The Smiley Smile Message Board

Sorry if this has been discussed already.  I just found this stereo remix of "Darlin" from the 50 Big Ones Greatest Hits set, and was blown away!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeXHu5-Y_cY

Does anybody have more info on this thing?  Are there other new stereo remixes?  Or anything else new, period?

Wild Honey is now stereo

It also includes the new stereo mixes of 'Do You Wanna Dance, Barbara Ann, When I Grow Up, Heroes And Villains and the Single Version of Isn't it Time, so thats 7 new mixes overall.

Sounds good!

Wild Honey the song...for a second I thought you meant the whole album was on there!

Dammit, this means I have to buy yet another BB's comp....

I'm somewhat surprised the new "Do It Again" wasn't included on here. Maybe they're saving it for the other set.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Uh... try reading the liner notes ?

Since I had uploaded that Darlin', have the Wild honey stereo mix too:

Wild Honey (2012 Stereo Mix): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLw9gR1t8T4&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLw9gR1t8T4&feature=youtu.be)

Like it! Thanks. "Wild honey" is one of my favorite Beach Boys albums

What I've seen on the net didn't include track by track liner notes, just songlists.  Even with a preemptive apology, I get wisecracks from this guy...good ol' AGD...    

Thanks, man!

I was assuming you'd done the decent thing and actually bought the box.

Well, I have...

Is it a good idea for me to be uploading these? Like so...

Do You Wanna Dance (2012 Stereo mix): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2gTyoMHUro&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2gTyoMHUro&feature=youtu.be)

Okay, so Brian Wilson sings "God Only Knows".

ye wtf was that all about? It's perhaps very famous for NOT be sung by Brian and is Carl's most admired lead vocal ever. it is a sad mistake, which through incompetance, was not detected before the comp was released. one would think they would get this sort of thing straight.

Also, thanks for the uploads, o moustachioto'd one.

Not A Problem o running one

oh god Wild Honey is AMAZING WHY DON'T THEY RELEASE THE WHOLE DAMN ALBUM!!!!!!!!!?????????

Country Air with stereo vocals would be the greatest thing.

I'm really disappointed that Mark left out the slap-back on Carl's voice. It's very subtle on the mono, but it's definitely there. It feels totally different without it,

That would be SO easy for me to add, considering its a great stereo mix.... Tonight!

You are quite right.  :-[  Only found out about it yesterday!

it is there, maybe it just didn't come through on YouTube - in the 'sweeter' bridge, its VERY strong

Is "Surfin' Safari" mixed to stereo or is it mono on this set?

mono

It's a mystery

they will, but there is no point dumping 10 albums on the market at one time. because these albums are not only reissues, but stereo mixes, they want people to pick up everything. For example, WH would compete with Smiley Smile, many would perhaps not buy both, but give it a year or so, then perhaps one can get more cash from both of them (whih is the ultimate goal). If this is not the case, then capitol might consider WH so worthless than no one would buy a stereo issue anyway. who knows?

wrapped in a riddle

incase anyones wondering, a selection of the remasters got taken down, so i took the rest down to save my youtube channel. Sorry 'bout that, but I like me channel as it is. ;D

I am shocked disgusted, that there is no single version of California, R'nR Music, It's OK and Here Comes The Night (1979) on 50BO.

Those in the US are looking forward to doing so......Oct 9

Hmmm.

Is PLMW from the 2012 mix of Today!? It sounds a lot worse than the one released a few years ago.

Or I'm going insane, and it's the same one.

I don't know, but I've always thought the stereo mix of PLMW sounded kinda out of sync, definitely too mid-rangy and the organ bass is almost inaudible. For some reason those mono mixes from 64-67 sound so fuckin full I think all the stereo mixes (except Pet Sounds) are way lacking.

They've re mixed the mono mix too - it sounds like a mono stereo mix (if that makes sense)

The new mixes for WH and Darlin' are slightly disappointing for me in terms of stereo release. I just feel they are hardly stereo at all when I hear them next to the new stereo Smiley material. They sound more conservative, as if longing to be refreshed mono mixes rather than fullblown stereo like on Smiley. The sound is MUCH cleaner and buried instruments (most notably the trumpet on the second verse in Darlin') and harmonies pop out better which is ofc great in any respect, but there is little stereo seperation which makes me wonder why they mixed them in such a conservative fashion?

I think Darlin' sounds terrific. Geez, the opening vocals jump right out at you. It is the rare stereo mix that actually sounds punchier than its mono counterpart. The fact the horns can he heard in the second verse says the stereo really separates the instrumentation. With Wild Honey, I really enjoy hearing those clear, crisp background vocals. They are near buried in the mono mix. I am quite happy with the way both turned out. Cheers to Mark Linett!

"Californa" single mix is said to be in poor shape, R'nR music fair enough, It's OK isn't so much a remix as it is very slightly sped up (thus why bother?), and HCTN79, ehhhh.

I don't understand why they were used on the Best of the Brother Years comp, then.

I think it's just remastered, not remixed. It'd be noted in the insert if it were.


"California" sounds like dicks on there, though, and it's not due to being a poor mix. "It's OK" is okay as a completist, but just sounds odd in comparison to the original. Feels unnecessary - the songs really should just be presented in their best form.

some of the stereo mixes/remasters are pretty narrow for stereo.  Like Linett was going for a stereo mix circa 1965.  PLMW on Summer Love Songs was a lot wider I thought. 

I never noticed an issue with 'California' or 'Rock and Roll Music' on that comp, but I hate the single mix of 'It's Ok'. The speed change just sounds off to me

That's the thing - 60s stereo mixes were wide! To have them be narrow may make 'em sound more like the mono mix, but a traditional hard left/right/vocal center thing is really a more accurate (and 'honest', to my ears) route.

my 45's of the above (UK copies) doesn't feature the single mix of California, but does for R&RMusic. It's O.K. is unsure to me, it has alot more punch in the Bass kicks, but it sounds the same speed to me - or is my turntable too slow (45 can be questionable sometimes).

Which makes me ask the other question, does the "California Saga (California): Sail On, Sailor/Marcella: I'm The Pied  Piper" EP thing have the single mix or not?

I was joking about the last one  ;D tbh none of this made very much difference other than California and RnR!

Personally I don't agree that Linnett should be doing ultra-wide 'sixties style' mixes.

I always wondered, in cases when the master is f*cked, such as the master for the single mix of "California" (IIRC the title track for The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album is beyond playable too and every remaster from the 80's C.D onwards are sourced from a dub), why they don't just go back to the multis and  make an identical mix.

For recordings made in the sixties, I feel it's only appropriate that they should be mixed the same way as was done at the time:  W-I-D-E STEREO!  The new stereo mixes on the album reissues and compilations are so narrow, they shouldn't have even bothered.  If SMiLE ever comes out in stereo, I'm afraid it will be narrow as well.  (I'm currently working on a super-wide "Wonderful" mix that hopefully will be faithful to that style).

All those tunes on the Brother Years are digital. Adding them to 50 Big Ones would have been no problem. Except for futzing, they would sound the same as on the 2000 CD. To me there is no excuse not to include them, except that they didn't want to use those single versions.

Yeah see, I don't agree with that or follow the logic. Why? so we can fantasize we're actually listening in 1965 to a contemporary stereo mix that in reality never existed?
I'm not looking to start a fight, I just don't see the problem, personally. I like most of Linnett's mixes, though I haven't heard the latest ones yet. A few of the Today mixes I've heard were not that great but otherwise, I like them. I think the point of the (new) stereo mixes is to hear the music in a way we haven't heard before, to get more details and such; so that's why I am not bothered if they are 'wide' or 'narrow'. But, to each their own, I'm not an audiophile to nearly the extent that some of y'all are, so...

If they were going for authenticity they'd probably have the backing track in mono and the double tracked vocals on either side of the stereo, Chuck Britz style. Chuck Britz's mixes sound like crap to me.

Was this already posted? "Remixing GV to stereo"-report

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyk9GKFasjY

The "California" single mix on the Brother years comp sounds truly wretched, to me. Compressed as f***. I initially just assumed this was how it sounded until hearing it on the Ten Years Of Harmony comp, where it sounds much better.

Chuck's stereo mixes are a very mixed bag (he'd probably tell you the same given he spent little time on them and didn't even listen to them) and I don't have much desire to see the songs mixes in that style. Several of them are just mono track + the doubled vocals being hard panned left and right (which is a bad move with stereo 90% of the time and I'm not sure why people still insist on mixing like this today). Other examples are even worse - think "The Lonely Sea" or "Keep An Eye On Summer" where lead vocals are hard-panned left or right or something like "Shut Down" where elements leap out at you left and right (literally!) and it's kinda jarring to listen to. Linett's approach is generally more modern (I mean this in a good way) in the way of having a more balanced mix and overall sound, with no hard-panned tracks leaping out at you from the left or right channel.

I'm thinking the real problem with some Linett stereo mixes being so narrow is lack of resources. "Amusement Parks U.S.A." is very close to mono throughout and is not at all consistent with the rest of Mark's work. I think the main track possibly only exists in mono and on the 2012 stereo mix, has had reverb applied to add a bit to the stereo image. The '09 stereo mix of "Don't Worry Baby" is mixed very similarly because there are only three or four tracks to the song (I think three). If that's all they has to work with, that's all they has to work with.

The California single mix on Made In USA Ten Years of Harmony is a flat transfer from what I understand. That never gets done like that anymore, but that digital mastering should still be around. My point is, whether the tape is damaged or not, there are digital copies made that they can work from if they really wanted to release that version.

That's what I'm sayin' - the Ten Years Of Harmony CD could have been utilized for that song. Maybe it was just preferring the album mix over the single mix. It's not a strictly "singles" compilation.

Also, since when is the "California" single mix on Made In USA? :O :O :O :O :O:Ogf0sdagksdg

Got my compilations mixed up.

It's not, nor is the single mix for "R&R Music". I was told that the single masters for both songs were too damaged to use when I interviewed someone about the 1993 box set back in 1994. However, the Best Of The Brother Years compilation proved that to be a mistaken assumption.

Re: Chuck's stereo mixes... they're not really mixes per se, more re-EQ'd and rebalanced copies of the original 3-track multitrack.

Told ya ;)

That's a mix, tho, surely? Mixing down from the original 3-track = mix.

You misunderstand... the stereo 'mixes' 1963-1964 are straight copies of the 3-track session tape that Brian mixed down to mono. All Chuck did to it was rebalance the sound levels and apply EQ. No further mixing was done.

Ah, fair enough, thanks for clearing that up :).
Although, it does lead me to another question, with the exception of "Do It Again" (I think??) where we know the master was lost, what is the status of the other Beach Boys masters?, is everything there?, not really of any importance, just feeding my general curiosity.

So are you saying they are straight copies of the 3-track session tapes or a straight copy of Brian's mono mixdown?

EQing and making a copy of a mono mixdown would qualify as "not a mix per se," but a "straight copy" of a 3-track session tape down to stereo is definitely a mix.  

Care to explain exactly how you can get stereo from a copy of a mono mixdown ?  :o

As for the copies, the original 3-tracks were copied down to a 2-track after being rebalanced and EQ'd. No mixing was done.

Of course I won't explain such foolishness, I was trying to figure out what you were saying!

Copying down from 3-track to 2-track is a mix, Andrew. A simple, rudimentary one but it IS a mixdown. If it wasn't, you'd still have three distinct tracks. I guess next we argue about "per se" or fall into a semantic ditch...so I'll let you have the last word and associated triumph. Have at it!

Of course, no one is saying Linnett should be making stereo mixes so wide that they can't be listened to. But check out the original stereo mix of Wendy, and then Mark's remix of it on Warmty of the Sun - intentionally or not, he stayed true the basic principle of the original stereo soundstage and that thing sounds wonderful - all of the vocals (even both sets of b/gs) are in the center, unified as one and sounding glorious! That's one of the powers of stereo - not that mono doesn't have it too - but when a stereo mix just sparkles, it can knock you on your ass - I think a lot more of the catalog has that potential than it has been given.

True 'nough. I was actually just thinking today when listening to the newer stereo mix how similar the later stereo mix is to the 60s stereo mix while improving upon it, actually.

But Wendy had an original sixties-era mix, so he remained true to it. Today and Summer Days and Pet Sounds dont. Again, i don't see why it's so important he stay 'faux-authentic' other than to further the illusion that we are sitting listening to a hi-fi 45 years ago.

OK, I can see where you're coming from. But these were recordings made in 1964 and 1965. I don't think they benefit from modern EQ and narrow mixing styles. Maybe because I've grown up with 60s music in stereo, but there's breathing room in good vintage 60s stereo mixes. The way they were recorded lends to that mixing style. They are not modern records, no one is trying to market them as new records, so why not mix them in a manner similar to the way they would have been mixed by someone who cared?

Maybe the real reason is I am not a big fan of sixties stereo mixes, for the most part. I much prefer mono for nearly every artist I've heard. So for me a 'sixties-style' mix is only for reason of 'faux-authenticity'...frankly, I just wouldn't buy the product otherwise.

Do the Anti-60s-Stereo fans also prefer modern remastering techniques such as signal boosting and compression?  I find loud, highly-compressed and overly bright recordings (most of the BB reissues IMO) unlistenable on anything but small cheapo computer speakers.

I doubt it, why would they?

I don't. I actually do think these remasters sound best when using cheapy earbuds.....

No, I'm not a fan of super loud recordings. I don't know all the technical terms, have no idea what signal boosting is for example, but I don't like really loudly mastered music.

It's curious to me that all of these techniques used on the BB reissues and compilations (just like on so many other artists' reissues) plus the narrow stereo seem to suggest the Beach Boys' desire to rewrite history - to make their recordings more "modern" sounding to appeal to those who no longer (or never did) listen to music in one place on a multi-component system with large speakers.  It's their music, and if they think they will sell more copies by making it sound best on portable devices and car stereos (where high ambient noise basically necessitates a loud, highly compressed sound), it's certainly their right to do so.  I just don't see how anyone with full-range floor standing speakers could consider these remasters an improvement.  Perhaps the narrowing of the stereo is simply to make the songs sound closer to their mono single versions, but then why even bother?  We already have the definitive versions!  The purpose of a new stereo mix should be to let the listener hear things that were previously buried in the mono version, and the wider the stereo, the more things you'll be able to distinguish.

The stereo mixes of Today, Summer Days, Pet Sounds, Let the wind Blow are by their very nature 'rewriting history' no matter how they are done. Making a 'wide stereo' mix does not in any way change the fact that, historically, NO TRUE STEREO MIX EVER EXISTED. If you want some sort of historically authentic version, listen to mono...or duophonic.

Is this from the original vinyl release, the US CD release, or the UK CD release?  I have the US CD release that has the album version.  I really regret passing up a used copy of the UK CD release that some guy was selling for $25.  I've really wanted the 45 version of School Days on CD, so much better.