Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again

[Andrew G. Doe]

I guess this means you're sticking around, your eminence!

 

Never said I was leaving, just that, to appease one evidently jealous individual (of what, God only knows...), I'll only comment on subjects I can be wholly open about. 

[tpesky]

This has nothing to do specifically with WIBNTLA, but a general BRI question. Since there are 4 voting members, what happens when there is a 2-2 tie?
Does someone else break the tie? Or does a tie mean a no?

[The Shift]

I guess this means you're sticking around, your eminence!

 

Nevertheless, I got to use the word "eminence"!


Never said I was leaving, just that, to appease one evidently jealous individual (of what, God only knows...), I'll only comment on subjects I can be wholly open about. 

[skery]

for the record, speaking as a lowly lurker, i appreciate the little nibs of info, say what you can, and say no more, I'm sure I'd love the info, but if you can't then you can't...  But something is better than nothing, and it is certainly appreciated... 

[Wirestone]

Frankly, it's not insanely difficult to come by a few drips and drabs of inside information if you stick around long enough and chat with various band members. It happens. (AGD is on a different level, given his longtime fandom and contacts.)

But generally, these kinds of things are interesting but not earth-shaking. I mean, David and Mike has a falling out. Does it really matter that we know it's because David wore stripes one day and Mike really hates stripes? At least in my experience, and the few "behind-the-scenes" things I've heard, none of them make much of a difference to the music or are terrifically unexpected for the group of personalities we've been following.

These people have sold their private lives to the public (BW esp.) for decades. The stuff we don't know is a little darker, a little stranger, perhaps, but so is most of the stuff we don't know in the world as a whole. And if folks have been asked not to tell specifics -- respect it. Make up your own. They're probably more interesting.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I guess this means you're sticking around, your eminence!

 

Nevertheless, I got to use the word "eminence"!


Never said I was leaving, just that, to appease one evidently jealous individual (of what, God only knows...), I'll only comment on subjects I can be wholly open about. 

OK... but iffn you can work "grise" into a post and make sense... oh, you can have my Capitol 2580 mono test pressing. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

This has nothing to do specifically with WIBNTLA, but a general BRI question. Since there are 4 voting members, what happens when there is a 2-2 tie?
Does someone else break the tie? Or does a tie mean a no?

Excellent question. It would be interesting to know if, when Dennis' estate sold his BRI share back to BRI, his vote was de-activated, or if someone - say, Elliott Lott - could use it as a tie-breaker.

[The Shift]

I guess this means you're sticking around, your eminence!

 

Nevertheless, I got to use the word "eminence"!


Never said I was leaving, just that, to appease one evidently jealous individual (of what, God only knows...), I'll only comment on subjects I can be wholly open about. 

OK... but iffn you can work "grise" into a post and make sense... oh, you can have my Capitol 2580 mono test pressing. 

Mr Wilson's wife is an eminence grise when it comes to matters of management and tour decisions. Allegedly.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I guess this means you're sticking around, your eminence!

 

Nevertheless, I got to use the word "eminence"!


Never said I was leaving, just that, to appease one evidently jealous individual (of what, God only knows...), I'll only comment on subjects I can be wholly open about. 

OK... but iffn you can work "grise" into a post and make sense... oh, you can have my Capitol 2580 mono test pressing. 

Mr Wilson's wife is an eminence grise when it comes to matters of management and tour decisions. Allegedly.

Aahhhhh, so close - but you blew it with the 'allegedly'. Now, had you said 'undoubtedly'... 

[JaredLekites]

Back to topic:

If the Adam Marsland band version is as close to the official BB recording as we'll get, then I can't believe it still hasn't seen the light of day. Especially when you consider how many stuff from the BB vaults has been issued in the past 20 or so years.
As Andrew said, perhaps the best unreleased song the Beach Boys have to offer... and he definitely knows what he's talking about!

It's especially unfortunate that it was left off of "Surf's Up" because, as it turned out, Dennis was rendered completely absent from that album. If only we had "WIBNTLA" in addition to "4th of July", we could all compile our own little CD-Rs of the Surf's Up album containing Dennis' contributions.

[Jay]

I have not heard Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again done by anybody. I'm very curios about why it seems to be the most talked about unreleased Beach Boys recording.

Because it is just majestically outstanding. Very possibly the best unreleased BB track there is. Seriously. Dennis at the very top of his form and vocal ability, his brothers doing some stellar bvs... just amazing.

Go here - http://www.amazon.com/Long-Promised-Road-Dennis-Wilson/dp/B000NJWTH0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1273650056&sr=1-2 - for a 30-second clip of Adam Marsland's Chaos Band's outstanding cover - lead vocal Evie Sands. Buy the CD while you're at it, it's seriously excellent.

Thanks for the link.  There are videos on YouTube of Adam Marsland's Chaos Band performing River Song, and Angel Come Home, and I was very impressed by both. River Song may have been just a tad to fast, but still the best cover of the song I have heard.

[Jay]

I guess this means you're sticking around, your eminence!

 

Nevertheless, I got to use the word "eminence"!


Never said I was leaving, just that, to appease one evidently jealous individual (of what, God only knows...), I'll only comment on subjects I can be wholly open about. 

OK... but iffn you can work "grise" into a post and make sense... oh, you can have my Capitol 2580 mono test pressing. 

Mr Wilson's wife is an eminence grise when it comes to matters of management and tour decisions. Allegedly.

Aahhhhh, so close - but you blew it with the 'allegedly'. Now, had you said 'undoubtedly'... 

As one who undoubtedly knows the meaning of the word "eminence", I ask you...just what in the hell is an "Eminence Front"?  Seriously, that song has confused me since I was about 9 years old. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Back to topic:

If the Adam Marsland band version is as close to the official BB recording as we'll get, then I can't believe it still hasn't seen the light of day. Especially when you consider how many stuff from the BB vaults has been issued in the past 20 or so years.
As Andrew said, perhaps the best unreleased song the Beach Boys have to offer... and he definitely knows what he's talking about!

It's especially unfortunate that it was left off of "Surf's Up" because, as it turned out, Dennis was rendered completely absent from that album. If only we had "WIBNTLA" in addition to "4th of July", we could all compile our own little CD-Rs of the Surf's Up album containing Dennis' contributions.

Wasn't left off - it was pulled, along with the (then-unfinished) "4th of July" after Carl & Dennis had a spat about the sequencing of side 2.

[Jay]

The 5.1 remix was finished. Live Again was confirmed as a bonus track. Supposedly it was just waiting for pressing.

Has anybody who frequents this board ever been in a position to sample this "aborted project"? I was just curios how it would have sounded.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

One thing I'd like to make crystal clear - I don't regard myself in any way as 'an insider'. To my mind that would be someone like David Leaf was: someone in the next circle out from the band. I just happen, over the course of some 35 years, to have accquired contacts (as a lot of us have), some of which have led on to other contacts slightly deeper in the labyrinth that is the World of Wilson. And so on. It just happened, wasn't my gameplan, ever. Sometimes - like now - I almost wish it hadn't. If someone wishes to label me an insider, or an expert, or eminence grise, well, that's flattering but I don't take it seriously. I'm just a fan with an inquiring nature, a stupidly retentive memory for trivia and ephemera, a burning desire to see the bands legacy documented accurately, and a laptop. That's a dangerous combination.  

Very well put AGD!   Jealous?  Hardly!  I got all that journalistic crap out of my system writing for the school paper in High School.

But as a not very talented musician and songwriter, I do have  jealousy/envy for some guys named Brian, Dennis, Carl, Bruce, Alan, David, Mike, Blonde and Ricky.

I guess my real frustration is that, after reading the stomach turning tales in books like "Heroes and Villains", we are left with small trivia like why "WIBNTLA" has never been released as a confidential secret.  Seriously, it's 50 years, the ride is about over - it's time to open up the closet door and have a good rummage for old times sake.

[adamghost]

Well, I feel fairly comfortable about spilling what I know about why WIBNTLA wasn't released, because my recollection on what I was told is hazy, so I could have it completely wrong.  So no one can hang me!  But my IMPRESSION at the time was that the problem is, simply, since Dennis is dead and his shares in Brother have been sold, there's no advocate for his material when it comes time to make selections about what to release.  Which, artistic merits aside, is understandable.  If I'm, for example, Mike Love, why am I going to go to bat for one of Dennis' songs when I can get one of mine on?  You can imagine being in a room with 4 or 5 people who all have their own agenda and compromises to make.  The person that isn't represented in that kind of a meeting is going to be the easiest one to throw out the window when tough decisions need to be made.  I'm not saying I know that's what happened; but it makes perfect sense if you think about the sausage-making that goes into getting approval from a bunch of different people for a project.

There WAS enough momentum behind the song coming out for us to get a quiet OK to release it ourselves, and I've never heard anybody complaining about it, so I don't think there's any kind of a grand conspiracy to prevent its release, though I wasn't personally involved in getting the publishing clearances and things like that.  It would NEVER have happened without Alan Boyd acting as go-between between us and the band, so you can all thank Alan Boyd that there's any released version of that song at all.  I may have nudged it a little because when we were listening to the raw tapes it was one of the better performances, and being a BBs freak I wanted it out too.  It also helped that Stan Shapiro (the co-writer of the song) was a friend of the band's and really wanted the song heard.  It was one of those situations that just happened to line up the right way.  I'm actually really proud of the LONG PROMISED ROAD album because, despite some hairy bumps in the road in getting it made and released, in the end it was one of those few times that a Beach Boys-related project got released as envisioned without getting sidetracked or altered by political concerns.

And yes, we kept it as close as possible to the original version.  I've listed what we changed somewhere in this or some other thread about the song.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I only have one thing to add to that - buy Adam's album, it's a great tribute, performed by a great band.

[Mike's Beard]

If what you say is the reason adamghost it really is a shame that once again it all comes down to the money. Jeez how much more cash do these guys need? I'm not their accountants but I'm pretty certain Mike, Al, Bruce and Brian aren't exactly starving these days!

A few reasons why WIBNTLA should be released.

1 To further honor and celebrate the spirit and talent that was Dennis Wilson
2 To put right a stupid wrong made 40 years ago (admittedly it WAS Dennis's own dumbass decision)
3 Because all us Beach Boy fans can never get enough music from this great group!!!

Seriously IF a reunion does take place and a new album is recorded, we all know in our heart of hearts there's a strong probability it may suck but we are all still going to buy it anyway and stick it on the shelf with the others!
We will always want to hear more! If the day ever does come when I have officially heard every last scrap of music these guys have laid down over the years it will be a bittersweet one.

PS awesome performance adam!!  

[Bicyclerider]

I'd just like to add to Adam's post - before the success of the reissue of Pacific Ocean Blue, there was no compelling commercial/marketing reason to release WIBNTLA.  In other words, adding a Dennis song wouldn't have made a BB compilation - sounds of summer, Summer Love Songs or whatever, sell any more copies (well except to fanatics like us, who would buy it anyway for unreleased/new stereo remixes).  That's changed now, as the release of Fallin' in Love shows, so maybe there is hope for a release of WIBNTLA in the future.

also, Rhino has started to release some "quad" 60's/70s albulm on CD, Chicago being the first.  Perhaps they would consider releasing the Surf's Up 5.1 DVD (with bonus tracks) if enough people email/write in to request it.

[alanjames]

Great idea!
BRI have the rights of Surf's Up. They licensed it to Capitol Records, but they don't care about a release of the 5.1 mix.
But Rhino can make this, and they'll make it right: limited edition, superb package, etc...
If BRI can make a prtnership with Rhino, it would be great.
They made this before, releasing Live at Knebowrth with Eagle Records, the Hallmark compilation, etc...

[The Shift]

They made this before, releasing Live at Knebowrth with Eagle Records...

... currently available in about 24,684 different editions, most of which were bundled with other artists' songs and given away with UK Sunday papers.

[Mike's Beard]

Hey I'd even stoop to buying the awful News of the World on a Sunday if they were giving out free comps with "Wouldn't it be Nice to Live Again" on it !!!!!!

[Wirestone]

Rhino's not an indie anymore. It's part of the Warner Bros. conglomerate. Same company as Warners, Nonesuch, etc.

Shout Factory, on the other hand ...

[adamghost]

Just to respond to a couple of posts above...and not speaking as an active participant in anything but just as a guy that's been a working musician for a long time and "around"...you have to remember that if you're on an inside of a band situation, you just don't see things the way fans do.  Fans have the luxury of idealizing the band experience and thinking that everything is a simple as just waving a wand and coming out with the objectively best outcome.

The real world isn't that simple...first off, any band that completely bends to a fan's wishes is going to starve, because fans' desires are contradictory and not reliable (this is one of the reason why I roll my eyes when people complain about politicans without considering how fickle the electorate itself is).  I can remember how many times I've rolled into some town and none of my fans bothered to show up because they had to work that night or some such.  There's a perfectly valid reason why Carl gave up on a new direction for the band, why the Beach Boys became a traveling jukebox, why the band is skeptical of the ability of the more progressive material to sell.  It's because they've been down that road before and got burnt.

You've also got real people in a band with real feelings.  Do I think Mike is one-tenth of the songwriter Dennis was?  Frankly, no I don't.  But Mike himself has understandable pride in his own work above and beyond the financial aspect and it's perfectly reasonable for Mike to want one of his songs on a comp instead of one of Dennis'.  I mean, look at the personal history the two guys have.  You or I can say what we want about what should or shouldn't happen, but put yourself in Mike's position for a second.  Why the heck is he going to throw Dennis a bone after all these years?  Yes, it would be gracious and the right artistic move to make.  But it's expecting a lot from the guy.  It's another case of us fans telling people in the band with their own lives and feelings in the desire what they "should" do based on our subjective opinion about what we want.

So, yeah, looked at from a fan's perspective, the fact that this song is unreleased is a crime, but it's not as simple as saying "this song is really good, why isn't it out?"  My personal feeling is that it'll come out at some point.  Probably most of this stuff will.  It looked impossible for BAMBU to come out 10 years ago, and yet it did.  Sometimes it's just a matter of timing and things lining up a certain way, and then it happens.

[Paulos]

The Endless Harmony Sountrack and the Hawthorne C.A compilations gave us a bunch of Dennis rarities and as mentioned the Summer Love Songs compilation had  Fallin' In Love on it so I hope this means we will see WIBNTLA at some point. I also have Adam's version and it's quite wondeful, good job sir!

I'd also really like to hear Carry Me Home properly released but I don't know if there is proper finished version?