone could do to get Brian to record downstairs in his 16-track studio. There was no secret recording room or recording done somewhere else.

5)  Even the illustration showing Brian surrounded by microphones is bogus. Add at least 350 pounds to the Brian-figure to be accurate. If you were going on conjecture you might assume that Brian, being a drug-crazed musician, was thin and physically demented, but this only underscores the inaccuracy of the article and the pipe dream this article really is. I wonder what was in the author's pipe to dream up such an accounting?

6)  Any recording Brian or anyone under contract was the property of Warner's or Capitol. There are no secret tapes. This is a business, the recording business. It is big business with lots of money involved, legal obligations, and a team of people to pull it off.  

You all can continue to conjecture about this topic if you wish, but it is all only an exercise in imagination.

That's my take,  ~Stephen W. Desper

I read this article multiple times 'cause it's very intriguing but never, not once, understood it the way that these are really "tapes from bedroom", and I think it's clearly stated that way in the article! It was just a period when BW..well he just gave up on being the "hot shot" recording producer and just chilled back...
And that's the reason I find these songs so appealing...

[LeeDempsey]

COMMENT:

Enough is enough.  The LA Weekly rag article is pure fantasy.

1)  There was no recording equipment in Brian's Bellagio Bedroom. I have been in that bedroom hundreds of times. I have sat on the bed and talked with Brian many times. I have helped Marilyn put Brian into that bed when he was in a stupor from drugs.

2)  I stayed in the adjacent bedroom to Brian's bedroom many times when sessions ran late. I am very familiar with that wing of the house. There were no tape recorders, microphones, or such equipment upstairs. Only a portable cassette recorder on the bed stand that Brian used to listen to the radio once in a while.

3)  The equipment in the living room was for playback only. I know because I installed the system.

4)  It was all anyone could do to get Brian to record downstairs in his 16-track studio. There was no secret recording room or recording done somewhere else.

5)  Even the illustration showing Brian surrounded by microphones is bogus. Add at least 350 pounds to the Brian-figure to be accurate. If you were going on conjecture you might assume that Brian, being a drug-crazed musician, was thin and physically demented, but this only underscores the inaccuracy of the article and the pipe dream this article really is. I wonder what was in the author's pipe to dream up such an accounting?

6)  Any recording Brian or anyone under contract was the property of Warner's or Capitol. There are no secret tapes. This is a business, the recording business. It is big business with lots of money involved, legal obligations, and a team of people to pull it off.  

You all can continue to conjecture about this topic if you wish, but it is all only an exercise in imagination.

That's my take,  ~Stephen W. Desper

I read this article multiple times 'cause it's very intriguing but never, not once, understood it the way that these are really "tapes from bedroom", and I think it's clearly stated that way in the article! It was just a period when BW..well he just gave up on being the "hot shot" recording producer and just chilled back...
And that's the reason I find these songs so appealing...

IMO the premise of the article is that there were spurts of creativity from Brian in the period from 1967 to 1975 when he was generally reported to be "out of it," and that despite the aborted sessions and erased tapes there are enough of those spurts still on tape that could be compiled together into a viable commercial release.  I've gone on record as saying that some of the recordings, again in my opinion, are not nearly as good as they seem on paper, and that I didn't agree with the overhype that L.A. Weekly gave the article with their purports of exclusive "granted access" to the Beach Boys' archive, when others BB historians and writers have heard many of these same tracks under various less-sensationalized circumstances, but I realize that their mission is to draw readers and sell advertising -- and their target audience isn't the few people who have had the opportunity to hear some of these tapes in their raw form.

On the positive side, the article did get us talking about Brian Wilson and his music, and that's never a bad thing...

Lee

[John Manning]

I reckon we can also include:

From the GV box:

"It's Over Now" (Brian Wilson)
"Still I Dream of It" (Brian Wilson)

And "Still I Dream of It" from the I Just Wasn't Made for These Times soundtrack

I thought of those as well, but Chidester's definition of the "Bedroom Tapes" cuts off at 1975 with the hiring of Landy.

Lee

Good point!

[Stephen W. Desper]

IMO the premise of the article is that there were spurts of creativity from Brian in the period from 1967 to 1975 when he was generally reported to be "out of it," and that despite the aborted sessions and erased tapes there are enough of those spurts still on tape that could be compiled together into a viable commercial release.  I've gone on record as saying that some of the recordings, again in my opinion, are not nearly as good as they seem on paper, and that I didn't agree with the overhype that L.A. Weekly gave the article with their purports of exclusive "granted access" to the Beach Boys' archive, when others BB historians and writers have heard many of these same tracks under various less-sensationalized circumstances, but I realize that their mission is to draw readers and sell advertising -- and their target audience isn't the few people who have had the opportunity to hear some of these tapes in their raw form.  And the article did get us talking about Brian Wilson and his music, and that's never a bad thing...

Lee

COMMENT:  Believe me, all the "spurts" are accounted for. There are no secret tapes found hiding under Brian's bed or in the closet or some old trunk. Certainly, with the studio under his bed (room), I can tell you that he did come down and start recording songs, but they were not commercial and only what you would expect for someone in Brian's condition at the time -- in other words, not worth the cost of the tape upon which they were recorded. There were exceptions, but you've heard them either as stand alone or sweetened parts.

The point of my post is that the article makes for a good weekend read for the average person, but when taken to heart so much by the fans that post here, I feel compelled to point out that there are no unreleased creations bubbling up out of the ether. After 11 pages of "hope," enough is enough. Get real. There are not sixty reels of goodies just wasting away, ready to be sprung on to an eager public. And, I agree with you, it's fun to talk about Brian and his music, but don't start believing your own fantasies, or you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment.  ~swd

[HeyJude]

There's a lot of great and interesting stuff, especially from the 70s and 80s, produced by Brian and the rest of the band that has not been released.

Just the "Proposed Brother Reissue Bonus Tracks" revealed a year or two ago alone shows that.

But yes, I think "Bedroom Tapes" is just a broad euphemism for "various interesting Brian things that haven't been released."

I think the hope was that such an article would spur BRI towards opening up the vaults in a more liberal fashion, and sticking some sort of label on them (perhaps trying to evoke the totally different and much closer to accurately-described Bob Dylan "Basement Tapes") would make a more succinct headline than "Various Unreleased Brian Wilson Recordings."

[LeeDempsey]

Stephen,

Have you ever commented publicly on this track mentioned in the article?:

"Song to God" - [Stanley] Shapiro also told [the author of the article, Brian Chidester] the story of the time Dennis Wilson had engineer Stephen Desper queue up a Brian Wilson reel-to-reel labeled "Song to God." According to Shapiro, as the tape ran and Dennis and Desper sat mesmerized, Brian came barreling down from his bedroom, ripped the tape off the playback and yelled, "Don't you ever touch that again! That's between me and God!" As [Chidester's] previous article stated, no tape for this has ever been found.

[Stephen W. Desper]

Stephen,

Have you ever commented publicly on this track mentioned in the article?:

"Song to God" - [Stanley] Shapiro also told [the author of the article, Brian Chidester] the story of the time Dennis Wilson had engineer Stephen Desper queue up a Brian Wilson reel-to-reel labeled "Song to God." According to Shapiro, as the tape ran and Dennis and Desper sat mesmerized, Brian came barreling down from his bedroom, ripped the tape off the playback and yelled, "Don't you ever touch that again! That's between me and God!" As [Chidester's] previous article stated, no tape for this has ever been found.

[bossaroo]

I think the hope was that such an article would spur BRI towards opening up the vaults in a more liberal fashion, and sticking some sort of label on them (perhaps trying to evoke the totally different and much closer to accurately-described Bob Dylan "Basement Tapes") would make a more succinct headline than "Various Unreleased Brian Wilson Recordings."

it could be argued that the inclusion of Brian's '75 rendition of In the Back of My Mind on NPP was a direct result of this article.

there are several titles mentioned that even the most hardcore fans have still never heard. here's hoping they all see proper release

[Stephen W. Desper]

Stephen,

Have you ever commented publicly on this track mentioned in the article?:

"Song to God" - [Stanley] Shapiro also told [the author of the article, Brian Chidester] the story of the time Dennis Wilson had engineer Stephen Desper queue up a Brian Wilson reel-to-reel labeled "Song to God." According to Shapiro, as the tape ran and Dennis and Desper sat mesmerized, Brian came barreling down from his bedroom, ripped the tape off the playback and yelled, "Don't you ever touch that again! That's between me and God!" As [Chidester's] previous article stated, no tape for this has ever been found.

COMMENT:  It's stuff like your quote above that I'm talking about. It's false stories like this one and statements from the previous fan, HeyJude that exercise the imagination of a "hopeful" fan into thinking some fantastic creation will turn up to reinvent rock 'n' roll. I suppose you could call every false-start, cough, throat-clearing, instrument tuning, or in-progress-dub that was captured on tape as "a lot of great and interesting stuff." It may be to a collector looking for every cigarette butt of Carl's, discarded coffee cup of Brian's, or used condom of Dennis' as a trophy to add to their collection, but in practical terms there are no endless shelves of unreleased hit singles, just waiting for the right time to come. Whatever you think is out there has been cataloged and categorized as uneventful. Certainly you could take the many tapes that exist and put them together in another box-set, but the amount of cost involved would not yield any noteworthy sales or be of any interest except to a handful of customers.

I myself have lots of "stuff." It's all over my house. It's on cassettes, acetates, reels, and even some early DAT's. Little by little I intend to provide them on my website as I did the Spectrum Concert tapes. The problem is that you can can't find equipment to play some formats. I still have the master that Dennis and Daryl made for me, which is the only real quadraphonic recording made by any Beach Boy. That together with odd things like all the water sounds programmed into Brian's Mellotron, or the wild-track of the bi-plane used for Loop d Loop (which has already been provided), or the original finished version of Sail-On-Sailor I recorded back at the house studio with Carl doing the lead, or multiple studio test mixes of Goin' On some of which may be of interest to a few fans, but I don't think there are any finished songs or even half-finished songs in the can and certainly not shelves full of possible money-making hits.

Maybe I'm too pragmatic for some of the stories floating around in fandom as exemplified by my exposé of the phantom, "Landlover" album that never was (see my book), but I would rather deal with reality then conjecture. I guess that's the engineer in me.

Thanks for reading my rant, ~swd       

[LeeDempsey]

COMMENT:  It's stuff like your quote above that I'm talking about. It's false stories like this one and statements from the previous fan, HeyJude that exercise the imagination of a "hopeful" fan into thinking some fantastic creation will turn up to reinvent rock 'n' roll. I suppose you could call every false-start, cough, throat-clearing, instrument tuning, or in-progress-dub that was captured on tape as "a lot of great and interesting stuff." It may be to a collector looking for every cigarette butt of Carl's, discarded coffee cup of Brian's, or used condom of Dennis' as a trophy to add to their collection, but in practical terms there are no endless shelves of unreleased hit singles, just waiting for the right time to come. Whatever you think is out there has been cataloged and categorized as uneventful. Certainly you could take the many tapes that exist and put them together in another box-set, but the amount of cost involved would not yield any noteworthy sales or be of any interest except to a handful of customers.

I myself have lots of "stuff." It's all over my house. It's on cassettes, acetates, reels, and even some early DAT's. Little by little I intend to provide them on my website as I did the Spectrum Concert tapes. The problem is that you can can't find equipment to play some formats. I still have the master that Dennis and Daryl made for me, which is the only real quadraphonic recording made by any Beach Boy. That together with odd things like all the water sounds programmed into Brian's Mellotron, or the wild-track of the bi-plane used for Loop d Loop (which has already been provided), or the original finished version of Sail-On-Sailor I recorded back at the house studio with Carl doing the lead, or multiple studio test mixes of Goin' On some of which may be of interest to a few fans, but I don't think there are any finished songs or even half-finished songs in the can and certainly not shelves full of possible money-making hits.

Maybe I'm too pragmatic for some of the stories floating around in fandom as exemplified by my exposé of the phantom, "Landlover" album that never was (see my book), but I would rather deal with reality then conjecture. I guess that's the engineer in me.

Thanks for reading my rant, ~swd        

Rant acknowledged Stephen.  And since I was quoting a direct passage from the article (not my words), I don't infer that your use of the second person "you" above was in reference to me personally.  At least I hope not...

I think some of us uber-fans look at some of the better tracks (and I know "better" is subjective) like "Soulful Old Man Sunshine," "(Wouldn't It Be Nice To) Live Again," and "Where Is She?" that have been released after the fact on archival compilations, and are astounded that they were never released, when the likelihood is that if Carl and/or Dennis were still alive (especially Carl) they would still be locked away due to their imperfections, the bad memories they drag up, etc.  One man's trash is another man's treasure...  I once heard Bruce refer to the fans who dig this kind of stuff as "bottom feeders," so I think I know where he stands on the topic as well.

[donald]

Going by the decreasing quality of "lost gems" released over the past 5 to 10 years, I'm betting that 90 percent of anything worthwhile is already out there in some form, boot or official release.     I've heard a lot of nice alternate versions and live material over recent years.    I think there must be some worthwhile live recordings we haven't heard.     

[HeyJude]

I'm only talking about recorded material we *know* exists and, in many cases, has been heard, and nobody is claiming all of the stuff is mind-blowing or that it is going to "reinvent rock and roll."

Numerous fans have heard the "Proposed Brother Bonus Tracks" that someone discovered at a record shop a couple years ago. It's not false starts and noodling and throwaway material. It's stuff like Dennis's "Carry Me Home" in pristine quality. Brian's demo for "'Til I Die", and a version of "'Til I Die" with alternate lyrics. An unedited version of "This Whole World" that extends well past the ending point of the released mix. The quirky and interesting "We Gotta Groove" with verse lyrics, and so on.

Some of it is alternate takes/versions of stuff we know and love (and nobody is saying the alternate/rough/demos material is necessarily better than what was released), and some of it (e.g. "Carry Me Home") is a full-fledged song and recording that has never been released at all. I'm surely not alone in feeling "Carry Me Home" is better than at least *some* of what the band released in the 70s.

All of this "unreleased" material is of course of interest mainly to super-fans interested in the minutiae of alternate takes and mixes and whatnot. But in a world where multi-disc sets of "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" sessions exists, I'd say there is oodles of *known* quality material (not pie-in-the-sky mind-blowing stuff that we're just guessing at or making up) that could be released.

The Beach Boys don't exist any longer as a functioning recording artist. As a group, they've released two albums of new studio material in the last 26 years (and one of those didn't have Brian Wilson on it). Brian Wilson is prolific in releasing new music; most of the other guys not so much. So what we have left is the archives, and there is plenty of interesting stuff just among what is *known* and has been heard that is well beyond "coughs" and "throat clearing" and "false starts."

George Martin was known to be dismissive of putting any archival Beatles material, and then between 1994 and 1995 was involved in compiling *eight* discs worth of archival material (two discs of BBC material plus the six "Anthology" discs).

For the Beach Boys, it is true that the 60s material has been mined pretty heavily. Other than putting out raw sessions, there isn't a lot left from the 60s as far as unreleased songs and significantly alternate versions. But there's a ton of that sort of stuff from the 70s and 80s. Some good, some not. But the Beach Boys have proven with past archival releases that they've left some AWESOME material on the cutting room floor.

If they had put out "outtake" collections in the past that all stunk and just consisted of false starts or 37 takes of the "Sloop John B" backing track, then perhaps it would be easier to assume nothing of note is in the vaults. But there's a ton in there!

And that's not even getting into live concert material, of which a ton of high quality material exists.

I don't think there's a misunderstanding about *what* is in the vaults. I think there's simply a difference of opinion about whether archival, unreleased material is interesting and worth releasing.

Fans like myself are well aware of the mixed feelings the artists and others involved in these recordings have about the recordings (e.g. Bruce using the term "bottom feeders"). I try to remember that side of things too. But nobody is making stuff up, or trying to trick people into thinking "Pet Sounds II" is in the vaults. It's just some fans, many very knowledgeable and if nothing else enthusiastic, who like the archival material and would like to see more released. I don't see how fans wanting that material is a bad thing.

If fans think "Endless Harmony Soundtrack" and "Made in California" and "The Smile Sessions" and releases like those were uninteresting dregs, then they can adjust their expectations of any future archival releases accordingly.

[Stephen W. Desper]

Comment to HeyJude:   touché    ~swd

[Alan Boyd]

For the record, that article was wildly overblown and filled with hyperbole and misstatements, not the least of which was the outright fabrication that "the LA Weekly was granted exclusive access..."

The fact is, it was written by someone who worked with us on a project some ten years prior to the publication of the LA Weekly article, and at that time he'd had an opportunity to hear some archival things that we had recently catalogued and preserved.  When he was working on the article many years later I was happy to answer some archival questions and describe some things we'd since discovered within the tape vaults.  I'm sure I played a couple of things for him over the phone, in the interest of helping him get his facts straight. But I was not at all pleased with the article as published in the LA Weekly.

(For a more realistic look at that era, I'd refer folks instead to the recent article in MOJO by Domenic Priore.)

Stephen Desper speaks the truth.  There's very little "undiscovered" Brian within the tape archive, and most of the material of note has found its way onto recent archival releases.  There is a small handful of unheard and very rough unfinished basic tracks that may or may not someday find a home if the label ever wants to undertake, say, deluxe multi disc packages centered on specific albums...and there are, of course, a few other items ("Walkin'" and "Carnival" come to mind) that have never been officially released but have long been passed around amongst collectors.  But there is no treasure trove of unheard Brian gems lurking in a dark corner of a dusty vault, as far as I know.  I've looked.

[Alan Boyd]

....and I should probably clarify, I'm speaking strictly about Brian Wilson material from the time period covered in the article. 

[John Manning]

While acknowledging, respecting, understanding and believing what Messrs Desper & Boyd say above, I have to confess that I'd rather hear ten seconds of unreleased Brian Wilson mediocrity than ten hours of, say, U2, Coldplay, Adele or Mumford and Sons.

"My name is John, and I am a bottom feeder…"

[HeyJude]

I think it is indeed an important distinction to make, that there perhaps aren’t a bunch of unheard Brian gems, meaning songs we haven’t heard. But there is a good amount of archival material from the 70s and 80s from the entire band that is worth releasing. Maybe the band doesn’t want to put out a ton of the stuff. But it is there. Just looking at those “Proposed Brother Bonus Tracks” and weeding out the stuff that has since been officially released and stuff that, for some fans, is of little musical merit and/or has been in common “circulation” for eons (e.g. “Carnival”), there’s a good disc or two worth of material (which I think would make far more sense presented on deluxe editions of their respective albums, along with extra backing tracks, vocals-only mixes, etc.). How realistic such releases are is a different story. But I think most fans that frequent places like this board would love to see this stuff released. It isn’t all “bottom of the barrel” stuff.

Big Sur (Original Version)
‘Til I Die (Demo)
‘Til I Die (Alt. Lyrics)
Surf’s Up (Vocals-Only)
Awake (Brian Demo)
Fourth of July (Alt. Version)
Lady (Vintage Stereo Mix)
I’m Going Your Way
Add Some Music to Your Day (Alt. Version)
This Whole World (Alt. Longer Version)
Tears in the Morning (Alt. Version)
Carry Me Home
The Trader (Alt. Version)
Out in the Country
Holland EP Demo
We Gotta Groove
Lazy Lizzie
Marilyn Rovell


That’s just *some* of the tracks *solely* on the first two discs of that “Proposed Bonus Tracks” tracklisting. That’s weeding out stuff like “11th Bar Blues” and “Love You” alternate mixes, numerous “15 Big Ones” oldies outtakes, stuff like “Hard Times”, etc. There’s tons more of that stuff that’s out there, and more we haven’t heard. I could easily list a few dozen more that we know of from other track listings and stuff that has surfaced (and not surfaced).

It isn’t all A-List material. I love quirky Brian stuff, and even I’m not just totally *in love* with “Lazy Lizzie” or “Marilyn Rovell.” I don’t need more alternate mixes of “When Girls Get Together.” I’m guessing at least a few of these tracks were proposed and rejected already for archival releases (“I’m Going Your Way” and the alternate version of “Big Sur” seems like two relatively strong tracks for instance that I would have figured would have been released by now, and supposedly “Carry Me Home” was rejected for some thoughtful if, to some, disagreable reasons). But there’s lots of cool stuff.