The Smiley Smile Message Board

Maybe we can consolidate our thoughts on the non vintage additions found on the set. Mostly they work OK but I wish it had been made clearer what was done when.

So far I've listened to CD 6 and CD 3. I strongly dislike whatever the hell it is they've done to Sail Plane Song. They've sucked all the life out of You've Lost That Loving Feelin'. The strings are ok on We're Together Again and I suppose the extra singing and fx on Susie Cincinatti are alright, but you know, why? Why do it? Just leave this stuff alone.

In the cases of "Susie Cincinatti" and "We're Together Again", I think it's cool. Restoring lost elements gives you a new perspective on these songs, and I think they're both improvements over what's out there.

Been a mix of "WTA" with strings doing the rounds for years, and  the single version of "Susie" had the fx. But... yeah, "YLTLF", in terms of knocking you flat on your sonic ass, sounds considerably limper than the first tape I had of it over 30 years ago.

Sail Plane is the weird one, a bit overboard on that I think. YLTLF is interesting to hear Brian's vocal a little more clear, heavy bass did previously give it a different feel. Susie has more in common with the very cool mono single mix. I just hear more Dennis really. We're Together Again sounds nice but Dennis still didn't get credit for his lead lines which bothers me.

Brian sounds older than the era, but YSAM is pretty good. Goin To The Beach is one of the better ones as I don't hear the modern elements. It's OK and Rock and Roll Music are cool but seem very much modern fan mixes. The original hot mix of Rock And Roll Music had some cool wooshing effects cut out though this one is close. Back Home 1970 is a big problem. On one hand I like it a lot, on the other hand it seems like a Frankenstein with parts flown in from several sets of lyrics. Glad to have new parts, but the booted version feels more organic and loose.

I guess all is pretty much cool overall with the minor edits. False starts, long outros, session talk added, those things are always welcome. I still don't understand why the California Saga 45 version can't be somehow salvaged. A mint copy can sound really good with the right transfer.

I was about to start a thread about this.
I'm not yet sure how I feel about these "artistic liberties" they have taken.
Some of them sound good or were necessary but some other - already listed above - actually ruin the experience.  For me the worst offender is YSAM as I was really looking forward to that one.
I just don't know how I feel yet.

The reason You're Still A Mystery doesn't bother me so much is because I don't treasure Brian's voice in either era. I like what I am hearing in the harmonies and track. There is a lot you could not hear before, but I wouldn't have let Al replace Loop De Loop either.

Mixed bag IMHO.

Sound really nice: The stereo Do It Again, We're Together Again, Back Home, Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again, California Feelin', Soul Searchin', and You're Still A Mystery are all really nice. I enjoy em.

Sound too "modern" but I don't mind: Susie Cincinatti, Lady, It's OK, Rock N' Roll Music, Had To Phone Ya, and Why. I don't mind enjoying these on their own, but they do sound weird when slotted next to vintage mixes of other songs from the same period.

Sound terrible: It's Over Now, and especially You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling. There's no feel to the mixes - they actually feel "unmixed". Crazy separation, and vocals are too low in It's Over Now. Everything is fighting each other. Thank god we still have the box set version that you can speed correct. And You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - what's up with that? Totally limp, and then there's that weird effect on Brian's voice... was that added?

Also, did they add echo to some of the live track vocals - are is that on the original recordings? Both Blondie on Sail On Sailor and Carl on I Can Hear Music sound really unnatural.

To quote Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park: "You spent so long thinking about how you could, that you didn't stop to think whether you should".

Just leave things alone and everyone's happy surely?

Yes and no. I love what they've done to some tracks (Rock and Roll Music & It's OK spring to mind)

No need - the master is perfectly OK. The 45 mix is on Best Of The Brother Years. I think someone just screwed up.

That's right. I  don't often play many CD's that have all vinyl material so I forgot.

 :lol

I don't think so. Because they put the same thing on Fifty Big Ones. It seems that they purposely aren't using the single version.

Hello ? The single mix is on the GH3 CD, it's not a needledrop and it's in great shape. One screwup begets another - "BTTYS" on Endless Summer, anyone ?

People bitched when the boxed set tracklist came out because they thought they'd seen everything before.

Now we know the compilers worked their asses off to give us unique versions and mixes.

So we bitch about that instead.

Le sigh.

The recons suit me just fine.  ;D

Quotado in veritas. Some people are never happy.

A lot of these mixes have been done from scratch, and clearly incorporate things that were on the original tapes, but were mixed out for the original releases. I'm certain that's the case with Suzie Cincinnati. All the Dennis ad-libs on the tag, they're not fly-ins, they're things that were recorded back in the day which were mixed out on the original release, I'll bet my life on it. And if I remember correctly (it's quite possible that I don't), there were two multitracks for We're Together Again back in the late 60s for some reason, one of which had the string overdubs on it and subsequently went missing. I don't know why they recorded it like that; I know in the *MID-60s* they did a lot of recording of basic tracks to one multitrack, dubbed the tracks from that down to a fresh one, and carried on recording, but that was because they were on three- or four-tracks back then. By the time of We're Together Again, I don't know why that would have still been necessary, as they were definitely using eight-tracks regularly and were either about to start using 16-tracks as well, or already had.

But for whatever reason, if I recall correctly, it must have been like this. A basic backing for We're Together Again is recorded to Tape A. Later parts of this are dubbed to Tape B, to which string overdubs are recorded. Test mixes are done from Tape B that include the strings. Some time after that, Tape B goes missing, so the only tapes that have the string overdubs on them are the test mixdowns, which are booted and circulate among collectors during the 80s. When the twofers were released in 1990, the released mix of We're Together Again (which was added to Friends/20/20 as a bonus track) could only be made using Tape A, so there were no strings.

Between 1990 and today, Tape B turned up again, and so it's now possible to make a mix with the strings, as it was in the late 60s. And that's how we get the version on MiC. Far from being some kind of revisionist sweetening string overdub created especially for MiC, those parts were always *supposed* to be there...

...I think.

Purely for info, the band started using a 16-track console in the home studio by October 13th 1969 at the latest. Their first 16-track recording was the revised "Cotton Fields" single, using Sunset Sound's board in mid-August. "WTA" was recorded 3-6 September 1968.

I actually enjoy the new Sail Plane Song. It changes the vibe a bit and makes it seem more finished than it was on Endless Harmony. In fact, the only thing I really don't like about the box is the new vocal for You're Still a Mystery, mainly because I really enjoyed the original 1995 era vocal and was quite looking forward to hearing it in pristine quality. The crystal clear Soul Searchin' more than makes up for it, though, wonkiness in the bridge or no. I really enjoy the demo of California Feelin', quite possibly more than any other version that's been put out, so far.

I do wonder why Sound of Free didn't get a modern stereo remix, though. The mono sticks out like a sore thumb on that part of the disc, surrounded by stereo on both sides. Some sort of issue with Brother Records? Or did they just want to present the single in its original form? They certainly didn't do the same justice with Lady/Fallin' in Love, so. Less a gripe and more just a curiosity.

Um... there's an excellent reason "SPS" sounded unfinished on EH - it's only a demo.

Thanks Andrew - always interesting to know this stuff. I still don't know why they used two tapes for WTA, though. One eight-track tape should have been enough, even with string overdubs...? Maybe this was exceptionally recorded to four-track for some reason I don't understand...?

And regarding Sound Of Free... isn't the multitrack for this one missing, but not the one for 'Lady/Fallin' In Love'? THAT would explain why SoF is still in mono...?

I wasn't trying to make any claims toward the state of Sail Plane Song, bad wording on my part. I'm just stating I enjoy it as a cool little side note to the demo on Endless Harmony.

I've concluded after repeat listenings that Linett screwed up Sail Plane Song. Didn't need the panning and the weird effects and all the crap that was added to the previous release. I mean, why? Let a fan mix it like that, but for a regular release? No. Maybe I'm spoiled it because it was previously released as a demo and not a finished song. It's just not very well done. Have fun on your own but it was a mistake to release it.

"Mitchell" said it well on another thread and I agree with him: "Certain tracks have audible compression and phasing, which is disappointing."

"Fishmonk" said "I mean, sure, there's decent stuff here, some absolutely essential material appears here for the first time, but given the frustrating issues with the mixing and mastering........"

And Autotune too, right?  Again?  Maybe they think we can't hear it??  And excessive reverb? And excessive echo/reverb on the live tracks where it isn't needed??

Maybe just a little bit too much dickin' around with some of these tracks.

Well, I don't agree (although that's just my opinion, as you have yours...). After all, you can still have the EH version if you prefer it. I quite like the new ending: it lifts the demo a bit and is fun. Historical accuracy be damned.

After all, if they'd stuck to historical accuracy, Brian and Van Dyke would never have finished SMiLE. Artists get on and make art, and history is for the scholars who come along afterwards to try to make sense of it all.

They didn't.  :)

They did too, unfortunately without using the 1966/67 vintage tracks.

I like SPS (MIC).

I wonder what they did to R'n'R Music that it sounds so great now. The guitars are softer, but what's that high percussive thing? Is it the autoharp they brought up front?

This was mid-'68, so it would have most likely have been 8-track ... certainly not 16-track, maybe 4 if it were some kind of demo situation.

I think the previously released mix was an original mono mix, not a 1990 (or 2001) remix.

I think some things go a bit further than I'd like -- SPS was fine as was. Ditto for YLTLF, although I get what Mark was trying to do with it.

That being said, the 15BO mixes are amazing. And the track only Had to Phone takes its place as a fabulous instrumental. So where's the expanded and remixed full 15BO set? Let's do this thing!

Well, the sleeve might be wrong, of course... but the back of my original 1990-issue Friends/2020 twofer says that We're Together Again, along with Walk On By and Old Folks At Home/Old Man River were mixed by Mark Linett at his studio.

And yet, the inner booklet DOES say that We're Together Again was 'recorded in mono'. So the only way for both of those things to be true is that Mark mixed WTA for release in 1990 IN MONO. Which *could* have happened, I suppose...

No further forward, really...!

OK, I knew that bit would be controversial! I think there was a thread 100s of pages long on that very topic here a few years ago, wasn't there?

So, how about: "they completed a version of SMiLE that they considered finished"...?

I don't know, it sounds like a '60s mix to me.

Alan and Mark have both expressed their preference of the LP versions of both Cal. Saga and RNR Music (and Its Ok for that matter). The only mix I really really don't like on the new box is "It's A Beautiful Day". But you know what? We have TYOH, Endless Harmony (for Sail Plane Song) etc. So it doesn't really matter. Pick your mix and go!

OK, so wearing my picky hat... but the track is listed using the single title - with the suffix "(On My Way To Sunny Californ-i-a)", so I'm expecting the 45 mix. Doesn't do what it says on the tin.

That will do nicely... It's a Smile, but not the Smile. Same goes for the big box, disc 1.

That's what I wrote about disc 1 of the SMiLE Sessions box way back when...... I still stand by it.


(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YHubNjdqtIE/TCqmjE6Ga6I/AAAAAAAAIXg/u0E-eaIfR6M/s1600/jeff+goldblum+jurassic+park.jpg)

And what was that?

I think Brian would say differently.  In almost every interview he's given, he's said it's finished.

See, I knew this might kick off again...!

Andrew accepts my formulation above. But I think an equally accurate (if waaaay more contentious) description of the 2004 recording is 'the finished SMiLE'. It's accurate. The 1966-7 recordings are clearly not finished, and as AGD has rightly pointed out many times, there was never a mastered version delivered to Capitol - ergo it was unfinished. By contrast, Brian's 2004 recording was recorded, mixed, released and sold in stores. It's the version of SMiLE that was actually finished... and I'm not sure how anyone can really argue with that. Not with that specific way of describing it, anyway. As soon as you introduce other qualifiers, like 'The Beach Boys' SMiLE', then you can't say the 2004 recording was the finished version of that... because Brian is the only 'Boy' on it! But if you say that the 2004 recording of SMiLE is the version of it that's finished... I don't see how that can really be in dispute.

And now, he said hopefully, back to our usual programme of in-depth MiC analysis...

Your starter for ten is: what exactly the hell is going on with those MiC mixes of Fun, Fun, Fun and TWOTS? The mixes are unquestionably new: a quick listen to the original Britz stereos from the twofers and a comparison with the MiC mixes tells you that, plus the giveaway that the stereo FFF on MiC has the long fade which the Britz stereo faded out too soon.

Are they 'reconstructions' too? I mean, they *could* just be new mixes from the tapes of the Shut Down, Vol 2 album that were returned a couple of years ago. But if I recall the article about those correctly, the tapes that were returned were *not* the final three-track multitracks: they were described as 'work tapes', and Alan Boyd was keen in the article (still up at http://prince.org/msg/8/317904?pr ) to draw a distinction between the two:

"Historically, these tapes are quite important,” admitted Boyd. “The final three-track masters for the Shut Down Vol. 2 album have been missing for years, and these work tapes—which were not the finished three-track masters—had enough of the separate elements to enable us to make new stereo mixes on some of these songs."

If they *had been* the multis from which the original Britz stereo mixes were prepared, then they could just have prepared new stereo mixes from the returned tapes for MiC. Then I would expect to see them described as "2012 Stereo Mix" or something similar, like a lot of other tracks on the set. But the above quote suggests that for MiC, they must have flown in elements from the recovered work tapes into new multitrack arrangements to make the mixes we hear on MiC. I'm not denigrating this process; in fact I think the new mixes sound excellent, and it's great to have a stereo version of FFF that doesn't fade out early at last. It's also a joy to hear even more of the fade on TWOTS: that song could go on forever as far as I'm concerned and I wouldn't complain! But it's odd that none of this is documented in the MiC track notes: from them, you'd just think it was the Britz stereo mixes from the original SDV2 album that were being presented on MiC, which is definitely not the case.

There's always some mystery like this with a new Beach Boys archival release, isn't there...?   ;)

He also said for decades that he burned the "Fire" tapes, and his favorite BB album count is currently in double figures. He finished a Smile, but not the Smile, as conceived in 1966. BWPS is purely a 2003 construct.

Unfortunately it's an argument that's been going on for nine years, the validity of BWPS. The way I understood it at the time was quite simple. People have had this special little thing that only they got, taken away from them.

sure, you can say the 2004 version is unfinished ... I mean, as a matter of opinion. You could argue Brian hasn't finished an album since Friends if you want to.

It was meant to be a live performance piece. Why must old tapes be manipulated in an attempt to match it? Did Look really seem that naked without the worthless "chi chi chi" crap flown in? How did the Mickey Mouse vocals on Da Da fit the blueprints? Why is it okay to make a new Vegetables and Child Is Father of the Man that DON'T match BWPS but God forbid if the sped up "Whispering Winds" vocals are shoehorned in there to match The Master's Final Vision even if it sounds awful? CIFOTM on disc 1 barely qualifies as a song, whereas the original (and mostly replicated) verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus format at least presents the song in a manner which shows it had at least a little potential. If the excuse is that it has to match BWPS it doesn't hold water if they strayed on several occasions. As far as I'm concerned the mess on disc 1 doesn't exist. I rolled my own and feel sorry for any newbie who gets misguided by the fly-ins and historical revisionisms. Halleluah....holy sh*t. Where's the tylenol?

The difference now is that instead of giving us the snatch of "Soulful Old Man Sunshine" AND the complete track (like on "Endless Harmony") we get two different elements welded together into something new ("California Feeling"), which is confusing, jarring, and wrong (though I don't particularly care enough about "California Feeling" to get that bent out of shape over it).

Technology is running amok.

Let's keep in mind that the original stereo mixed of the Shut Down Vol 2 stuff is really just Left/Right/Center of the 3-track. They could have done some trickery to get elements re-situated by a creative combination (perhaps using some phase tricks) of the original mono and stereo mixes as well ... which would perhaps not quality as a 'remix' by the compiler's standards, and thus not noted as such.

NOTE: I haven't yet heard the set properly, just guessing based on what you folks are posting here.

I will reserve judgement until I have the box (later today I hope!), but ...

does anyone else think 'Sound of Free' sounds like a vinyl rip?

You know I was thinking that very thing today. It does sound like a vinyl rip.

It is kinda weird that they have done that, but apparently the "(On My Way...)" thing doesn't mean the single version to BRI or Capitol or whoever, because they've titled it as such on both Fifty Big Ones and Made In California. I have to think that's not a mistake, and that apparently they feel that the parenthetical title belongs with the album version. Not saying I agree with that, but yeah.

More Spector-y, I would say. At least, that was my first reaction to hearing it drenched in echo.

Sounds awful on Best Of The Brother Years. I believe it's also on Ten Years Of Harmony? And doesn't sound awful on there? Woh hoppen?

And, not that it's correct, but I feel like the "On My Way" subtitle was something that came after the album came out that someone came to prefer over the awkwardly titled "California Saga: California". Like, it wasn't that way on the album, but the post-album invented subtitle came to be adopted for the song proper.

I find it acceptable, I guess I can see why others might not, but I figger if they want to use the single mix, they could just put "single mix" next to it.

Post of the year. I try not to think about the abortion that is disc one.

You guys realize this happened like two years ago, right? And that the set won a Grammy and everything?

And God forbid ... studio trickery and sped-up vocals on a Beach Boys release? Shocking.

If Mark and Alan cured cancer tomorrow, we'd all be bitching about how they didn't do it sooner.

I like The Smile Sessions a lot myself and feel like "flying in" parts is all what that album is about anyhow.

Amen to that. If Brian could have 'flown in' stuff in the 60s, he would have in my opinion, judging by how creative he got with the studio in other ways that *were* available to him then.

Disc 1 of TSS was always going to be contentious to the obsessives like ourselves, because we've invested so much in how *we* think SMiLE should sound over the years, and listening to Disc 1 is perforce an exercise in having to undo some of that. Brian's 2004 version of SMiLE was like that too for some, but at least that had completed performances on it. TSS Disc 1 was always going to need some futzing around to make it work, and some of the futzing was always going to be open to even more criticism than Brian's version.

For myself, sure, there's stuff on Disc 1 I like and bits I don't like as much. But I knew it would be like that, and I don't think it could have been avoided. One day, when I have time like I did in my 20s, I'll roll my own version to my satisfaction, like I did back then with the bits I had at the time. And *then* we'll have world peace. Or I will, anyway.

Again: They did too, unfortunately without using the 1966/67 vintage tracks.

But as SMiLE never was fully conceived in 1966/67, only several parts of it, SMiLE was finished in 2003/4.

It's not like Brian had a completed concept in 1966 and just didn't get around to record and assemble it all. So the "THE" SMiLE you think of doesn't even exist in thought. BWPS does exist, and is the only recording that could really be called "THE" SMiLE. If you say SMiLE is only SMiLE if it's the 1966 recordings and the contemporary voices, that's your definition and not the unquestionble truth.

Maybe I am wrong on this but what I think is being said is that The Smile Session is a different beast than what makes up a 1966-67 vintage album. That said it is a great comp, or blend, of Beach Boys 1966-67 music. I feel that it served its purpose though because it stands as a palatable whole now that gets in (to me) nearly all the great moments.

I had no real problems with the Smile and I'm pretty easy to please with BB stuff but I sadly have a lot of problems with MIC. I wasn't prepared for such radical changes, even a lot of the stereo mixes I hadn't heard before erk me. I know after a few listens I will get used to it and enjoy it a lot more, it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Care to share details? What didn't you like?

You know, I really wonder what's keeping those two lazy guys from curing cancer.

Do I win anything for spotting the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation reference?

Too busy trying to please Beach Boy obsessives.

Very good answer! :)

That all being said, I was on the record disagreeing with the BWPS reconstruction on disc 1 of TSS box -- it's nonsensical. A simple chronological assemblage of the best takes of the most finished songs and sections would have pleased me more. But I learned to live with it.

What's going on in MIC is quite interesting, though ... kind of an attempt to present an alternate history of the band, with bad mixing and out-of-sequence release dates wiped away. It seems to be an attempt to show the band's creative evolution, and the contributions of the members, in the most sympathetic way possible -- without focusing too much on any particular set of historical circumstances. A nice goal. Not sure if it entirely works, but by god 15BO sounds like an honest-to-god comeback now.

BW knew what he was doing recording the parts on 15 big ones, he just didn't have the drive to mix for perfection anymore. Something during SMiLE destroyed  his will to finish songs at Pet Sounds levels.

Ah, the myth of SMiLE...

I listened to CD 2 today and found the Smile/Smiley era to be my least favourite part of the disc. As a particular snapshot into the group's career retrospective it really lacked the flow of the material before and after it. Some of the material (those vocal sections) really struck me as drugged out weirdness and 'arty' for the sake of being arty. When the Wild Honey stuff kicked in it was like a godsend.

yeah, i get what you mean. That stuff only really works in isolation

Nonsense.

Care to elaborate? Or are you just being argumentative because you have a problem with me personally? Or maybe you really do consider a bunch of guys chanting "De de de Heroes and Villains" for what seems like an eternity to be a career highspot?

I was just wondering if anyone else has found the bass to be a little too much on the stereo mix of "Do It Again"? 

If you seriously think the Smile material needs any defense, particularly on this board, I don't know what to tell you.

Sounds great to me and a nice alternative presentation of the song; a treat for the gotta have a stereo mix crowd- someone was bitching about to much treble on the box the other day...

You know, someone can be a big Beach Boys fan and not feel they have to love every last bit of Smile material.

I would agree that having over 10 minutes of Heroes and Villains on disc 2 is a bit much.

And this version of Wonderful wasn't a great choice imo.

Yes it was the H&V section that really dragged for me. Plus I dislike the Smile version of Windchimes. Smiley version all the way.

I hate hate hate whatever it is they did to Sail Plane Song.

I prefer the SMiLE version of Wonderful and the Smiley versions of Wind Chiames and Vegetables. On MIC, of course, it's the other way round! :thud

Oh, and I don't care about "H&V part 2" either. But there's lots of good stuff on MIC too.

Someone mentioned to me that people still held my old 90's mixes in high regard, which is very flattering, so I came to have a look-see :)
But if I was to do the same remixing today, I could make SUCH a better job of it now, given my improved studio and skills :)

Annie

Oh Annie, that's totally true!  Your Surf's Up is still my favorite mix.  Not to mention all the midis you made!  I'll take the chance now to thank you for your work in the 90's, I used it and appreciated it so much!

And if you want to do some remixing today we certainly won't stop you! ;)

Hey Annie -- your Surf's Up is still, for me, the definitive version of the song.  I'd love to hear what kind of better job you could do today.  :-)

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Flatterers :)

Both of those vocals (on the live MIC versions) are by Carl.  That "Sail On Sailor" recording is from 1995.

Anne Wallace is perhaps the one name that rivals Brian Wilson in the modern myth of SMiLE. All kidding aside, I think everyone would love to hear what you could come up with. Thanks for posting   :)

FWIW, I once thanked Darian for helping Brian finish Smile. He did NOT "correct" me. :)  (He merely, not surprisingly, did not want credit for it and said that Brian was the one to be thanked, not him!)

I dunno, maybe it's because I'm old enough to remember the mid-90s as a fan, when you couldn't get any of the post-1969 albums on CD unless you got really lucky at the cutout bin at a travel plaza, and when the 1960s twofers were yoinked out of print and replaced by single-CD liner notes-less reissues, and when a lot of projects that were announced ended up not happening (Brother rarities compilation, anybody?), to the point that a friend of mine, upon hearing about the eventually-released Reprise/Caribou twofers, asked one of the liner notes writers how he can believe it and said person actually sent him a photocopy of a paycheck stub for said liner notes....but...I have ZERO problem with Made In California's unorthodox mixes.

"Do It Again" -- to my ears, sounds just like the old fake stereo mix except it's in real stereo. EQ sounds the exact same to me, but the track sounds a tad livelier.

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" -- 1) still sounds better than on any bootleg I've heard, and 2) it's from 1976....1976 + Beach Boys != the most brilliant combination in the world....so wth do you expect???

"It's Over Now" -- again, to my ears, sounds no different from the GV box except it's sped up so that Marilyn actually sounds like a woman.

"Sail Plane Song" -- I'm one of the rare few who actually prefers "Loop De Loop." The version on Endless Harmony always bored me. I LOVE what they did to it for Made In California.

"You're Still A Mystery" -- Yeah, it really sticks out like a sore thumb with Brian's 1999 vocals, but...1) give me Brian's more mellow voice of late over Brian's super-harsh 1993-1995 voice ANY time, and 2) again, it sounds better than any bootleg version I've ever heard.

"California Saga: California (On My Way To Sunny Cal-I-For-Ni-A, On My Way To SPEND Another Sunny Day, Water, Water, Get Yourself In The Cool Clear Water)" -- okay, I always did wonder why the album version seems to be the go-to version (even the times I've heard the song on the radio, it was always the album version), and I was puzzled as to why the rarer single version wasn't used, since the only CDs it ever appeared on (legally) were the Euro release of Ten Years of Harmony and Best of the Brother Years. The point was brought up before that it doesn't sound very good (I agree -- on the aforementioned CDs and on my vinyl version of Ten Years of Harmony it sounds like it's being played under water), but hey, Shirley the original tapes exist....remix? :)

Blame Mark and Alan all you want, but I'm willing to bet that they weren't the only ones who had to listen to this stuff before it was released. There was undoubtedly a line of approvals that this set had to pass, just as with an editorial department, or any other situation that has any kind of creative process. And I imagine SOMEONE representing the Beach Boys -- if not the Beach Boys themselves -- had to listen to this stuff and give the OK to press it, and if they heard a mix they didn't like, it would have been nixed or Mark & Alan would have been told to go back and re-do it.

Not everybody is going to like everything. They're not going to call YOU and get your approval. Deal with it.

And those of you who are lamenting that it's the natural progression of modern technology that's "ruining" this stuff...this is something my wife loves to say: Do you honestly think that if Brian had access to this stuff back in the day (AutoTune, limitless tracks, fx, nonlinear editing, flying other elements in, etc.) that he would not have used it?

<<"You're Still A Mystery" -- Yeah, it really sticks out like a sore thumb with Brian's newer vocals (and we still don't have a definitive answer as to when that vocal was recorded)>>

Yes, we do - I provided it earlier, on a different thread I believe.

Me too.   Then I got him to sign my Smile cover poster along with Brian, Van Dyke, and Frank.