The Smiley Smile Message Board

So I ordered myself a Surf's Up vinyl off amazon, because last week i bought one at a shop only to find a big scratch on the back when i got home.  I was under the impression the one i ordered was also an original, but when i got it, even though the case had some wear, it looks really nice still.  The only real difference i could find was that the original had "thanks marylin" inscribed on the inner groove, but the new one did not.

soo....is this a from the vault pressing?

I have the a vinyl copy with the white (promo) label with thanks marilyn when it was released. Yours is most likely a vault copy imo.

the "thanks marylin" one definitely sounds better, if only it didn't have that loud click through ADITLOAT and TID :(

the new one is RS-6453, 31237-1 on the grooves. does the vault have the lyrics sheet?

i just want to get confirmation that this the vault before i return it

i found here http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=1203.70;wap2
that the 31327 means it's an artisan original?  Anyone know what that means?

Is your label white? The groove on side one shows 31236  Re 1. side 2 shows 31237 Re 1. Thanks  Marilyn is shows on side one only. All 3 copies I have include the info sheet if that helps.

ohhh i see.  Yes my label is white.  But it has 31236-1 instead of 31236 Re 1.  I suppose i can draw the line there and call this the "from the vault"?

it'd be nice if there was a catalogue with all the numbers matched to editions :/

Supposed to be a Beach Boys Price Guide being published this year( Do it Already!) perhaps these infos will be included.

that'd be nice!

does anyone happen to have the capitol reissue and could check their number for me? :D :D :D i'll give you an imaginary +1 :D :D

Check out the different pressings on discogs.  I'm sure you'll be able to identify it there.

http://www.discogs.com/Beach-Boys-Surfs-Up/master/78379

thanks.  so the capitol from the fault used a different number but It seems Reprise used the RS 6453 concurrent with R113793.  I wonder if both of those would be on the album for that addition, or if just one??  i'm not sure if that's recent either hmm

I don't have every release of Surf'sUp, nor do I think I ever will. Still, I'd bet that all the original releases from 1971 have comparable sound, with little to no difference between the USA white label promos and stock copies. which, by the way, every copy I've ever seen of the the RS 6453 has the 31236/7 numbers in the runout grooves.
 The R113793 is an RCA record club number. The only copies Ive seen of that LP have the asylum records Label( by mistake), but I'd love to see one with regular labels, if someome has it.
artisan original is a stephen Desper term that means,imo, an original brother LP release. Stephen definitely knows more about  SOUND than I ever hope to, but not as much about actual release variations I suspect.
Still, I'd love to have one of his 360 decoders, even tho my hearing is such I doubt I woud appreciate it as much as many! 
Can you make one for me Stephen?

thanks bgas, does only the white promo label have the "thanks marylin"?

From all copies I've seen, yes.

I have a Yellow reprise label with 'Thanks Marilyn'.  The groove sequence as you follow the groove in is B4, RS-6453A, 31236 - Re 1, 1B, Symbol thing, Thanks Marilyn (no commas on record)

interesting.  the mystery continues on when this one i bought was made!

What is the story on "Thanks, Marilyn" anyway?

It was a thanks to her for putting up with the disruption of the sessions.

i wonder why it was left off afterwards.  I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE REALLY INTERESTED...but i think i've decided it's not the 2009 reissue but not a 1st pressing. but it's in great condition.  still not sure if i want it though (not 1st!??).  OCD tendencies coming in. 

"Artisan Original" refers to Artisan Sound, an L.A. mastering house used by many major labels to make their vinyl pressing master plates.  I have several BB acetates with Artisan Sound labels, and they are with one exception, the final released master take, mix, etc., and were cut either as advance rush releases to give to key radio stations, or were given to the artist so they could hear EXACTLY how the record would sound on a home stereo, with final EQ, compression, limiting, etc.

The final album laquer (first step in the mastering process) would have been marked "Artisan Original" to denote that it was being used by Artisan Sound to produce the 1st generation mother and master for pressing.

Lee

Thanks for that info Lee.  I always learn something new from your posts.

Very good info!  But reading the above-mentioned Desper quote, again, I'd have to say he means "artisan original" to mean practically any copy of RS6453, as they all seem to have the 31527 numbering: 

>>  yrplace:
Quote from: Stephen W. Desper on January 02, 2006, 02:25:31 PM

....

So, it seems that the released Surf's Up on the box set (the completed track, not the demo) is a more authentic version than the one on 2000's twofer?  I'd say the authentic version is on Reprise Records LP # RS 6453 and if you can find a matrix number 31237 it will be one of the Artisan originals.  (The matrix number is hand written on the land between the leadout groove.)

Thanks Stephen for pointing out that the UK version is a generation away from the original. Why? I suppose sending master tapes across the Atlantic without a bodyguard is just too risky. Ho hum.  It's not a matter of security, it's a matter of time.  The LP matrix is cut in soft acetate. The shape of the groove will be good for about twenty-four hours, but after that the acetate tends to drift back to its original shape loosing details in the sound. The pressing stampers must be plated from the original matrix within a day of it being cut. During the LP age, or even today, you could not get the matrix from the Hollywood cutting lathes to London's pressing plants that fast, so a tape copy was made for foreign releases.   ~swd  <<

Or am I reading the quote wrong?   

Either way, why not thank yer wifey wife on your album, even if it's in an interesting way such as this?

To resuscitate this old thread, I just bought this same pressing from my nearby record store with "Thanks Marilyn" written in the dead wax.


Is this really the whole story on the inscription?

Good question - and not that I have an answer to offer; I wonder if the inscription was also to do with Marilyn's support of the recording including her backing vocals on Feel Flows (been looking for the source of that tidbit but I can't find it - think it was in a recentish ESQ or BB Enquirer article).  Carl and Mr Desper mastered the album at Artisan, so likely the inscription was Carl's message.

Dead wax tells no tales.  :P

I bought "Sunshine Dreams" on vinyl and the songs on it sound very bad  :-[ they do not sound like the real mixes of the songs, they sound like cassette tape copies or somehting, for Example "Good Vibrations" and the songs from "Pet Sounds" sounded really trebly, with hard "S's" everytime they sang something with an "S" in it, it sounded like the recordings were "peaked" with the volume too high... it was a huge disappointment to my ears..