The Big Beat 1963

[bgas]

I tried to clear up the photo of Brian with the Party display, tried a higher res version, but can't get much more on those pesky chip bags that would get us closer to more info. But check out some other details in that record shop, maybe someone with a keen eye will spot other things to help ID it even further.



Top left of the photo: The "Little Girl I Once Knew" single with picture sleeve is on display.

Top right of the photo: That is a KFWB 98 record survey tacked to the wall. The DJs' photos are in the left column.

Center above the telephone: Billboard top albums chart.

Directly behind Brian's head: Looks like stacks of blank tape reels.

What paper is Brian reading? It's not KRLA Beat, none of the issues line up with those pages. It *could be* KFWB "Hitline", it could also be a copy of "Melody Maker" from the UK. Any guesses?

The Party display looks like only the chips were part of the official Capitol promo material at this shop. The albums themselves are in a generic wire display rack.

It caught my eye that the Party album seems to be in that rack in front of other albums. Also suspicious that the "Little Girl" single is so prominent, almost like both Party and Little Girl were deliberately staged to be visible in the photo, along with the chips.

So is this a Capitol promo photo? The two current BB's items are prominent, that's why I'm thinking that.

Any idea what store this could have been? Wallich's perhaps? It has to be a SoCal shop, if not an LA shop, I'm guessing because of the KFWB survey on the wall. Shops outside LA would have had their local station's list instead.

I tried to get a more clear shot of the chips bags too, but alas...you can't see anything on the actual bags.

To add to that:  
Those with the know-how or super eagle eyes. (Can I use that expression?)--  
What does it say on the wire rack to Brian's right;  
Just for grins, what is the LP behind The Little Girl 45;  
If that's a telephone, can you zoom in to see the writing on the phone;  
what is the flyer, and the writing on it, just below the KFWB Survey;  
Wallich's is probably the best choice, close to Capitol and all, anybody ever there and remember the store?  
Anyone have a 1965 LA yellowpages, to check for bookstores close to Wallich's/Capitol-- 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Not that it'll help much, if at all, but the date of the photo would have to be on or later than 11/22/65 (when "TLGIOK" was released), but (probably) not after 12/20/65 (when "B-f-A" was released - wouldn't it make sense to have the single pulled from the latest album on show ?).

Just for grins, what is the LP behind The Little Girl 45

Die Lustigen Weiber, that is, a German version of "The Merry Wives Of Windsor", an opera in three acts by Otto Nicolai to a German libretto by Salomon Hermann.

[Wirestone]

Damn. 1,000,000 bags of chips, and 20,000 counter units - and seemingly not a single one survived.

I've gotta think Occam's razor on this one -- which story is easier to believe? That 1 million Party chips bags were printed, and there is not a single one surviving in the BB collecting world. (Not only that, but no one recalls seeing this kind of bag.) Or, that maybe Cpaitol was feeding some puffery to Billboard and later found out it would be way too expensive to print up the custom chips, so just sent some generic ones.

My money's on number two.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Just noticed - same cover photo, but slightly different title layout.

Call me anything you like, but don't say I'm not thorough.   

[LeeDempsey]

Jim, I think it was from Rockaway.  No idea how much I paid for it, or how long I've had it.  Interestingly, the SHUT DOWN cover is on the wrong side -- as in it opens to the left.  And the spine of the cover is for Kay Starr.  So this was originally a Kay Starr album cover that Capitol re-purposed into an easel, and then stuck a cover slick on the back.

Lee

I have a similar display of the Beach Boys Party! album cover slick pasted on the back of The Beatles' Second Album jacket, with the stand-up easel cuts on the Beatles front cover.  It was still on the wall of an old record store in Houston when I found it in the 70s or 80s.  I think the sales clerk gave it to me when I asked for it (I think I found the "Guess I'm Dumb" 45 there on the same visit).

Nice Les!  Beatles and Beach Boys on the same stand-up!  That takes the prize -- until the SMiLE stand-up surfaces!

Lee

[Mr. Wilson]

Just a thought to check on about where the photos in book store were takin.. In 50"s thu 90"s there was a book store on Hollywood blvd on the north side of the street that sold new + used books that had an upstairs section like in that photo .. Wallichs didn't have an upstairs if I remember right.. That book store used to sell records also but not a ton of them.. Bookstore was between western + la brea on Hollywood blvd.. When I saw that pic I knew it was that bookstore.. Hip place to go back then.. I was in there plenty of times.. And remember BW lived in the area for a time..Bw spent a lot of time hanging in area.. He used to eat at Pioneer chicken on sunset blvd for GOD"s sake !!.. I believe with my heart that is where the photo was takin...  I haven't been to Hollywood in at least 13 yrs so I don't know if its still there.. There has been subway construction . Its [possible its gone but it was /is a great book store.. Hope someone checks on this I have hunch im right or at least close to it.. I grew up in the area so im hopin my hunch is right..

[LeeDempsey]

  From 1967 is this Al Smiley Smile (standup, I guess)  pics showing front and the small easel on the back. It would seem there would have to be more easel to support it, so it may have been part of a larger display. There is a rumored Mike Love Smiley Smile standup, but I've never heard of ones for any of the other guys. So who knows... 
The standup is about 16 inches tall/ 9 inches wide  ( photo angles create differing heights)

There is a picture in Look! Listen! Vibrate! SMiLE!  of the Al standup and the Mike standup flanking the Smiley Smile standup.  I'll have to see if I can dig it out.

Lee

[metal flake paint]

The Great Potato Chip Bag Mystery deepens . . . . Thanks MFP for the link to the Billboard article. 

So, Capitol manufactures one million bags of chips with the Party album graphics and, so far, not one has surfaced? That just seems to defy the odds. Could it be they were all eaten? Maybe Bruce Johnston squirreled away a bag or two that are resting comfortably in his Beach Boys storage locker!  With the albums's 50th anniversary not too far off, maybe Capitol/EMI will release a Deluxe Edition with all the other tracks recorded for the album and recreate the great potato chip give-away! 

Lee, I do not have any album cover easels except Best Vol 3. I seem to recall seeing that Shut Down easel.  Was it from Rockaway?  Funny how they dissed poor Kay Starr in the process. Somewhat off topic, but anyone else except me confounded by limited typing skills and the proximity of the letter "i" to the letter "u" on the keyboard when typing Shut Down, resulting in an entirely different album!?  That CSI zooming in feat can only be accomplished while removing your sunglasses and proclaiming, in a breathy, melodramatic voice, "Well, Alex, it looks like our John Doe liked potato chips."  And, like all medical examiners do, Alex would be leaning over the gluttinous potato chip corpse, while wearing a silk blouse with a plunging neckline and a come hither look. Apologies to UK readers who may not be familiar with the comically overacting David Caruso.

Seems that whoever was charged with typing the labels for the Shut Down Vol. 2 acetate decided to give the album title a different meaning too:

[D Cunningham]

Lee...wow, what a memory.  I just checked the Dom book... yes, the Smiley Smile standup with Al on left
and Mike on right.  Based on what bgas showed above, it would seem the outer two pieces connected
to the middle album piece.  As Spock would say, "fascinating"

[Jim Murphy]

Regarding the hi-resolution scan of the photo of Brian browsing near the Party chips . . . A few things pop out. Obviously the Party album (released November 8, 1965),  "The Little Girl I Once Knew" picture sleeve (released November 22, 1965), and the KFWB Fabulous Forty Survey hanging on the wall.  By now KFWB had stopped distributing the smaller surveys which customers could take home with them and began delivering one chart per store .  If you wanted the chart, you had to convince the record store owner to give it to you when the week was over and the new survey was delivered. Some store owners were more generous than others.

The magazine Brian is reading is KFWB /98 Hitline distributed every Wednesday to record stores and available for free. The upper right hand corner of the back page had a recurring column called "What's Happening!" written by one of the KFWB Good Guy disc jockeys.  I have a fairly good collection, but not all, of the KFWB/98 Hitline from late 1965 and early 1966.  Although I could not find the exact issue, by comparing the back covers, it is NOT one of these issues:

December 1, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 26)
December 8, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 27)
December 15, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 28)
December 22, 1965 (Vol 1 , No. 29)
December 29, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 30) 
January 5, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 31)
January 12, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 32)
January 19, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 33)
February 16, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 37)
February 23, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 38)
March 2, 1966  (Vol 1, No. 39)
March 9, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 40)
March 16, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 41)


So, assuming the photo was taken to promote the album, single, and chips, and would have appeared relatively close to their release dates, it seems likely the issue Brian is reading is one of these:

January 26, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 34
February 2, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 35
February 9, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 36)

I suppose it could also be November 24, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 25)

November 24, 1965, was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and two days after "The Little Girl I Once Knew" was reportedly released.  This might make more sense since the counter-top display seems full of bags of chips (or is that bgas of chips?). And, let's face it, how long could free bags of potato chips have lasted in your average record store?  A few days?  The printing deadline and turn around for KFWB/98 Hitline was probably no more than a day or two, and they were hand-delivered to record stores in the LA area. And it makes sense that Capitol, while the guys were on tour n the Midwest, would have enlisted Brian to help promote the Party and chip campaign in November 1965, rather than late January/early February 1966.

So, my vote for when the photo was taken is November 22 or 23, 1965.   

 

[D Cunningham]

BTW, if that is a wall phone behind Brian (with the circular dial behind his left hand)...where is the hand piece?
Could it be that there is a guy sitting on the floor behind Brian, making a phone call?  If so, he would clearly
have important information. 

[Jim Murphy]

Guitar Fool -- I didn't see your excellent run down of the items of interest in the photo. I didn't even see the phone!

Andrew -- How did you pull that album cover out your hat? 

That Smiley Smile Al and Mike stand-up has to be off-the-chart rare!

Of course, Brian is wearing a trench coat (raincoat) and is carrying an umbrella, so a check of the weather in LA circa November 22 or 23, or the LA Times, might add another piece to the puzzle.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Jim - I'm good, what can I say ? Modest, too.   

[LeeDempsey]

That Smiley Smile Al and Mike stand-up has to be off-the-chart rare!

I've told Chris that there's a guy in rural North Carolina that has the Mike stand-up.  He looked up my number and called me to ask me about it.  Of course I offered to buy it, but the problem is that he's a huge Mike Love fan -- so much so that he went out and found one of those USA jackets that Mike used to wear back in the '90s, and wore it backstage to a concert so that he could show it to Mike.

He was telling me about it, and I said, "But it's not a Beach Boys tour jacket; it's just a jacket with USA on the sleeve..."

[Mikie]

OK, Smart Alecs. When and where was this picture with the class/girl scouts taken? Could be a radio station or recording studio. Could have been taken very late November (released 27th) or December, '65.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=15704.0

[bgas]

OK, Smart Alecs. When and where was this picture with the class/girl scouts taken? Could be a radio station or recording studio. Could have been taken very late November (released 27th) or December, '65.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=15704.0

No Idea; But I'd like to have more of those Gold Awards!! ( you can never have enough BBs Golds... )

[metal flake paint]

OK, Smart Alecs. When and where was this picture with the class/girl scouts taken? Could be a radio station or recording studio. Could have been taken very late November (released 27th) or December, '65.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=15704.0

David Beard identified the studio as Capitol:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15704.msg372188.html#msg372188

[bgas]

That Smiley Smile Al and Mike stand-up has to be off-the-chart rare!

I've told Chris that there's a guy in rural North Carolina that has the Mike stand-up.  He looked up my number and called me to ask me about it.  Of course I offered to buy it, but the problem is that he's a huge Mike Love fan -- so much so that he went out and found one of those USA jackets that Mike used to wear back in the '90s, and wore it backstage to a concert so that he could show it to Mike.

He was telling me about it, and I said, "But it's not a Beach Boys tour jacket; it's just a jacket with USA on the sleeve..."

Yeah, and I think you've mentioned the LLVS pic previously also, but I tend to forget!  A guy in rural NC...  think you tried to identify him and see if I could talk him out of the standup, but it wasn't enough help locating him. ( darn)  

[metal flake paint]

Regarding the hi-resolution scan of the photo of Brian browsing near the Party chips . . . A few things pop out. Obviously the Party album (released November 8, 1965),  "The Little Girl I Once Knew" picture sleeve (released November 22, 1965), and the KFWB Fabulous Forty Survey hanging on the wall.  By now KFWB had stopped distributing the smaller surveys which customers could take home with them and began delivering one chart per store .  If you wanted the chart, you had to convince the record store owner to give it to you when the week was over and the new survey was delivered. Some store owners were more generous than others.

The magazine Brian is reading is KFWB /98 Hitline distributed every Wednesday to record stores and available for free. The upper right hand corner of the back page had a recurring column called "What's Happening!" written by one of the KFWB Good Guy disc jockeys.  I have a fairly good collection, but not all, of the KFWB/98 Hitline from late 1965 and early 1966.  Although I could not find the exact issue, by comparing the back covers, it is NOT one of these issues:

December 1, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 26)
December 8, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 27)
December 15, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 28)
December 22, 1965 (Vol 1 , No. 29)
December 29, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 30) 
January 5, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 31)
January 12, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 32)
January 19, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 33)
February 16, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 37)
February 23, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 38)
March 2, 1966  (Vol 1, No. 39)
March 9, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 40)
March 16, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 41)


So, assuming the photo was taken to promote the album, single, and chips, and would have appeared relatively close to their release dates, it seems likely the issue Brian is reading is one of these:

January 26, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 34
February 2, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 35
February 9, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 36)

I suppose it could also be November 24, 1965 (Vol 1, No. 25)

November 24, 1965, was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and two days after "The Little Girl I Once Knew" was reportedly released.  This might make more sense since the counter-top display seems full of bags of chips (or is that bgas of chips?). And, let's face it, how long could free bags of potato chips have lasted in your average record store?  A few days?  The printing deadline and turn around for KFWB/98 Hitline was probably no more than a day or two, and they were hand-delivered to record stores in the LA area. And it makes sense that Capitol, while the guys were on tour n the Midwest, would have enlisted Brian to help promote the Party and chip campaign in November 1965, rather than late January/early February 1966.

So, my vote for when the photo was taken is November 22 or 23, 1965.   

 

Jim, I checked completed ebay listings for January 26, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 34), February 2, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 35), and February 9, 1966 (Vol 1, No. 36), but none of those back pages correspond to the issue Brian is reading. I also checked my copy of the November 17, 1965 issue, but that doesn't line up either. It could very well likely be that November 24 issue you mentioned.

[Shady]

Been skipping this thread for a few days, thought it was about some show in 63 

Thread title needs to be changed to include the fact it's a new BB release.

Very excited about this this! 

[Jim Murphy]

METAL

Good detective work, the completed eBay listing thing; I think we may have a winner.  November 24, 1965, certainly seems the most plausible date of the issue of KFWB/98 Hitline Brian is scanning, making the date of the photo  probably November 22 or 23, right after the release of "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and with plenty of chips to be eaten!

[gsmile]

Only on the Smiley Smile Message Board could a thread about a new compilation of vintage Beach Boys and BB related recordings disintegrate into archeological dig for a bag of potato chips! 

But seriously, the "Party!" chips discussion is beyond fascinating; these are the threads I come here for!  Also excited for "The Big Beat 1963"; I've finally broken my prejudice about  buying albums on iTunes, so this is a no-brainer purchase for me.  Interested in the Beatles and Dylan ones too.

[TV Forces]

http://us.7digital.com/artist/various-artists/release/the-big-beat-1963

[37!ws]

Hey, sorry to, uhh....be on topic with this.....but.....the Beatles copyright grab thing was released TODAY in Europe, and is scheduled for tomorrow for the US....and reports are that the set was taken down within a few hours. The thought is that they kept the music available for the absolute minimal amount of time required to qualify for the 20-year extension. So when this stuff gets out, grab it IMMEDIATELY. I don't know what's going on in this Beach Boys set, but word on the street is that the Beatles set  -- which has nothing unbooted -- is a major sound upgrade to the best sounding boots.

EDIT: Hmm....Big Beat 1963 is already up in the iTunes store! Bought a digital iTunes gift card for 20% off thru dealmac.com and am downloading it now!

[Matt Bielewicz]

I ask again - does ANYONE know how to get this thing OUTSIDE of the US? All of the links shared so far are to US-based on-line retailers who will sell you and ship *physical* product to addresses outside the US, but not downloads.

It's driving me crazy - any Google search I do takes me back to a US retailer, who won't sell me the stuff as I'm in the UK.

WHO WANTS MY MONEY AND HOW DO I GIVE IT TO THEM??