The Smiley Smile Message Board

I loved Loop de Loop when I first heard it...I believe it was on the Endless Harmony Documentary. Great tune, but when I listened to my Dad's copy of the Endless Harmony soundtrack and got to listen to Sail Plane Song I was blown away! I think its easy for me to say that I prefer Sail Plane Song...what do you guys think?

(I believe we had a similar conversation in the Desper thread, I figured we should start its own thread since its such a great tune)

I've always found Loop de Loop an extremely irritating song.  So hearing Sail Plane Song was a wonderful surprise -  a completely different vibe.  Same tune - different sensibilities at work.

Hehehe, what did you find so irritating about it? I dont know, I just like the singing in the song. Sail Plane Song, I love everything about it. Evvveerryything. wheeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee

That circular chorus has a kind of intentionally dizzying effect on the (or this) listener.  Just grates somewhat.

I love Sail Plane Song.  Its just so mellow and pretty.  Loop de Loop reminds me too much of Amusement Park USA.

I have to listen to Sail Plane Song again to comment about it. I love Loop De Loop where the drums before the chorus starts, sounding like a plane starting up it's engine, go figure. I also enjoy that trombone which adds another dimension to the song. It's a ridiculous song, but hey we listen to the BBoys here, we should be used to ridiculous songs heh.

Could it be the reference to the Laughing Lady (announced by Mr. Stephen Desper)?  ;D

It's a great carnival atmosphere, and Al's awesome, as usual.

The verses in Loop de Loop '69 are incredible. Great Al vocals. The circular chorus ain't that great. Good track though.

Were these two songs from the same sessions? Which came first?

What about Santa's Got An Airplane?  ;D

I think they're both great, but I've always liked SPS a little bit better. The mix on MiC blows me away!

I don't mind Loop de Loop. It's catchy, it's cheesy, it's dorky, it's fun. But SPS is on another level. It's like with Loop de Loop they took all the subtlety out of SPS. SPS has that wistfulness and the wonderful escape metaphor ("up above the clouds there's no rain"), and with Loop de Loop, even though it uses those same lyrics, it's just...riding in an airplane.

I actually prefer "Loop De Loop".  "Sail Plane Song" just doesn't sound finished to me for some reason.  ;)

I was thinking the same thing actually. Maybe it's just because I heard LDL first so when the 'chorus' comes around it sounds a little off

Well, since you asked... :)

I think if you like Loop de Loop, you probably owe it to yourself to try and track down the aforementioned, original '69 version/stereo mix of it. Not that I would condone or know how to find such "wicked" things.

Personally speaking, and although I'm sure his heart was in the right place, I think nearly every change Al made to the track for the '99, Endless Harmony release was a change for the worse. But, that's just me. From replacing part but not all of his original vocal, to reverting back to some of the lyrics from SPS (which really only worked in the context of that song, IMHO). For me, I'll always hear Al's song as "when the flying circus comes to town" rather than "up above the clouds there's no rain." Though, I'll concede that some of that comes from the "Landlocked" version being the one I heard first...and before anything else (Daddy's Little Girl or that flippin' Santa song included!).

For me, the original LDL sounds very much like something from that Sunflower era. The EH re-imagining...not so much. Mixing in a new vocal in places, 30 years on, probably had a little bit to do with that (despite Al nearly always being in good form). There's also some little things in the actual EH mix that bug the spit out of me.

"Sail Plane Song" came first and was written by Brian, not from the same session. "Loop De Loop" was Al's hijacking of Brian's song (possibly due to Brian's abandonment of it?), revamping and adding to it. It's said Brian didn't really care for "Loop De Loop".

The original vocal on Loop De Loop is awesome. Fun record.

I like both versions for different reasons. But I must say that Sail Plane from MIC is awesome!

I don't like the new mix of Sail Plane Song. A case of letting the children loose...

It's a shame they didn't include the original version of Loop de Loop. Maybe when Al is no longer around it will be released.

Could Loop de loop have been a hit back in the days? Breakaway was...

Imagine: "The best of Al and the BB"...  :)

California, Lady Lynda, Then I kissed her, Loop de loop,
Susie Cincinnatti, Cottonfields, Lookin' at tomorrow...

You name it... :)

I love the quiet eeriness of Sail Plane Song as heard on Endless Harmony, but the new version is embarrassing in its self-consciousness and unrepresentative of the Beach Boys; it should never have been released.

Loop De Loop has never done anything for me.

It probably would have made the top 40 in the U.K. Everything else did in the late 60s.

Sail Plane Song is blowing Loop De Loop away.

The MIC mix made me a Sail Plane Song believer.

Can we, you know... like both?

Or indeed ALL of the versions of this thing. The EH SPS mix, the MiC mix, the original unreleased LTL and the 'finished' EH version.

I do. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. So it isn't Good Vibrations... hardly anything else is. But it's fun, melodic and a pretty way to spend a few minutes, in whatever version I choose.

I feel the same about Suzie Cincinatti, in any of its mixes. And also about It's OK. That feels to me like the most successful return to the upbeat 'fun in the sun' side of the Boys that they ever cut after 1965, in that it's catchy as hell (like the best of Brian's early 60s stuff), rocks along, doesn't outstay its welcome, isn't overly self-referential, and is sung well by everyone involved. Sadly, that can't be said of very much on 15 Big Ones, or indeed very much at all in the BB catalogue between 1975 and 2011 IMHO.

People have said that you can't understand or be a 'true fan' of the Beach Boys unless you understand and appreciate, say, Lonely Sea, In The Back Of My Mind, You Still Believe In Me, Let's Go Away For A While, SMiLE, Old Man River, 'Til I Die and Summer's Gone. I wouldn't argue with any of that. But others say the same true understanding is denied those who don't appreciate, say, Mount Vernon & Fairway, Adult Child, or Pacific Ocean Blue (all items in their catalogue that I personally have a hard time 'clicking' with). Though I find that harder to take personally, I respect the opinion. But I would add that I think you also have to at least appreciate, if not full-out like, Surfin' USA, Drive-In, Pom-pom Play Girl, I'm Bugged At My Old Man, The Girl From New York City, How She Boogalooed It, Suzie Cincinatti, Child Of Winter, It's OK, That Same Song, Solar System, and Matchpoint Of Our Love. Oh, and Beaches In Mind.

I know, opinionated. Just my two cents...

Sail Plane sounds too doped out for my tastes.  Yeah, yeah I know that was the point, etc, etc!  Between that and the unfinished production, I find it to be nothing more than a curiosity.  

Loop de Loop goes for a more whimsical, light hearted sound, and it almost succeeds.  I say almost, because I find the EH mix to be a little too busy.  Ok, I'd even venture to say overblown.  I can see (hear) what Al was going for, and there's some pretty cool stuff going on in there (I like that Leslie effect on the guitar, for example), but all those sound effects practically hijack the song.  

Back to SPS, I'm curious.  What are people's thoughts on what they did to the drums on the MiC mix?  I know the whole song is loaded with effects now, but the drum effect puts me in a bad mood!  >:(

I really like the fan mix someone made that takes the verses from Sail Plane Song and the choruses from Loop De Loop.  It works very well together.

I want to know the facts about the new mix of Sail Plane. How much of that was new, and how much was taken from the original tapes?

I love Brian's demo...had they put it on 20/20, it would have spun some heads

Brian's demo is the only version of SPS I've heard. It's so great that I'd kind of hate to hear it changed.

"Doped out"? Intentionally? Can't say I hear that at all.

qwerty

I'm thinking nothing is new except the mixing. I like both versions, although coming to "Loop" first in 1978 gives that an edge: in general I prefer the 'finished' product over a demo, but truthfully, I prefer the live version. Now that is something special.

I love the new SPS! Even if it isn't what Brian originally intended. Fan mixes can be cool. But this is an official fan mix. :)

I think he's referring to the baseline during the chorus of SPS. How it sort of just glugs along. The feel of the song is pretty dopey when put up against LDL though in general.

Tbh, never cared much for Sail Plane Song. But the new, Made In California mix totally changed my mind! So cool & hypnotic, the whistling now sounds more like UFO! I'll tell you what, if SPS was released with those "ahead-of-its-time" studio effects in the 60s, it would have made any psychedelic band famous in no time! 

That being said, I'll still go for goofy & whimsical Loop De Loop. As was noted earlier, the vocals are great there! Arrangement-wise, I'm especially fond of the honky tonk piano; it adds some humorous tinge. Though the whole arrangement is 1 Xtended entertainment.

Oh dear.  Sail Plane Song is the greatest of the formerly unreleased by Brian.

It's a pure and perfect transport to a zeitgeist.  You are back there...seeing the fly resting on the window sill
and the quality of the sunlight on that particular day.

And the harmonics. Brilliant.

"Loop De Loop" is a bit like going to the circus and seeing all the acts performed simultaneously. Too busy. Hearing "Sail Plane Song" on Endless Harmony was a revelation.

Excellent description, Mr. K! Wouldn't say it better & in such a tasteful laconic style.

IIrc, the circus is a crowded & noisy place in itself, so the song's "busyness" perfectly fits it.

Since they messed up with the original demo, I think flying in mike's "Loop de Loop" chant would be interesting.