California Feelin' (versions)

[Jay]

Here's the big question: Did the overall tone(not necessarily hoarseness) of his voice sound like the "young" voice of 1963-71-ish? Or more like the guy speaking on the Mike Douglas show in 1976?

[Catbirdman]

Here's the big question: Did the overall tone(not necessarily hoarseness) of his voice sound like the "young" voice of 1963-71-ish? Or more like the guy speaking on the Mike Douglas show in 1976?

It's been years now, but I remember it having none of the hoarsenesss of the "Love Is A Woman" era. It sounded like the man who sang "on my way to sunny Californ-I-A," with plenty of range and agility left, but maybe a bit stained.

[18thofMay]

I will hear this!!

[Jay]

Good luck. 

[TdHabib]

STOP IT EVERYONE, I'M GETTING JEALOUS

[adamghost]

Here's the big question: Did the overall tone(not necessarily hoarseness) of his voice sound like the "young" voice of 1963-71-ish? Or more like the guy speaking on the Mike Douglas show in 1976?

It's been years now, but I remember it having none of the hoarsenesss of the "Love Is A Woman" era. It sounded like the man who sang "on my way to sunny Californ-I-A," with plenty of range and agility left, but maybe a bit stained.

That's consistent with how I recall it.

[pixletwin]

You know, this is the is the song that led me to this board. I sure hope the song gets an official release someday soon because I actually want to hear this more than anything SMiLE related.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Anybody know who's on Al's version?

Al, perhaps

Ha, perhaps!
++++++++++++
How does it rate against previous versions?

Have to say, parts of it remind me somewhat of Brian's 1974 version: I'd rate it as #2.

1 - BW 1974
2 - AJ 2010
3 - AS 1977
4 - BW 2002
5 - BB 1978

That's high praise for Al's version.

[Andrew G. Doe]

How was his voice though?

Good.  Oddly Carl-like at times, I seem to recall, when singing in the lower register, but with good facilty and clarity in the upper register as well.

... right up to the point where he futzed it up at the end and morphed into a really bad Vegas lounge singer.

[Jay]

Damn it, this is a depressing thread.   

[Dove Nested Towers]

Would really love to hear Brian's demo. My fave is actually Brian's re=recording. The Pamplin version is amateurish, and Carl's just comes off depressing....awful

I was one of the lucky few who got to hear this demo, back in the early 'aughts, at an East Coast Beach Boys convention. Oh, I would so love to hear it again. From my notes at the time:

California Feelin’ demo. 1974. Just Brian and a piano. Wow. The first time I heard it I was a bit disappointed because the approach was so unexpected. Then when I had the chance to hear it a second time its beauty hit home. Brian plays a GOSPEL piano on this cut. Gone is the straight reading and measured ease of the remake. Gone is the soft, sauntering laze. Instead it’s a dangerous and desperate stab at reclaiming the landscape as a haven for the soul. Brian believes what he’s singing but it’s crumbling around him. The more the scary truth threatens to overtake him – the truth that it’s all a veneer – the more his voice breaks in an earnest, exuberant plea. There are some gulped phrasings bordering on embarrassment; some rushed lyrics and some frankly goofy interpretations on the theme. He wants this to be a postcard sung in Las Vegas. He wants it to be a classic. It’s not, just like California is not. At least not in a God Only Knows sense. Now THAT’S a classic. But that’s also an ideal, and wouldn’t it be nice if it were true. When you’re 24 and on top of the music business the love of the ideal can just about take you away. When you’ve lost your father and you’ve returned from exile, your mind shattered, your drugs medicating less and less, the ideal taunts you no matter how hard you try to still believe. This is a very moving cut, if nothing else. I really hope everyone gets to hear it someday. When you do, you will be surprised. Expect a gospel piano (not the usual chordal banging), an affected, bewildered crooning, and a wandering, lost-at-sea tempo, and you might just get the spirit of it all.

Yes, your posts so far have been outstanding. You made the Smile discoveries scenarios come to life, and now make me salivate even more than before to hear this rare track, right up there with WIBNTLA (I'm with you on Lucy Jones too, Billy).

Forgot to mention Dennis's I've Got A Friend instrumental track as another must-hear, hopefully ad nauseum, meaning so many multiple, multiple times that I'm sick of them (could never happen) i.e. own them, someday! Keep hope alive, people...

[Loaf]

Here's the big question: Did the overall tone(not necessarily hoarseness) of his voice sound like the "young" voice of 1963-71-ish? Or more like the guy speaking on the Mike Douglas show in 1976?

It's been years now, but I remember it having none of the hoarsenesss of the "Love Is A Woman" era. It sounded like the man who sang "on my way to sunny Californ-I-A," with plenty of range and agility left, but maybe a bit stained.

So...in other words...a bit like he sounded on "Daddy Dear"...? now which one of these smiley options is *cheeky grin*? how about this one?

[MBE]

What else was played there that we haven't heard?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

^ Good question.

[Andrew G. Doe]

What else was played there that we haven't heard?

The majestic "(Wouldn't It be Nice To) Live Again".

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That deserves the Yao Ming rage face



Release the f*cker

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

What an interesting phenomenon it is (or perhaps even a noumenon), don't you think, whatever goes on in the mind desiring to hear something one hasn't heard...

I mean, I think most people have a pretty good imagination--most of us could, in our mind's ear, imagine what the CF demo would sound like, or having heard Chaos Band's Live Again, imagine Dennis singing that over an early 70s Beach Boys arrangement.  Or even stranger, I strongly desire to hear isolated tracks from multitrack tapes, be they a bass or a voice.  It's all right there on the track, but I have to mentally subtract everything else to imagine an isolated vocal.  And yet, what a payoff there is when you actually hear something like this.  Like, say, hearing the hidden clip of Vocals-Only Don't Worry Baby at the end of the latest set.  The wave of pleasure that rolls over you.

But then once you've heard it, you can't unring the bell, you'll never quite get that same pleasure again.  Sounds like an intereting research project, I guess.

[donald]

I mentioned before wishing to hear the surviving  band do a really nice recording of CF for the reunion ....I imagine the BB blend and the perfect vocal and music arrangement for this song....I can almost HEAR it.   Strong and wistful with a soaring background harmony.  Lead vocals shared.   Yeah......

[Jim V.]

Brian's '74 demo of "California Feelin'" is definitely at the top of my list of songs that I wish would be released at some point. I think the reasoning for me, and maybe for others, is that this song somewhat seems to be the exact point where the early era of The Beach Boys ended and the later era started. A lot of that probably having to do with this probably being the last time "the voice" was heard from Brian. However, there are a bunch of other songs that I wish the band would release officially, with quite a few of them being after '74, things like "Boys & Girls", "You're Still A Mystery", "Sweetie", etc.

But also, and this kinda goes off track a bit, but besides "CF", was there any other complete Brian performances of "new" songs recorded from '69 to '74? I know there is "Where Is She?". Is there anything else? I'm not sure....there are titles like "Rooftop Harry" and the medley of "Baby I Need Your Lovin' / Gimme Some Lovin'', but who knows how finished those things ever were. Probably not much more then a track.

Lastly, i wonder if there is a demo of "Good Timin'" from around '74. That would be quite interesting to hear a '74 Brian "Good Timin'' vocal.

[Catbirdman]

What else was played there that we haven't heard?

Below is the full list of tracks that was played at that convention in 2003. I took notes on each of the individual tracks so if you want to hear anything more about any of the tracks specifically just let me know. Many of the tracks are now widely traded amongst collectors, but at the time most of it was "new."

“Sneak Preview” Listening Session, Friday Night, August 9.
As a special treat, Stephen Desper played us the unreleased second album by the Flame. I really dug this. I didn't write down all the titles for some reason, but some of them I did: Seven Sisters, Sigh Baby Sigh, Sunny Skies, Sweet Jane, and Thank Someone. Sweet Jane was not the Lou Reed song.

Official Listening Session #1, Saturday afternoon, August 10.
Busy Doin' Somethin' (Convention Theme Song) - written and recorded by Alan Boyd
Cottonfields. Vocals only.
I’m In Great Shape, version #1
It’s A New Day. Dennis solo track from 1971.
Da Doo Ron Ron. Keepin’ The Summer Alive outtake.
I’m In Great Shape, version #2
Won’t You Tell Me. This is a Rick Henn/Murry-driven track from 1970.
I’m Going Your Way. Dennis solo, 1969.
Kiss Me Baby, instrumental track only.
Walkin’. 1969 Sunflower outtake.
Vega-Tables. First version.
Caroline, No. Stars ‘n’ Stripes, 1996. Backing vocals only.
Shake, Rattle, & Roll. 15 Big Ones outtake, 1976.
Intro – Ecology. 1971, Dennis solo track.
Please Let Me Wonder. Live 1965 in Chicago.
Our Sweet Love. Instrumental track and partial backing vocals only.
I’m In Great Shape, version #3
Wonderful. Live from the “box set tour,” 1993.
California Feelin’ demo. 1974.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Live Again. 1971, Dennis solo.

Official Listening Session #2, Saturday afternoon, August 10.
Warmth Of The Sun. Stars & Stripes, 1996. Backing vocals only.
Add Some Music To Your Day. Alternate lyrics.
Honda 55. 1964 studio session for radio commercial.
Mona Kani. 20/20 outtake, 1968.
Vega-Tables/Take A Load Off Your Feet (medley). Live from the “unplugged” tour, 1993.
Had To Phone Ya. Instrumental track.
Back Home. Demo version, 1970.
Back Home. Sunflower outtake, 1970.
Slip On Through. Instrumental track, 1969.
Tones. March 1967.
Running Bear. 15 Big Ones outtake, 1976.
Fig Plucker. 20/20 Sessions, 1968.
Breakaway. Vocals-only version.
Boys And Girls. Keepin’ The Summer Alive outtake, 1979.
Time To Get Alone. Partial vocals.
Only With You. Live from Carnegie Hall, 1972.
Surf’s Up. Piano demo. Vocals only.

“Bonus Tracks” – impromptu listening session, Saturday night, August 10.
Solar System. Instrumental track only.
Country Air. Stereo Mix.
Companion. Dennis solo.
I Can Hear Music. Live on the tour with Chicago, 1975.
Baby, Baby. This is a Dennis song from 1971.
All Day. Recorded January 3, 1967 at the tail end of a Heroes And Villains session.
Wind Chimes. Smiley Smile version, stereo mix.

[Rocker]

Please Let Me Wonder. Live 1965 in Chicago.

Gosh, that concert just has to be released this year !! What did you think about this song/performance?

[Catbirdman]

Please Let Me Wonder. Live 1965 in Chicago.

Gosh, that concert just has to be released this year !! What did you think about this song/performance?

Well, wouldn't you know you picked the ONE song that I didn't have much to say about in my notes. Just this: "Brian is present and sings lead. I’m more of a studio outtakes kind of guy myself, so this kind of stuff interests me but doesn’t thrill me."

[Rocker]

Please Let Me Wonder. Live 1965 in Chicago.

Gosh, that concert just has to be released this year !! What did you think about this song/performance?

Well, wouldn't you know you picked the ONE song that I didn't have much to say about in my notes. Just this: "Brian is present and sings lead. I’m more of a studio outtakes kind of guy myself, so this kind of stuff interests me but doesn’t thrill me."

Thanks anyway for your comment. I really didn't think there would be a liveperformance from that early. I didn't like that the Shindig!-performance was not completely live. Wonder how that must've sound

[Roger Ryan]

Maybe others around here can pinpoint exactly what these are, but what were the three versions of "I'm In Great Shape"?

[STE]

Have to say, parts of it remind me somewhat of Brian's 1974 version: I'd rate it as #2.

1 - BW 1974
2 - AJ 2010
3 - AS 1977
4 - BW 2002
5 - BB 1978

To me, BW 2002 version is the most atrocious version of all. 
Much worse than Mike & Dean's 1983 version with the cheerleaders choir and new lyrics about Bud beer *.
And Stephen Kalinich should be no longer allowed to write lyrics.  There, I said it.


No, it doesn't exist, but it would still be better than BW 2002 version.