The Smiley Smile Message Board

As the thread title states, Brian's 1975 recording of "In the Back of My Mind" is being released...

This is kinda huge news. At least for me. Confirmed by Ray Lawlor.

Apparently it will be available on the Japanese version of No Pier Pressure. No word on a US release. But with the internet if any of us around the world want a copy of this version, it should be easy to acquire.

Anyways, supposedly this recording of "In the Back of My Mind" is a very interesting link between Brian's earlier, sweeter, voice and his later '70s, gruffer voice.

And personally, it is the number one unreleased Brian Wilson recording that I am interested in hearing. Along with the entire new album of course. So this is great, great news.

A serious treat, I bought my copy..

Get it here

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UICC-10017 (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UICC-10017)

I even splurged on the express mail service  ;D

me too!

what fabulous news!!!

 :tm

Wow! I didn't even know he'd recorded one in 1975. Good news indeed!

thankyou for the Cd link!   ordered mine! 

Love the Jap releases!   :hat

RickB

Great news, but why not stick these on the US/Euro/AU versions as well?

 :ahh :ahh :ahh

Had to double check that the date today is not April 1st  :ahh

Wonder what treats the Best Buy Exclusive and Amazon Exclusive and iTunes Exclusive will offer? Maybe the complete Adult Child and Landlocked and New albums? :lol

It's generally cheaper for Japanese buyers to import albums from other countries.  The sole reason for Japan-exclusive bonus tracks is to give them incentive to buy their domestic pressings.

Ditto

What's the Love and Mercy on there?

Thanks, AvanTodd!

So as a result, we're all going to buy Japanese editions and forgo our own regional domestic editions; in the heady pursuit of juicy bonus tracks  :brow :lol

I don't know if this is a factor as well, but due to the prevalence of CD rental stores here, very few people actually buy CDs, it seems.  Unless they're specifically trying to push their favorite band's newest release to the top of the charts.

It looks like the Deluxe Edition sold in Canada and New Zealand will include the tracks as well.  Same press release that's on Brian's site, it appears, with ITBOMM and L&M added to the Deluxe Edition tracklisting.

http://www.universalmusic.ca/press-releases/brian-wilsons-11th-solo-studio-album-titled-no-pier-pressure-to-be-released-07-april-2015/ (http://www.universalmusic.ca/press-releases/brian-wilsons-11th-solo-studio-album-titled-no-pier-pressure-to-be-released-07-april-2015/)

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/26150998/brian-wilson-announces-new-album/ (https://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/26150998/brian-wilson-announces-new-album/)

Maybe the deluxe version everywhere will have it, after all.  Calling something a deluxe version for having three tracks in the middle is a little bit knobby.  This, an 18 track version including an old, unheard and unbooted track, looks rather better.

Hell yeah!!!!  :hat

Great news but isn't it kinda odd to put a '75 Beach Boys (I guess) recording onto a 2015 Brian Wilson soloalbum? Even if just as a bonus

I think it's just a solo demo.  Kind of like how Still I Dream of It was on the I Just Wasn't Made for These Times soundtrack.

I could swear that when "Love & Mercy" was first announced someone on here made a joke about them including an unreleased BW recording such as "In the Back of My Mind" on the soundtrack.

Oooh, that would be cool!

This is fantastic news. I didn't think we'd get this one so quickly!

Looks like I will have to buy the import. Once again, the U.S. (with its crap economy) offers an inferior version of a product :P

So what's the newest gem that's still locked up now?

(http://i.imgur.com/9OOkSJQ.gif)

sweetdudejim called it with this post about the "Love and Mercy" soundtrack all the way back from last January.

Wow. So I did. That was pie in the sky, super hopefulness. Awesome that it's really coming out, not on a Love and Mercy soundtrack, but on a version of Brian's new solo album!

Ok, that would make more sense. Not too much but more than a Beach Boys track.  ;D

Wonderful!

I wouldn't be surprised if these bonus tracks are offered on some retailer-exclusive release in the U.S.

Fabulous news!  ;D

I've heard this version is actually John Cusack trying to sound like Brian Wilson on the 1975 version of the killer song from the Today! album.







Not really, but wouldn't that be a terrible bonus track?  :lol

:lol

Would it be too much to suggest that Brian's people read these boards over the last few years, saw the demand for this song and that's why they chose to include it as a bonus track?  :o

I'd like to think that's the case. I honestly can't think of many, if any, unreleased tracks which I'd like to hear more than this one.

Yes. Yes it would.

The "Sail On Sailor" BW/VDP songwriting tape that Van Dyke Parks gave to the label when they needed a single, the one where Brian says 'hypnotize me...' to Van Dyke. This was described in the Preiss book back in '78, doubtful it would be released officially even if it could, but still.

and yet...  Brian and Melinda are willing to sit and watch multiple showings of a movie based on themselves, so it doesn't seem to me it would be that much a bigger leap to include the aforementioned demo as a bonus track on one of his own releases; tho probably not ona BBs release

Was Brian 's 1975 recording unearthed during the compiling of MIC? You would think that would have been the perfect place for it. It makes me wonder if this is a very recent re-discovery.

A lot of great stuff was left off MIC.

Such as?

This text is from the flannel panel for the vinyl edition on AmZon UK:


Implication is that there is no 16 track edition, other than the vinyl: only the 18 track.

Really ? Care to expand on that ?

A                                                lot                                         of                     great                        stuff...  etc

Well, to me, the one really important and inexplicable omission was the first version of Big Sur.

Isn't that on the > proposed Brother Reissue tracks< CDs that were reported on here sometime back?  maybe someone has it from those to share

Carry Me Home and Big Sur are the two that immediately spring to mind in terms of quality.

You mean this

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-beach-boys-brother-re-issues-bonus.html

yeah, that's it. Orignally posted by Klay on this board.

So this collection has still not circulated? Kinda glad - when it appears legitimately, it's gonna be a mind blower.

3 min version of This Whole World... DROOL

Sooooo...great news for people buying this album in the United States!

Target will be selling a version of No Pier Pressure with both "In The Back Of My Mind" and "Love And Mercy" on there, along with the other bonus tracks that are adding to what I guess is considered the "standard" deluxe edition. I think this is great news as I now won't have to buy an import version! Super happy about this.

Anyways, here's a link for those who might be interested...

http://www.target.com/p/brian-wilson-no-pier-pressure-target-exclusive/-/A-17254322

Welcome target shoppers! ;D

Has anybody heard this version of ITBOMM yet? Even a short sound clip?

And this is where I'll be buying mine

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Thanks for sharing this awesome news  :hat

Awesome!

This makes a lot more sense. While Japan bonus tracks are super common, I thought it out of ordinary for the tracks to be offered in Canada but not the US. I was wondering if Best Buy or Target would get the exclusive tracks. Glad there’s a non-import alternative for some US fans at least. It’s also good in terms of product visibility and availability that Brian’s album will now definitely be available in Target stores.

I was bummed that, apart from the “Do It Again” remake, there were never any “bonus tracks” attached to the TWGMTR album. I wonder if Capitol could ever be convinced to do a “Deluxe” reissue of that with some bonus tracks and a DVD or something.

I just tried to buy it on Target's web site and got this message "This item is not available for Store Pickup or Ship to Store". So, I am wondering, will this release not be in any stores to just buy off the shelf? Kind of sucks that I can't walk in and buy on it on release day.

I would assume they have those options disabled because the release date hasn’t arrived yet. Once the item has reached its on-sale date, I would guess they will then offer those options.

I believe a lot of online retailers that offer in-store pickup (or ship-to-store) don’t offer those options in conjunction with pre-orders. They usually allow direct online pre-orders (that ship to your address). It is kind of funny, because offering pre-orders for in-store pickup and ship-to-store would seemingly only increase sales. But perhaps they don’t know store-by-store numbers yet. If they offered guaranteed release date delivery (as Amazon often does), then it would be easy to just order it online.

I don’t anticipate this being a huge seller at Target stores. So the only question indeed will be how many copies per store they will stock. One would think that a big chain like that would be pretty consistent. But I’ve heard that on other items like movies (e.g. “exclusive steelbook” packages, etc.), they sometimes will send one store five copies and another 50.

Target stores are pretty ubiquitous in some regions at least. In my area, there are at least five or six Target stores within reasonable driving distance. I would certainly hope at least some of those stores stock enough copies that they don’t sell out if I go try to snag one on release date.

Record arrived at the office this morning. It's very very very moving.
Really good, way better than expected. I kinda of wish NPP was so bare sounding.
But the polished 2015 stuff will grow on me, I'm sure.

Great time to be a fan.

Anyone else heard this yet? I have. It's excellent. BW's voice was very interesting at this point in time. Gruff but still very powerful when hitting the high notes. More please!

How's the sound quality?

Good. Very good. Like the California Feeling demo. Maybe better.

This is fascinating! Brian sounds almost unrecognizable throughout. Truly a missing link recording here. There is some more degradation on the voice when compared to the California Feelin' demo. It leans more towards 15 Big Ones Brian, whereas CF still had him sounding kinda like Sunflower Brian. But his lung capacity here is still good. Falsetto sounds closer to "In The Still Of The Night" than say "Awake". I wouldn't mind if he had stayed in this voice for a few more years! Very interesting.

I'd love to hear more stuff from this period. It's almost like he's two separate singers.

Wow! Really 2:39 of pure heartbreak. Beautiful.

This is exquisite!  Really on par with the California Feelin' demo.   8) 

It's rather sad. The original voice is there and still really shines at certain registers, but as it moves around you hear the irreversible damage that was being done through so much chain smoking. It's the thing that always amazes me about Brian. Yes, there's something to be said for the husky smoker voice. But when you have a voice as good as his was, it's such a tragic thing to see it almost totally destroyed.

Oh man I'm looking forward to hearing this. I'll be at Target on Tuesday!!!

Funny, it seems like you're holding off like I am Billy! I'm waiting 'til Tuesday to hear it myself! Reading about it through all these posts really is making it sound as fascinating as I hoped it would be.

I just wrote a nice long piece about it and lost it, damn it!

Excellent studio quality recording - maybe recorded at Brother in 1975 a few months prior to the start of the 15 Big Ones sessions?

Mostly low voice throughout, great falsetto and a Sinatra-like all-balls out singing and piano ending. This was Brian's voice transition period - between the clear talking/singing voice and the raspier low voice. Still better than the 15 Big Ones raspy gutteral voice only one year later. Yeah, he could still sing with the falsetto into the late 70's albeit somewhat forced, but THIS one exhibits the clear falsetto he always had in the 60's/early 70's. This is rare - we never hear much from Brian in 1975, either written or singing, so this is a rare treat - a kind of glimpse into what his voice sounded like in this transitional period.

It surprised me. In a good way. You guys are gonna love it.

Fuckin' mind blowing.


God.


Damn.



At first it's like "that's Brian Wilson singing?! Even if you're familiar with all his "voices". Then you can really hear his "gruff" voice, then finally at the end of it that falsetto that made his voice so recognizable. Then there's parts where if we didn't know any better we'd think it was Dennis singing.

Definitely a heartbreaking rendition of that song....


And that new Love & Mercy without that super dated sounding 80s cheese production. Sweet.

Heartbreaking. Breathtaking. Sinatra, eat your heart out.  ;D

It's very interesting to hear the last traces of Brian's sweet voice co-exisitng with his more husky voice. He hasn't reached the gruffness of 15 Big Ones just yet, but it's not far off.

Anyone care to share via youtube, soundcloud etc?

https://soundcloud.com/calico_skies/in-the-back-of-my-mind-brian-wilson-1975

Fabulous!

Utterly mindblowing.

Perhaps the most beautiful piece done by Brian alone with the piano. Love the new lyrics also, any indication that they were written in the 70´s or where they original-but-not-used?

I think this is my favourite BW voice. He can still get that sweet but whiny falsetto that is so pronounced on Sunflower but his deep voice has such rich depth and it has that gentle rasp which gives it soul.

It's a nice curio but I find it odd it was added as a bonus track to the new album and not put on MIC. I don't feel it paints Brian in a very good light, the new lyrics seem to be sung off the top of his head and he sounds very "out of mind" during the whole thing. Fascinating nonetheless.

Thanks for posting this.

Very interesting to listen to and Brian`s voice is certainly much stronger here than it was even a year later.

His singing style has a touch of the Bruce Johnston`s about it (eg. Your Song)...

Remarkable in many ways. The performance is beautiful, if flawed. There seems to be a very conscious effort to sing in that range. Brian's manly tone is, to me, a deliberate construction much more than it was a mere consequence of certain habits. Also, it's cool to think how similar to this tone he could sound now... He was so young! And: when was the last time he performed a song at the piano throughout, in such a compelling manner? (Only listened to this once, but my impression was that piano and voice were recorded in different takes).

He was about 33 in 1975 wasn't he?   :police:

Great stuff! This would've fit on Adult/Child.

Exactly.

Yes! It would have fit very nicely on MIC. Of course so would have "Big Sur 4/4" and "Carry Me Home". Maybe it was a hold-out for a future Beach Boys/Brian release. It will sure help to sell the Deluxe version of NPP!

Mind blowing. Just out and out mindblowing how this is such an essential part of the puzzle in the evolution of his voice. Makes one wonder if this is his last recorded thing still sounding fairly close to his "sweet" voice. Or was it "Matchpoint"?  ???

He played with his various voices a lot during that period of time.  He did a mean crooner whenever he felt like it, so this wasn't a surprise to me.  I loved this, as the "crooner" isn't heard often.  Wonderful.

Everything that is going on here is just...wow.  Sure, the voice too, but also the way he essentially re-wrote the song.  Kinda speechless right now.

I strongly prefer this to the released version (which as long time members know,  has never been my favorite).

Billy, your dream of it being released has come true. You should cover it! ;D

Tried not to listen but I am probably not going to be able to get to Target for a while.

That was pretty amazing. His voice is rougher here than in California Feelin' .

1:46 is heartbreaking though. You can tell he's trying to go high but he can't

Isn't it crazy? You're kinda thrown off by what you hear at first.. but then it all starts to make sense in terms of the vocal timeline.


"Matchpoint" is nice, but I look at it as the beginning of the post-damaged voice being able to recall moments of the original voice (which he can still do today).

Is it fair to say that this was recorded on March, 12 1975? Beliagio has a Brian Wilson session from then with a "unknown title"

For me, Dennis' version is better. But the historicity of the 1975 version makes it more interesting. This is a recording I have wanted to hear for a long time and it did not disappoint. Can't wait for the cd.

I really love it! Don't want to be downer but I wish it was a more "prepared" demo. It seems he is improvising the lyrics at the very moment, so sometimes the song pauses too much. But it's great to finally have this gem, a missing link in Brian's voice history.

(great version of Love & Mercy also! -is that live?-)

Yeah, one of the big mysteries which remains unsolved, huh OSD? Almost like he sang that pre-1975!

......

^actual reaction, speechless. Damn.

Pretty sure that little nuance was on purpose.

 :o DANG! I wasn't expecting that...

Wow - these are both great. The new L&M is better than the original IMO. Gets the point across more.

I like the fact that this version of ITBOMM doesn't have strings -- just voice and piano. Unfortunately, it doesn't change my opinion about the song, which is just too jazz-oriented for my tastes.

I really like "Love & Mercy" too!  Sounds like Taylor Mills in the mix so I assume it was recorded during her tenure.

I miss Taylor.....

Thanks for sharing this with us!

Was this maybe a demo he did and intended to give it to another singer? Wasn't "Still I dream of it" also proposed to Sinatra? Maybe I'm totally off....

He sounds like he has breathing problems (? - maybe he's just high) but man listen to those last notes!

"Love and Mercy" is the charity single version from 2005 but without the "Walking Down the Path of Life" intro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQnlMQ538IA

That's what an 8-ball of coke does to ya!  A little wheezing going on there. And at this point he's gained quite a bit of weight.....

Ah, OK. Thanks.

Ah fudge. That version *was* already released on CD (I have the CD single). I guess it still counts as an "exclusive" since the CD isn't in print any longer.

When in 75 was that done. It really wasn't as gruff as I expected.  I am completely stunned.<in a very good way>

Please don't jump on me for this, but after listening to this track and also re-listening to the California Feeling demo, I find these disturbing. Because it sounds like a guy who is extremely emotional. The way he hangs those notes, drawing them out. Yes he is emoting, but it also sounds like someone on the edge. I could be wrong, but I have been listening to Brian demo's for a LONG LONG time.

Just my opinion.

Its sounds to me as if he has consumed a considerable amount of Cocaine.

THAT could be true as well. He does sound alot like he does on I FEEL SO FINE from the Denny/Garby sessions.

Yeah!  ALOT!  :o

He sings clearer hear than the 'Love You' demos, that's for sure.

Is it known why Brian recorded this? Was it a conscious decision to re-record the song? Or was it just for the heck of it? At the very start it almost seems like he was just searching for a song to play, in other words a very impromptu choice/performance. Were there other takes of the song? Or were there other songs played at the same session?

Wow. Count me as one of the many here floored by this. Yeah, there's some raspiness and shortness of breath evident, but this is a very powerful performance. Mesmerising stuff.

I too think it sounds as though the piano and vocal have been performed at different times. There's a couple of places where the tempo of the piano track stumbles slightly, and it completely throws the vocal off, which is what would happen if you were performing the vocal to a previously recorded piano track and the rhythm of the piano track faltered. It doesn't sound to me like the kind of timing errors you make when you're performing vocal and piano simultaneously. But what do I know — I'm just guessing.

Has this recording just been languishing in the vaults all of these years, or has it only recently been discovered? Have deep-cover fans known about it for years, or is everyone as surprised about its existence as most of us here?

If it was only recently found, that would explain its absence from MiC. If MiC's collators included stuff like 'Where Is She?' and 'Why?', I can't see why they would have left this off if they'd known about it...? Unless Brian vetoed its inclusion. But then why would he do that and then include it here...?

The mystery world of Wilson continues to unveil surprises, even after all these years... I wonder what else there is in those vaults that's as good as this...?

I imagine this would have been pretty much the way he would have sounded during those times he stumbled into bars to play for drink money. :hat

I don't know about that... the 'stumbling into bars' stuff was later, wasn't it? 1978-79 and later still? And by Love You in 1977 he already sounded waaaay worse than he does here. A couple of years in the life of Brian Wilson from 1974 to 1976 seem to have resulted in a very long journey downwards, vocally speaking.

I'd take an album of Brian singing cuts in this style from 1975 in a heartbeat (although I'd imagine there aren't enough extant recordings to create such a thing). He sounds different from his 60s peak, but he sounds different in an interesting way, and is still the master of what he's trying to do vocally for the most part (bar a couple of lines in this performance). Whereas some of those 15BO/Love You/Adult Child vocals just sound... incompetent. That's a harsh word, sure, but I have a sneaking feeling the Brian of today agrees. Adult Child *still* hasn't come out. And he sounded embarrassed when he discussed the period recently and blamed his vocal sound on laryngitis.

Yeah, right... laryngitis — and enough coke daily to frost Montserrat Caballé three times over!

It's not the first time Brian recorded himself demoing an older tune... check out BW's version of Al's Susie Cincinnati from the BBs time in Holland...

*casts line*

They new about it at the time of MiC.  They also knew of a few dozen other tracks they decided for whatever reason not to give us.

I don't think Brian sounds drunk or high or anything.. he's just doing a casual revisiting of a song he probably hadn't played in awhile,
and tape just happened to be rolling for whatever reason. 

Wild. In my opinion, Brian sounds much better on this 1975 recording than he does on the California Feeling demo, and they *did* put that out on MiC. But maybe that was to contrast with the more polished version of California Feeling later on the same set?

It's all very strange. Though I'm sure there must have been reasons at the time...

One thing's for sure, we need a Bedroom Tapes box set, and NOW!!!!!

I was a bit let down by this song. Don't get me wrong, I feel blessed that I even had the opportunity to hear it, but it just isn't what I hoped it would be (I mean, it was probably never meant to be heard, anyway). I guess I was hoping for a more faithful rendition, albeit just a piano and Brian's voice. I can understand why it was left off of MiC, and California Feeling was included. This wasn't nearly as cohesive a performance. Clearly very impromptu. The "in the front of my mind" bits and the bridge itself just feel so bizarre.

As far as his voice, it's a very interesting document. California Feeling has more of his old falsetto, but this performance of ITBOMM does sound almost like a younger Dennis in spots, and I heard some very Carl-esque bits in there, as well. Bravo to BW for allowing its release, but it just doesn't grab me the way I had hoped.

Love and Mercy sounds great, though.  :)

It's on YouTube too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji-ZOmA0tsY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji-ZOmA0tsY)

Oh man, this got me so emotional. I was just casually browsing stuff on YouTube and decided to search for it on the off chance that somebody already uploaded it. I didn't get excited when the result popped up, cause I wasn't sure it was the real thing. I just played it...and it hit me so hard, right from the first few lines. My girlfriend was sitting near and asked what was wrong. I just kissed her.

You know, I thought the same thing. But then, I think the piano playing is too erratic at times. He takes longer between phrases, and there's extra beats everywhere... It would send off any attempt at overdubbing a vocal if that were the case.

But that's my point - the erratic piano playing *does* throw off the vocal here and there, and so you have two lines of performance (piano and vocal) that are both temporarily out of rhythm with one another. That's what made me think that perhaps Brian played the piano first, flubbing the odd section as he did so, and then (rather as he did for the piano-only recorded version of Surf's Up multitracked after the Inside Pop performance) tried to overdub his vocal to the piano afterwards, and blew a few parts where he forgot the stumbling rhythm of the piano. For example, just before the bridge, when he gets to the lyric 'what would I do if I lose her... it'll always be inthebackofmymind' he has to rush the last part to fit over the slightly fumbled piano chords.

He also adapts the vocal to *avoid* stumbles in the piano playing. Listen, for example, to how he skirts the wrong chord in the latter half of the first verse: "Oh she made me happy, yeh [pause, piano flubs]... jus' livin' so plain..." That sounds to me like he adapted the vocal at the overdub because he had remembered that he had messed up the piano chord around that part of the song earlier. And on the final go-around, before he soars up into the falsetto ending, he sings 'whaaaaat would IIIII doooo', drawing out the words before singing 'if I lose her' with a more regular rhythm to cover over another slightly haltingly performed set of piano chords at the start of the line.

This could all be complete nonsense, though, and maybe these adaptations and faltering performance aspects happened live on the spot, as I am speculating solely on the basis of listening closely to what has just been released, and possibly drawing incorrect conclusions! Anyone know if BW performed this live, or if the vocal was overdubbed?

Wow. Finally got to listen to it. Stunning.

He sounds....I don't even know what I'd say he sounds like. He honestly does kinda sound like a halfway point between his younger voice and his 15 Big Ones voice. But somehow smoother. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like he coulda sang like this on 15 Big Ones if he felt like it. I say this because he sounds basically like he did on that album, except for what seems like more control over his voice. After listening to this, I'd say that contrary to some theories, his later '70s voice was not a "put-on" as some have surmised. I think his voice simply did change due to his lifestyle. However, he just didn't use it the way he maybe should have for awhile. I'd say that he's really used his voice to his current potential on stuff like "From There To Back Again" and "Summer's Gone" from the last Beach Boys album, and stuff like "Whatever Happened" from his new solo album. And I think that makes a huge difference. How much effort Brian puts into a vocal these days really seems to either help or hinder a song. Cuz a great vocal from him will really enhance his compositions, while a rough vocal won't always communicate his message as clearly. But I guess that's true for most artists I guess.

Regardless, I guess I have nothing else to add then hasn't already been said. Anyways, a fascinating recording.

I agree, "fascinating" is the word.  Sounds like he may be doing a lounge-y put-on, yet it's quite the ride.  Those buying the Target CD who don't know the origin will be pretty confused, I think!

Perhaps if we're good, we could get The Man Himself to make a comment or two on it?  ;D

I agree. I'm very puzzled that so many people think this is awesome. Brian had the voice of an angel. Then he didn't. That's awesome? Just like he had the drive and ambition, with a touch of genius, to make outstanding music. And then he didn't. Was that great too?

Paul, whoever said it's "awesome" (very much overused word like "amazing") probably meant the track, with touches of the original voice, is awesome. His delivery here along with the piano and the emotion is awesome. I don't think anyone in their right mind would insinuate that the loss of Brian's original voice due to vocal chord damage is awesome. To me, other than Carl's and Dennis' death, the most tragic thing that happened in Beach Boys history was the loss of Brian's original voice ('74-'75). His somewhat dormant period for songwriting I think is secondary.....

Ok then. That was the take I was getting from a number of these posts. If this your stance I totally agree with you. Tragic is the way I have always viewed it.

Oh, and Im also on board with your missing Taylor. Her voice and her outfits 😍 . She had on a pair of pants that tie up in front when I shook hands with her at the House of Blues Chicago in the early 00's. Yikes!  And no, I don't judge women by their looks but I'm human and sometimes we notice these things.

...

For me , personally,  I prefer the sound of his voice here to the early years. Obviously,  not how he got there, but always preferred his mid range vocals to his higher register ( as a lead vocalist. ..in the harmony stack I feel differently). Some days I even prefer his current vocals to the early days. Just a preference.

Edit

To clarify,  when I refer to his voice 'here' I'm referring to pre-1976.

I'm embarrased to ask but I'm curious.  Is this recording what could be considered one of the 'Bedroom Tapes'?

"The Bedroom Tapes" is just a phrase created as a journalistic convenience to refer to all of Brian Wilson's late 60s and 70s unreleased recordings.

I got the Deluxe CD, with this track and Love and Mercy, at HMV here in Montreal. It was $12.99.

I'm ignorant on the conversion rates but that sounds like a good deal.  I got the Deluxe CD at Target here in the states for $15.99. 

I figured as much.  In that case, I'm really thankful they included that demo. It really is revealing about the time and place it was recorded.  I may be in the minority but I'm really enamoured with that "Bedroom" material.  It's so raw and real.  Sure would love to see a full collection of some more of those tracks for the aborted "Adult/Child" material, etc. 

Also, big, big fan of "Love You"..which I know is polarizing.

Just to be clear, Adult Child wasn't aborted. It was rejected by the record company.

My mistake.

No, not really. Quite a few people would think it's unreleased because Brian or The Boys didn't want it out. Sunflower was rejected too the first go-around. So were a couple of other albums. Holland didn't get the OK from Reprise until they jammed "Sail On Sailor" in there.

Would it be fair to say that Brian's work on A/C, and his passion to properly finish it was aborted by Brian himself (in part due to lack of support)? I think the album that got submitted became rejected partly because it was so piecemeal, with many older tracks included that have no business being on a proper album together. I find it hard to believe that was Brian's intention from the onset; I think including the subpar older tracks was a desperation move by the band.

Don't think so: the Adult/Child master was assembled June 27th 1977 (just over five months after the Love You master) so presumably it was delivered to Reprise - and bounced straight back - very shortly after that. Further, if the band had put the mockers on it, they'd very probably have dumped the "big band" tracks too.

The band Reprise didn't have the best of working relationships from the off: the initial versions of Sunflower, Holland & In Concert were declined and Adult/Child was flat out rejected. There's also evidence that a 1978 Christmas album was similarly bounced.

That's one explanation. I see them more as the tracks mentioned in the article in the LA Times, which may/may not include everything 60s/70s

I believe the guy who found the bootleg in the record store (and talked about it and listed the tracks on this very board) and the 'journalist' who reported on it afterwards preceded the L.A. Times article.

The "  Brother Re-Issues: Proposed Bonus Tracks  "  weren't mentioned as part of the LA Times Bedroom Tapes article, as I recall.
The record store day find was by "Klay"; the Bedroom Tapes article by Brian Chidester

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17621.0.html

http://www.laweekly.com/2014-01-30/music/brian-wilsons-secret-bedroom-tapes/

First reported by Chidester in L.A. Weekly, 1/30/14, updated list by Chidester on 3/5/14, reported by Klay 5/20/14. Where's the L.A. Times article?

And nowhere on those lists is "In The Back Of My Mind '75".

I don't think the band would have wanted to break Brian's heart at that point by not even submitting the tracks he'd worked hard on. But the fact that the songs were submitted doesn't mean that one can unequivocally say that Brian got the support and enthusiasm he craved and needed from his mates. Obviously Brian had many problems around this time, and I'm not discounting those problems as being part of the reason A/C was half-finished. I feel like I recall reading about bandmate(s) questioning and/or belittling the big band direction, and regardless of whether or not one wishes to say that was a perfectly justified viewpoint, particularly after Love You.. I can't think that would have *helped* Brian, who seemed to have had some pretty major self-confidence issues at the time to begin with.

What about "Song to God"?   :o

Also personally, I believe this is fantastic delivery, both vocally and emotively.  I remember an article or something where Brian wished he had a manly voice like Dennis' and I think this delivery and vocal timbre is what he was talking about.

I could be wrong, but wasn't the damaging of his voice his choice?

I wouldn't go as far to call it that. Brian's always been insecure about his voice. He often mentions wanting to redo 'Let Him Run Wild' because he hated how he sounded "like a girl" when he sang it (despite it being one of the greatest vocal performances of his life). He's also mentioned wanting to sound manlier around the "15 Big Ones" era, which you can see while listening to songs like "Back Home" that show how even though his voice has deteriorated, he's still going a little overboard trying to sound gruff.

But the effect drugs had on his voice are still too strong for it to have been a conscious decision. It's a lot like Dennis' voice; they both deteriorated in between Holland and 15 Big Ones, when their substance abuse began to escalate, and Dennis for sure wasn't trying to sabotage his voice.

I LOVE Brian Wilson. Everything about him, good and bad, I take at face value. But we must remember that this song was cut during the time seen below. No matter where you come down on this tune, the times and situation color the outcome!

(https://scontent-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11109270_889911294364700_299372383752990544_n.jpg?oh=ee009771dd878263e5344edcef746223&oe=55ADCEA3)

1975 was also the year Brian was hospitalized. Not a lot is known about it - it was a surprise to me when I read about it recently.

Listening to this again. Man, this is so sad. It just hit me that this is probably the last time any shed of his original voice was recorded.

Check out 1:11. His young emotive voice shines through for a brief moment on "what would I doooo" https://youtu.be/mI2rq0uGFqQ?t=71

I didn't know that , Mikie.

Now that I think of it, 1975 was pretty much empty of any new Beach Boys material.  Which makes this recording even more of an oddity.  But regardless of Brian's mental state at the time, it's a sincere and beautiful performance and I'm glad it's out there.  Are there any other 1975 recordings from Brian in circulation?

Back Home was recorded in late '75.

Other than that, there's that demo of "Lucy Jones" from earlier in the year which supposedly features Brian & Stephen Kalinich both singing lead.

Hmmm... I kind of surprised that this got a negative reaction, I think it's a great recording but I've always liked the recording of Still I Dream Of It, too... 

He did (awful) back ups on Johnny Rivers's version of Help Me Rhonda, and did the backups towards the end on something called Boat to Sail. Both were after ITBOMM but before Back Home. Both are still up on YouTube, I think.

I hate being that guy, but "Lucy Jones" was actually recorded the same day as the "California Feelin'" demo, in November '74, and not in early '75.

And as far as other 1975 recordings of Brian, well obviously there's "Back Home" as seltaeb1012002 said. But he also does contribute vocals to Johnny Rivers recording of "Help Me Rhonda" which is also from 1975. And from the little bit that I can hear Brian on there, it definitely sounds more 15 Big Ones-ish. And then there's also Jackie DeShannon's "Boat to Sail" which also dates from 1975. And on this one it's even harder to make out Brian's part. I guess he's in those harmony stacks. But anyways, there's at least those three. And Brian also recorded Van Dyke Parks' song "Come to the Sunshine" but apparently the tape for that has been lot. Apparently this was recorded closer to the end of the year so it wouldn't be interesting to hear how he sounded on it.

Ah Billy, you beat me to it!

Oh really? My bad. Thought I read it was cut in '75.

I've also never been able to make out Brian's part in "Boat To Sail". Great track though.

Something tells me there's a whole lot more that exists from this era that we don't know about.

I didn't read the whole thread....but I have to say that this is pretty amazing and should have been on MiC.

I agree.

Pretty strange putting it on NPP but I'm glad we have it.

After my umpteenth time listening to it, I'm getting a Ray Charles vibe from the demo in terms of some of the vocalization. Brian said on that '80s Beach Boys (25th anniversary?) TV special that he had Ray in mind when he wrote Sail On Sailor. Maybe he had Ray on his mind this time as well.

Don't care for it. Don't understand why Brian cut it. Don't understand why folks here care about it. Don't understand this desire to wallow in Brian's darkest days. Don't understand why it's a bonus track on NPP.

Give us Run James Run or Metropolis or even Danny Boy. Any day.

All three brothers wound up with husky sounding voices as they aged. The difference with Carl was he took better care of his voice by quitting smoking in 1985, and hiring a vocal coach to keep his voice as healthy as possible.

Yeah, Carl quit smoking in 1985 and look where it got him.

Actually, I don't see a point where Carl's voice was ever "gruff", at least not on purpose. Nowhere's close to Brian and Dennis, where their vocal chords were ravaged by smoke and coke. Please point me in the direction where Carl was "gruff" or "raspy".

Klay, it's a timely piece. A little bit of a mysterious track as it was a pivotal point in time where his voice was in permanent transition. I don't see it as morbid or dark really; maybe emotional, but not a guy who's really in trouble. I think it's nice that we have it to listen to.

But I also wonder who's idea it was to include it as a bonus track, unless they missed the boat with it being included on MIC. Maybe it wasn't available at the time for inclusion on the "GV box set, ""Endless Harmony" and "Hawthorne". I'm a little surprised Brian OK'd it for this solo release. But he OK'd "Still I Dream Of It" for his other solo album (which also seemed out of place). I can see including maybe "Love & Mercy", but this track really belongs on a comp.

Almost anything live late 80's onward. Now, I am not saying he sounds anything close to Brian or Dennis, but you can hear the change in his voice. He is my favorite singer, so I take notice when I hear stuff from that era.

please.

it's an absolutely beloved Brian Wilson composition sung by the man himself. probably just for fun. off the cuff. it's heartbreaking but humorous at the same time. not sure if the bridge lyrics were improvised on the spot, but I certainly suspect it. there's really nothing like this in the Beach Boys catalog. it's brilliant.

Especially Soul Searchin'.

Agreed.

And personally, I never cared for the original!

Ugh.

I have less than no interest in Brian's "mysterious" vocal change of the mid-70s. He smoked a bunch of cigarettes and snorted a bunch of cocaine.

What a mystery! Who would have thought those things changed your voice?

I think it's an interesting curio, but not something I'll need to listen to more than a handful of times.

I love the 2015 BW voice, but i miss the golden falsetto. :(

I'll guarantee you this. I will listen to THIS track more often than 3 or 4 songs on "No Pier Pressure", which I've already listened to a handful of times.

Folks care about it because it's music that moves them.

Funny enough, there are some people don't believe coke and cigs did it, just like acid didn't eff up his brain!  And others believe he didn't do it by accident, but on purpose! Can you believe that sh*t?

Aw heey come on Wirestone!

Brian probably cut it in search of some of the pure joy that playing and singing and recording had brought to his life amid the growing pain that was towering around him at that time.  I find it a pure listening experience in this sense.  I like the humanity of it because the talent is still very evident, yet tempered by the technical flaws of the performance - I'm not explaining myself well am I...

And of course being where we are in 2015, it is a reminder of Brian's ultimate triumph.

That said, it is a slightly odd choice for a NPP bonus track, not that I'll complain.

You also raise an interesting point regarding the 'lost' tracks of the NPP sessions, particularly the intriguing Run James Run.  We know what happened to the Jeff Beck material of course.  Was there also a title mentioned that shared a name with a CATP track, or is my memory falling me?

Good memory!


http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/09/entertainment/la-et-ms-brian-wilson-jeff-beck-blondie-chaplin-tour-album-20130906

It's interesting to listen to for me because it's one of the last known recorded instances of Brian's original voice seeping though before his voice went to the dogs. It's hardly a great performance in itself (compared to the original, which is amazing) but worth owning all the same.

You both hit the nail on the head. Nothing cool or great about this, um, "performance". Sure, it's a curio, but I'd rather hear Dennis doing unconfident lead than Brian's drugged up, hoarse vocal acrobatics. His LY demos didn't sound *that* bad.

With you here. Historically it's a hugely important track but I hope it's Brian having fun in the studio. I sure as hell wouldn't play this to anyone except a hard-core fan.

Personally,  I prefer this version much more than the original. I really like the "new" section, with the piano key changes. I think it gives the song a more "mature" depth. It was in 1975 that The Beach Boys started to perform this song in concert with Dennis singing. I wonder if there was a consious descision to update or revive this song?

I agree completely.

One thing Brian has demonstrated with the last couple of projects is that he still sees an album as rightly having a consistency of tone, and that he is not above holding back material for the right future project. The fact that Brian Wilson, all through Getting in Over My Head and That Lucky Old Sun, was just sitting on a bunch of good songs he'd written in the mid-90s, waiting patiently for a Beach Boys reunion, combined with old interviews like this one, indicates to me that he probably has a stock of songs sitting around waiting for either a particular project or simply a more "appropriate" one. Brian himself has said that No Pier Pressure was intended  to be mellow and "not rock n roll" - so maybe the rock n roll songs were set aside, rather than not written.

Just curious is this owned by BRI or something that Brian owns himself. I just find it hard to believe BRI would let him release it on a non beach boys album<though there were 4 on the album>

They let him release the "Still I Dream of It" demo in 1995.

They let him release Carl's vocal on "Soul Searchin'" in 2004 (and the track used by the BB, for that matter).

Not very nice.

The last 20 seconds of this track keeps playing in my head, over and over.  I can't get over the alternate ending.  So much more than "drugged up vocal acrobatics". 

Maybe I'm naive but it seems like they let Brian do whatever the f*** he wants...  I guess the others could try to block it, but why?  It's something he wrote, something he recorded himself, by himself. 

The old way of doing it was, whoever paid for the studio time owned the damn recording! 

Just heard the track his morning for the first time, and loving it. To my ears Brian's voice is like no other period in his career and I sense he's aiming for a kind of Harry Nilsson (maybe Randy Newman?) style of delivery. Whatever, it works for me and like one or two others I prefer it to the original (actually I prefer it to most of the other material on this album but that's for another thread…): that's something I don't recall feeling about any of his other covers of his own material, except perhaps Wind Chimes and Wonderful.

Just got the Target CD last night & this is, by far, the best track.

I can only imagine that Brian will be deeply touched that you think something he did ,off the cuff, in the studio, with an old song in 1975 is better than his current material that he took a year or two to record and put on his new album.

To mine too, except for the falsetto which sounds like his old voice.


That's what I think too.



Samuel Beckett never was as successful again as with "Waiting For Godot", which was sort of a throwaway, no matter how much effort he put in his later works. Stuff like that happens.

Two years of work doesn't guarantee better results or something. Sorry. By that logic, Axl Rose working on Chinese Democracy for over a decade would mean it's, like, the greatest album of all time.

Sounds like the big band ideas which Brian recorded for Adult Child, I wonder if the idea for that album was perculating at that point and a more jazz inflected recording of this song was being considered.

How should I think then, please?

This place is priceless. People get would up because Brian's new album has received some poor reviews from both professional journalists and, shock horror, fellow smiley smilers. I can almost understand this. I know how easy it is to take reviews personally when it's something you love (Paul Morley's review of BWPS, anyone?)

However, an unreleased piano demo has surfaced of Brian revisiting one of his more interesting compositions and unbelievably SSers are calling out other SSers for expressing their enthusiasm? Are there people here that haven't twigged that, with a catalogue as diverse as the BBs, BB fans can enjoy very different, even polar opposite, corners of the catalogue?

And news flash people: just because creativity stems from a dark place, it doesn't mean that a) it can't be emotive and beautiful and b) those that enjoy it are celebrating the tragedies behind the art.

Your Runaway Dancer is my ITBOMM '75 demo. Deal with it.

Yeah!

PS. Is it possible to download this as an MP3 anywhere or is it only available on the Target CD?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji-ZOmA0tsY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji-ZOmA0tsY)

Did you mean people get wood up or wound up?

Same goes for the entire "No Pier Pressure" album.

Ha! Oops - freudian slip ...


Yes it seems very Beach Boys in its diversity.

I'm trying to buy the Target exclusive NPP CD on target.com, but the 'add to cart' button seems to be greyed out. Does that mean it's out of stock, or am I missing something obvious?

http://www.target.com/p/brian-wilson-no-pier-pressure-target-exclusive/-/A-17254322#prodSlot=medium_1_3&term=brian+wilson

(Tried noodling around with the 'find in a store' option, but it's not available for pickup in the NYC area and none of these stores are real close to me anyway.)

So today I was actually able to 'add to cart'... and spent 10 minutes entering every last bit of my info, then was told 'out of stock' after I clicked the final confirmation button on the final screen.

*sob*

On the “Target” issue, I can say that I’ve been to at least three or four Target locations in my area. Every single store had multiple copies of the “exclusive” version of the CD, yet the website still shows it as not available at any of these (or any other in my region) locations. While their website is often wonky with tracking this sort of thing, this is pretty excessive as far as a website fail. Stock is plentiful, and they are showing it as unavailable everywhere. Long story short, don’t trust the website at all. I’d call a store and just have them physical check the shelf for it.

At the location where I bought it, *more* copies have materialized than what I saw before. I’m guessing that while on release date some folks saw shelves with 2 or 3 copies while others saw seemingly 40 or 50, most stores probably have dozens and dozens of copies and most of them are in the back.

I find this a very difficult recording to listen to.  Not in a bad sense though, I just mean it seems to hit me straight in my heart and soul.  That 'old' Brian voice is sorely missed.

And, upon hearing similar-sounding vocal performances from Brian in '76-'77, others thought the exact same thing (at least the first and last sentences of your post)!

As a completist, I'm glad that this version of NPP was made available in the US. 

Having said that, IMO this version of ITBOMM is pretty terrible.  I'll take the 1965 version over it any day of the week.  This makes the version of Still I Dream of It released on IJWMFTT sound polished. 

Brian's vocals are nails on a chalkboard on this track.  Hearing this is kind of a bummer after hearing his good vocals on the album proper. 

Like I said, it's nice to have in the collection, but I always either stop the CD or skip to the live Love and Mercy when I decide to play the album in its entirety (and that even means braving Runaway Dancer and Guess You Had to Be There). 

Blimey, I love this version! Brian chasing the Nilsson / Newman spirit and nailing it. Takes the song to a new plateau. I could handle an album along these lines and I reckon there're enough demos out there to rustle one up… just a letter or sorting the wheat from the chaff.

I guess if I were more into Nilsson and Newman, I'd get it. 

Somehow, I totally forgot about this, until the thread popped up again. I found it, and thought Brian sounded like Dennis! Not Dennis from the 70's or 80's but Dennis, mid-60's, on the studio album! I couldn't believe it.

Great track!  :love

It's one of Brian's most soulful vocals, from the low voice to the fragility of when he sings the word "afraid." I have listened to it dozens of times with equal fascination and adulation.

This might be my least favorite post on this messageboard. Sorry.

Hey, welcome back, Jack

I'm not sure why, but this is the most intriguing vocal of Brian's I am so addicted to.... it's like a bypass of before and after, and I don't know
why I love it to death, his voice is so full yet full of it's youthfulness that I can't even describe.  Why is this vocal so demanding of attention is
beyond my comprehension.  I love all of Brian's vocals except maybe some of those shouty late 80's things, but this to me is heaven.
The sound of his 'chops' really hit me and I wish this sound of Bri had been more used before the 'gruff' 15 big ones' stuff.  He came back
with the 'miu' album vocally to a pleasant degree, but here he is mouth watering.

You know, I really love the song and performance as well! I think his voice sounds absolutely great on it. It's weird, cuz it definitely sounds more like "15 Big Ones Brian" than "Pet Sounds Brian" to me, but it is head and shoulders above any lead vocal he did in the rest of the '70s, and that even includes pretty decent stuff like "Sherry, She Needs Me" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."

IMO Brian's 76 vocal on Sherry is one of his best post-74 vocal performaces.

The "new" ending of the song just kills me every time.  That waver in his voice on the last syllable.  Amazing.

I also wonder why he rewrote the bridge. Maybe he just forgot the original chords?

A little of column A, a little of column B. It's his song, his tape recorder, he can do what he wants. It's all about where the mood took him that day.

Probably forgot/didn't care.