2003 BB Convention Reminiscence Thread

[Mikie]

Dethpicable!

Get The Boot (Vol. 1 and 2), Psychedelic Sounds, Secret Smile, Sea of Tunes Source Tape, and the Heroes And Villains compilations.  Thanks for those.  I enjoyed them immensely.

[Mikie]

Anybody else here go to either/or of the two Beach Boys conventions in San Diego? I know of 3 or 4 that post here that were there. Good memories.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Yeah, I was. Gotta say, asking Brian about it took some balls.

[Alan Boyd]

Hey everyone,

In regards to that whole GET THE BOOT situation - file under "stuff that happened a long time ago."  No lingering hard feelings.

I really have to point out that there's a huge difference between dedicated fans and collectors and musicologists and Wilsonologists discreetly trading tapes.... and bootleggers packaging and selling unreleased material with the intent of making a profit.  I know Pete wasn't out to squeeze a few bucks out of those unreleased tracks, and it's unfortunate that someone he trusted passed what Pete had created along to someone else who apparently DID want to squeeze a few bucks out of other collectors.

There are dedicated fans and collectors out there who have been immensely helpful and to whom we'll always be grateful.  And believe me, if anyone has leads on anything we might be missing, they'll be welcomed with open arms (or "no questions asked," if they prefer).

Thanks,

Alan

PS - I really miss Reverend Bob.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I really have to point out that there's a huge difference between dedicated fans and collectors and musicologists and Wilsonologists discreetly trading tapes.... and bootleggers packaging and selling unreleased material with the intent of making a profit

Well said. As an artist myself, I'm against the selling of unauthorized material. As a listener  and a collector, I'm 100% behind trading. If there's no profit to be made, I don't see the harm.

PS - I really miss Reverend Bob.

Me too.

[Mikie]

Alan, I was thinking of you when I posted earlier on this thread, concerning both the subject of the "misplaced" music from your house that made its way to the outside world and the San Diego conventions in the early 90's (Down South In San Diego), which I thorougly enjoyed.

Lots of luck and thanks in advance for your work on the upcoming "SMiLE" release!

[buddhahat]

Ha ha this board is great!

Thanks for sharing your story Catbirdman. Hopefully Mr Boyd's post has assuaged any guilt you were feeling, and the generally positive response to your 'confession' will encourage you to post here more often.

And yes best of luck Alan Boyd with the Smile project! It's no exaggeration to say the prospect of an official Smile release has brightened up my year considerably. 

[Mahalo]

I was at the Connecticut convention in 2007...I hope there is some other convention on the east coast sometime soon...Maybe I'll have a "SMiLE Box Set Release Party" in New York. Everyday I come here hoping to see the release date posted...

[Catbirdman]

Hey everyone,

In regards to that whole GET THE BOOT situation - file under "stuff that happened a long time ago."  No lingering hard feelings.

I really have to point out that there's a huge difference between dedicated fans and collectors and musicologists and Wilsonologists discreetly trading tapes.... and bootleggers packaging and selling unreleased material with the intent of making a profit.  I know Pete wasn't out to squeeze a few bucks out of those unreleased tracks, and it's unfortunate that someone he trusted passed what Pete had created along to someone else who apparently DID want to squeeze a few bucks out of other collectors.

There are dedicated fans and collectors out there who have been immensely helpful and to whom we'll always be grateful.  And believe me, if anyone has leads on anything we might be missing, they'll be welcomed with open arms (or "no questions asked," if they prefer).

Thanks,

Alan

PS - I really miss Reverend Bob.

Yes, rest in peace Reverend Bob.

Thanks for posting Alan, and I'm so glad to see you're doing so well and in the thick of SMiLE right now. You're a hero to many.

Thanks for being so gracious about the ugly ordeal from years ago. For my part, I'm so sorry it happened and that I facilitated it to happen and that it affected you. It will never happen again through me I can assure you that.

I know I speak for everyone when I say we're excited beyond words for the SMiLE release. I hope you're having loads of FUN with it. And I hope you're finding lots of cool stuff.

[LostArt]

And believe me, if anyone has leads on anything we might be missing, they'll be welcomed with open arms (or "no questions asked," if they prefer).

Just what material, exactly, are you missing? 

Thanks, Mr. Boyd, for all that you have done to make the release of the Smile Sessions box a reality, and for all of the other fine work that you have done to make an old Beach Boys obsessive fan like me happy. 

[Loaf]

I would pay money for the music on Get the Boot if it was released properly. I would pay money for a lot of unreleased BBs music.

I can understand bands being pissed off because they're losing money to bootleggers. I can understand bands not wanting their worst musical moments released to the general public.


What I can't understand is why some label doesn't put out this unreleased material officially. There is money to be made (even if it's via cdbaby), and there is an audience for it (albeit small, and dwindling). As for the worst musical moments being released, I paid good money for Summer In Paradise, so I don't see how Battle Hymn of the Republic is any MORE embarrassing than that.


I wish more music would find a way out. I don't want anyone to lose their job over it, but why not celebrate the release of this stuff, officially, in good audio, and make a bit of money from it.

[Matt H]

I would pay money for the music on Get the Boot if it was released properly. I would pay money for a lot of unreleased BBs music.

I can understand bands being pissed off because they're losing money to bootleggers. I can understand bands not wanting their worst musical moments released to the general public.


What I can't understand is why some label doesn't put out this unreleased material officially. There is money to be made (even if it's via cdbaby), and there is an audience for it (albeit small, and dwindling). As for the worst musical moments being released, I paid good money for Summer In Paradise, so I don't see how Battle Hymn of the Republic is any MORE embarrassing than that

I think that was the original idea for beachboyscentral.com, an official beach boys website that would offer unreleased material as downloads.  It has been "coming soon" for several years.  I believe Alan Boyd owns the domain name.  Not sure what the hold up is, probably the Beach Boys don't want to offer some of that material.  It would seem to make sense to offer songs that have been bootlegged already in high quality so that they could make some money off it, and take that revenue away from the bootleggers.....

[The Shift]

There's not be an awful loot of archive material releases anyways since that site was set up. Maybe this might be the trigger, even if they only change the pic on the home page to a Smile Sessions ad.

[Matt H]

There's not be an awful loot of archive material releases anyways since that site was set up. Maybe this might be the trigger, even if they only change the pic on the home page to a Smile Sessions ad.

Yeah, I never understood why they don't use that site for a bio, have a discography, merchandise for sale, etc.....

[Andrew G. Doe]

I would pay money for the music on Get the Boot if it was released properly. I would pay money for a lot of unreleased BBs music.

I can understand bands being pissed off because they're losing money to bootleggers. I can understand bands not wanting their worst musical moments released to the general public.


What I can't understand is why some label doesn't put out this unreleased material officially. There is money to be made (even if it's via cdbaby), and there is an audience for it (albeit small, and dwindling). As for the worst musical moments being released, I paid good money for Summer In Paradise, so I don't see how Battle Hymn of the Republic is any MORE embarrassing than that

I think that was the original idea for beachboyscentral.com, an official beach boys website that would offer unreleased material as downloads.  It has been "coming soon" for several years.  I believe Alan Boyd owns the domain name.  Not sure what the hold up is, probably the Beach Boys don't want to offer some of that material.  It would seem to make sense to offer songs that have been bootlegged already in high quality so that they could make some money off it, and take that revenue away from the bootleggers.....

It really is a no-brainer to offer high quality downloads of stuff that pretty much everyone has in iffy quality anyway... but you have to bear in mind we're dealing with a bunch of people who, when presented several possible options (including the blindingly obvious), historically and invariably choose the most inane one.

[Matt H]

Just in case beachboyscentral.com does come online and has a digital store, I would like to offer the suggestion that for the first couple of months extra bandwidth should be purchased as they will likely have a lot of activity at the beginning.

[donald]

This went from a thread on the convention to a thread on boots.

I dare say, in defense of catbirdman, that everyone here who has boots, got them from someone else who had boots and so on.  Let the BB fan without sin cast the first stone.

I have not bought a boot from someone profiting from it since I bought vinyl boots at the local used record store many many years ago.  (except for that smile album vinyl boot I bought couple of years ago on haight st).

By the way, I have totally enjoyed the Get the Boot material.  It is one of my favorites in the realm of eccletic boots.

Thanks and I promise never to share it for profit.

[drbeachboy]

What I can't understand is why some label doesn't put out this unreleased material officially. There is money to be made (even if it's via cdbaby), and there is an audience for it (albeit small, and dwindling). As for the worst musical moments being released, I paid good money for Summer In Paradise, so I don't see how Battle Hymn of the Republic is any MORE embarrassing than that.

I'm going to assume that you never heard BHOTR or you are another of the deaf Beach Boys fans who frequent this forum.  SIP may have issues, but the singing on it is not one of them.  

[donald]

What I can't understand is why some label doesn't put out this unreleased material officially. There is money to be made (even if it's via cdbaby), and there is an audience for it (albeit small, and dwindling). As for the worst musical moments being released, I paid good money for Summer In Paradise, so I don't see how Battle Hymn of the Republic is any MORE embarrassing than that.

I'm going to assume that never heard BHOTR or you are another of the deaf Beach Boys fans who frequent this forum.   SIP may have issues, but the singing on it is not one of them. 

I can certainly understand why the band didn't release a lot of this stuff.  Certainly not in the shape it was in when it was booted.
BHOTR is just awful.   That had to be just a bit of noodling around ....never ever meant for release.  I'll bet they're embarrassed!

On the other hand, I love hearing a work in progress like SOT or Brian demos of Love You.  That is listening to a work in progress. That is worth hearing.   More of that would be fine.

[Mahalo]

I would love for an official release of You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, the unfinished River Deep, or whatever of that 70's synth genre of the band, covers or not...

[Lisa Bonahue]

Although I didn't get the chance to attend any of the conventions in San Diego I was was fortunate enough to have Rick Edgil send me a bunch of the  posters and flyers from the 1992 convention. I thought everyone would like to see them 





Lisa

[Shady]

For some reason I really like the pink one lol

[Custom Machine]

I was also at the ESQ San Diego BB Conventions in 90 and 92.  Great memories, and hard to believe it's been around 20 years.

As far as Get the Boot is concerned, hearing those songs has served to increase my knowledge of and appreciation for BBs recordings, with the result that I'm a certain customer for any and all legitimate releases, whether on physical media (which I would prefer, with detailed liner notes), or downloads from BBs Central.  (How many years has it been now since we've been greeted with the message "New site coming soon"?  )

From a sound quality standpoint, most of the stuff on Get the Boot sounds like it came from multigenerational cassettes, with hiss and loss of high end as a result of tape head azimuth misalignment.  Official releases from pristine sources will sound dramatically better.

[Mikie]

I was in this audience in 1990 in San Diego. See the guy with a big smile on his face with a 1974 Beach Boys concert shirt on? That's me. Later, I had my picture taken (thanks Les!) with Mr. Wilson by his limo. The picture was enlarged to 8 x 10 and a few years later I asked Brian to sign it for me. He stared at the picture for a few seconds, then looked up at me with a smile before signing it carefully. Now framed behind glass and hanging on the wall, it's one of my favorite prized possessions.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=beach+boys+convention+san+diego&aq=f

[Andrew G. Doe]

I would love for an official release of You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, the unfinished River Deep, or whatever of that 70's synth genre of the band, covers or not...

"River Deep..." isn't that good - it's Brian being shouty and hails from the mid-1980 BW/ML sessions in Santa Barbara.