The Smiley Smile Message Board

Apologises if the info I'm after is common place to everyone else here, but having been trawling the net for info on BB rarities I've been reading a lot on the Unsurprassed Masters recordings. There seems to be loads of these available, spanning all the interesting parts of their career. Have they ever been officially released? If so, in what format, and where? It is simply now my lifes mission: I MUST OBTAIN THESE RECORDINGS! ALL OF THEM. Advise and assistance most welcome.

None of these are legal recordings.

Yep, they're all boots.  Of course, pretty much any Beach Boys bootleg is just a google search away so you shouldn't have any trouble finding them.

They aren't legal, but they provide huge insight into the BBs production process or their live shows.

No-one here would stoop so low as to own such nefarious products. Especially the individually numbered limited edition boxes. No sirreee!

Seconded. I listened never heard to several of these revelatory illicit recordings. They are great criminal!

My researches would be so much easier had I not the moral strength to strenuously avoid acquiring this material.

That being the case, I very much wont be making any efforts at all to track any of this material down. Especially not the limited-edition boxed bootlegs. Any tips or assistance in not tracking down said limited-edition boxed bootlegs will not of course be welcome in any way whatsoever.

Sea of Who.?

Exactly, Mr. Wilson. ;)

Damn bootleggers.  Stealing from the artists is just despicable.

Well done, young man! With this moral strength, you will become healthy, wealthy, and wise.

I too was about to pursue the SOT stuff, but I'm now hoping legit releases that match the SOT material may be part of the 50th releases to come. Even if it's another expensive huge box set it would be much easier and likely less money than chasing after all the SOT discs. Do you folks think this might happen?

Also, I have "heard" 3 takes of Do You Wanna Dance from SOT and it is just as amazing to hear the way Brian and company put that together as the Smile stuff.

You are aware that TSS box officially released  late last year has almost everything from the SOT series  about Smile right.? But TSS has it in pristine sound. Boots don't..

I'm pretty sure that Capitol will punt some great stuff our way this year and maybe next but I doubt there'll ever be the potential sales to inspire them to put out a series like SoT.  That ran to dozens of CDs, with take after take of tracks that wouldn't interest Joe Public  and probably wouldn't even attract some generalist rock fans.  Only diehard lunatics would buy the whole lot, and give them repeated listens…     ::)

One word: downloads.

Nooooo… touchy-feely tangible stuff with sleeve notes, pretty pictures and the smeeelllll of CD…  ooh that smell!

While I normally argue against downloads, for unreleased stuff I wouldn't mind paying for downloads I can then burn to disc.

My new business plan is to produce a spray that smells of pure virgin vinyl. To be included with the 2012 reissue box sets.

Thirded. I've 'heard' these are an absolute treasure to have, hearing how songs have been built up vocals stacked up, and the chance to hear the voices/instrumentation clearly and in hi quality has to rank as perhaps one of the most criminally amazing boxsets ever, so i've heard

Ok, ok. Can we stop going on about them now please? You're making me jealous! Re the Do You Wanna Dance tracks, I've actually got them on a bootleg cd (which i bought with cash from a legitimate record seller) and they're amazing. If that's what the rest of the Sea of Tunes CDs have to offer then i'm afraid I may just have to risk potential jail time...

http://www.beachboys.com/rarities.html (http://www.beachboys.com/rarities.html)

Took me close to five years to get all of them. Was it worth it? I think so! Sometimes I use to listen to them before I would go to bed and sometimes I would dream I'd be at the sessions haha.

From what...friends....tell me...because, after all, I have no idea how to hear this stuff....there are plenty of good highlights on the SOT CDs:

- Brian coaching Al practically on every line during the "I Know There's An Answer" vocal overdub sessions
- a voice-over announcing the vocalists on "Summertime Blues" as "Carl and Ni[c]k" despite people saying it's David Marks
- a highly-reverbed cough during the faux-Hawaiian chant on "Do You Like Worms" -- and my...friends...say they are just not used to hearing DYLW without it
- From what I'm told, there's an "Ode to Billy Joe" parody worth listening to, performed by The Pickle Brothers, who were an opening act for the Lei'd In Hawaii shows
- Outtakes you'll not hear on other sources, such as "Sandy, She Needs Me" and "Jingle Bells"

But that's only conjecture.

fantastic page AGD

Which of these would be considered the best, with regards mainly to studio chatter and interesting takes, excluding the SMiLE box?

I love the TODAY sessions.. To hear all the stuff going on in those tracks..  It was quite the production.


...or so I've been told.

They're all good.  Collect 'em all!  Trade 'em with your friends!  If you don't want to do that, find the "Best of Unsurpassed Masters - Sea Of Tunes" 2CD set.

A little guy I once knew got many of these after a google search or two. Plenty of people, no one I know, prefer physical copies of this sort of material but Might not know where to look.

Prime Ministers do have their Post Menopausal Periods of Maladaptive Painful Months whilst Periodically Meddling with Primitive Medicines to decrease their Pressure to Move on in life.

Possibly... maybe. Perhaps. Mmmm...  ::)

Except I believe that I read somewhere that some of TSS set had to be lifted from boots where the original tapes were missing.

I think that's in the SMiLE sessions book.