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Hey all,
I recently visited a vinyl store and came across a copy of "Sunflower".  Of course I was elated because just before entering the store I had been thinking to myself: "Wouldn't it be nice to find Sunflower in here?"  Anyway, the actual cover has "Cottonfields" listed as track 1 on side one but upon inspection, the vinyl itself starts with "Slip on Through".  Now I know that this could just be a mix up with covers that perhaps occurred during this particular copy of the album's 43 years of existence but what I would really like to know are your thoughts on the actual vinyl pressing, itself.  I understand that this has been discussed before (in length) but for some reason I have been unable to find that particular post which is why I am posing the question again.  The pressing itself is labeled "Caribou".  With regard to other pressings, what is the general consensus on this one?  And am I right in thinking that the inclusion of "Cottonfields" was part of the album's European release? 
Thank you all for your help on this. 
P.S This album is now in a very safe place...   ;D

The Beach Boys section is always my first spot when I go into a record store. What they have is always different, some places have all the early LP's, others just have post Pet Sounds stuff.

Great find! I've read about the difference in the two pressings...and I know there is a similar one with Holland; a sleeve that lists an alternate track listing, with an LP with the regular tracks.

Years ago I had  a Dutch issue of "Sunflower" that indeed started with "Cottonfields" and then proceeded through the regular track order.  That listing was on the cover -- obviously not the same record but an explanation of "Cottonfields" being associated.

Hi – this is my first post on here as I have just joined but been a massive Beach Boys fan for over 20 years. My post is related to Sunflower, but not vinyl, in particular to Add Some Music To Your Day. I have always wondered whether I cannot hear him or whether Dennis Wilson does not get a turn when the lead vocal alternates from member to member – Mike, Bruce, Carl, Brian and Al are all in there, but where is Dennis? Apologies if this has already been discussed to death on this forum!

Also, I am probably going out on a limb here, but what a great track At My Window is. Listened to it earlier in the car and it's pure joy. A fantastic album all round and definitely one of their best and should have put them back on top of the music world again in 1970. But sadly...

My original copy of Sunflower was European and had the mono version of Cottonfields as the first track.. it was also the cleanest and best sounding record I had ever owned. (thanks Steve D!). I haven't heard any CD issue that sounds as good as that vinyl did.  However, that being said, I now can say that my "Sunflower" listenings (on CD) now always start with he Stereo version of Cottonfields from the box!  :) :)

Correct, Dennis is not in the lead vocal rotation, but I believe he's in the background vocals, and he does play the drums on it.

Why not? Wasn't his voice deemed suitable? Seems a tad strange given how strong his voice was then.

Dennis actually has a fairly prominent part in the vocal rounds of this song. If you listen to the vocals only mix it's easy to pick out, it comes around four times during the song...he sings the lines "Add Some Music, Add Some Music" at 0:28, 1:04, 1:40 and 2:59..and it's a "solo" line in that he's not harmonizing or doubling with anyone, he's singing his part of the round "solo".
Check it out here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JwgEpRg-5Y

Was just about to answer the same thing, Jon, however without all the times you have listed... you are doing your research!  I've always loved how strong & prominent his voice is on this song.

Maybe it's my bad ears but it sounds like Dennis to me on the lline,"I close my tired eyes"?

I think that's actually Brian.

I have both the original UK Stateside issue [Gatefold w/Duophonic Cottonfields] and the Later, non-gatefold UK Caribou re-issue. To clarify these matters, the original version also has Deirdre and Got To Know The Woman swapped around for reasons I don't know [but I prefer it] and the Caribou issue, as you state, features the standard US tracklisting. Seen the Caribou copy around quite a bit, my dad got it in a 50p box solely for Forever.

But anyway, I digress, both copies sound great to me [though Duophonic Cottonfields, is, well, Duophonic], but I haven't played the Caribou one for a long time, simply because I haven't needed to.

Either way, good find, is your cover gatefold? And does it have the 'stateside' logo on the front of the cover? The caribou cover isn't gatefold, but has cropped versions of the interior photos on the back cover in the previously empty space.

Sadly, I'm not near my collection [the thing I'm missing the most being at Uni] but I'm sure someone else can help you :) If not I'm home next weekend.

"For your lonely soul" is surely Brian. Tired Eyes sounds gruffer, more like Dennis to me. You could very well be right though, I often confuse the voices.

Not 100% sure myself. It's strange how even the voices of these two could sound quite similar from time to time.

Yeah, I see a previous thread where there are credits,  line by line. But the O woo O woo OOO after Lonely Soul seems classic Brian though it is credited to Carl. I be condused!

Try listening to that vocals only mix linked above again...and right at 1:03 to 1:06 (right channel) it's VERY clearly Dennis singing the line Add Some Music, Add Some Music...(he does it in the same place throughout, but that moment is probably the clearest or most forward in the mix of the four).

I don't know if this may be of any help, but I recently sold off a copy of the '80 UK CBS/Caribou reissue...so I still have some photos from it on my computer. From The OP's description, it almost sounds like he has an earlier UK or Euro, Stateside (or Odeon) jacket mated with the vinyl from that noted '80 UK CBS/Caribou reissue.

Again...these photos are entirely from the '80 CBS/Caribou reissue that Freddie references (i.e. the one that uses the standard US track lineup):


http://www.lukpac.org/~dave/sunflowerukoverview.jpg

http://www.lukpac.org/~dave/sunflowerukoverviewback.jpg

http://www.lukpac.org/~dave/sunfloweruklabel1.jpg

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This thread must have subliminal advertising. I picked up a original vinyl of Sunflower today.  :lol

Hi all,

Yes, the cover has EMI/Stateside printed on the left hand side of the cover whilst on the right side it has the Brother Records label.  The track listing on the back has "Cotton Fields" including the information that says "...is a mono recording electronically reprocessed to give a stereo effect..."  Like I said though, "Cotton Fields" isn't on the actual vinyl.  It is a gatefold cover.  There are no pictures on the back aside from the whole "Ingredients" picture of a sunflower, etc.  The actual vinyl has "Caribou Records/Embassy"  The only date given is the original year the album was released, 1970.  
That's all the information I can give.  Thanks everyone for your help on this.  I'm always interested to know the history of these vinyls.
  
P.S I'm listening to it right now using my Quad 303/33 with B&O Beovox 3702 speakers and it sounds absolutely sublime. 

OK...I'd classify it as a solo background part.  :)

Yeah I too prefer the European sequence of the album to the official version. Cottonfields is a great first track and I like the switch around that places Deidre before Gotta Know The Woman too. I recently got a copy of the UK vinyl that is in great condition.

Alan Boyd on Cotton Fields:

"...COTTON FIELDS was never intended to be included on an album, although EMI - which had distribution rights in Europe for the first two Brother Records albums on their Stateside label - saw fit to add the song to their initial release of SUNFLOWER, and somebody at Stateside took a mono single master, made it duophonic (yecch) and it appeared as the first song on side one of the European Stateside Records SUNFLOWER."

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,1203.msg26330.html#msg26330 (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,1203.msg26330.html#msg26330)

Re the Edition you have - go to Discogs, and type in the album title + any other barcodes or industrial type markings you can see (in the deadwax etc).  Perhaps you have this edition:

Beach Boys, The ‎– Sunflower
Label: Caribou Records ‎– CRB 31773
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1980

(http://i.imgur.com/J2jfMBW.jpg)

Hi Alan,
Yes indeed, the one you have listed above is the exact copy I have.  Okay, that clears that up.  Anyway, I listened to it for the first time yesterday and I have to say, it sounds lovely.  It's a great copy just in itself; the fact that whoever had the vinyl before I laid my hands on it, really took care of it. 
Thanks again for the assistance!

Again, the 1980 reissue doesn't have Cottonfields listed on the cover, or included at all for that matter, and you noted in your first post that your cover did (yet your vinyl didn't). As I suggested earlier, is it possible that you simply have an earlier UK or Euro, Stateside or Odeon cover mated with the '80 reissue UK CBS/Caribou vinyl?

Or...does your release look entirely like this? This is the cover and the vinyl from that noted 1980 UK CBS/Caribou release. No Cottonfields at all:  :)



http://www.lukpac.org/~dave/sunflowerukoverview.jpg

http://www.lukpac.org/~dave/sunflowerukoverviewback.jpg

http://www.lukpac.org/~dave/sunfloweruklabel1.jpg

Wasn't the Sunflower UK version with "Cottonfields" and the inversion of "Deirdre/GTKTW" also issued as a double-LP set with Surf's Up? Alan B. mentions the single LP version, but I seem to recall having a copy of the double-LP set way back then...

Yes, indeed it was. With black Stateside labels. Another one that I parted with...many moons ago.  :)

No, not the same cover.  Like you said, someone has obviously placed the 1980 Caribou pressing into an older UK or European gatefold cover.  

Cool...thanks for the reply! I'm always just interested in knowing if there's some other rare/undocumented issue of the album -- however bizarre it might be, or even if it's a mispressing. Good to know that isn't the case here!