The Smiley Smile Message Board

Nothing learnt from Stars and Stripes?

http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/story/489691

Love understands that the reunion would be big news. Looking ahead, Love says the group is also making plans to record some Beach Boys classics with some of the top contemporary artists.

"There are a lot of people I would like to work with and we are thinking about starting a new project next year to coincide with our 50th, and talking with Justin Timberlake for 'Good Vibrations" and Kenny Chesney for 'Kokomo,' and we are just starting to get in touch with people now," Love says. "We want to match up the artist with the proper Beach Boys song."

I'd rather hear them work with contemporary artists than do anything else with country rejects...I despise country with flaming fury.

I'm definitely a bit leery of this after Stars and Stripes, but there were a couple decent tracks to come out of those sessions, so who knows?  The bigger worry I have is that I don't like the idea of the arrangements and overall "sound" of BB songs being modernized.  Re-arranging a song for a country setting can be done quite tastefully, but anything in the modern pop vein frightens me greatly.

i'd take a big ol pass on that.

Screw this noise.

These things just don't seem to hold up over time is one of the problems, cause no one cares that Justin Timberlake guested once on a version of Good Vibes 5 yrs later.

First of all, do the other members even know about these "plans"?

I can just hear Justin and Mike yukking it up on a "comedy track."

Oh sweet jesus.

:( Christ on a cracker, NO.

Is anyone THAT surprised?? Right down  Myke Luv's road of stale cheese, jokes and hats. :o

I really hope people in Love's camp read some of these responses....they are SPOT on.

What a travesty. Beach Boys music IS Beach Boys music - getting Justin Timberlake to ruin Good Vibrations wouldn't be a great 50th anniversary present to the fans....I really enjoy Timberlake's voice and maybe the GV remake won't be as bad as I think - But come on, leave the classics alone.

However, I don't mind the remake of 'Kokomo'. I can't stand Kenny Chesney or Kokomo - put the two together and it will show the world how extremely bad both are.

A good song is a good song.  I for one would think it a great testament to the durability of the catalog that modern artists would be interested in putting their spin on it.  Maybe some of the version will be bad, but I'd rather have the songs out there and have the option of not listening to them than have the Beach Boys catalog linger in obscurity.

Well that's a fully stupid idea. My ideal version of the BB is arty and very creative, not cheesy and desperately commercial.

If this is truly what Mike has in mind, keep Brian the heck away from it.

I think it's just a natural extension of a fact that flies in the face of TdHabib's (admittedly ideal) Beach Boys: they've almost always been desperately commercial and, unfortunately over the bulk of my lifetime, cheesy. The best part about such a project is that it would truly be commercially and culturally irrelevant, so it's not worth worrying about.

This is a woefully retarded idea. The damn Beach Boys are too good for these schlubs, they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath.

How about releasing some of the days' worth of unreleased songs and outtakes to make a great record proving once and for all that they are the kings of rock n' roll- not pimping their music for cheap thrills.

This sucks hard-core. WTF. At least we have BWRG. Brian Wilson, if you read this, please do not participate in the aforementioned idea of collaborating with these performers. Call me up, and I will give you better ideas than this.

Totally agree. Brian has been hard at work making something truly original for his fans and the world, and Love, as usual, is finding the cheapest way to make a buck.

I think they should call their 50th anniverary album Better Than the Beatles, or We Rock, Everyone Else Sucks, and it should include all the best merda from Thank Him to Rollin' Up to Heaven, SMiLE!, Song of the Whale, and all their best live music that makes the Rolling Stones sound like a buch of drunk high schoolers playing blues riffs in a talent show.

Now BW should most definitely steer clear of this and pursue his solo career. If Mike Love doesn't mind embarrassing himself, at least let him do it on his own.

I agree 1 million percent.

I hate remakes of any sort. I am not a fan of anyone popular today or in the last twenty-thirty years really. I am a Beach Boys fan partially because I think the music from the early 50's to the early 70's is the best ever recorded. I would say that about rock, blues, folk, country, gospel, you name it.  In short I think this is a horrid idea that would be a waste of money and time. Mike (even now)  can do better why he often doesn't try to is a puzzle.

It is not welcome news, but not particularly unsurprising.

It is horrific. It is worse than watching 'Hostel III' and 'Saw IV' in tandem, whilst someone is threatening to castrate you with a chainsaw.

Innovative, I'll give you... but original ?  Think the Gershwin Estate might dispute that slightly.  ;D

Anyhoo, Mike had exactly the same idea for the 25th anniversary, and that happened, didn't it ?  ::)

And as generally tepid as Stars & Stripes was, it gave us the outstanding Willie Nelson & Tim Schmit covers, not to mention some priceless video footage of the band not only doing what they do best, but genuinely enjoying each other's company.

And Lorrie Morgan & Kathy Troccoli.  ;D

A good song is a good song as long as it sounds the way it was initially intended.

Re: the songs' durability, I'd rather see another hits comp at the top of the charts instead of being exposed to Snoop Dogg having a go at "Little Deuce Coupe".  :)

Everytime you think Mike Love can't be much more of a dick, he comes out with something like this....

I really want to like Mike, i really do. But how can he be so stupid? He always wonders why they aren't as respected as The Beatles (the constant cringeworthy name-dropping betrays as much) and then thinks the obvious solution is this cheap trash. DO YOU SEE PAUL MCCARTNEY DOING THIS, MIKE? MAYBE IF YOU STOPPED WHORING OUT THIS WONDERFUL MUSIC PEOPLE MIGHT TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY. Jesus wept.

Sorry for the rant, it just does my head in. I suppose it says rather a lot when you see Brian collaborating with The Gershwin Estate finishing music from one of the Great American Composers, and Mike wishing to cover 'Kokomo' with Kenny Chesney, who had a No. 1 in the 80's. *sigh*

Oh yeah, they did it again.....

Kinda fascinating though, to see that they still don't get it. This is probably their last chance to go with some kind of dignity, and let's be honest, none of us really thought they would take that chance. Terrible if it comes to fruition.
On the other hand, would there be enough time for Brian and Mike to crank out some new tunes and record them with the guys? Probably no. So as nice as the dream of new material and an new album might be, this is seemingly the only way to get a new record, except for maybe a live album
What about an open fan letter ?  ;D

Indeed they would! Innovative it is  ;D

And that, presumably, is why you hate Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Sloop John B, Then I Kissed Her, Cottonfields, Ol' Man River, Al Jardine, and the upcoming Wilson/Gershwin album.  

Ok well heres my idea.

If Mike wants to have his way, well at least they should do it artistically, so instead of having Justin Timbaland and Katy Gaga, how about they call in Panda Bear, The Shins, Caribou, and a bunch of the other Beach Boys inspired acts and have them remix/reinterpret the Boys, that are actually creatively stimulating. I'm sure Moneybags Mike won't find it commercial enough, but I'd put money on this selling more than Mike singing with Justin. I'm pretty sure none of those guys would wanna cover "Kokomo" though. Closest they'd wanna get to the self proclaimed Dr. Love would probably be "All I Wanna Do". Honestly, I could do without this, but this would make the best of a bad situation.

Secondly, they have another hits CD, except this time, add like 2-3 new tracks, one Wilson/Love track, and maybe one Wilson/Bennett track. And knock out garbage like "Come Go With Me" and "Getcha Back" this time.

Then, most importantly, lets get those rarities out there. Some Capitol stuff, but hopefully a lot of the best Brother work, such as WIBNTLA and California Feelin '74. And other good stuff.

 :lol :lol :lol

Are you crazy? I can't stop listening to Ricky Martin's performance of "California Girls" — it's as timeless as the Macarena:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RKYhDxeAEfQ (http://youtube.com/watch?v=RKYhDxeAEfQ)

Still think it would make more sense to have a Stars and Stripes 2
but this time have the country artists each contribute one of their own songs for the BB's to reinterpret
and perform.

would it be good  ?

but I would still prefer this to another bunch of other artists performing the BB's songs with the
boys just doing backing vocals.

If it's truly going to be a Beach Boys album, here's what I, as a consumer, want: No guest artists singing leads and no remakes of BB hits.

If it's just a tribute album with other artists providing the music or a Mike Love solo project with guests, that's something else again.

Are they not big enough celebs in their own right that they feel the need to do this? Do The 'Boys really need to be modernising at this stage in the game?  I for one do not see their music lingering in obscurity as some posters have suggested. (Granted, I would prefer if some of their great late 60's early 70's album tracks were more well known.) They should be using this reunion to show today's music fans just what they are missing not repeating the mistakes of the 25th Anniversary. This just does not seem to be the answer. It sounds like a desperate attempt to appeal to 'the kids'. Oddly enough I cannot see that steaming great twat Justin Timberlake performing a moving updated version of "GV" try as I might. If they INSIST on performing/recording with modern artists at least let them them be ones who have clearly been inspired by the Beach Boys.  Somehow I doubt it was "Sunflower" that made Snoop Dogg decide to pursue a career in the music biz!!

My main beef with this news is that I HATE pretty much all modern music of the last 15 years or so and certainly the last 5. That's why I listen to groups such as the Beach Boys. It's because at their best they produced a kind of song that today's artists haven't a hope of coming close to replicating. Timeless groups such as the BB's music create a world for me that modern 'pop stars' have no place entering into.

Exactly my idea, the way the BB shoul reunite is an album of fresh, exciting material sung by them. Natural, immediate, exciting; not recycled and desperate. We need to eliminate the BB cheese factor and give them a sense of class they deserve.

This is FANTASTIC NEWS!  Imagine the possibilities...

Chris Brown and Rihanna duet on "Let's Put Our Hearts Together"

Bright Eyes sings "A Day In The Life Of A Tree"

Black Eyes Peas do "Heroes And Villains (Cantina version)"

Insane Clown Posse cover "Solar System"



 

Sit this guy down and play him some Gram Parsons!

This is officially the worse Beach Boys idea ever, even worse than the Maharshi tour.  :thud

I should've been clearer..I despise *modern* country. Like anything from the past 20 years or so.

All is forgiven!!  ;D ;D

Especially if one considers that they've done this tribute thing about 15 years ago and it flopped. Are they totally self-conscious or what's goin' on in their minds? They won't make much money with this. You could as well dig Maharishi out and go with him on tour. It'll be as interesting and tastefull as this idea...

This would make my millennium.  "Moog synths...HOW DO THEY WORK???!"

Does this or does this not preclude the possibly of a reunion tour? I mean, so long as that happens, they could have Justin Bieber do a solo multitrack rendition of "Our Prayer" for all I care.

While pondering fuckin magnets, I was thinking the exact same thing.  :lol :lol :lol :lol

:lol :lol :lol :lol

After smile, TLOS and now BWRG, Brian is pretty much back on his game.

Man what a come down this would be. Has Mike lost his mind all together? "Santa goes to Kokomo" now this idea.

I've thought about this. It won't happen. You really think Brian's people will let this happen. Sure Melinda was around for the country thing...but I think shes learned her lessons and the only way a reunion even happens is if the make The Beach Boys look like the important group they are, and not money-grubbing Lady Gaga collaborators, which, yes, some of them probably want to be. Ha.

Maybe Mike is enamored over Alan's fantastic album and wants to get in on the guest stars too. Silly man. Bruce will go along I'm sure.

Eh. They'll do what they want, and we'll all buy it, because WE'RE SUCKERS!!!!  I'm going to go preorder my copy right now, anybody got a link?

Hay, don't diss Bright Eyes/put them in the same group as the others named.

That's the funniest part of this whole idea. There won't even be consensus on what would be bad about this would-be project. (About which, btw. I think we ought to take note, it's about the third idea we've heard floated from a Beach Boy / former Beach Boy, and the second from Mike. Will we see this rescinded by tomorrow? Or a statement on Brian's site? I think so.)

Whoever made the point about what really makes this a bad idea is picking the artists on the basis of their of-the-moment fame rather than their timelessness was spot on.  Brian had his tribute concert that was widely praised because the choices of artists, song and performances were so spot on and right.  This kind of idea can work if that's the criteria.  But just by the names that were mentioned, I can tell this is solely about marquee value.

And so yeah, this is a BAD IDEA.  BAD IDEA.  BAD IDEA.  BAD IDEA.  Allow me to add my voice to the pile.

Kayla Willliams singing Time to Get Alone with lush BVs supplied by the Beach Boys.  I'd go for that!

 ;D

BBLB

At this point, I think "lush" is probably the last word I'd use to describe the harmonies by (what's left of) the Beach Boys.  Replace that word with "croaky" and I think you're on the money.   :old

Well everything has the possibility of being great or crap but I bet there are a buttload of artists who would jump at the chance. Anyone here turn it down if offered?

I know I wouldn't! But the fact it is being offered in the first place is ridiculous.

This is yet again another example that The Beach Boys themselves have always been willing to destroy their own career. If Justin Timberlake gets anywhere near GV, then I hope to god that Brian, Al, Carl's estate and Dennis's estate sue the sh*t out of Mike. If for no other reason than for him just being a dick. Plain and simple.

Timberlake can actually sing, though. That said...he would not do well on GV...

This morning, I was sat on the loo, and in my mind there was an endless replay going on of Mike's 'Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame' induction speech.

I am absolutely certain that this had something to do with the idea put forward in this very thread.

I got constipated.

Ah now that I agree with. I like a lot of country from the late 40's to early 80's but as soon as all the Billy Ray's and Garth's showed up it wasn't the same.

There's still flashes of good stuff for me.  I like some of Martina McBride's early stuff.  I like a lot of Sara Evans stuff.  George Strait is still George Strait.  Reba McEntire is still really nice to look at, for an old woman.  She's putting 'em to shame. 

A few years ago there was some interesting stuff going on in country... the last couple of years it has REALLY gone down hill.  It's so damn formulaic (is that a word?) now.  It always was, but now it's really bad.






Pet Peeve: Anybody else notice how every song starts and ends with the same line now?  I HATE that!  The money must be good for all those songwriters to completely abandon their artistic merit :)

Few bright spots, for instance Jamey Johnson and the great  Bill Anderson writing "Give it Away" for George Strait a few years back.  That was greatness on every level, it was even greater when I saw Jamey Johnson sing it by himself.  In my opinion, and just my opinion, that song on every level reached the standard set by Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and all those great singers and songwriters in the 60's and 70's.  Haven't heard anything that good in a while, though.

I blame it on people like Taylor Swift, and Big & Rich.  Taylor Swift and Big and Rich are both talented; but when they showed that normal, or out of bounds people could make it big in country, it opened the floodgates for all the NON-talented people to swing in and try.  So now you've got a whole handfull of fake cowboys who can't do much more than smile, singing songs somebody else wrote for them and wearing clothes somebody else picked out for them.  It's so damn fake.  Grrr.

I've never seen Taylor Swift fake anything.  It's not my kind of music, but she writes songs teenage chicks want to hear, who am I to discredit that.  For her market, she's very, very good at what she does, even if she can't sing that well.  I'd rather see a million taylor swifts than all of those fake pretending-to-be-cowboy acts that dominate the charts along with her now. 

The Subject title of this thread does no contain enough o's and exclamation points to describe the way I feel about Dr. Love's idea.
Maybe if he brought in Hulk Hogan and Eric Bishoff to invigorate the BB franchise?

I have that feeling for at least 15 years.
I absolutely love country music, in fact I would describe myself as a country musician more than anything else. But I stick to the great stuff and there's alot of it thankfully. Unfortunately the Beach Boys couldn't get artists of that caliber, except for Willie and Tammy Wynette

You gotta admit, that Oberst guy was born to portray a sad tree. 

Idk why they didn't get Johnny Cash for Stars and Stripes? Maybe cause Brian dislikes his voice?

Does this or does this not preclude the possibly of a reunion tour? I mean, so long as that happens, they could have Justin Bieber do a solo multitrack rendition of "Our Prayer" for all I care.

I remember seeing an interview around the time of the Christmas solo album a few years back. After a couple of minutes of asking Brian about "All I Want For Christmas" the interviewer suddenly very much out of the blue asked Brian if he liked Johnny Cash. "NO" roared Brian instantly before going on to say how much he dislikes "I Walk The Line".

Also I know everybody regards JC as country but to my ears all his stuff from the Sun era, which is what most people know him for is pure rockabilly.

I too remember seeing an interview where the reporter asked Brian if he liked Johnny Cash and yep, Brian was like 'Heck no, terrible, terrible voice!'...

Why don't they try Sean O'Hagan again? Wayne Coyne? Lindsay Buckingham? Thurston Moore? Tom Petty? Elton John? Macca? Dylan? Flo and Eddie (The Turtles)? Matthew Sweet? Springsteen? Steven Page (ex-Barenaked Ladies singer)? Jim and William Reid (J&M Chain)?  Kevin Shields (MBV)? Adam Marsland? The Fendertones?  ??? ??? ???

The Reids and The Beach Boys would be absolute chaos!

That's really weird about Johnny Cash, but i guess Brian has never really seemed into country.

Probably not too much, but Brian has some country roots. Marty Robbins (compare El paso with H&V) for example. And for some reason Brian appeared in Cash's posthum video of "God's gonna cut you down".  

I said it once and I say it again, "Let the wind blow" is THE perfect song for Cash and I can hear him singing it in my head. But unfortunately that will never happen. See the Stars&Stripes-teview thread on this board to see a list of country greats (the really big ones) and what I'd love to have heard them sing on vol.1 that I posted. Just imagine George Jones on GOK

I was trying to put the idea of Jerry Lee Lewis doing "Got to know the woman" to his daugther on facebook, but I haven't heard from her

Maybe he didn't like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB09cky5Cek

Maybe Brian doesn't like Key changes.  "I Walk The Line" changes key like 6 times or something. 

 :lol absolutely brilliant...

[koff] "This Whole World" [koff]  ::)

I was just looking at an online transcription of the chords to This Whole World. I have absolutely no musical background and no talent whatsoever at reading or playing music, but even I can tell that those chords are totally bat sh*t insane.  ;D They don't make any logical sense in thevery least. I can discern no logical structure or "patten" to the notes.

...which is the genius of Brian. On a very regular basis he stepped out of conventions, and managed to overlay an unexpected chord pattern with a heavenly melody. In fact, it's deceptively simple. One can analyze his compositions, yet remain completely incapable of producing anything like it oneself.

(I am a prime example of this inability. Proof is on several cassette tapes. These would suit the CIA for advanced torturing procedures.)

Darryl Dragon tells a tale where he played that song to a music professor of his acquaintance, and the guy nearly had a breakdown trying to figure out why the song worked when every precept of musical theory says it shouldn't.

It's incredible - it starts off in C, moves to A, then to C#, then to Bb with barely any musical trickery... (diminished chords, changing bass notes, etc)

Wonderful is also similarly mind-bending to these untrained ears.... Indeed, i heard the 'it shouldn't work but it does!' claim about that first.

I couldn't even tell you what key "Don't Talk" is in, at least till it gets to the chorus.  One of my favorite things about B-Dub is his seemingly effortless ability to play with keys and have it make sense musically.

Isn't California Girls meant to be insanely complex once you look beyond the simple bassline? I'm sure I've read that somewhere before.

The intro is REALLY complex, but the main trick with California Girls was also used on Don't Hurt My Little Sister - the choruses involve the same change in different keys.
For example, California Girls's chorus is B - C#m, A - Bm, G - Am, B.

Which doesn't make sense!

Apart from that and the second chord in the verse where the bass doesn't change, it's more of an interesting arrangement than composition.... relatively speaking :P

Another mind bender is Surf's Up and Til I Die is also seemingly detached from the mere laws of music.... Damn you Wilson! Where did you get chords like that?!

EDIT: I love how this thread, almost in reaction to Mike's blatant commercialism, has turned to discussing the genius of Brian  ;D

How about "Girls On The Beach"?

 :lol What exciting news! I'm hoping for a California Girls/California Gurls medley..

"Gurls on the beach"..

Come on Katy!!!

September Gurls!!!!

All of Bruce's songs are sorta fey and wimpy but... think of how awesome "Disney Gurls" would be if it was infused with a pounding, driving '70s glam rock synth beat and Katy Perry!

Thanks for giving me the idea for a mashup...

It's a wonder how the group was able to perform the song in concert.

"if Mars had motherfuckin' life on it, I might find my motherfuckin wife on it!!!"

"Harmony everywhere in this bitch."

(http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c397/fourvalve/Kenny_Bania.jpg)

Well, the album could turn out to be acceptable if they'd model it after the 'Last Man Standing' album by Jerry Lee Lewis. He had some really cool guests (Ringo, The Stones, BB King, Neil Young, Clapton, Little Richard, Springsteen etc.) and made it a classy mix of re-recordings and some new songs and covers he hadn't done before.

Well, if Katy wanted to turn to rap herself, it would have to be Smart Gurls

I love the version of Little Honda by Yo La Tengo, btw

I really love how the Surfsiders make Brian's chord patterns even more complex. Genius.