SMiLE Sessions box set!

[roll plymouth rock]

Who wants to talk Wild Honey era Surfs Up? Please let me know if you do.........

[Runaways]

5. I'm In Great Shape  (no vocals)
6. Barnyard (missing verse vocals)

Couldn't you just fly in the vocals from the Humble Harv demo?

As proven by Purple Chick, it would sound pretty bad...the piano from the Humble Harv tape would be overpowering.

Not the case for "I'm In Great Shape" imo. Very tired of "It's not on the Purple Chick version, it can't be done/it doesn't exist."

agreed with this.  Linett and Co were able to bring out the trombones at the end of heroes and villains too.  Something purple chick couldn't manage

[Chris Moise]

If I said Hawthorne CA, my bad - I meant Endless Harmony, and no, different thing entirely: 11/66 BW mono mix & edit, lasts 3.03. Superb. No vocals at all.

I wonder why this mix wasn't included in the box set? 

Do we know for sure it isn't? That would be a huge omission. There is an argument for it being the version to use on Disc One.

[Les P]

There's an acetate of Child Is Father Of The Man from late '66 that runs about 1:45 that's been on boots for years. If this is the same version on the box set, I don't know. It doesn't have any lead vocals but it does have fuller vocals on the chorus fade.

That is the version (or variation thereof) I am expecting.  Verse lyrics are just too much to hope for.

[punkinhead]

Who wants to talk Wild Honey era Surfs Up? Please let me know if you do.........

Honestly, besides your all-too-subtle way of asking for this...what do we know about this track during the WH era?
Is it a simplistic/R&B/strip-down version? 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Wasn't the mastering for TLOS and BWPS UK albums different to the US albums, hence there was a noticeable difference in quality?

My EC pressing of TLOS was utterly unlistenable until I ripped it to my iPod (seriously). My US version was, and is, just fine.

That's highly weird.  Surely -- because mastering is SO expensive -- the album wouldn't have been mastered twice?  There's no good reason for that.  Presumably, though, the pressings are different.  In which case, could something in the pressing process have compromised the sound?  Plenty a cheap polymer has krunked a disc along the way.  (I'm looking at you, PDO.)

My only explanation (and it's not a good one) is they sent over the download master by mistake.

That seems skyscrapingly improbable.

Three words: "We Got Love". 

...?  Going to have to fill this idiot in.  What happened there?

'Wrong' master was sent to Germany - before they could stop them, about 300 copies of Holland with "WGL" instead of "SO,S" were pressed. Rarest BB album there is.

So it was the actual song itself, not just on the back cover, or printed on the record tracklist?

Song was pressed on the album. :-)  But not on the labels !

[Myk Luhv]

If there's no Baldwin or some deep-as-f*** piano groovin' on the Wild Honey-era "Surf's Up" I'm going to burn the box.

[Jay]

Wasn't the mastering for TLOS and BWPS UK albums different to the US albums, hence there was a noticeable difference in quality?

My EC pressing of TLOS was utterly unlistenable until I ripped it to my iPod (seriously). My US version was, and is, just fine.

That's highly weird.  Surely -- because mastering is SO expensive -- the album wouldn't have been mastered twice?  There's no good reason for that.  Presumably, though, the pressings are different.  In which case, could something in the pressing process have compromised the sound?  Plenty a cheap polymer has krunked a disc along the way.  (I'm looking at you, PDO.)

My only explanation (and it's not a good one) is they sent over the download master by mistake.

That seems skyscrapingly improbable.

Three words: "We Got Love". 

...?  Going to have to fill this idiot in.  What happened there?

'Wrong' master was sent to Germany - before they could stop them, about 300 copies of Holland with "WGL" instead of "SO,S" were pressed. Rarest BB album there is.

So it was the actual song itself, not just on the back cover, or printed on the record tracklist?

Song was pressed on the album. :-)  But not on the labels !

See, I just asked that the other day and got an answer that was totally the opposite. 

[juggler]

There's an acetate of Child Is Father Of The Man from late '66 that runs about 1:45 that's been on boots for years. If this is the same version on the box set, I don't know. It doesn't have any lead vocals but it does have fuller vocals on the chorus fade.

That is the version (or variation thereof) I am expecting.  Verse lyrics are just too much to hope for.

My head says that you're probably right, but my heart says that maybe you're not right.   We've heard some hints that there will be a few blockbusters (i.e., things that will "blow us away").  Obviously, the 1967 Surf's Up is a shoo-in for the blockbuster category.   So far, that's pretty much it, though, right?   And if that IS it, well, so be it.   It'll still be a great set.  

On the other hand, I ask myself, "What sort of discoveries would those in-the-know consider mind-blowing for the hardcore fans?"  Something that would certainly qualify: surprise verse vocals for at least one of the following: Worms, Child, Great Shape, Barnyard, I Wanna Be Around or Da Da.    

Here's hoping that our minds are blown.

[smile-holland]

Three words: "We Got Love". 

...?  Going to have to fill this idiot in.  What happened there?

'Wrong' master was sent to Germany - before they could stop them, about 300 copies of Holland with "WGL" instead of "SO,S" were pressed. Rarest BB album there is.

So it was the actual song itself, not just on the back cover, or printed on the record tracklist?

Song was pressed on the album. :-)  But not on the labels !

See, I just asked that the other day and got an answer that was totally the opposite. 

there might be a mix-up with misprints on the back side of the sleeve. Canadian and French copies of Holland mention We Got Love on the back of the sleeve (but not on the labels... and it's the regular record, no WGL on it).

[Andrew G. Doe]

There's an acetate of Child Is Father Of The Man from late '66 that runs about 1:45 that's been on boots for years. If this is the same version on the box set, I don't know. It doesn't have any lead vocals but it does have fuller vocals on the chorus fade.

That is the version (or variation thereof) I am expecting.  Verse lyrics are just too much to hope for.

My head says that you're probably right, but my heart says that maybe you're not right.   We've heard some hints that there will be a few blockbusters (i.e., things that will "blow us away").  Obviously, the 1967 Surf's Up is a shoo-in for the blockbuster category.   So far, that's pretty much it, though, right?   And if that IS it, well, so be it.   It'll still be a great set.  

On the other hand, I ask myself, "What sort of discoveries would those in-the-know consider mind-blowing for the hardcore fans?"  Something that would certainly qualify: surprise verse vocals for at least one of the following: Worms, Child, Great Shape, Barnyard, I Wanna Be Around or Da Da.    

Here's hoping that our minds are blown.

"Teeter-Totter Love" will blow you away. But not because it's any good...

[tansen]

Wasn't the mastering for TLOS and BWPS UK albums different to the US albums, hence there was a noticeable difference in quality?

My EC pressing of TLOS was utterly unlistenable until I ripped it to my iPod (seriously). My US version was, and is, just fine.

That's highly weird.  Surely -- because mastering is SO expensive -- the album wouldn't have been mastered twice?  There's no good reason for that.  Presumably, though, the pressings are different.  In which case, could something in the pressing process have compromised the sound?  Plenty a cheap polymer has krunked a disc along the way.  (I'm looking at you, PDO.)

My only explanation (and it's not a good one) is they sent over the download master by mistake.

I don't think records are ever mastered for download differently than CD. I don't think mastering is as painfully expensive as the original poster said when compared to other aspects of a record being finished, thus it's not unlikely that two masters were done or that the UK version was an incorrect master.

They maybe aren't.  But an album mastering session costs (if my experience at Metropolis, London, is anything to go by) north of £6,000 a pop.  And it involves enough work to not be replicated.  One master is enough per format.  Especially in the post-broadband world.  The logistical is the bigger question: why master anything twice?  One digital (ie CD, download), one vinyl (if needed, because it needs a careful balance of low-end etc) -- what else?  An 'incorrect' master implies an error of colossal proportions: the Holland error is one of such dimension.  But more than one master (for only one format) was prepared for that.  So that's a straight baby-swap in the maternity ward.  An error along those lines for TLOS is way, way, more unlikely.  Especially on this scale. 

(Having said that, I've never quite understood the two-fer mix-up between 'Ol' Man River' and 'Ol' Man River,' when the CD version of one would have adequately done for the other, yet, apparently, didn't.)

I think you've gone to a VERY expensive place then. You can certainly get good mastering done for a lot cheaper than that. Both in the UK and the US.

[Boiled Egg]

Wasn't the mastering for TLOS and BWPS UK albums different to the US albums, hence there was a noticeable difference in quality?

My EC pressing of TLOS was utterly unlistenable until I ripped it to my iPod (seriously). My US version was, and is, just fine.

That's highly weird.  Surely -- because mastering is SO expensive -- the album wouldn't have been mastered twice?  There's no good reason for that.  Presumably, though, the pressings are different.  In which case, could something in the pressing process have compromised the sound?  Plenty a cheap polymer has krunked a disc along the way.  (I'm looking at you, PDO.)

My only explanation (and it's not a good one) is they sent over the download master by mistake.

I don't think records are ever mastered for download differently than CD. I don't think mastering is as painfully expensive as the original poster said when compared to other aspects of a record being finished, thus it's not unlikely that two masters were done or that the UK version was an incorrect master.

They maybe aren't.  But an album mastering session costs (if my experience at Metropolis, London, is anything to go by) north of £6,000 a pop.  And it involves enough work to not be replicated.  One master is enough per format.  Especially in the post-broadband world.  The logistical is the bigger question: why master anything twice?  One digital (ie CD, download), one vinyl (if needed, because it needs a careful balance of low-end etc) -- what else?  An 'incorrect' master implies an error of colossal proportions: the Holland error is one of such dimension.  But more than one master (for only one format) was prepared for that.  So that's a straight baby-swap in the maternity ward.  An error along those lines for TLOS is way, way, more unlikely.  Especially on this scale. 

(Having said that, I've never quite understood the two-fer mix-up between 'Ol' Man River' and 'Ol' Man River,' when the CD version of one would have adequately done for the other, yet, apparently, didn't.)

I think you've gone to a VERY expensive place then. You can certainly get good mastering done for a lot cheaper than that. Both in the UK and the US.

Yes, it was very expensive, because it was the best.  And I'd bet you 15p Linett's using the best, too.

[Boiled Egg]

Anyone - what's 'I Don't Know'?

(First person to say 'I don't know' wins a bun.)

[Loaf]

My guess would be a basic instrumental to show Dennis how to man the board.

[hypehat]

Isn't it a Dennis composition/production, done independently of BW? That's also the case with Carl's 'Tones'. I can't wait, really. Later in his career, he had a habit of giving songs slightly vague working titles - I think in the Carlin he says both Make It Good and  Cuddle Up were both known as 'Old Movie', because of what they sounded like, so 'I Don't Know' doesn't really suggest it's a throwaway.

Would this be the earliest Dennis composition released, then?

[Runaways]

unless "I Don't Know" means "i don't know what this is". 

[Runaways]

i'd also really enjoy it if vega-tables had "round round round dig a hole in the ground" back in it

[UK_Surf]

'"Teeter-Totter Love" will blow you away. But not because it's any good...'

Like the 'Prayer' sessions? Any chatter in there about smile/sequencing etc?

[tansen]

Wasn't the mastering for TLOS and BWPS UK albums different to the US albums, hence there was a noticeable difference in quality?

My EC pressing of TLOS was utterly unlistenable until I ripped it to my iPod (seriously). My US version was, and is, just fine.

That's highly weird.  Surely -- because mastering is SO expensive -- the album wouldn't have been mastered twice?  There's no good reason for that.  Presumably, though, the pressings are different.  In which case, could something in the pressing process have compromised the sound?  Plenty a cheap polymer has krunked a disc along the way.  (I'm looking at you, PDO.)

My only explanation (and it's not a good one) is they sent over the download master by mistake.

I don't think records are ever mastered for download differently than CD. I don't think mastering is as painfully expensive as the original poster said when compared to other aspects of a record being finished, thus it's not unlikely that two masters were done or that the UK version was an incorrect master.

They maybe aren't.  But an album mastering session costs (if my experience at Metropolis, London, is anything to go by) north of £6,000 a pop.  And it involves enough work to not be replicated.  One master is enough per format.  Especially in the post-broadband world.  The logistical is the bigger question: why master anything twice?  One digital (ie CD, download), one vinyl (if needed, because it needs a careful balance of low-end etc) -- what else?  An 'incorrect' master implies an error of colossal proportions: the Holland error is one of such dimension.  But more than one master (for only one format) was prepared for that.  So that's a straight baby-swap in the maternity ward.  An error along those lines for TLOS is way, way, more unlikely.  Especially on this scale.  

(Having said that, I've never quite understood the two-fer mix-up between 'Ol' Man River' and 'Ol' Man River,' when the CD version of one would have adequately done for the other, yet, apparently, didn't.)

I think you've gone to a VERY expensive place then. You can certainly get good mastering done for a lot cheaper than that. Both in the UK and the US.

Yes, it was very expensive, because it was the best.  And I'd bet you 15p Linett's using the best, too.

I don't know, "the best" is quite relative. The company I used for my album (US based) is reckoned to be very good, and certainly a lot cheaper than £6.000.

[37!ws]

"Teeter-Totter Love" will blow you away. But not because it's any good...

Kinda what I thought. After all, the Jasper Dailey tracks that leaked previously are too schmaltzy and, frankly, boring for most BB fans. My guess is that they're including "Teeter-Totter Love" to just tell the fans to STFU...

[Andrew G. Doe]

"Teeter-Totter Love" will blow you away. But not because it's any good...

Kinda what I thought. After all, the Jasper Dailey tracks that leaked previously are too schmaltzy and, frankly, boring for most BB fans. My guess is that they're including "Teeter-Totter Love" to just tell the fans to STFU...

Leaked Daley tracks ?  Where dem ?

[mikeyj]

"Teeter-Totter Love" will blow you away. But not because it's any good...

Kinda what I thought. After all, the Jasper Dailey tracks that leaked previously are too schmaltzy and, frankly, boring for most BB fans. My guess is that they're including "Teeter-Totter Love" to just tell the fans to STFU...

Leaked Daley tracks ?  Where dem ?

Maybe 37!ws is getting mixed up with the Dick Reynolds tracks?

[The Heartical Don]

The thread has slowed down considerably. Are we getting tired of the SMiLE hype? Cancel your orders while you still can. And convert that money into beer.

[ghost]

The thread has slowed down considerably. Are we getting tired of the SMiLE hype? Cancel your orders while you still can. And convert that money into beer.

Personally I'm getting cold feet. Is Smile really all that good? I feel like I've been had by a giant hype machine Derek Taylor thought up back in 1967. Cancel Smile, create unstoppable myth that self-sustains itself through 40+ years of music history... genius.