The Smiley Smile Message Board

There are so many gems in the mid-late 70s catalogue, but I would argue that each album has (at least) a few duds. I wonder if anyone has ever put together the perfect playlist of any of the above albums combined.

I think the easiest one for me would be LU + 15BO (take "Had To Phone Ya" + "It's OK" off 15 BO in place of "Love Is A Woman" and "Let's Put Our Hearts Together") but that's just my opinion.

I've actually done this with nearly all of their albums. It works really well, I think. For 15BO and Love You I only eliminate the covers, because even when you add the originals from 15BO to all of Love You, it's still only like 45 minutes long or so, which is a perfectly reasonable length for an album in the 70s. The only issue is that once you eliminate the covers, the ratio of Love You tracks to 15BO tracks is completely skewed in favor of Love You, obviously. I drop "Good Time" because it so obviously comes from an earlier era (and I add it to Sunflower anyway). So what you get is this:

It's OK
Had to Phone Ya
Roller Skating Child
Let Us Go On This Way
That Same Song
Mona
Johnny Carson
Honkin' Down the Highway
Ding Dang
TM Song
Solar System
The Night Was So Young
Back Home
I'll Bet He's Nice
Let's Put Our Hearts Together
I Wanna Pick You Up
Airplane
Love is a Woman

I actually also combine Sunflower, Carl and the Passions, Holland, and Surf's Up, which is insane, of course. But you end up with a playlist that's just unbelievably strong.

Sounds interesting - do share!

Well, bear in mind, for that mix I narrowed it to ONLY Brian compositions, because I wanted to see what you'd get if they'd waited until they had enough of his new songs to do an album composed just by him (with collaborators, that is). So beautiful stuff like "Feel Flows" or any of the "California Saga" tracks are lost. At some point I'll probably do another playlist with just the songs from that era written by BBs other than Brian. Also, bear in mind I don't include anything that came from the SMiLE sessions. But here's what I use:

Sail On Sailor
This Whole World
He Come Down
Good Time
Add Some Music to Your Day
Take a Load Off Your Feet
Funky Pretty
Deirdre
Soulful Old Man Sunshine
Fairy Tale Music
You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone
All I Wanna Do
Our Sweet Love
At My Window
Marcella
A Day in the Life of a Tree
Til I Die

I've always thought CATP & Holland would have been an wonderful double-album, a great way to prove the band's talent without much participation from Brian Wilson.

Yes! Another chance to re-sequence/combine albums...just for the FUN of it. For this one, "Everyone's In Love With You", "Susie Cincinatti", "Good Time", and "Love Is A Woman" had to be sacrificed.

The Beach Boys - Pick Ya Up At 8

Side A

1. Let Us Go On This Way
2. Roller Skating Child
3. Let's Put Our Hearts Together
4. Honkin' Down The Highway
5. Mona
6. I Wanna Pick You Up
7. The Night Was So Young
8. I'll Bet He's Nice
9. Ding Dang

Side B

10. TM Song
11. Johnny Carson
12. Solar System
13. Had To Phone Ya
14. Back Home
15 Airplane
16. It's OK
17. That Same Song

It clocks in at 40 minutes, almost identical to TWGMTR. "Johnny Carson" was hard to fit in lyrically. Sounds great in the car with that moog bass cranked up...

Wow, ending on "That Same Song"? Pride of place indeed! I approve. I think I'm too married to the idea that "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" is deliberately meant to set up "I Wanna Pick You Up" to separate them that way.

I thought about NOT separating "Let's Put Our Hearts Together" and "I Wanna Pick You Up". But, the lines in "Honkin' Down The Highway" ---- "got a little date with an angel" and "takin' one little inch at a time now" swayed me to move it ahead of "I Wanna Pick You Up". The stuff in "I Wanna Pick You Up" comes later. Then she goes to sleep. :P

It's almost a travesty to do this, especially Sunflower and Surf's Up, BUT... I've done the exact same thing:

Soulful Old Man Sunshine
Add Some Music To Your Day (maybe this one should be first)
This Whole World
Forever
Our Sweet Love
Cool, Cool Water
Student Demonstration Time (guilty pleasure in this case. Love hard transition coming out of CCW)
Long Promised Road
Disney Girls
Feel Flows
California
You Need a Mess of Help To Stand Alone
Marcella
Sail On Sailor
All This is That
Surf's Up
Till I Die


Comes out to exactly one hour, according to my iTunes.

Carl & The Passions "Holland" :

1 Marcella
2 Steamboat
3 Sail On, Sailor
4 You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
5 Here She Comes
5 Funky Pretty
7 He Come Down
8 The Trader
9 Only With You
10 Make It Good
11 California Saga: Big Sur
12 California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles
13 California Saga: Californ-i-a
14 Hold On Dear Brother
15 Cuddle Up
16 Leaving This Town
17 All This Is That


How does that sound?

They would make a good single album if combined.

I like all of the sailing/boat/water songs together.

The Beach Boys - Holland: So Tough

1. Here She Comes
2. Funky Pretty
3. Only With You
4. Marcella
5. Make It Good
6. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
7. Hold On Dear Brother
8. Leaving This Town
9. Steamboat
10. Sail On Sailor
11. The Trader
12. California Saga: Big Sur
13. California Saga: The Beaks Of Eagles
14. California Saga: California
15. He Come Down
16. All This Is That
17. Cuddle Up
18. Mt. Vernon And Fairway

I always tried to craft a narrative about a guy who was in love, got disillusioned, went away, then got homesick, but I couldn't quite get it to work . It's much easier to try and put it together musically, but this is what I came up with...


1. Marcella
2. Funky Pretty
3. Here She Comes
4. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
5. Leaving This Town
6. Sail on Sailor
7. Steamboat
8. The Trader
9. Hold on, Dear Brother
10. - 12. California Saga
13. All This is That

I said "double album" because they never had any, and if they should have done one, i feel this would have been the best scenario for it! OR obviously, Sunflower mixed up with Surf's Up without all the SMiLE songs i guess would make a REAL double album (like 10 songs each for cd)
so it'll look something like this for me:


1. Add Some Music To Your Day
2. Feels Flows
3. Slip On Through
4. Don't Go Near The Water
5. Deirdre
6. Forever
7. Disney Girls 1957
8. Tears In The Morning
9. Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
10. At My Window

1. This Whole World
2. Take A Load Off Your Feet
3. Our Sweet Love
4. Long Promised Road
5. Got To Know The Woman
6. It's About Time
7. Student Demonstration Time
8. All I Wanna Do
9. A Day In The Life Of A Tree
10. 'Til I Die

It is very hard tho, with soo many great songs.. maybe i would change some stuff, i didn't think much about the lyrics, but trying to have a good musically flow.

My first rule, not only to make it easy but also it's well balanced, i like to select one song from one album, then the next one from the other album, then go back to the previous album, on and on.. but here, to not kill radically the flow, i had to sometimes follow up with a song from the same album..

Also, it's quite difficult to not fall into the very easy solution : one bag with all the energetic then another one with all the ballads.. it's interesting to do that once in a while, but the challenge is to mix it all up, like the bands do themselves when they decide for the tracklist (i guess) so like, at some point on the second cd, it was hard to find the song that would follow Student Demosntration Time cause it's such a rock'n'roll tune and all that was left for me were ballads.. but once in a while, it's okay to go from an upbeat song to a slower one..
what d'you guys think of that tracklist for a double album?

Anyway,i just realised that putting those two albums together can create an real incredible and very solid double album that really shows to the public the Brian Wilson talent but also the other members talents, and it is as good as anything they ever put out before and after.

I wouldn't say there's any duds at all on Holland. it's one of their most consistent, perfectly formed albums with quality songs throughout! Don't mess with perfection.

20/20 - In Concert is my second favorite BB era (behind Today - Smile) but each of those albums has their own flaws and/or "sore thumbs".  I've tried to rework them several times.  I guess it's time to try again. :)

I wouldn't want to merge Love You or CATP or Holland.

I occasionally mix MIU and LA but I stick in the odd outtake too.

Wouldn't definitely merge Love You, perfect as it is and doesn't need the 15BO sticky songs.. as for LA and MIU, i don't know, havn't listened to these in a while, prehaps together they could make one good album.

Well, it's definitely a matter of personal taste (and probably blasphemy), but I wouldn't miss "beaks of eagles" or "only with you"...

 :o :o :o :o