The Smiley Smile Message Board

Earlier this year, I received Sunflower on vinyl, the one Capitol re-released with Surf's Up. Well, I've had it in the package since December and just opened it up recently and the hole in the center of the vinyl had a hard time fitting on the played. Then I played it and it sounded warped! I could see the horizontal part move up and down playing. Does anyone else have that problem?

The Capitol "From the Vaults" pressings are generally not the greatest quality, from what I've heard.

If you're hearing a warbling back and forth in pitch, that's probably due to off-center pressing rather than vertical warping, and I have heard that complaint about other reissues from that series.

that really sucks. Fortunately, the only other one I bought in the series is Surf's Up because I don't have that on vinyl yet. But there's a lot of other good albums I wanted to get in that series, so I'll have to steer clear of those. that's really lame! I noticed the label was off center, the ring around it shows when going around and around.

Honestly, it is cheaper to just a get an original, analog pressing of any of those albums than getting any of those glorified CD-on-vinyl overpriced new pressings.

That's very true. Those 70s albums aren't very hard to come by at all. I found NM copies of Sunflower and Surf's Up for $3 not so long ago. I might have the record for paying the least amount for a copy of Love You on vinyl - 33 cents  ;D  It's warped and the first song on each side won't play, but I didn't know that until I brought it home!

word.

Several years ago...I set about trying to obtain every BB release from "Surfin' Safari" through "Still Cruisin'" on vinyl.   I'm 35...so my initial introduction to the band came through compact disc.  I was actually amazed how easy it was to find really nice copies of most of their releases for decent prices.  I'd almost guarantee you could find a vintage 1970 copy of "Sunflower" on eBay in near mint for between $30 and $40.  My only conditions were that they were original (no re-issues) and that they were in good condition.  You'll obviously pay more for certain LPs.  You could probably find KTSA on eBay for $10!  I spent many hours scouring scuzzy used record shops (and my wife was a trooper the entire way).   It was a lot of fun.  I recall many days/nights spent sitting and waiting for an auction to end so I could snatch up a nice copy of "All Summer Long" or "Surfer Girl".  There is something about the vinyl that a compact disc cannot replicate.  If a piece of music was originally mixed for vinyl...it will always sound better on vinyl.  I still find myself digging through the "B" section whenever I'm in a used record/book shop.  You never know when you're going to find a bargain.  I once pulled a near mint version of "Today!" out of a bin at Half Priced Books and I think I paid about three bucks for it!

Great post. I got all the vinyl first and I've only played the albums on CD once or twice. The bonus songs I play a lot more but the LP's sound so much better. The new Capitol series on vinyl is just OK. I mean they are a little better than the CD's but yeah I've heard a lot better LP pressings in the digital age. The ones they do from analog tapes are the best, but there is some value to digitally sourced LP's. They still sound warmer or have more air to them. 

I'm old enough to remember when Love You was new....then a cutout....and in some places it might have ended up in four-for-a-dollar bins as well as three-for-a-dollar ones.  Those would have been still shrinkwrapped and playable.

I remember seeing sealed copies of Love You, LA Light, and MIU in the 99 cent bin in the late eighties/early ninties. Beach Boys 85 too.

I own a used/vintage record shop.  I still regularly see sealed copies of Love You around.  It seems they produced WAY too many copies of that album, versus what actually sold.  Kinda sad, really.

Like!  I'm escargotly "upgrading" my vinyl collection to originals or Green label reissues only where printed in the USA.

I find a lot of the stuff printed in Australia, and some UK items sound like they were mastered via a tin bucket - barring '85 which is sonically pleasant on vinyl (sonically, I repeat).

And, yeah, amongst all of those Frampton/BG's Sgt Peppers platters, those Godspell coasters, James Last LPs or Abba Ring-Ring records there may just may be a piece o'gold awaiting - got my Artisan SU for $6.

Several years ago I also set out to get all BB records on vinyl in original US pressing (I'm from The Netherlands). I only need Smiley Smile, 20/20 and Stack-o-Tracks. Ridiculous high shipping costs mostly put an end to my searches.

Now I see that someone mentions "green label". What's up with these? Good audio quality?

Yes, by all accounts, although Dance, Dance Dance [Today] and California Girls [Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)] were released in Duophonic  ???

The Be True To Your School Green Label LP attempted to round up most of the deleted tracks from the pre-Party LPs. Curiously, In The Back Of My Mind, Amusement Parks U.S.A & I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man were the mono versions!

I paid $18.99 for a sealed copy and was also disappointed to find mine warped to the point of bouncing on Side B.  Sad, because Side A sounded oh so good.  To agree with others comments, I recently found a original VG copy at an antique shop for $6.00 that sounds equally impressive.  In all honesty, I've had more issues with those dang 180g new releases in general than the majority of flimsy old records.   And let me give a awesome shout out to the only real record shop I blow my money at... Record Connection in Ephrata, PA.  I do drive a solid hour from Harrisburg to get there, but it's always worth it.  If you live anywhere near central PA, go there with a wad of cash and enjoy a couple hours. 

Yeah, I had a great time in my great BB vinyl search.  I scoured many a used record shop in the Milwaukee/Chicago area.  Man...what a thrill when you'd be digging thru some dusty box and suddenly there would be a near mint copy of "Love You" or "Smiley Smile"!  I only resorted to eBay when I'd exhausted all of the physical used record shops I could visit (sometimes several times)...but even eBay was fun!  I remember sitting up at like 2AM waiting for an auction to close on an original pressing of "Pet Sounds" and then when I won the bid I was so hyped up I couldn't sleep.  I actually took it down and showed it to my 2.5 year old son the other day and told him it was going to be his someday (he's been listening to the Beach Boys since he was born...so I'm praying it's soaking in)!  He even went to a Brian Wilson concert in utero!  I hope he inherits my love for the band!

Funny story!  Same here, actually.   My almost two year old son's favorite song (besides Jake and the Neverland Pirates Soundtrack/Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) is "Nothing But Love" from the Gershwin LP.  Boy does that make him dance and shake.   Of course kids tend to like upbeat music, but even at an early age, I think the harmonies and changing chords keep him interested more. 

Whenever we're in the car together...I try and play the Boys for him.  He has a rough idea who they are.  We'll be watching YouTube clips and he'll ask for the Beach Boys!  I love all sorts of music...but I've always had some sort of spiritual connection with Brian and the gang...and I want to pass that along.  We actually just had a daughter on July 9th...and the Beach Boys played Milwaukee on July 1st.  My wife held out hope that she could come along...but at the last minute decided against it...which was probably a good idea since it was pretty hot that day.  My last sappy comment  ;) is that the first time I held my daughter I sang "Surfer Girl" to her!

Except that the recent Sunflower vinyl repressing from Capitol uses what is believed to be the original master tape for the first time EVER...even the 2000 Brother/Capitol CD twofer used a copy at least one generation down the line.  And the original 1970 LP pressing was, of course, from a  compressed & eq'd production master, as all LPs were at the time. 

True, but the original master tape would still have to be compressed and EQ'd for any vinyl release. Tho likely not in the same manner as the original release.

COMMENT:  only the analog to LP copy (AAA) is approved by Carl Wilson and myself. All other versions are modified from the original.

Tips on flattening a warped record >>> http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=how+to+flatten+a+warped+record&oq=How+to+flatten+a+warped+&gs_l=hp.1.0.0l4.4834.12950.0.15452.24.17.0.6.6.0.634.4710.2-15j5-2.17.0...0.0...1c.7BBJ4t3lCPg&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=f94a1348eb0724bb&biw=960&bih=453

~swd

Does the 2012 Japan Remaster use the original analog mix? I don't know if you know, but maybe someone does, I'd be interested in that...

Yeh, they all use the original mix. It's the mastering and tape source that varies from release to release.

I have a US promo, US regular issue (stamped re-1), UK original, Dutch 1980 press on Caribou, The recent Capitol repress, and all the cd versions except the latest. To me, the bass has only sounded good on a US original, and the regular issue has a very slight edge over the white label promo.

We have great used record stores in the NW, and I can see no reason NOT to support them. Ebay is a last resort. Found an original Surfin' Safari lp for $7 at Half Price Books a couple years ago, NM. Summer Days - $20, mono, NM. The only "new' vinyl I have of the classics is Today, and it's a good one, but will keep in mind what others have posted here. I would be majorly pissed to get home and find out I had an off center pressing.

COMMENT:  My suggestion that you go find the original, rather than buying a reissue, has to do with purity. The original LP is closer to the Master Tape than your Japanese import. Yes all these new issues use the "sound" of the final mix or Master Tape. But that "sound" has gone through several copies or Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog conversions. How do you think the master got from Hollywood, LA to Japan. Probably by email. I can guarantee you that not one master tape left Los Angeles. So for analog purity, stay as close to the analog master tape as you can.

If you just collect these things and like collecting . . . that's a different story.

~swd

Like one of the five I have sitting on my shelf right here. 2 are unplayed and sealed.

 I hope one day they will do a proper analog reissue, until then the original does sound best. You can hear a real difference.

I agree 100%...and there are plenty original copies still out there at very reasonable prices. 

I don't see how they will ever top the original vinyl. no reason too either !

Again...plenty of original 1970 copies out there at GREAT prices.  Snatch one up, now!