15 Big Ones: The Original Concept of a double LP

[variable2]

In all fairness, in some circles "songs" and "tracks" mean the same thing! Never quite got that one, even though it seems to mainly be limited to the the US...you'd think I'd be less confused an/or annoyed by that

From very early on in my immersion in the world of Wilson, it was evident to me that a "track" was the instrumental backing. I clearly recall Carl saying in an interview "we cut a track for that song".

track is short for 'background track', or 'instrument track', however it can also mean, say, a track on a cd.

[Smilin Ed H]

I don't mind 15 BO at all and would've minded even less if it had been 15 oldies.  It's quirky and idiosyncratic in the way that, as a BW fan, you've got to learn to expect, or even endure.  Fact is, Mike was nasal, BW's voice largely shot (and he was singing in a way to exaggerate this) and DW's voice was a shadow of its former self, but I enjoy In the Still..., Palisades Park, Just Once... and a Casual Look in particular and would've enjoyed Sea Cruise and On Broadway and wouldn't have minded Come Go With Me and Peggy Sue.  Of the 'new' stuff, I like Susie..., Had to Phone Ya and Back Home.  I don't mind It's Okay (for what it is) and wish That Same Song had taken the ballsier approach of the version on the TV special with the Double Rock Baptist Choir (and Billy Hinsche!). The big problem and, I think, the reason why it's regarded as such a mess is its position in BB chronology.  It was the first album after a long break after Holland and expectations were high.  Now, I guess, we can look back at it with some understanding of the mess they were in. Out of it - and out of Brian/Landy's need to sort of go back to the egg, came Love You. Granted, not to everyone's taste, though it is to mine.  On the other hand, POB stands as a shining example of another direction the band could've gone in and it's always disappointing to read about and hear songs by band members other than BW that were turned down or dropped from later recordings, like LA, particularly when some of them would have fit the tone that Dennis' (admittedly superior) songs could've brought to the rest of the album. Sadly, it's difficult to think of many potential or existing BW contributions that would've been appropriate. California Feeling? Overrated, but... My Diane? Winter Symphony?  That's about it.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I still think they should have used whatever leftovers they had featuring Brian's vocals, and "update" the instrumental backing. The public would have been none the wiser and would've helped perpetuate Brian's myth a bit longer. Hell, if they put "When Girls get together" on KTSA, 10 years after the fact, then that (and "Games Two Can Play" "I just got my pay", ect) could've been released on what became 15 BO. At the very least, that would've bought Brian some time to actually do something up to his standard.

[MBE]

I still think they should have used whatever leftovers they had featuring Brian's vocals, and "update" the instrumental backing. The public would have been none the wiser and would've helped perpetuate Brian's myth a bit longer. Hell, if they put "When Girls get together" on KTSA, 10 years after the fact, then that (and "Games Two Can Play" "I just got my pay", ect) could've been released on what became 15 BO. At the very least, that would've bought Brian some time to actually do something up to his standard.

That actually is a great idea, but the live return was part of the hype and taped vocals weren't often done back then.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Just take what they had, and overdub some additional instrumental backing...would've been pretty easy, actually. Then throw in stuff from the others (would've been a GREAT time for some of Dennis's unreleased tracks to make an appearance) along with a few new tracks, and voila! Of course the gig would've been up when they actually had to follow up the album, but it would have been worth it. Sure, "San Miguel" may have sounded dated in 1976, but not anymore that what actually *did* come out.

[BJL]

I think with a little bit more work they could have had a great Brian/Dennis produced by Carl album (which is how I tend to think of Sunflower):
My understanding is that the tracks Dennis was working on at the time for the "new" album were Holy Man, River Song, Rainbows, and Pacific Ocean Blue; throw in Good Timin and California Feeling, and the best of 15 big ones as released, and you have something like:

River Song
Had to Phone You
It’s Okay
Everyone’s In Love With You
Back Home
Pacific Ocean Blues

Good Timing
That Same Song
Rainbows
California Feeling
Just Once In My Life
Holy Man

With Good Timin as the lead off single to play off the nostalgia!  Gold

[The Shift]

I think with a little bit more work they could have had a great Brian/Dennis produced by Carl album (which is how I tend to think of Sunflower):
My understanding is that the tracks Dennis was working on at the time for the "new" album were Holy Man, River Song, Rainbows, and Pacific Ocean Blue; throw in Good Timin and California Feeling, and the best of 15 big ones as released, and you have something like:

River Song
Had to Phone You
It’s Okay
Everyone’s In Love With You
Back Home
Pacific Ocean Blues

Good Timing
That Same Song
Rainbows
California Feeling
Just Once In My Life
Holy Man

With Good Timin as the lead off single to play off the nostalgia!  Gold

Liking this but would personally drop Everyone's in Love With You and California Feeling. They both strike me as contrived...

Not sure what I'd replace them with though -  maybe Sea Cruise, Good Time, I Just Got My Pay and/or San Miguel, which would (I think) all have been in the vaults at that time. Hard to comment of Holy Man without hearing a DW/Beach Boys finished version.

[punkinhead]

I think with a little bit more work they could have had a great Brian/Dennis produced by Carl album (which is how I tend to think of Sunflower):
My understanding is that the tracks Dennis was working on at the time for the "new" album were Holy Man, River Song, Rainbows, and Pacific Ocean Blue; throw in Good Timin and California Feeling, and the best of 15 big ones as released, and you have something like:

River Song
Had to Phone You
It’s Okay
Everyone’s In Love With You
Back Home
Pacific Ocean Blues

Good Timing
That Same Song
Rainbows
California Feeling
Just Once In My Life
Holy Man

With Good Timin as the lead off single to play off the nostalgia!  Gold

that's one heck of an album, and a bigger comeback than ever

[XY]

Would be interested to hear a good quality version of that so called 'Hot Mix' of "Rock 'n' Roll Music" that was previewed on radio when 15BO was still a double album project. A bonus track-candidate for the 40th anniversary CD-reissue of 15BO in 2016.

[roll plymouth rock]

Would be interested to hear a good quality version of that so called 'Hot Mix' of "Rock 'n' Roll Music" that was previewed on radio when 15BO was still a double album project. A bonus track-candidate for the 40th anniversary CD-reissue of 15BO in 2016.

IMO it sounds much nicer & tighter than the album version. A bit more kick I guess you could say..

I think with a little bit more work they could have had a great Brian/Dennis produced by Carl album (which is how I tend to think of Sunflower):
My understanding is that the tracks Dennis was working on at the time for the "new" album were Holy Man, River Song, Rainbows, and Pacific Ocean Blue; throw in Good Timin and California Feeling, and the best of 15 big ones as released, and you have something like:

River Song
Had to Phone You
It’s Okay
Everyone’s In Love With You
Back Home
Pacific Ocean Blues

Good Timing
That Same Song
Rainbows
California Feeling
Just Once In My Life
Holy Man

With Good Timin as the lead off single to play off the nostalgia!  Gold

that's one heck of an album, and a bigger comeback than ever

That looks great....a solid LP of oldies to compliment that would've been great. I think this whole thread proves something I've thought for quite some time now - for one reason or another the Beach Boys had difficulty sequencing their records in a way that showcased them in their best light (in hindsight obviously, as we now have an idea of what some of the unreleased material they were working on at the times of respective releases sounded like).  This problem probably didn't get them the fanbase or critical praise they deserved, but it is certainly something that keeps us hardcore fans interested in them - questioning and thinking about why they did or didn't do the things they did in their history. At all periods of their existence, there always seems to be more going on than meets the eye

[The Heartical Don]

I love the sequences presented here for a single comeback LP. Never saw such a list before, although there may have been quite a few.

My personal quips:

Everyone's In Love With You: no, please. It makes your teeth rot within its playing time.

Good Time: no. This is, for me, the sore thumb on 'Love You'. An awful song. The singer tries way too hard, also.

[roll plymouth rock]

I love the sequences presented here for a single comeback LP. Never saw such a list before, although there may have been quite a few.

My personal quips:

Everyone's In Love With You: no, please. It makes your teeth rot within its playing time.

Good Time: no. This is, for me, the sore thumb on 'Love You'. An awful song. The singer tries way too hard, also.

For some reason I never like Everyone's In Love With You until I watched on YouTube the short comedy series "Yacht Rock". After that I viewed it as the smooth classic that it is, from the pen of Mike Love no less..

[The Heartical Don]

I love the sequences presented here for a single comeback LP. Never saw such a list before, although there may have been quite a few.

My personal quips:

Everyone's In Love With You: no, please. It makes your teeth rot within its playing time.

Good Time: no. This is, for me, the sore thumb on 'Love You'. An awful song. The singer tries way too hard, also.

For some reason I never like Everyone's In Love With You until I watched on YouTube the short comedy series "Yacht Rock". After that I viewed it as the smooth classic that it is, from the pen of Mike Love no less..

This is the first time I hear of an item on YouTube that I should avoid at all costs, then.

Next thing I know, someone tries to talk me into Coldplay...

[Alex]

Next thing I know, someone tries to talk me into Coldplay...

You know how I know you're gay?

[The Heartical Don]

Next thing I know, someone tries to talk me into Coldplay...

You know how I know you're gay?

I haven't the faintest, honest. Must be a lack of understanding on my part. Tell it, or, if it is too dirty and is all about places where the sun just don't shine, PM me...

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I think that Everyone In Love With You is by far the best song on 15BO. That just goes to show how bad the album is. The original song that makes me gag on the album is That Same Song. Its Ok at least has some energy of the early days and Had to Phone Ya was a decent out take of the early 70s.

[Bean Bag]

I love 15 Big 'Uns.  In fact it's dessert island material -- and maybe, quite possible my most played and favorite Beach Boy album.  I love the loose sound...often incorrectly labeled as "sloppy."  

A double album would have been divine!

[The Heartical Don]

I love 15 Big 'Uns.  In fact it's dessert island material -- and maybe, quite possible my most played and favorite Beach Boy album.  I love the loose sound...often incorrectly labeled as "sloppy."  

A double album would have been divine!

Why is Al looking out to the far left whilst the others are looking back at the spectator? Is there a symbolic meaning to all of this? Gee, I have that LP for 33 years and I never noticed that before...

And while I'm at it: why was the same photo used for the back cover of Love You and M.I.U. Album, albeit with a bit of proto-photoshopping done?

[smile-holland]

And while I'm at it: why was the same photo used for the back cover of Love You and M.I.U. Album, albeit with a bit of proto-photoshopping done?

not the same phote, definitely the same photo shoot though.

[Alex]

Next thing I know, someone tries to talk me into Coldplay...

You know how I know you're gay?

I haven't the faintest, honest. Must be a lack of understanding on my part. Tell it, or, if it is too dirty and is all about places where the sun just don't shine, PM me...

It's a reference to the movie "The 40 Year Old Virgin", where Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen keep keep asking each other "You know how I know you're gay?"...Rudd tells Rogen he's gay because he listens to Coldplay...the line "You know how I know you're gay? You listen to Coldplay!" became a somewhat popular catchphrase here in the States.

[Kamandi]

I love 15 Big 'Uns.  In fact it's dessert island material -- and maybe, quite possible my most played and favorite Beach Boy album.  I love the loose sound...often incorrectly labeled as "sloppy."  

A double album would have been divine!

You go Bean Bag. 15 Big Ones(!) was one of the first non hits albums me and my brother picked up when we were first getting into the band back in the mid 80's. We were exposed to the album with almost no frame of reference and just about everything about it was compelling. The title: who names anything 15 Big Ones? Just the title alone had us hooked. We tried to name our senior yearbook 80 Big Ones but were out voted by the rest of the class. The cover: The into of that cheesy Beach Boys logo, which I wonder if they still use on corporate stuff. Hope Dean got some royalties on that one. Brian and Dennis the only ones smiling with the rest of the guys decked out in mid 70's formal wear, knowing they looked killer. The songs: OLDIES! weird sounding songs (production I later learned to call it) starting off with Rock and Roll Music with odd background vocals that had people asking "are they playing two songs at once?". The downright eerie vocals from Brian not even trying to hide that croaky manly voice. Thanks to Mike Love I now knew the lyrics to Blueberry Hill. And until the day I die whenever I hear a sweet haunting ballad my brain will interrupt with "COMES FROM TALLAHASEE!"

No other records sounded like it...they were a force among themselves. There was pop, rock etc. and there were Beach Boy records. Like Stanley Kubrick their influences were themselves and their legacy and until Love You its like no other music existed.   

[The Heartical Don]

Next thing I know, someone tries to talk me into Coldplay...

You know how I know you're gay?

I haven't the faintest, honest. Must be a lack of understanding on my part. Tell it, or, if it is too dirty and is all about places where the sun just don't shine, PM me...

It's a reference to the movie "The 40 Year Old Virgin", where Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen keep keep asking each other "You know how I know you're gay?"...Rudd tells Rogen he's gay because he listens to Coldplay...the line "You know how I know you're gay? You listen to Coldplay!" became a somewhat popular catchphrase here in the States.

Thanks! I think the catchphrase is eminently valid. Although I will never forgive Chris Martin for marrying Gwyneth Paltrow (my secret movie love of all); and I will never forgive Gwyneth either for marrying such a non-talent. Well, Gwyneth got her come-uppance for it, at least. She got boxed.

[rogerlancelot]

I love the sequences presented here for a single comeback LP. Never saw such a list before, although there may have been quite a few.

My personal quips:

Everyone's In Love With You: no, please. It makes your teeth rot within its playing time.

Good Time: no. This is, for me, the sore thumb on 'Love You'. An awful song. The singer tries way too hard, also.

I agree with you on "Everyone's In Love With You" but I kind of like (not necessarily love) "Good Time". The godawful lyrics make me laugh and it's fun to hear Brian in such good humor. I do however agree that it does stick out like a sore thumb on "Love You". Maybe it should have just stayed a classic unreleased song for us all to hear on boxed sets or bootlegs.

[Alex]

I love 15 Big 'Uns.  In fact it's dessert island material -- and maybe, quite possible my most played and favorite Beach Boy album.  I love the loose sound...often incorrectly labeled as "sloppy."  

A double album would have been divine!

You go Bean Bag. 15 Big Ones(!) was one of the first non hits albums me and my brother picked up when we were first getting into the band back in the mid 80's. We were exposed to the album with almost no frame of reference and just about everything about it was compelling. The title: who names anything 15 Big Ones? Just the title alone had us hooked. We tried to name our senior yearbook 80 Big Ones but were out voted by the rest of the class. The cover: The into of that cheesy Beach Boys logo, which I wonder if they still use on corporate stuff. Hope Dean got some royalties on that one. Brian and Dennis the only ones smiling with the rest of the guys decked out in mid 70's formal wear, knowing they looked killer. The songs: OLDIES! weird sounding songs (production I later learned to call it) starting off with Rock and Roll Music with odd background vocals that had people asking "are they playing two songs at once?". The downright eerie vocals from Brian not even trying to hide that croaky manly voice. Thanks to Mike Love I now knew the lyrics to Blueberry Hill. And until the day I die whenever I hear a sweet haunting ballad my brain will interrupt with "COMES FROM TALLAHASEE!"

No other records sounded like it...they were a force among themselves. There was pop, rock etc. and there were Beach Boy records. Like Stanley Kubrick their influences were themselves and their legacy and until Love You its like no other music existed.   

Right on!!

[c-man]

And while I'm at it: why was the same photo used for the back cover of Love You and M.I.U. Album, albeit with a bit of proto-photoshopping done?

not the same phote, definitely the same photo shoot though.

My guess:  because they'd already left Warner Bros. by the time the jacket was prepped, and so someone just grabbed another still from the last official shoot they did for the label.