The Smiley Smile Message Board

On the fade of the MIC mix of Susie Cincinnati there is a howl that sounds like the 1976 Dennis trying to ruin the song. Were overdubs attempted for the release on 15 Big Ones?

It's just like Loop De Loop: simply unlistenable for anything else than the curiosity of the experience.

I find both not well-produced. Susie sounds strangely flat and muffled, sometimes it is grating on the ears.

Don, I absolutely agree. It's harsh on the ears.

Usually I'm not a "fantasy tracklist" kind of guy but I think it doesn't fit the overall sound of 15 Big Ones at all and should've been replaced with "Sea Cruise" or "Michael Row the Boat Ashore".

The mix on the Best of the Brother Years compilation was quite decent.  The mix on Made In California is quite scatter-brained.  And yes, I'm pretty sure that's Dennis at the end. 

I really like the original mix on The Brother Years comp, but all the other mixes sound like dookie to me.

The mixes don't carry the same bass as before. On other versions of the song, the lowest notes rattle the walls when I play it. The MIC mix sounds muted and "Off."

There's a lot of mixes on MIC that sound different - not necessarily better, not necessarily worse - from the original mixes. They highlight different aspects of the songs that us connoisseurs would notice.

There's nothing stopping me going back and playing the original mixes if i want, so it's nice to have different ones to compare to on a box set i paid a lot of money for. I'd rather have new 'lopsided' mixes which reveal fresh aspects of the songs than the exact same track again and again.

you're absolutely right.  it did seem to carry a lot of bass originally.  anyway, as i've stated before, i'm not much of a fan of the apparent remixing performed on a lot of the tracks on the MIC box set.  they tend to stick out.  oh well, i'm sure they had their reasons... 

I LOVE Susie Cincinnati, it's my favorite Al Song. I'd take it over the entire Friends album and Love You at any time. It rocks and has a very catchy riff.

The bass, played by Brian, is too subdued in the MIC mix. But my question was: that 1976 Dennis sounding howl on the fade, was it overdubbed for the release on 15 Big Ones and left off the mix?

Susie Cincinnati had more hit potential that most of the songs they released in the 70s.

Susie Cincinnati is a good song--not great, but it doesn't blow either.  I don't have the Brother Years comp, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I have noticed that the mastering of it on MiC is pretty shrill and tinny.  A little EQ adjustment on this end helps somewhat, but I shouldn't have to do that.

Not with those lyrics. They're beyond bland.

I don't often agree with you dude but on this I am in complete agreement.

The song has certainly grown on me over the past couple of weeks. It has a certain weird charm.

Yes.

The howl is a great example of how placement in the mix makes all the difference in the world.  On the original, it's there, but barely audible, and contributes a lot of excitement to that moment.  Up that far in the mix...yeah, it was a questionable mix decision.  By highlighting it, it robs the part of its power (the spontanaeity of the moment) and exposes its flaws.

Yeah, true, but as has already been said, I'm always open to hearing something new, doesn't mean I'll like it.

To me, the 15 Big Ones version is by far the best. Always liked it.

Me too!

This should also be the song where Al sings his highest without going in to falsetto, methinks.

I like "Loop De Loop" and "Suzie Cincinnati" both as heard on the Pegboy Landlocked bootleg. I can see why certain members of the band may have not appreciated them as such but really hearing that Landlocked bootleg 15 years ago got my attention. I love every song on it except for "HELP Is On The Way" which should just be forgotten (I don't like to hear them singing about enemas). The 8+ minute version of "'Til I Die" still blows me away more than the Surf's Up or Endless Harmony mixes. Yes, I am aware it's basically a bootleg edit/mix. I think it flows beautifully vocal/instrumental/vocal reprise.

The new mix of "Suzie Cincinnati" should have only been on a rarities comp in my opinion.

I often agree with you, Paulos, but couldn't disagree with you more here.


Thanks for pointing that out, thank you very much, this is the answer to the question I opened this thread for. It is indeed on the 1970 mix already, thus being the first example of dennis "using" his late 70s voice - when he was still able to sing with his old voice!

Is it me or does Marcella also seem like it is lacking in the bass department on the MIC mix as well?

MIC is just quite treblely anyway. I don't think the lack of bass is just down to mixing - mastering has played a big role here.

Agree that the new mix adds nothing to the enjoyment of the song.  BTW that's a Desper experimental mix, not a bootleg mix, although it first surfaced on boots.

The 15 Big Jobs mix is really strange sonically. I mean it has the bottom end over the new mix, but that's about it.

The Desper mix that appears on Endless Harmony is the last 2/3rd of the song. The 1st part is a different mix. The question is was this entire mix made by Desper? If so, why not put the entire thing on Endless Harmony?

Because the first part is essentially the same as the album mix, still lacking the lead vox, but including the fade. In my opinion it was a good decision to leave that off. Works better that way.