The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi,

Heard a new/recently recorded version on radio today with Al and Mike on lead and what sounded like Brian on the bvs/chorus . Lyrics are different to the 70s version. The DJ announced it as by the Beach Boys, so is it related to the reunion?

Not this version, perchance ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkJcaeXd36c (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkJcaeXd36c)

Tragedy they ruined this badass song for KTSA.

I don't like this version anywhere near as much as the KTSA version. It's still a good song, but the phrasing in the verses in all weird.

Agreed. Al's folk n' country bent produced some nice tunes, but to my ears he needs a little help with some of the lyrics to get them to scan better.

sounds like the original poster is familiar with the bootleg version and heard the KTSA version today?

Always loved Brian's high part in this version. Probably one of his best post '74 falsetto vocals. Not that I've heard any of the '74 stuff.

See also: him mauling On Broadway.

I don't think Al is a 'great' singer. He sings everything essentially in the same way, with not much nuance or 'feeling'. He just sings it like Al 'Gee Whiz!' Jardine!

His Help Me Rhonda vocal, though, is outstanding.

Yeah, and he's got other great leads too - Cotton Fields, California, say - but his voice just doesn't adapt very well like the rest. I mean, Brian can croon if he wants to. Mike can scream if he wants to. Carl is, well, Carl, and Dennis is so expressive..... Al just seems to have one setting.

I like the song, but man does Mike sound old.

The downside of YouTube.

The bootleg version is stunning. The KTSA version is dreadful. The lyrics on the former fit perfectly, on the latter they scan really awkwardly. Also, the production on the KTSA version just sucks all the life and soul out of the song, particuarly the chorus. Bootleg on this one, ever time.

 >:( take it back

Thanks for the extra info,actually i heard the original version back in the mid 90s .

They somehow managed to make the KTSA version sound both thin and overproduced at the very same time. The chorus sounds as if they were all pinching their noses.

Didn't they play this at Knebworth? Would love to hear this!

The lyrics are better in the released version but it's horribly overproduced.

TASTE IS SUBJECTIVE. I love the KTSA version.

LALALALALALA I can't hear you!!!!!

I prefer the original version. I think the lyrics needed to be fine tuned a little bit, especially the first verse. "On my porch thinking about the torch" is awkward but has potential. I also like the live version on 7/4/80.

Alan Boyd made this observation, circa 2002:

"They DID play “Santa Ana Winds” but it’s kind of a mess actually, it was a last minute inspiration, no real rehearsal, Al and Bruce are reading the lyrics from a piece of paper, and neither Carl or Brian seem very sure how to play the song. Also there’s no bass so that probably won’t make the cut."

Which is just how I remember it –  and if I remember correctly it was Al who went scuttling off to fetch the lyric sheet.

You've inspired me to dig out the Stone Age release, MFP, to see how it plays on there!

I like them both, but what always killed me about the KTSA version, was that spoken diddy: "We have a weather condition, ..." I thought if there was I way  could edit that out, it'd be a great song from that era

The KTSA version has a "Holland" sensibility with the Harmonica - It fits nicely with "California Saga".

No...no, you wouldn't. Trust me.  ;D

don't get me started!  youtube, wikipedia, facebook ... the world is coming to an end !

man, the thrill of hunting down rare tapes, trading through fan mailing lists w/ pen pals ... getting that cassette dub and feeling like you really had something special ...

now replaced with typing in a couple of words on a virtual TV set !

somehow, I can't imagine feeling the same sense of value.

Well, it ain't that bad, considering that:

1. Al didn't mess up the lyrics, and

2. We are spared Mike's jarring nasal interjections which spoil the studio version.

Is it just me, or does it seem like Alan Boyd was talking about footage of the performance? Now, that I would love to see.

Quite sure that he's referring to the video. More Knebworth footage would be most welcome!

I've always wondered about that Good Timin' clip. The full "raw footage" of the concert doesn't circulate, does it? Somebody once posted a video on YouTube of California Girls from Knebworth with an alternate audio track than what was officially released. You can quite clearly hear Brian playing part of Rhapsody In Blue before the song starts.

AFAIK the entire footage doesn't circulate, apart from that Good Timin' clip. Several songs were omitted due to the performances being deemed sub-par ( In My Room, Good Timin', Catch a Wave, Some of Your Love, I Write The Songs, Santa Ana Winds and Wouldn't It Be Nice). Although it appears on the CD, "Happy Birthday" didn't make it to DVD due to the cost of clearing the sync/publishing rights.

That's your opinion. The KTSA version is actually my favorite Post-Sunflower track. It only takes me a bit of effort to ignore the pointless spoken bit over the intro...

A couple of years ago I uploaded that Good Timin vid on YouTube. Last year when my old YT-account was "closed" I re-uploaded it on my other channel (HollandSmile), but I also noticed someone else was so nice to have uploaded it as well (definitely downloaded from my old channel as it's the same edit I made, and it's exactly the same time-length).

Anyway: the reason I uploaed it, is because I have a raw footage recording of that Knebworth show on video. It's not a complete set, but there is one song on it not available on the official DVD, and that's Good Timin'.

this is on my video:
-   California Girls
-   Sloop John B.
-   Darlin’
-   Good Timin’
-   God Only Knows
-   Be True To Your School
-   Little Deuce Coupe
-   Surfer Girl
-   Help Me, Rhonda
-   Rock ‘N’ Roll Music
-   I Get Around
-   Surfin’ U.S.A.
-   Good Vibrations
-   Barbara Ann
-   Fun, Fun, Fun

I like either set of lyrics but the later does have a bad production and Mike sings his line poorly.

I hate the lyrics in the released version, their a real case of trying to hard.

That's the best part!

Oh yeah! I totally miss paying 30 dollars for a bootleg, having no idea what I'll get, and finding superior quality copies a year later!

There are some sentimental things I miss. I miss recording songs off the radio (or the radio playing anything I actually enjoyed), I miss recording television shows onto VHS (or there being anything tolerable on television), I miss a lot of things.

However, the internet/technology should not be condemned for making people able to experience these things in a slightly different, much more convenient way. In fact, these things can very much be used to your advantage, there's a lot to gain while only losing a little bit of the trivial stuff. Digital kicks so much ass and only makes me feel closer to my past than I could without it.