The Smiley Smile Message Board

It is a bit odd that Carl is the one who called off the mid-1990s album sessions, and if I recall correctly, that Carl was partially responsible for the delay in the release of the Pet Sounds Sessions box set.

I seem to remember reading that the whole band, including Carl, had reservations about the material on Pet Sounds and SMiLe. This is in contrast to the popular view that Mike was the only one who had a problem with the material. After things really went south for Brian post-SMiLe, Brian was lucky to have Carl as a stalwart supporter, following through for him on production (Surfs Up) mixdown (Love You) and all sorts of other areas that Brian was no longer interested in or capable of handling.

Fast forward to the 1990s... Carl had tried a commercially unsuccessful solo career the previous decade, and then fell back in with the Beach Boys Touring Machine, apparently all but giving up on the more artistic side of things. Brian's memoir clearly was very hurtful to Carl and Audree, and Carl had to enter a protracted legal battle to save his brother. By the mid-90s, Brian was out of Landy's clutches and ready to make an album to potentially cap off the Beach Boys' career.

Casual fans sometimes ask me why the Paley/Was sessions never came to fruition for The Beach Boys, and they typically assume that it had something to do with Mike. When I tell them that Carl walked out on the sessions, they are usually surprised. Between Brian's mooted Pet Sounds Symphonic Tour (tabled by Carl, who had reservations about Brian's ability to sing, and likely also Brian's ability to tour), his new material for The Beach Boys, and his abilities as a producer, Carl seems to have cast a vote of "no confidence" in all of these areas.

I also read somewhere - and I am not sure if this is apocryphal - that Carl was partially responsible for the delay in the release of the Pet Sounds Sessions, as in his view, it glorified Brian at the expense of the rest of the group.

Was all of this mainly due to Carl being hurt and exhausted by the Landy era and Brian's memoir? I can understand Carl feeling betrayed when he had put so much effort into helping Brian over the years, only to be attacked in his brother's memoir, and to then be forced to go to court to get Brian away from Landy. Clearly, Carl always loved and protected his brother, and I can only imagine how stressful these events must have been.

I would also imagine that dealing with his cancer diagnosis and treatment made things a lot tougher for Carl emotionally around this time. It seems like Mike, Al, and Bruce were ready to play nice with Brian and let bygones be bygones, but Carl was not in the right place for it emotionally. Then again, perhaps he really just did not have confidence in Brian's abilities anymore and didn't want to see his brother embarass himself.

Looking back, it is certainly understandable if Carl, in spite of his love for Brian, was bitter towards him. I would venture that as Brian's brother, bandmate, and longtime helper, Carl had more of a reason to harbor these feelings than anyone else in the band, including Mike. He also likely had the most vested interest in protecting Brian from an ignominious public spectacle, which he may have expected when Brian broached the idea of doing a Pet Sounds tour.

In "Catch a Wave" by Peter Ames Carlin, he describes Brian and Carl getting together for the Super Bowl before Carl passed. It seems like their relationship was just on its way to becoming 'normalized' again.

I imagine that if Carl had lived another decade, these feelings would have passed, and he would have been extraordinarily proud of Brian's achievements. It is normal to us now that Brian is an established solo artist who releases albums every couple of years and tours regularly, but in the mid-1990s, nobody would have bet on Brian finishing a single live show or making a new album of original material more than once every decade.

I feel a little bit skeevy writing all of this, as Carl was clearly a private person and this delves somewhat into his personal relationship with Brian. However, as a fan who is interested in the group's changing dynamic throughout their career, this period is of great interest, and I think we can discuss it in a respectful, objective manner. Carl was a peacemaker between various factions throughout the band's career, yet by the mid-90s, he was the one who tabled their new album.

Some of my facts may be off, and if so, I'm expecting our resident experts to jump in. I am wondering if anyone else has some insight to share about this period?

The q word?

Board filter? ???

Some accounts from the time ...

http://smileysmile.net/OLDlibrary/timeline.html

There are some good older threads about this, too.

Interesting. Families are most certainly complicated things, and our heroes are all but human.

This is a colloquialism that has nothing to do with homosexuality; it is the original meaning of the word "queer."

Also, the best quote from Brian ever:

"I just had to get through that goshdarn trial! I totally went crazy over that! Lots of stress! But I got through it. That's how it works. You've got hurdles, you know? A hurdle to me represents lots of mental effort and extreme mental stress. It's like a woman having a baby. What stress! To go through that! And for that big baby to come out of that little vagina. NOBODY KNOWS HOW THAT'S DONE! Someone can try to explain it, but you see the woman afterwards and she's cool. With artistic things, it's the same thing. Art doesn't come easy. It never did!"

^ Yup.

Anyway...
 I've always felt that Carl's decision making was affected by his illness...he was starting to look 'off' around Stars & Stripes, so the timeline would fit.

Love it.

Yes, and I can certainly sympathize with what I imagine to be Carl's feelings during this era. As fans, we think "get it together, you're The Beach Boys, time is running out!" But reality intrudes, as it does for all of us. Life, death, and human relationships are seldom wrapped up in a neat package the way we'd like.

Wirestone, thanks for the link. The earlier discussions sort of render this thread redundant.

Brilliant

Yes, this quote sums up Brian's worldview neatly! It is one of my favorites.

Not really! This is one of my favorite periods of BB history -- so much seemed possible, and then it ... didn't.

I think in retrospect, we'll see the 95-98 period as a turning point for the band. It was what finally sent Brian off on a solo career, for one thing, which he never entirely managed during the 80s. It led to Al being exiled. And, of course, Carl passed.

You also had this huge pile of work by Brian and Andy that was basically abandoned. Some of it has surfaced, but a lot of prime unreleased material remains. It's some of Brian's finest solo writing, and it disappeared at the same time.

Likewise, you see Melinda becoming an important factor in Brian's creative life. She had stayed somewhat hands-off during the mid-90s, but she clearly decided by the end of this time that BW's career needed more concerted direction.

Just think of where all the principals in this story were in 1994 -- and then where they all were in 1999. It's an astonishing time of change. Things then more or less stayed static for a dozen years. Then a lot of stuff started to shift last year, and here we are today!

I always heard the story about the delay regarding PSS came down to the fact that Mike took his sweet time in penning his introduction for the booklet?  Incorrect?

Oh I didn't mean it in that context, just trying to understand the title of the thread.

More of a 'lost in translation' thing I guess.

So--upon reading that old timeline--Brian was interested in using Jellyfish as his touring band as an alternate to the 'Mints?

Wow. That, too, could have been amazing in a totally different way.

But sadly: Jellyfish was as contentious as the Beach Boys themselves, so that couldn't have lasted long. (Hell, even The Grays barely lasted any time at all.)

carl didn't look "right" at the big red boat concert in may 1995. one could tell by just looking at him something was wrong.

Somebody's hung up on the word "queer". Ultra sensitive, aren't we?? The word Queer as defined: "Strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different. A questionable nature or character".

"Carl was partially responsible for the delay in the release of the Pet Sounds Sessions, as in his view, it glorified Brian at the expense of the rest of the group".

That's the first I ever heard/read that. Mike was primarily responsible for the year and 1/2 delay because of the bridge of Wouldn't It Be Nice and for what was written in the essay in the book - that he wasn't given enough credit. My understanding was that Carl just didn't like one of the mixes or mastering of one of the songs.

Oh, OK. Here is the definition:

queer the pitch   Vrb Phrs. To interfere with or spoil chances of success, usually deliberately.

Although regarding the last part, I am not positing that Carl deliberately wanted to spoil the group's chances of success.

As I remember there was concern from the whole band [maybe] for some of the recorded and written material. Also as I remember many Capitol projects were delayed at that time, not just the BBs' project; something about financial trouble or being bought by EMI or some sort of company wide problem.

Does anybody hasppen to have any pictures of that show that can be posted? Or maybe just some pictures in general from 1995-96?

My understanding is that Carl's concern was the quality of some of the mixes (probably minor things), not the "liner" notes.

Landy did a lot of damage to the brothers' relationship by keeping Brian apart from the family. They were just beginning the reconciliation process at the time in question.

Yes Tony Asher has said on numerous occasions that during the recording of Pet sounds, as soon as Brian left the room, the entire band started to trash talk the songs.

Not Dennis. He states quite plainly that his career in the Beach Boys was all a game to him, until he attended the tracking session for God Only Knows. That's when he "got it". Bit of a life changing moment apparently.

From Peter Ames Carlin's book Catch A Wave :

"[But] Carl's death had changed something. For the first time in his life, Brian no longer had to measure up to - or feel guilty about disappointing - his family's expectations. It was terrible to feel so alone in the world. But in a strange way, the death of his brother had also made him free."

I've always interpreted this as having outlived his family, Brian felt that he could undertake all the projects he wanted to without worrying what they (especially Carl) would think, i.e. touring Pet Sounds, Smile and the subsequent solo albums. He felt that he could stand up to Mike, being pretty much estranged from the corporate side of BRI, but he definitely always sought the approval of Carl, leader and musical director in his lifetime of the touring band and keeper of  the flame. The sadness at the loss of his brothers cannot be measured, but from that point on, Brian felt he could take more charge of his own destiny than he could've done previously.

Good post. When the current Reunion was starting to happen some people wondered if this would take place were Carl alive.

And regarding Brian's musical relationship with Carl... not the most accurate source to be sure, but I remember an interview with Hal Blaine in BBFUN (mid 80's). He talked about how much Carl was the person in the group Brian argued the most with (and probably his trusted consultant, may I add) and he'd seen them come to deep disagreements that with most people normally would end up in a fight... But not with these two.

The 1968 that was posted here in the beginning of the year illustrates Brian's loving regard for his baby brother.

I can easily imagine that being portrayed as an alcoholic and suggesting he was responsible for Dennis' death in the WIBN book must have felt like a stab.

I don't see why Carl would have objected to the current reunion tour. I think he would have welcomed it. He would have insisted on perfection and been the band leader he'd always been.

I don't think this would be called a reunion tour if Carl were alive. I think Brian would have rejoined the touring band at some point before now.

Here's some great reading about the period
http://smileysmile.net/OLDlibrary/timeline.html

Dr Lenny, I haven't read that book yet but have heard about rumours that Carl was an alcoholic - is there any truth in this at all? Or did he just drink the same as every rock and roll star would have?

As far as I know, Carl was a pretty active social drinker late in his life.

In one of the songs on the Beckley/Lamm/Wilson album. he sings "I quit smoking but I drink too much", which might lend some support to the rumours -- and given the addictive personalities in his family, and the way that kind of thing seems to be at least partly hereditary, it would be very surprising if he wasn't.

That said, if he was, he was far more functional than most -- I've never heard any stories of alcohol impacting his behaviour adversely either onstage or off.

I kinda agree. But I don't think about Pet Sounds and Smile - btw I don't remember reading that Brian wanted to tour PS in the 90s but Bruce - but about stuff that doesn't live up to Brian's/the Beach Boys' name like GIOMH (the recordings, not the songs, those are good). Or even doin' nothing but just take his time off. In some way Carl's death gave Brian the freedom to be as lazy as he wanted to be without having to think about the Beach Boys. That is not to say that Brian would be in any way happy about Carl passing on. It's just that with him (and Audree) the last "symbols" were gone of what was responsible in some way for Brian's problems - his family.


And I agree that with Carl the Beach Boys probably wouldn't have broken up and therefor there would've been no need for a reunion. In fact I don't know if Brian would even have left the band which doesn't mean they would have a active recording carreer. I doubt that.   

Carl drank excessively during his marriage breakup.  The Australian gig in '78 is proof.

I do remember that shortly after Carl passed away, Mike stated during an interview that he was surprised Carl continued to drink in spite of going through radiation treatments for Cancer.

i don't want this to sound like i'm casting stones for i used to be able to really put the brew away myself. but i started to have the pleasure of meeting the group after shows and hotel rooms starting in 1975. carl was always very friendly but usually had a big bottle of wine with him or near him when i was around. i never even raised an eyebrow when seeing that. heck, he even gave me a glass or two at times.

I remember an inteview with Mike in which he said Carl liked to drink a lot of wine. And he was talking about the 90s

Of course this was before the lawsuits and his solo career got going:

March, 1999. Brian tells a reporter he'd be in favor of a Beach Boy reunion:


Still, for all of the positive things happening in his life right now, there is one thing missing: The Beach Boys. It's a complex relationship made all the more distant by Carl's passing. And it's clear that it's something Brian would like to see patched up. "It's pretty much out of touch at this point," he says of his relationship with Love, Jardine and Bruce Johnston. "Because Carl died and, of course, that kind of loused us up a little bit. But it's OK." Wilson says he would welcome a reunion with his former bandmates, adding he has "a hunch" that one day they will perform together again. "There's no plan," he says. "but if all goes well, I'll do it."

Actually I've often thought that on the LPs from 15 Big Ones through MIU Carl sounds positively drunk. From LA on though he sounds sober and powerful again. I think his worst days were over by then.

Yeah, I totally agree with you on that. On "Good Timin" from L.A. (Light Album) he sounds great again, but on stuff like "Talk to Me" or "Sweet Sunday Kinda Love" he sounds pretty inebriated. And actually, even though it was an L.A. session, he sounds pretty sleepy on "California Feelin'."

Carl is a fascinating cat.  So much going on behind the beard, and very zealous about his privacy and maintaining a separate public face, apparently.  I've only heard a few "behind the scenes" stories (as compared to the other guys), but they're all very intriguing. 

The one thing I always think about in the mid '90s period is -- look at all the brouhaha around the reunion now, and how much work and time commitment is required, and that's for something that has been thrown together fairly quickly.  It may have simply been a commitment of added stress Carl did not want to take on, particularly if he was starting to feel seriously ill.  If you're the guy that's got to deal with the X factor of a new album and dealing with the politics of having Brian back in the band again, and possibly filling a mediator/quality control role, it may just not have been how he wanted to spend part of the last few years of his life.

The closest I ever got to "getting" Carl was hearing a snippet of an outtake from the "campfire sessions" for their 1988 TV show.  I don't know if it's been booted or not.  The guys are all hanging around shooting the sh*t.  Carl says very little.  Mike and Brian start reminiscing about "Luau."  Brian says something about the song, Mike responds with something like, "I thought it was pretty interesting," and Carl suddenly pipes up, with authority:  "I thought it was pretty shitty."

It seemed to bring him into focus for a second.  He stayed affably quiet and in the background, went along with what was going on, until the moment came that something wasn't to his liking, he just shut it down, bluntly.

Poor "Luau" :(

Agreed. On "Love You" (the middle eight of "I'll Bet He's Nice" and his utterly gorgrous vocals on "The Night Was So Young," he sounds inebriated. On "Adult Child," it is worse, especially "Everybody Wants to Live."

Carl has usually been portrayed as the band member that worked the closest with Brian in the studio. WIBN had a different take on things, because Landy had to make Carl look as bad as possible in that book. I wouldn't be surprised if Carl was reluctant to put Brian in control in the studio again after the disaster that was 15 Big Ones/Love You. These were supposed to be the albums that re-established the group in the 70's album market. Instead, they pretty much sealed the fate of the band that had become an oldies act.

Regarding the drinking, somebody on here once told a story about seeing the group in concert 1996(I believe), and that Carl's cup was continuously being filled with beer for the entire concert. I hope I got the details right, or at least the overall gist of the story.

No argument with 15 B/O's, but Love You is no disaster, by a long shot(a really, really long shot).

Love You was a disaster, not artistically but commercially.

Agreed to some extent, although US top 60/UK top 30 isn't too bad going from a commercial point of view, is it (happy to be corrected)?

I get that Love You didn't set the world on fire back in the day and haul in mountains of cash, but 35 years on we can probably forgo the economic rationalism and assess the album on it's artistic merit.

And Love You did not seal the band's fate as an oldies act.

I think it was Carl who sent Brian off the frontline to the side behind a piano.

Some of Carl's views may seem harsh, but also realistic.

The way I see things, an album that peaks at #53 is a commercial disaster, it seems to me that quite a lot of newer fans who had gotten into the Boys via Endless Summer would have been majorly put out by the one-two punch of 15 Big Ones & Love You - 15 Big Ones being just plain bad and Love You being way to weird to be a true commercial success.

Are you sure that anything that made the US Top 100, or UK Top 30, some 35 years ago was a "commercial disaster"? You could say poor performer, or even "average", but not "commercial disaster" (let's reserve that for SIP).

As far as the 1-2 punch thing goes; we know after 15 B/Os, Capitol slipped in Live in London (off the back of 15 biggies chart "performance") - generating sales and interest in the BBs aimed at the the Endless Summer set, and prior to Love You.

Yeah, Love you is left-center - from a personal perspective, I bought it unheard in '83, when I was 12, having bought the Beach Boys greatest hits, Surfin' Saf/USA vinyl twofer, followed by PS/Smiley vinyl twofer. 

I got it from a cockney geezer, flogging punch-outs in downtown Brisbane so he could get back to London for Christmas.  Went home and threw it on the 3-in-1, sucked it in and loved it like any other BB product you can name (bar SIP) - so, I don't get why Love You could be called a disaster; by any definition.

You know, over the years I've read a LOT about The Beach Boys in most of the books, magazine and newspaper articles, message boards, and other journalism/web sites/blogs on the Internet, and this is the very first time I've read someone suggesting that Carl Wilson was inebriated during the recording of a song(s). I must have missed something somewhere. Would someone please direct me to a source for this "info"?

That's fine, we don't have to agree but I still stick by what I said, a #53 album following a #8 album is, in my opinion a commercial disaster although no-where near the commercial disaster of Sunflower. At least I'm not one of the people who refer to Pet Sounds as a commercial disaster, that one has never made sense to me.

I've seen that happen, but it wasn't Carl's cup that was being filled -- it was someone else's (different people on different occasions).

Well, the KTSA/BB85 twofer liner notes, for starters. And plenty of other sources as well.

OK, lessee. I plucked this out of the KTSA/BB85 liner notes (written by AGD). It refers to the song, "Livin' With A Heatache". This is all I could find relating to Carl being 'inebriated' during a recording session:

"According to engineer Steve Desper, when Carl’s vocal was cut, he was so “relaxed” (thanks to the odd beer or three…) that he sang leaning against the barn wall".

Just listened to "Livin' With A Heartache" one more time since first hearing it in March, 1980.  I cannot tell that Carl is the least bit inebriated or influenced by alcohol.

Hey, finally somebody agrees with me! :wink

Speaking of disagreeing, I think Love You is a total disaster arrangementwise. To me, the songs are good, but there is no bite, punch or energy in the sound. Not saying I'm right, it's IMHO!!! But surely Love You did not seal the band's fate as an oldies act, I agree there.


In my case, it isn't info but my own perception of the sound of his voice on 15BO through MIU. Interesting to read that Carl was supposedly drunk during the vocal takes for "Living with a heartache", he doesn't sound off to me there.

Micha, note that Desper doesn't say anything about Carl being 'drunk' and he doesn't specify the exact amont of beers Carl was drinking. He says Carl was "relaxed". Can't speak for Carl here, but personally I can knock back more than 3 beers before getting 'drunk'!

Carls "S's" sound a little slurred on Heartache but other than that he doesn't really sound "drunk"..

that has always been about my limit also mikie.....  ::)

Could also be that Desper was remembering an earlier take that wasn't used, too.  These things happen.

Someone once told a story about seeing something. People really need to have facts in their hands before telling tales about this kind of stuff. Who was this guy? Was he on the stage when he saw this? If not, how far away was he?  How was the lighting in the area?  I can tell you that during that era (1990 until Carl's death) I personally saw him backstage, entering and exiting his dressing room (within 5 feet of his dresssing room) at varying times before and after concerts on upwards of twenty occasions.  I never saw him with anything other than  a Perrier bottle in his hand (and no, I never asked or inspected to see if Perrier was in fact in the bottle). In speaking with him on each of those occasions, he never smelled of alcohol, nor did he act as if he were under the influence of same. This is not to say he did not drink away from the concert hall, I have no knowledge of that.

So the man may have liked his booze (as many of us do) but he was functional and apparently did not drink all the time. Sounds similar to Paul McCartney's pot smoking, except for the part about not doing it all the time.

Exactly my point. Thank you, Paulos. To be a commercially viable recording band in 1976, the BB's needed to put out a record as pleasing as Summer Days, Today, or Pet Sounds. Not necessarily an album that sounded exactly like those albums, but something with some traces of the old sound, along with the more mature sounds they explored on Holland or Surf's Up. If they had done that, they would've permanently won over a new generation of fans. As it turned out, the new fans heard the new music, and moved on to other things.

True.  And Steve may have been being nice (diplomatic) by stating that Carl was "relaxed" instead of.....

But who cares.  Carl sounded great on the final product.

The band was in an impossible point in the mid-70s, though. None of the other members of the band were really able to do what needed to be done for commercial success. Dennis had some great songs, but they were in a different style, and it's not like he had hits with them. Brian was still their best hope and their best bet. And 15 Big Ones had hits -- Brian clearly still had an ear for some catchy hooks in a single. So Love You was a bit of a risk, perhaps, but I'm sure it seemed like a reasonable thing to do at the time.

And what do you do after the record is delivered? Carl remixes it and records some new parts, trying to jazz it up a bit while still retaining some artistic integrity. They design it in such a way to emphasize its offbeat nature. But if they reject it entirely, Brian (who is still the most valuable bargaining chip in the band) would probably be unwilling to write or perform with the group again. That's too much of a long-term risk! So you grin, bear it, and go along with it.

They missed Bruce.

That's fine with me too! :)

And right behind you on the Pet Sounds thing.

I've never understood how an album that reaches the top ten can be considered a failure. Sure, it didn't sell Revolver or Rubber Soul numbers, but then, what did? The Beatles were guaranteed the top of the charts with each release. The BB's had exactly one chart topping album in the 60's - Beach Boys Concert.

I agree in this case, but failure is a relative term. Hootie & the Blowfish sold like 14 million copies of their first album, and the second sold like 2 million and was viewed as a failure in that context.

On the bright side, it shows that at least 12 million humans developed the capacity to learn from their mistakes  :lol

One direction (no pun intended) the music industry went in that kind of backfired was the selling of these blockbuster type albums - which I guess sort of began in the late 70's with mega sellers like Rumours, Frampton Comes Alive, and Saturday Night Fever. It sets up a pattern where the followup is almost inevitably gonna be seen as a failure (i.e, Tusk only sold 3 million compared to Rumours' many many millions; I'm In You sold 3 million compared to FCA's 12 million). Nobody can sell that many albums every time out, but somewhere along the way, the record companies stopped developing careers, if you couldn't sell 10 million copies of whatever, you were viewed as a flop.

My perception of Carl was that he held most of the cards.  He's long been the most sacred personality to fans -- more than anyone, he could do no wrong.  Especially since Dennis' death...he was The Wilson.

Once Brian "resigned," Carl, by default, seemed to be the natural figure head.  He was the one that didn't appear mentally ill (Brian), or wasted (Dennis) or ego-maniacal (Mike) -- he had the quiet, calm authority (and good taste and class) to serve as the band's spokesman and figure head.  Leveled headed and mature beyond his years, he just seemed the one that people looked to.  Wasn't he managing many of the band's affairs when he was 15 - back in the early days?

Also, he probably had the most access to Brian...which gave him even more cred' and hence ill-will from Landy, too.  I don't know if Carl held anything up during the 90s or not -- but more than anyone, he certainly had the most power to do so.  I don't know much about the BB's mid-late 90s period.  I'll have to read up on this...it does sound interesting...

Looking at "Good timin'" and "It's ok" (maybe even "California feeling") Brian seemed to be on to something like that in '74. Just at the same time Endless Summer hit it big such an album might've been a blockbuster.

I agree. I still don't know why they didn't try harder to get an album out earlier that would contain "Good Timin''", "It's OK" and "California Feelin'". Even if those were the only Brian written tracks, that would pretty much be par for the course anyways. I still don't know why "Good Timin'" was held back until L.A. (Light Album). It would have been a great "re-introductory" tune for the band in the mid '70s. But anyways, back to a proposed album, you would have 2 great singles, "Good Timin'" and "It's OK", and one great album track from Brian ("California Feelin'"). Then you throw in, say, three tracks from Dennis, like "River Song" and "Pacific Ocean Blue", and then "Angel Come Home" from Carl, "Everyone's In Love With You" from Mike, and something from Al, likely "Susie Cincinnati". Also talked about was "Our Life, Our Love, and Our Land" from Mike and "Don't Let Me Go" from Carl and Mike, so maybe those would've made it. Who knows how they sounded?

It probably wouldn't be as "artistic" as Holland, but I think it probably still would've been a pretty good album that would have done well, especially as people were flippin' over Endless Summer. Most of the tracks above would show a "grown up" Beach Boys, but with a lot of the feeling of the "old days", but not as overtly nostalgic and lame as it seemed to come across on 15 Big Ones.

I've said it before, but it's hard to believe how badly they dropped the ball on 15 Big Ones. If the story is true that Brian was "warming up" on the oldies and then Warner Bros. wanted something to release quickly, they still could have made it a lot better, without taking anything intended for Pacific Ocean Blue.

San Miguel was completed, and it would have been a perfect song to put on a post-Endless Summer album for fans looking for "fun in the sun." It also was a fabulous song from Dennis. They could have dug out Good Time for this album instead of the next one, and told Carl, look, it's a great song, just redo that one line from "shunshine" to "sunshine."

With no work needed on two of the songs and very minor work on another, in one day they could have replaced three of the covers with originals, reinforced that Brian really was "back" (even if Soulful Old Man Sunshine was more Rick Henn than Brian, it still had Brian's name and fingerprints on it) and put out a much better album.

If you're going to resurrect Good Time, why not do it an album earlier? And tell Carl, look, it's a great song, just fix that one line, from "shunshine" to "sunshine."

I agree. An album like that would've sold well, and also encouraged people to take a chance on the next album. After 15 Big Ones, the average fan probably felt that "these guys aren't worth it", and passed on the albums after it.

I'm trying to put together a Spotify playlist as best I can with some of the suggestions here. I'm torn between Al and Brian's versions of California Feelin' though, Brian's is more Beach Boy sounding but I can't stand his vocal on it whereas Al has a nice vocal but the track doesn't sound as BBish. Also we can't have San Miguel as it's not on spotify.

EDIT - Here's what i've come up with so far, I nixed Everyone's In Love as it didn't seem to fit so well. I've tried to follow the Today template roughly by having more uptempo songs in the first half and more introspective/ballad type songs in the second half.

http://open.spotify.com/user/111751626/playlist/5OAnFlSAc7JbB50c1lg70f

That's great! Especially glad you nixed Everyone's In Love With You, because that song is nads.  ;D

"Had To Phone Ya", damn it all.

Blasphemy, that's a Mike classic

'Angel Come Home' was also started right at the beginning of the 15 BO sessions..

Sounds good, but I still think "San Miguel" would be a great fit.

Re: It's ok.

Listen to "The warmth of the sun" where the song has been place between 409 and You're so good to me. Fits in really well.

It would've been on there if Spotify had it, likely in the first half somewhere. It's strange that they don't have the GV boxset as they have the Pet Sounds, SMiLE and Singles Collection on there.

Thanks for the replies guys. I've made it a collaborative playlist now so I think you should all be able to add things to it or change things about now. Let's see what we can all come up with!  :)