The Smiley Smile Message Board

Just got the set delivered 10 minutes ago! Packaging is beautiful. A faux-leather bound booklet the size of an LP. When I first opened it up I thought "WTF"? as all the existing band's signatures where in there!! The photographs start with a bang and go upwards from there. There are some pictures which I have never seen before - like a teenage Brian at the family piano. Then some B&W live gig pics circa 61 or 62 - THEN color ones!! In  many cases photo montages of ones that have grace back cover slicks - and with a bit of detective work you'll find a couple that are new. There are many of the individual Hawthorne front lawn shots which were used for the CD of the same name. Further interior Wilson home pics follow - alot I have not seen before. Then a stack of 1964 pictures many of which are alternates of 45 shots. SDaSN boat pictures and ASL outtakes are also there. Bruce is seen in the boat pics. Many B&W shots of the (I guess) Party! Including one which explains why we only ever saw the top half of Mike. Then come m,any Pet Sounds cover session shots from SD zoo. A nice big color Frank Holmes drawing of SU from the Smile booklet (would have been nice to have some more Smile session photos, but oh well). There are a set of the H&V promo shoot pics (where they are leaning on haystacks), and then some color pics of the guys circa 1967 playing sports. There is a glorious Sunflower gatefold shoot of the town square. A couple of SU session pics follow with the album cover. Then we move to 1976 with alts (and not so alts) of known pics from then through to the 1980's. Then a jump to the C50 concert pics. There is a 2012 group shot and then a curious set of location pics in and around LA which will get a few laughs followed by track details interspersed with candid shots from their long career. A nice dedication to Carl and Dennis and a complete list of session and band member alumni.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4960558/20130823_152505.jpg)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4960558/20130823_151802.jpg)

Did you get it from Amazon?

sh*t looks great. Thanks for the early bird review.

sh*t does indeed look great. I may have to get a physical copy of this after all...

You didn't expect the book to look like this?

Yep I got it from Amazon.de and I pay for express shipping on an anual basis so I am usually guaranteed a time-of-day delivery. Also actually being_in_ Germany hepls.

Two more as a tease:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4960558/20130823_162305.jpg)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4960558/20130823_162533.jpg)

I'd have tidied away my wife's night clothes before taking the pictures. She's not going to be happy with you.

Fear not! It's just a throw for the couch.

Those pictures are beautiful! Love the faux autograph section. Nice touch.

 :3d :3d

I want.... Lucky man!

Initial thoughts on the tracks:

Meant for You - reduced me to tears. Amazing vocal arrangement. So far the highlight for me.
Slip on Through - the fade out vox you get a tease snippet of the groove Dennis could have explored more. Man oh man - he _feels_ music!
Sherry Baby - awesome mix using the 1976 Brian vox plus flown in Sandy backings!! Seamless integration as well. Another standout track.
Where is She? - hauntingly beautiful and the tune sticks in your head long after.
Sail Plane Song - yowser - note to self: dont use as an LSD comedown track
Be With Me demo - sounds like Dennis would fit perfectly in a uptown jazz bar sitting lone at the piano
Barnyard Blues - why oh why did they leave stuff like this in the can when 15 Big Ones comes out instead?
California Feelin' demo - holy moly Batman - the missing link vocally between angelic and gruff Brian vocals
My Love Lives On - another why the f was this left in the can?
WIBNTL - if this is how Dennis' early 70's solo album would have sounded...

many tracks made me immediately think the Wilson are ideally suited to soundtrack music. I think given the opportunity they would have produced some amazing scores.

Well I already spotted errors in the photos...

Assuming of course they were the right way round originally... :afro

Got mine today!!! Made In California .... bought in Wisconsin. There is a store in Milwaukee that never honors the release dates. I always buy early from them. Just got it home!!

Received mine today, unpacked it and love it. What a cool edition.

Let's see:

2011: Unpacked "the Smile Sessions"
2012: 50th Anniversary Tour
2013: Made in California

What will happen 2014?

A BB live box set.

Surf's Up era photos please???

MLPAC

Mike Love Presents Adult Child :D

I once dated a girl called May Hands.

"They're doin' it all over the world...................."

2014: Love & Mercy

I once dated a cross-eyed seamstress who couldn't mend straight.

She seems like a bad fit for her job.

Well May Hands takes it up the clacker so who cares?

"Clacker". Depending on what country you're from, it could be defined as:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=clacker

I just wanna know what a Mooger Fooger is.  I'm almost afraid to look.......  ;D

Was there any session information or dates of recordings in the booklet?

How do we get this in Australia.. The MIC box that is!!??

Yep each song has its origins and session info. However, it is mainly "recorded during the Sunflower sessions, 1969" for example.

A Mooger Fooger is defined here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moogerfooger

Nothing shocking, yet sounds very cool when applied to a synth or theremin.

For Aussies, I'd recommend Red Eye records.

So is there are any notable or surprising information there?  You're a Mystery for example -- does that say that a portion of it was recorded recently?

Jeff wrote it.


 >:D

So....jealous. So very, very, VERY jealous. Never was able to buy the TSS box (although I've certainly heard it, many many times ;)  ) and gonna lose out here barring a lottery win, so...yeah. Looks freakin' epic!

Well FFS... even I know a bit more than that. All they had to do was...

1 - call c-man: if he was out...

2 - look here - Gigs & sessions (http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs.html) - which is pretty much all his work anyway as regards the recording dates.

Pre-Order on JB HiFi website (it can't be far away) or ask your local record store (ie, Red Eye in Sydney, nice one Mooger) and get Tony Abbott to NOT stop the boats

All here. Release date the 30th but shipped the 29th. Allow 3 days.

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/made-in-california/690231

And a soundtrack album with exactly ONE recently unearthed gem every BB fan MUST have! ;D

"In the Back of My Mind" (Late '70s demo)

If I have one gripe about the set, it is the sparse session info. I love on TSS to read all the tidbits about the tracking date. Perhaps an online resource with detailed listings would be an idea, PTB?

In all I like this set alot. The right balance between material for noob and hard core. I for one love the Smile montage vox, so Im glad its on there. Unfortunately for the first time in a long time there are _no_ hidden tracks at the end of any of the cds. Bummer.

For me the standout track is Meant For You. It displays Brian's musical genius better than anything else I've heard in a long time. I can imagine a classical instrument interpretation sitting right up there with the work of Mozart or Bach.

Speaking of session info, there was discussion about the 1967 Surf's up _2012_ mix. According to the session notes, it is indeed a REMIX, although I couldn't hear any difference on the first listen.

Me too...another opportunity to give a shout out and great big thanks to C-Man for his work.  I have spent hours looking at that sessionography, certainly the best thing about the TSS book.  I had really hoped for at least solid recording dates in the MiC book, if not session musicians.

Does it say anything about who played what on the liner notes? I'm sure we're all interested to see that, especially as far as the unreleased tracks go.

Looks like a ton of backwards pictures. Capitol did that the 50 hits box too. Very disappointing.

It's definitely a different take from the Smile Sessions version.

That's what I thought when I read MIC details & saw the scans in MF's posts. Must have been an extremely lucky day for the receivers. Good BBs listening to all!

and for Aussies........ where else but........................ Ebay!!!

I bought and ordered mine there, 30 - 50 bux cheaper than buying it anywhere in Australia at that point....

RickB

There's only one photo of Blondie and Ricky in the entire book. Kinda crappy of them. At least they are credited as Beach Boys but come on....

Ok, there's another at the back. Still shoddy.

There is also a list of every session musician to ever play on a Beach Boys cut!

You know what it's far better than I thought, but as I mentioned the backwards pictures are obvious and glaring.

"Stay in school, let harmony rule"
Al Jardine  :lol
Love it

Dear Smiley Smile Message Board,

I couldn't help noticing a strong resemblence between the classic Japanese ukiyo-e artwork 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa' and the cover of the Beach Boys' recent career-spanning book set, Made In California.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa2.jpg/640px-Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa2.jpg)
'Made In California'

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ytd1KqxNv-o/UbcvFFi-QcI/AAAAAAAAqho/I8afJxhfVk8/s1600/Beach+Boys+Made+in+California.jpg)
'The Great Wave off Kanagawa'


Are they by any chance related? I think we should be told...

Stay tuned, wantscomecorn...ther will be a full MIC sessionography posted online in the very near future.

Great news!

Only reason it's not in the book is lack of space.

The big pic of the guys labelled Phoenix December 1962 is, according to current knowledge, incorrect: unless this is a new discovery, the first documented gigs in Phoenix were July 5 & 6 1963.

And according to your picture Capitol got the "great wave" ;D  backwards too...whats the world coming to?

Surely one is the tide going out and the other is the tide coming back in again.

(http://theereatta.8thman.com/images/disc4.jpg)

When I burn safety copies I like to do my own CD art.
I may use that japanese wave on one later.

Excellent !

lawl, what a freakin' nerd!
I've done this before, too. You're my kinda guy.

It was my understanding that everyone who listens to the Beach Boys is considered a nerd.

makes you feel right at home!

Booklet, tracklisting for Disc Three: anyone know where the photo of the boys was taken? Given the limestone pavement they're stood on and the nature of the walls in the valley so deep and wide behind them, I'm guessing it just might have been the Yorkshire Dales during a UK visit but who knows? Anyone?

Edit: found it on line but no further details:

(http://photos.pixyblog.com/pictorialpress/001-027150.jpg)

Edit: this is almost certainly from the same day:

(http://c8.alamy.com/comp/8/{A9D5BACD-B29F-4C14-9009-0AFE4543D9E3}/BD3BJ5.jpg)

This just in: had a word with that nice Mr. Marks and he confirms that the first time they played in Arizona - or indeed anywhere outside of California - was late January 1963.

Looks like the same clothes, but if it was the same day, Bruce shaved his mustache

Blimey, hadn't noticed that… What are the chances though of the entire band wearing exactly the same clothes ('cept Carl's hat) on any two days? And why the heck would he shave off his 'tache part-way through the day?  Surely that's part of everyone' early morning "sh*t, Shave n' Shower" routine?!

Another one with the same clothes:

(http://i37.tinypic.com/35k030w.jpg)

Given the tartan and bagpipes, I'm getting a strong north of the border vibe.  Somewhere near Glasgow, June 1969?

Seen it before - definitely Scotland. Looks a bit bleak for June. Maybe November 1970 ?

[Later...]  Yup, 1970 - the beards (especially Mike's) and hairstyles match.

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uh37G0NyEt4/UCxK5qgOwrI/AAAAAAAABSQ/jbgMIyEGqFI/s1600/BB%27s+1970+Royal+Albert+Hall.jpg)

And, indeed, this colour version of the "arches" photo also has the word "November" legible in the corner, for whatever that might be worth.

(http://i38.tinypic.com/2rhlpo2.jpg)

Al talks about visiting a castle in Scotland in a documentary.  It may be the Alan Boyd one shot during the 1991 UK Tour, never officially released or Beach boys Live in London, there is also live footage of the visit and they may be wearing the same gear.  Also it may well have been a visit to Eilean Donan Castle in Ayr.  A J Foulger mentions this on BBB website.  Personally I wouldn't be surprised if it was taken at Stirling Castle (they also visited their in 1991).

(http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1305/9miq.jpg)

Another shot from the same day.

Not either of those two castles.

Nice that the booklet remember Les Chan, classy move.

One criticism, the tracklisting for Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring - 'Recorded 1962, from The Beach Boys audition tape for Brother Records'. Oops...

Agreed.  Les was the guy who turned Alan Boyd onto the Beach Boys in the first place.  He was a good guy.  Of course so was Coach Hanes, Derek Bill, and Greg Larsen.

No disrespect to Les, but Boyd was into the band long before they met. He got his mom to buy him Sunflower when it was released. He was about nine then, I believe.

Absolutely blown away by the quality of the box set.

I'd always believed the 'arches' pic to be in the ruins of the old Coventry cathedral, with the modern 'Chapel of Unity' in the background. The open views in the other pictures don't look much like the Midlands, so I guess that might account for Bruce's moustache conundrum!

AGD's Bellagio 10452 shows a concert in Glasgow (Nov/Dec 1970) the day after one in Birmingham, and then several in Stockton-On-Tees and Sheffield, so apart from Al changing his jeans, looks like they might well have worn the same clothes for two days!

You're right, that is indeed Coventry Cathedral with the Chapel of Unity in the background.

Wonderful, many thanks guys. If Sheffield was on the itinerary, then the limestone at their feet in the first pic might be in the White Peak, of Derbyshire, at a pinch… and I know a man who might know. :D

Slightly embarrassed that I didn't recognise the Cathedral, being a Coventrian and all.

I agree-the photos are from the 1970 tour on different days.  It is odd, however, that they kept wearing the same clothes....unless maybe this was the request of the photographer.  Maybe the stories of how financially difficult those days were is not exaggerated! :lol

Yet Bruce was able to some how afford a razor.
Or a fake mustache.

That looks better, thanks.  Sorry,  the hour was late... :)