The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was just having a cup of tea and listening to the radio and was astounded to hear a song come on which was 'where is she', my digital radio said 'by Brian Wilson' which was also what the presenter Vanessa Feltz said. Anyway was brilliant to hear a song sung by Brian from that era,as its my favourite era for his voice. I am sure the programme will be on the iPlayer soon enough....

Nice spot!

Paul O'Grady played the 2012 stereo version of Good Vibrations on Sunday too… (along with TWGMTR and GOK).

BBC Radio 2 does us proud from time to time!

By the way, here is the link to what they played on the show, interesting that again it is credited to Brian though he did sound like the only person singing on the track to be fair....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038h397#segments

First impressions were that I would very much like to hear this again, nice waltz song, some of the phrasing reminded me a little of 'she's leaving home' but my ears may have been deceiving me....

Ahhhhhh bollocks - when does it go up on iplayer?!

Really? How cool, I usually listen to him whilst I'm cooking my tea but obviously missed that bit this week!

Maybe later today?

Hope so, Radio 2 was playing downstairs and I missed it!

You know, record label PR usually inform fans that exclusives are being premiered on mainstream radio. Grrr.

With most bands maybe...but this is the Beach Boys.....  ::)

A clip is already listenable on this site.

I switched over to BBC6 because I couldn't stand listening to Vanessa bloody Feltz reading out letters from people who think fracking is a good thing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/634fe78e-fc6b-4b2a-ba83-c8c66e13a8aa

A small teaser.

Now available to listen to at 44 minutes approx.

A nice demo. Brian's voice is actually quite harsh to listen to though. I can see why it was included on disc 6 rather than in the main set.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet

Wow! The 30 second sample is pretty cool. It's really unique from his other stuff around this time.

Man, I love the 1968-1971 period. Very underrated.

Where? I only found the 30 seconds sample.

Listen to the show itself.

The full song is available too on there? Ugh, do I show restraint or listen?  :P

Here you go as an mp3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kh0opy (http://www.sendspace.com/file/kh0opy)


If doing these up in mp3 is annoying anyone here, let me know and I'll stop

Cheers

Thanks Cliff!

Doesn't annoy me. Thanks!

Ok, I really love this. Why wouldn't you finish this if you were the rest of the group?

Is this a Friends outtake?

Thanks for sharing :)

It really seems to lose direction in the last third of the song... perhaps Brian just couldn't be bothered?

During the Sunflower sessions. I agree, this track has so much potential - and it actually is quite good even as an unfinished demo. Contrary to other posts above me, I happen to think Brian sounds quite good.

is this a Murry song?

Good to hear it, but I can see why it wasn't finished- bits of the melody are just too close to she's leaving home

Thanks! Didn't know that.

BW!  :rock

This is great. Really great. Classic.

Screw it, I'm listening to the whole damn thing  :lol

Dang that sounds fine. Thanks for sharing that Cliff!

Just listened to it. It's good though as said before, it does kinda peter out at the end.

Amazing that it could've been better.


Beliagio site says it's 100% Brian

No worries guys-just giving a little back to everything I've heard/learnt on here over the years

In terms of the song, I agree, it does seem to wander off but is firmly in the, 'what could have been' list

Maybe a couple of, "COME ON mo'fos" would have helped!

A lot of Beach Boys songs peter out at the end.  See "break away"

I think it's terrific - a great 'new' (to these ears, at least) downtempo Brian number like My Diane or Sweet Mountain.

I think he sounds really good on it, vocally.

The 'chorus' does sound waaaay too much like She's Leaving Home, mind...!

And thanks for sharing, Cliff. My iPlayer just didn't want me to play Vanessa Feltz (I sympathise), so it was excellent being able to skip her with your file!

Not on par with his other songs from this period, but such a nice, sweet little song.  No one does tender/sweet like BW

Cool!  Thanks, Cliff!

Thanks!  Not prefect but I like it a lot; especially as a demo.  A nice Brian addition to Sunflower.  One has to wonder if finished, would it have would up with a divided vocal, like "Add Some Music To Your Day"?  Brian seemed to shy away from full lead vocals around that time.

Wow. Haha where has this track been for all these years?!?!

Wow... HAHA

Are you kidding, Cliff? It's not annoying. After all, who doesn't like getting music for free? Many thanks for the download! Btw, clever thing it was to name the file differently, in order to prevent the song from being taken down.

I'm with EH1966, Brian indeed sounds great here, I'll even go further saying it's one of his top performances. The "I wonder..." highlights the whole song, adds some color. I see the similarity with She's Leaving Home but honestly, the BBs tune is so much better! Dig the echoing, gives an extra blissfulness. Beautiful arrangements that seem understated at 1st listen. I don't mind the odd finish too. Actually, Where Is She? didn't come off as a demo to me, more like a completed competent song on its own.

That's cool-I'm just aware that some on here like to wait and don't want the temptation plus they are only mp3's. I renamed it as, lets say, after editing Feltz out, the program I used renamed the track as, "Australian Piano Waltz"!!

I also realize these would last about 3 minutes on YouTube!

Glad you guys appreciate them-as I said, it's my small token back.

Now.....if WITBNTLA leaks, I could be tempted to send a 30sec sample for the complete SOT boxsets! ;D

Nice little song, really love the first verse and chorus

Very cool! Could've been a album's standout if fully realized

I appreciate it.  Very good track!

wow. it's wonderful and will very likely be my favorite thing on MiC

thanks for sharing!

I love it!  It's completely new to my ears.  Am I the only one who thinks this wouldn't have sounded too out of place on Pet Sounds?

Already said; but where the hell has this been for all this time??!?!?!

This is actually a very strong track. Lovely Brian voice in the style he would later sing 'Awake'. This def on my playlist asap.
Is this the first instance of Brian using a moog synthesizer as a central instrument. Do we know who played the instruments?

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Yeah, there's a slight "Don't Talk" vibe.

I'll seriously never understand this band. They tossed so much good stuff to the side over the years. Brian's tendency to shy from full leads during this era is similarly baffling.

Also, I really hope I don't come to associate this woman's face with the song.

Also, don't really hear the "She's Leaving Home" similarity beyond the waltz timing and some of the... erm, vocal syncopation, but not really the melody at all. I'll admit I'm not especially familiar with either song right now, though. I'll still say that "Where Is She" is seemingly very much its own song.

Love it.  Thanks for posting it.

That's five songs 'leaked' (or five I've heard): four great; one good and one so-so (though not to bad when compared to most of the rest of the album it would've been on).

I was trying to think of what you meant by the last one when I remembered "Goin' To The Beach". Seems like an eternity since that one got out, doesn't it? This is why I don't like the gradual cherry-picking of tracks over time. I'll admit I appreciate it and probably prefer it over the "Release the single two months ahead of the album and nothing else" method, as often times, I really come to disassociate said single from the album. That kind of happened with "Goin' To The Beach" and "California Feelin'", for me.

I know, I don't have to listen, but shit. Someone posts a Sunflower outtake or any unreleased Beach Boys track, I want to hear it.

Another instance where an amazing Brian Wilson track is scrapped and doesn't see the light of day for several years.

4 + 1 + 1 = 5?  ???

This sounds like Brian Wilson trying to recreate She's Leaving Home from his memory of what he imagined it would sound like aftet McCartney played it to him on piano in 1967... if you know what I mean.

Do yourself a favour and associate her face with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46B4KFFQ85E

I'm not particularly fond of the song (too PSish for my tastes), but I'm very glad it got airplay and Brian does sound great.

What a boring program, tho, way too much jabber -- I couldn't listen to the rest of the show.

I'm letting it loop all evening long! woo hoo!

Wow, very cool! Not his best song, but def one of his best (and only) lead vocals from this time period.

I'm sure if they continued work on it, the lyrics would have changed a bit.

The verse reminds me of "Let's Stick Together" / "The Waltz".

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This is the transition track I've been looking for. The missing link. I can hear the two voices of Brian here in equal amounts. Anyone else hear this?

Definitely.

Aye, and more besides somehow.

What a frickin gem. Love this. Beautiful, haunting vocal work.

If a fraction of the new stuff on this set half-matches this track, I'll be in ecstasy.

Anyone tell me more about it? Is this as Brian left it or has it been newly mixed from different sessions? The first few seconds sound like a demo, other sections have demo-like characteristics while others seem to be work in progress… whatever, it works for me. And beautifully so.

Having listened to this track about 30+ times ( :o) my impression hasn't changed much. I love the vocals from Brian. I loved the opening line and when it's repeated in harmony... but the lyrics are pretty abysmal as it goes on. Definitely a WIP.  :lol

Anything by BW during this era is a hit to me.

I'm loving this track!

I agree. This is my favorite BW vocal period.

Oh...... this is 'Erotic' music.......... Brian's Voice is Frigging Sensational here!!!!

Super Song and Vocal from BW.............  what is the origin of this???? and what year???

My favourite BW vocal period also!

RickB

Lyrics are grossly overrated.

Brand new tracks, never before heard, and released in the middle of a near orgasmic frenzy to hear new stuff, tend to be overrated too.  :lol

Agreed. The only thing that hit me was his voice. Sounds sooo good.

It really does. I have been obsessively listening to Awake lately, and the timbre of his voice is almost identical.

Man Brian could sing in 1969! GREAT all the way around, pre 1976 Brian never ceases to stun me.  Sunflower could have been two LP's easy and been brilliant.

November of '69...according to Bellagio.

Can you provide a reference for where / by whom they're overrated please? Haven't seen this track reviewed before this thread appeared. Thanks in advance …

Yeah, would have been astounding with mYke luHv lyrics-or even better if he had done the vocal as well. :smokin

Wait! You're telling me you don't like Mike?

Shocking stuff.

I think that's the Baldwin bass pedals that you're hearing.
Also, I'd imagine Brian did everything.

I was not talking about this track. I was talking about lyrics to songs in general. I don't find lyrics to make or break a song. Production, melody, arrangement, and vocals are what I use to determine a good track. Lyrics are the lowest on the totem pole. He could have been singing about candy corn and I'd still think his voice was fantastic.

You don't need to be offended in this instance. You just need to use better comprehension. I'd get your sarcastic complaint if I said, "The lyrics are grossly overrated."

Other musings by me that would warrant your being up in arms:

"This song's lyrics suck."

"I can't stand this song based solely on the lyrics."

"Did Mike Love write these awful lyrics?"

"I don't get anyone who would like this song because these lyrics are dreadful."

"This song should have stayed in the vaults, these lyrics are pathetic."

But I never said any of it. Thanks...

So even though I really didn't want to listen to it before I got Made In California, I broke down and listened. Three times. I think.

I really dig it. It's incredible that there was this song there that the group never issued all these years. I can see why it didn't make Sunflower because it really was a pretty "light" album, and this a pretty "heavy" type thing. However, I think it woulda fit pretty well on Surf's Up, maybe as track 7, making it a four song Brian finish rather than just three. And I don't think this woulda been that crazy, as it seems that a lot of the stuff that didn't make Sunflower was considered for Surf's Up.

This also might be something that nobody agrees with, but as well as being an edit, I kinda got the feeling that maybe this song had instrumentation added recently. It is definitely a minimalist thing going on. But it also sounds more finished than it had been described, and it has a Pet Sounds kinda vibe. And the way it was pretty much described was just like Brian and rhythm box. So I expected something a bit more demo-ish. And this ain't demo-ish in my opinion. And if instrumentation was added recently, I think that's just fine because it's Brian's song and he's allowed to do with it what he wants. So if it was too bare bones for him and he wanted stuff added, then cool.

I hesitate to "hype" unreleased tracks, but this one is "hypeable." Just beautiful.....

Oh man, this song is so good  :o

Youtube version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3kH-Akg4Mw


edit

(poster used cliffs rip.)

Interesting theory! It does sound oddly modern sonically.

Also, I'm thinking there must be a track that kept the rhythm muted out in this version. Maybe a piano track. I'm sure they played with the elements, a la California Feelin' (MIC version). Sounds like the last verse is a loop of the 1st.

They did a nice job, whatever they did. It sounds great.

You don't need to be offended in this instance. You just need to use better comprehension.

I incorrectly assumed you'd deliberately omitted an initial "The" and I was looking for a reference to previous posts about a song I'd never heard before. But I appreciate your delicate clarification. As you say, "thanks".

That clave-esque sound is likely from the drum machine track.

What's scary is that Brian probably wrote a bunch of songs like this that never got recorded. One of those living room #1's. But when the band needed material, Brian would be like, "Y'know, why haven't we ever recorded a cover of 'Battle Hymn of the Republic'?" And God bless 'em, they did it.

It's been about 6 or 7 years since I heard this last, but while it's certainly a different mix, I don't think anything has been added.  The mix I heard in 2006 does in my memory seem like it was a little sparser.  I'll have to check my notes.

Where can she be if she's not here with me.. He sounds so good on this!!

Woah, I love the directness and the fragility. Really, really good stuff. It kinda sounds like what I imagine a work-in-progress Pet Sounds track may have sounded like before Brian ran it by Tony Asher.

Thanks for weighing in. Would love to read the notes you took back then, if you have the time to post em!

awesome!!!!!!

I would, but they're not organized very well, so it's easier to sort of track down notes for a specific thing.  Plus, I think about 75% of them will be unnecessary pretty soon, since everybody will be hearing these things for themselves.

Love it!  Very interesting to hear Brian's future voice creep in during certain phrases too.  Amazing that there are still songs like this in the vault that have gone unreleased for so long.

Very nice start to a song, this is, yes?  While I haven't given the piece a proper analysis after only one listen, the similarities to "She's Leaving Home" others have mentioned are pretty plain to me, too (though in no way did this detract from my listening experience, only colour it).

Brian's vocal is wonderful, and the instrumentation, as sparse as it is, really does the job of setting a fragile, almost haunting scene.  Nicely done, and this is one of the few times I wouldn't mind seeing the band take something decades old as this, and fleshing it out (as long as this original recording were provided, too).  I'd be curious to hear what a fuller treatment would produce.

Thanks, Cliff!

Maybe it goes without saying, but I think the next couple of weeks will be an awfully wonderful time to be a fan of the Beach Boys.

That song is pure sweetness. It's been more than 10 years since I last heard "She's Leaving Home" and I still hear some vague similarities but I can't be bothered. Oh what a voice he had...

Holy crap!!  :o Great song!!  ;D I agree though about the chorus sounding a lot like She's Leaving Home. Parts of the verse("where can she be if she's not here with me") also sound very similar to Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds("newspaper taxis appear on the shore", etc). It's interesting to wonder if there would have been any possible plagiarism  lawsuits.

After the second "where is sheeeeee" I hear a faint instrument.... Brass? On the left side...

Yup, definitely there. Either a guitar overdriven or brass
After "where is sheeeeee eeeeeee" the whine. On the left side only.

My wife thought Brian was trying for a Nick Mason drum sound and Rick Wright styled organ. Pink Floyd rhythm section for those who aren't aware.

Your wife has a good ear.  ;D I missed it, but now I can hear it pretty clearly.

I know it's not period accurate, but I can't help thinking that the "bare bones" production of this would have fit in nicely on Smiley Smile, or Friends.

Yeah she did make that clearer to me too.

It sounds to me like the piano part in the beginning is from a different take, or rehearsal. It sounds somehow "separate" from a "proper take".

Sounds like a sax.

It's a good song and any Brian leads from this time are always of interest to me. I do find it hard to imagine it fitting anywhere on Sunflower or Surf's Up.

On Sunflower, maybe it could have taken the place of "Tears in the Morning". ;D

Seems like Brian was writing and producing lots of material at the time that didn't fit the group's overall direction, e.g. Games Two Can Play, Good Time, I Just Got My Pay, as well as this new one. No wonder he obviously didn't feel like contributing an awful lot of new songs to subsequent projects when the group was heading in such a different direction.

The similarities between Where Is She and She's Leaving Home are obvious when comparing "where has she gone, she has been gone for so long" to "she's leaving home after living alone for so many years", but what a pretty song this is! Arrangement wise I suspect All I Wanna Do was left in a similar state as Where Is She when the boys worked on it. It also has the guitar patterns. The piano playing at the beginning is Brian practicing the chords. It's an obvious edit that was found somewhere on the session tapes. I also suspect the last chorus was copied from the first or something. A lot of times Brian didn't record full song structures anymore around this period.

I wonder if the band was even aware this existed. It plays nicely with 1974 material like "Good Timin'" and "California Feeling".

To be fair you could easily say that those songs didn't fit in with Warner's direction. It was they who requested a stronger set of songs after all.

I don't think the lyrics are that bad.  A little repetitive, possibly a little sketchy and in need of development, is all.

I love the overall sentiment though.  For me, 'Where can she be if she's not here with me', is a quirky, sweet, eloquent and touching expression of many things; naive longing, frustration, innocence, unrequited love, self-absorption.  Great line.

Amid all this talk of She's Leaving Home, there seems to be a lyrical reference to With A Little Help From My Friends (or did someone already mention this?...)

.

Okay, my maths is sh*t.

Ok thanks! I was wondering whether that was his Baldwin, but by 1969 he wasn't using his organ that much IIRC. Why would he suddenly be using it again?

Tbh, at 1st notice I got this statement incorrectly, like Mr. Manning. But as you clarified it, I can only agree with you. I too don't think the words are of big importance, any kind of analyzing of the text bores me to no end. So, you're not alone. The same-minded people are also Mr. Newcombe & Zach (aka efloW hcaZ).

I'm willing to bet that's Brian on drums.

Amazing discovery, by the way. This song is ace. Love the sound of the recording.

How odd that the BBC didn't announce this as a "world exclusive" or give it any context. Just, "that was Where is She by Brian Wilson -- now let's talk to a drug mule."

Anyway, a part of me wishes that all the previously unreleased unbooted tracks could be premiered one by one like a single from a forthcoming album would be, so we could have time to focus on each and listen to them over and over before the next one came along. 'Where is She' might have gotten a bit lost otherwise by the crush of the rest of the new MIC stuff.

Small World tale Pt 1: that "drug mule" used to have a stall on the same market as my sister, at Sowerby Bridge near Halifax in West Yorkshire. Little Sis just happened to be world travelling when Sandra was arrested, and was able to visit her in Bangkok's Klong Prem prison.  Don't suppose she had that many visitors from her homeland…

Just to let you guys know that the mp3 for Wendy is in the Wendy thread for those that want it

Cheers

Yes, I never really take notice of the lyrics unless it's something amusing (as Brian's songs sometimes are)

If the music is good, they could be singing their shopping lists and I'd be happy.

I'm surprised Range Rover that you remember this. I posted about this subject awhile back now. You must really take the time to read and retain other people's posts.

Must ask, is/was little sis a drug mule also? being in the same market and all

You can't imagine how I enjoy reading people's posts that I memorize almost every written reply, at least in the topics I opened. Generally, I like comparing various opinions, it's so interesting!

:lol

'Fraid not… though I ought to have taken the initiative to get her to mail back illicit live & outtake CDs from the Far East!

Brian's vocals are heavenly..

Uhh, I love this era, I wish we had more unreleased tracks from it.

Amazing to think of all the stuff hanging around in the vaults like this -- it's been 44 years since this was recorded, and no one outside of deepest BB land has heard it.

What an sensational band.

(As to the song itself -- it's pretty slight. Or rather, it's slight in its present state. I suspect that Brian was basically getting an idea down, which would have been expanded and refined considerably before any sort of official release. You can also see why the rest of the band was so slow to suspect anything was really wrong with Brian -- as long as he could just toss off stuff like this, how bad could he be?)

Just gave a listen to it.
Wonderful!!
Elegant in its simplicity.
Reminder of just how good Brian's voice was back then.

Where can she be if she's not here with me?
Where, where can she be?
Where can she be if she's not here with me?
Where, where can she be?

Where has she gone?
She's been gone for so long
Making me worry and wonder
Where is she?
Where is she...

Wonder if she's coming home
(I wonder if she's coming home)
Wonder if she's all alone
Wasting her time on losing my mind
Wondering if she's coming home

How do I feel knowing love is away
How, how do I feel?
No good for myself or to anyone else
No, my love is away

It's just too weird when I think of it now
Why do I have to wonder
Where is she?
Where is she...

Maybe she's on her way home
(I wonder if she's coming home)
And that could mean she's all alone
Thinking of me
I wanted to be
On her way home

Where can she be if she's not here with me?
Where, where can she be?
Where can she be if she's not here with me?
Where, where can she be?

Taken off of YT  :( Guess it was inevitable.

Oh well. Will be available soon.

Use Cliff's link:

So I listened to it a few more times (even though I'm trying not to, since I still want it to be fresh when I get MIC) and I really think that "Where Is She?" is a natural progression from side two of the Today! album, and to an extent, some of Pet Sounds as well. The topic definitely fits in with stuff like "Please Let Me Wonder" and "She Knows Me Too Well" and "In the Back of My Mind" as well as something like "Don't Talk", and while it's a waltz (which is something Brian did mostly in the late '60s) I really think that musically it even fits.

In fact, with "Where Is She?" revealed, I feel like it's pretty safe to say that Brian was writing at his highest level, both commercially and creatively, since probably Wild Honey. Stuff like "This Whole World", "Add Some Music", and "Where Is She?" honestly could have been hits if people would've just accepted that it wasn't lame to like The Beach Boys. "This Whole World" was a driving, up-tempo thing that is just beyond catchy, while "Add Some Music" has that folky and pretty late '60s/early '70s sound. And "Where Is She?" seems like it could been a hit in the same way that "Without You" was for Nilsson. Just my opinion. And one that we'll obviously never be able to test out.

I don't think any of these songs were particularly commercial. After all, The Beach Boys weren't uncool outside America and yet these songs still weren't hits.

I agree. Though few say it, Brian was still writing and performing at peak level for much of Sunflower.

I wish I coud download this.  ???