The Smiley Smile Message Board

imo it's missing outtakes from the vocal-sessions where you can hear how the guys worked. Something like this, which I just heard for the first time (iirc):

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


Where can one find this stuff? Is it on the Sea of tunes-bootlegs?

Hope that the Smile-box will have some vocal sessions

The other thing wrong is that there wasn't vinyl. I know Leggo My Ego had a few neat vocal things not on the box.

It's a wonder Al didn't try to rip Brian's head off during that!

I could listen to this stuff all day, and yeah it would have been an awesome addition to the box set - if it was proposed at all, perhaps the idea was vetoed somewhere along the way? 

The Youtube link you provided is on Sea Of Tunes Unsurpassed Masters (SOT) Vol. 13 disc 4. There's quite a bit of stuff on SOT 13 & SOT 14 that aren't on the Pet Sounds box set. There's even a few things on SOT 12 and "Leggo My Ego" that didn't make it to the Pet Sounds box. As far as I can see, they compiled the best stuff for inclusion in the P.S. box. I'm sure it wasn't easy to edit down all the sessions into two CD's - there has to be compromises somewhere. I would maybe have liked a couple more takes of Hang On To Your Ego. They could have gone apeshit with Good Vibrations, there's so much stuff, but limited it maybe for another day. But I thought they did an outstanding job with the box release.

'Cept for L.A. Smog, Mr. Sandman, Psychedelic talk, The Syncopated Clock, The Chipmunk Song, studio chatter, and joke telling. Those shoulda been included in the box.  Oh, and 7 + minutes of Row Row Your Boat.......  ;D

I don't think the HOTYE session with "Chuck, can we bring a horse in here?" was included in the box as it was in the 1990 P.S. CD release, was it?

Is it just me, or did Brian's voice sound much older than he actually was in this recording? Like, Love You-era voice?

He sounds like the Pied Piper from the far away land of night!

The Chipmunk Song is a 1970 session, why it's on the Leggo My Ego boot is anyone's guess, except maybe the impromptu God Only Knows one-off.

i don't know why more vocal session stuff isn't included

1971

I love the Ego-vocal session where Carl and Mike are doing the harmonies and Mike can't do his part. He keeps messing it up and after a little while you hear the door open and shut. Brian's entering and does the whole Mike part while his walking.

Carl: Where were you?
Brian: I was out peeling oranges  :P

Also the vocal session with only Mike on this song is very funny. He's pretty arrogant and makes fun of the melody and lyrics, which probably irritated Brian. When he first starts singing and messes up I think Brian's shouting "Mike, f*** off!"

Love these vocal sessions

Is that also on Leggo my ego (or whatever it's called)? Gotta hear that stuff. The vocal sessions are so important, I don't understand why they didn't include some of them.

Isn't it so that the box set had (had) to appeal to enough potential buyers to get at least to a financial break-even point? I mean: including a substantial dose of vocal sessions would not only have required one extra CD (I think), but also have increased the price. And: as it is, it is pretty well-structured, even to non-insiders. Which probably would not be so any more if there'd been an hour or more of vocal rehearsals, attempts, and banter.

Or maybe not, seeing as it dates to 1967.  ;D

Somehow by only reading the title of the thread I imagined that "the only thing wrong with the Pet Sounds-boxset" is that "it was not the Smile boxset."...

Can you imagine how many disgruntled employees we're gonna have on this board after the Smile box comes out?  I remember way back when after the Pet Sounds box came out, that some were still not satisfied and sounded like finicky old ladies.

The late Rick Nelson once said, "You can't please everyone so you gotta please yourself".  Does that apply here? I dunno.   ::)

Exactly - the sound of bitching is going to be deafening. I wouldn't blame Capitol and BRI if, after reading the boards, they just said "F*** this, whatever we do we're going to get grief, these people are nuts, let's just forget about it". Wouldn't blame them at all.

The only thing I was not too happy about was the size of the interview booklet. I can understand why it was that size, and I'm glad they put it in there, but it is a tad small - as is the font. Other than my very small complaint I loved everything about the boxset - it is still my favorite music-related purchase I have ever made.

You know I was being facetious.  And.......you can't trust bootleggers to be accurate with their timelines and information.

Come to think of it, another track from the 1990 Pet Sounds CD wasn't included in the box - "Unreleased Backgrounds". What the hell was wrong with those people? But seriously, I really liked that little snippet and played it over and over when it came out.

Hehe... imaging Capitol putting out an official press release on July 12, stating: a diligent investigation of the website known as the Smileysmile.net board made it clear to us, who intended putting out the announced Smile Sessions Box Set by the Beach Boys, that the whole costly enterprise would have been to no one's satisfaction and avail. We, the Capitol Board of Directors, learned that the originally targeted fan base consists of grumpy and dissatisfied obsessives, who seem to be lacking any enjoyment in their lives. This psychological deficit cannot ever be repaired by a box set such as we intended to release.

Instead, Capitol will shortly be putting out a fine Beach Boys compilation album, titled: 'The Beach Boys Summer Companion For Real And Ordinary Nice People', with all those lovely hits by the group. As a bonus, the track: Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again' will be on the triple disk set.

I thought one of the best elements of the PS box was the smaller booklet which had photos and comments from the Wrecking Crew musicians who played on the tracks. This was the first time I had seen many of those period photos, and it put an image with the names.

The vocals-only mixes were stunning, and I amazed many a musician and casual fan by playing them the Wouldn't It Be Nice vocals and watching as they were shocked and amazed by what they heard.

The box struck a nice balance for the die-hard fan and the casual fan. As I said elsewhere the raw, unedited session tapes are something I'd buy and enjoy to no end, but the casual fan may not want to hear the same song being hashed out in the studio over 22 takes.

I wish, and this goes for Smile too, there was a way to put the raw, unedited stuff up for purchase as well.

I get the impression that most of the hard to please die hard fans that frequent these boards still have positive things to say about the PS box, which is a miracle in itself. If Mark and Alan can organise the Smile Sessions with half the success of the PS box it will be a major achievement.

I don't think that the non-fans are the ones that are expected to buy such a box. That's for Beach Boys-fans or fans of the album. And since it is a making-of (and called Pet Sounds sessions) such an important part just has to be on there imo. It's the vocals that make the album a Beach Boys-album. I'm very glad with the boxset, just saying that something is missing.

Very true. 

At some point the issues of expressing personal opinions have to be respected as well: How many of us read critics' reviews of albums, shows, or movies before experiencing it ourselves? Are those paid critics more deserving of our consideration than someone on this board who might not have a glowing opinion of something related to this Smile set?

The fact that there are Smile and BB's fans who are knowledgeable, who have a passion for the music, and who have strong opinions should be appreciated by those making the decisions. I think some of those opinions coming from message boards and fan sites could help improve or at least add to the product being assembled. I don't think suggesting everyone should fall into lock-step positive opinion on this box set is very productive, and I don't think fans expressing opinions will in any way derail the project. They should be counting how many fans are expressing opinions and then add up how many sales of this set that will equal, in my opinion.

if you care enough to write about it, chances are you'll be buying it.

In parts, yeah.

I was wondering.... do any other vocal session tapes for PS tracks such as the ones for "Hang On To Your Ego" even exist?  I thought most of the vocal work was done on one piece of tape... i.e. each successive take was erased when a new one was recorded.

In addition to the Pet Sounds box, have you heard SOT 13 and 14?  There are some takes of "Ego" on 13.

Pet Sounds box, Leggo my Ego. Pet Sounds Rehearsals, and SOT 13 & 14 are pretty much it for sessions and alternate/vocal/instrumental takes.