Stars & Stripes-sessions

[tpesky]

Makes sense about LDC and its not even that tough of a falsetto...how much falsetto do you think he would have been doing..it was 1996 after all!!!

[mikeyj]

John Denver should've sang Long Tall Texan. I know he would've been great at it, because I actually happen to have a recording of John Denver singing Long Tall Texan in 1966 with the Chad Mitchell Trio.

It always kind of annoyed me though that Long Tall Texan was on Stars & Stripes Vol. 1...I mean firstly it's a cover song (not saying that matters too much) and secondly the band never even released a studio version of the song. I mean who wouldn't have rathered Tammy's take on In My Room rather than this?

[Susan]

I was going to read the whole thread...until i read this:

I don't own this album, but I'll never forget the first time I heard the Stars and Stripes version of "The Warmth of The Sun". 

The music began, along with a stack of background vocals that sounded like a choir of heavenly angels.  I was transported to somewhere else, a wonderful place, lost in the bliss of pure musical enjoyment.

Then Willie Nelson started singing.

Nothing against Willie, but this ain't the kind of song he should be singing. 

The first time i heard Willie sing this song it sounded EXACTLY like what i pictured when i first heard about it...and that was a very, very fine thing.

Volume Two would have been just fine with me.  There is a mountain of material that was unmined, and there's a mountain of talent in country music today.  Vol2 could have been - i'm choosing this word on purpose - it could have been great.

[Sheriff John Stone]

While I would've preferred the aborted Don Was-produced album instead of Stars And Stripes, I still got some enjoyment out of it.

First, somebody above took a(nother) shot at Mike Love, but I would think that the GROUP voted on the Stars And Stripes project. They were not a dictatorship. And wasn't it Carl Wilson who walked out of the Don Was sessions but turned up for Stars And Stripes? But nobody takes a shot at him?

I know many will disagree, but I think Joe Thomas did an excellent job producing Stars And Stripes. The ballads are touching, the rockers rock, and he added some nice touches to songs like "I Can Hear Music" and "409". I can even tolerate "Long Tall Texan". Everybody - everybody - sounds great, the songs sound "crisp", and everybody seems to be having fun with their songs.

The project is hurt by the same things that hurt many Beach Boys' albums before it. It wasn't long enough and some choice songs were left in the can. I know they were keeping some tracks for Stars And Stripes Volume 2, but, if you take the existing 12 tracks and add "In My Room" by Tammy Wynette, "Sail On Sailor" by Rodney Crowell, "California" by Merle Haggard (I hadn't heard about that one til this thread), and maybe a song from Glen Campbell, the album would've improved by another grade/star.

This is a bit of a reach, but Willie Nelson was friends with his fellow Highwaymen - Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson - and it would've been neat if he would've talked any of them into doing a song. Regardless, I enjoyed the Stars And Stripes album, the accompanying video, and the TV appearances - at least for a couple of months when nothing else was happening in BB land.

[Alex]

I've never heard Stars and Stripes, and I never want to hear. To me it is irrelevant. I always try to forget that it even exists. Just give me the 2 finished Don Was tracks plus the Brian/Paley sessions.

[Rocker]

This is a bit of a reach, but Willie Nelson was friends with his fellow Highwaymen - Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson - and it would've been neat if he would've talked any of them into doing a song.

And btw they recorded an album in '95 produced by Don Was.
Jerry Lee Lewis did an album in '95 with Andy Paley, so the connections were there

[Sheriff John Stone]

This is a bit of a reach, but Willie Nelson was friends with his fellow Highwaymen - Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson - and it would've been neat if he would've talked any of them into doing a song.

And btw they recorded an album in '95 produced by Don Was.

You're right, I forgot about that! And I even saw a documentary on the Highwaymen and Don Was was in it. That could've been the way Willie got hooked up with the Beach Boys.

And it's funny, but just a couple of weeks ago, Brian hooked up again with Don Was at a concert - with Kris Kristofferson. Hey, how about a new super group? Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Glen Campbell, and Brian Wilson! Produced by Don Was....

[Rocker]

This is a bit of a reach, but Willie Nelson was friends with his fellow Highwaymen - Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson - and it would've been neat if he would've talked any of them into doing a song.

And btw they recorded an album in '95 produced by Don Was.

You're right, I forgot about that! And I even saw a documentary on the Highwaymen and Don Was was in it. That could've been the way Willie got hooked up with the Beach Boys.

And it's funny, but just a couple of weeks ago, Brian hooked up again with Don Was at a concert - with Kris Kristofferson. Hey, how about a new super group? Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Glen Campbell, and Brian Wilson! Produced by Don Was....

Man, Kristofferson and Brian are two of my all-time favorite songwriters. I was blown away to see both of them on one stage on youtube. Hope the "Fun fun fun"-performance will show up too. I would be all for it, though I don't think Brian would fit in with such a group of country-stars.



BTW got this from the Beach Boys Britain Board:

Re(5): Stars & Stripes other tracks
Posted on March 5, 2008 at 01:24:28 PM by yourownbackyard

There were more tracks planned and perhaps recorded than those on Stars & Stripes Vol. 1. They included one of my favorite songwriters Rodney Crowell on Sail on Sailor, Tammy Wynette on In My Room, Steve Earle on Shut Down, Ronnie Milsap on Surfer Girl, Merle Haggard on California Saga (On My Way), plus the Oak Ridge Boys and Hank Williams, Jr..

My my... what a cool album vol.2 could've been....

[Sheriff John Stone]

BTW got this from the Beach Boys Britain Board:

Re(5): Stars & Stripes other tracks
Posted on March 5, 2008 at 01:24:28 PM by yourownbackyard

There were more tracks planned and perhaps recorded than those on Stars & Stripes Vol. 1. They included one of my favorite songwriters Rodney Crowell on Sail on Sailor, Tammy Wynette on In My Room, Steve Earle on Shut Down, Ronnie Milsap on Surfer Girl, Merle Haggard on California Saga (On My Way), plus the Oak Ridge Boys and Hank Williams, Jr..

My my... what a cool album vol.2 could've been....

The heck with Vol. 2, I want a complete re-issue of Vol 1, with those unreleased tracks included, new sequencing, new liner notes, and a budget price of $9.99 at WalMart!

[Pretty Funky]

The warm-up, term of reference vocal in front of Willie for WOTS on the DVD.

Live and natural or enhanced?

Too smooth to be natural IMO but convince me.

[Rocker]

The warm-up, term of reference vocal in front of Willie for WOTS on the DVD.

Probably staged imo...
Some cool, live-moments are the rehearsal for "I can hear music" in the control room and the backgrounds to "Caroline no" arund a piano. I'd like to hear that in complete form, if there exists more...

BTW I'd like to repeat my question, was "Sail on sailor" actually recorded? In the movie it's just the performance from a rehearsal.

[Smilin Ed H]

There were more tracks planned and perhaps recorded than those on Stars & Stripes Vol. 1. They included one of my favorite songwriters Rodney Crowell on Sail on Sailor, Tammy Wynette on In My Room, Steve Earle on Shut Down, Ronnie Milsap on Surfer Girl, Merle Haggard on California Saga (On My Way), plus the Oak Ridge Boys and Hank Williams, Jr..


The album would've been given  considerably more gravitas with the involvement of more genuine country heavyweights - and it might have made it tolerable.  Speaking of BB and country, I like their singing on Collin Raye's Winter Wonderland.

[Pretty Funky]

As long as I have read the boards about this album, the three songs that seem to have hit the spot for most are WOTS, In My Room and SOS. Another 7-9 songs of this style rather than the fluff chosen and you had the making of a ok album IMO. I Can Hear Music is nice. Don't Worry Baby is good too.

[Smilin Ed H]

Caroline, No is good too.

[Andrew G. Doe]

As long as I have read the boards about this album, the three songs that seem to have hit the spot for most are WOTS, In My Room and SOS. Another 7-9 songs of this style rather than the fluff chosen and you had the making of a ok album IMO. I Can Hear Music is nice. Don't Worry Baby is good too.

You can't truly judge "SOS" from a very partial rehearsal - that said, I wasn't overly impressed.

[Rocker]

As long as I have read the boards about this album, the three songs that seem to have hit the spot for most are WOTS, In My Room and SOS. Another 7-9 songs of this style rather than the fluff chosen and you had the making of a ok album IMO. I Can Hear Music is nice. Don't Worry Baby is good too.

You can't truly judge "SOS" from a very partial rehearsal - that said, I wasn't overly impressed.

AGD, do you know if there was a real studio recording of SOS done? And were other songs except "In my room" already recorded for vol. 2, and therefor slumbering in the vaults ?

[bossaroo]

Junior Brown is cool too. I'm glad they at least put him on there.
He's a big car enthusiast too, so it makes sense he did "409"...

[Pretty Funky]

As long as I have read the boards about this album, the three songs that seem to have hit the spot for most are WOTS, In My Room and SOS. Another 7-9 songs of this style rather than the fluff chosen and you had the making of a ok album IMO. I Can Hear Music is nice. Don't Worry Baby is good too.

You can't truly judge "SOS" from a very partial rehearsal - that said, I wasn't overly impressed.

Heres a setlist for Fan Fair. Watching 'The Making of Stars and Stripes' it does look to me some of the stage performances were rehearsals for the actual fan fair concert. Maybe Crowell, while not on the album, just wanted to sing as a fan. On watching the SOS portion it looks to me like Carl running Crowell and the band through the song.
   
Fan Fair at Nashville, TN
June 14, 1996

Beach Boys present:

Mike Love
Bruce Johnston
Al Jardine
Brian Wilson
Carl Wilson

Backup band included:

Unknown

SETLIST
1. California Girls
2. Do It Again
3. Come Go With Me
4. Kokomo
5. Surfer Girl
6. Don't Worry Baby (with Lorrie Morgan)
7. Fun, Fun, Fun (with Ricky Van Shelton)
8. Sail On Sailor (with Rodney Crowell)
9. I Can Hear Music (with Kathy Troccoli)
10. Long Tall Texan (with Doug Supernaw)
11. 409 (with Doug Supernaw)
12. Little Deuce Coupe (with James House)
13. Little Deuce Coupe (acapella with James House)
14. Sloop John B (with Collin Raye)
15. Be True To Your School (with Collin Raye)
16. Help Me, Rhonda (with T. Graham Brown)
17. Rock And Roll Music (with T. Graham Brown)
18. I Get Around (with Sawyer Brown)
19. Surfin' Safari
20. Surf City
21. Surfin' USA
22. Barbara Ann

Contributed by: Mark Raphael, setlist correction Jeff Arndt

As a aside. I remember reading a story on Branson, Missouri that listed all the numbers of album sales that year and C and W led by a country mile. Something like 3 to 1 over R and R. Was it any wonder the BBs tried to get a slice of the action.

Junior Brown is cool too. I'm glad they at least put him on there.
He's a big car enthusiast too, so it makes sense he did "409"...

Refer my 'fluff' comment top of post. Sorry bossaroo!

[Emdeeh]

I was at the Fan Fair show. The backup band included Matt Jardine, Mike Meros, and Richie Cannata from the BB's band, the rest were unfamiliar guys (to me) from the country music side. Matt was a featured vocalist in the front line.

[bossaroo]

Junior Brown is cool too. I'm glad they at least put him on there.
He's a big car enthusiast too, so it makes sense he did "409"...

Refer my 'fluff' comment top of post. Sorry bossaroo!

Junior Brown is the real deal. He's a master of country guitar and steel guitar, he writes real country songs, he sounds like Ernest Tubb... hell, he even wrote a tune about ol' ET.  I think his big "hit" at that time was "My Wife Thinks You're Dead"... he uses humor in his music in a way that is sorely lacking in Nashville (and most everywhere else)... something Brian probably appreciates.

you just can't compare guys like James House, Collin Raye, or Doug Supernaw to Junior freaking Brown.

Junior's also crazy about surf guitar, so it makes even more sense for him to be included.

check these out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oxhJW3Nv-o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=497ZmAsGAT4

[Pretty Funky]

Sounds good!

My 'fluff' comment was in reference to car and surf songs in general. Something I thought the band should have left behind in the early 60s, not put on a new album. Junior and any of those artists could have been guided into any of hundreds of  BBs songs.

Brown could have done a good version of 'Pet Sounds' don't you think?

[bossaroo]

ok, I see your point. and of course Junior would sound great playing "Pet Sounds"...

ever heard Danny Gatton's instrumental version of "In My Room" on lap steel and guitar? beautiful.

[Pretty Funky]

OK Confession time. I can't stand C and W. The first sound of a twangy geetar and I'm sadlin up an outer ther  pardner!

I don't even have the S and S album, just the DVD. Will have a search for Gattons IMR though.

edit..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011ZVF3O/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk6/103-5814129-2477455


Nice!

[MBE]

I like country from the late 40's to the early 80's. After that it just wasn't the same for me.