The Smiley Smile Message Board

Do you think it will see an official release someday?

I say yes on that

sure why not.. might as well...

As a stand-alone product? Doubt it.

We'll probably see something else leak out on a rarities compilation at some point, but the money just isn't in the product for Capitol to do something like this.

what they should do is simply put the album on iTunes/amazon and people can download it..that won't cost them a lot of money to do....

I believe the best of Adult Child has already been released.

I don't see Life is for the Living ending up on any official release.

........or Hey Little Tomboy.

Absolutely.  Eventually it'll all come out.

The Beach Boys could have a specialty collector's label to sell to their hardcore fans what bootleggers have been doing for decades.  Elvis has one.  The Doors have all kinds of releases.  Grateful Dead, of course.  The Beach Boys could certainly have one.

I suspect the Beach Boys just have too much of a fun/sun image to maintain.  The shock of Brian's bizarre behavior in the late 70s/80s and early 90s just can't be unleashed while everyone's still around.  Sadly.

Personally -- I think they're being mismanaged or something.  There's such a legacy here.  It's just never been packaged and managed correctly.

I expect it'll eventually come out in some online rarities release a la Big Beat, although to be honest it's already available in superb quality thanks to the soniclovenoize mix.

But I can see it sharing a disc with Love You, maybe plus some bonus tracks. I'd also love to see what the officially released cover would look like.

^
Before the release of Big Beat I'd say no, but now it seems like a digital release could happen.

Brian's Really Back - the post 15 Big Ones sessions 1976-77.  ;D

I hope this too ;D

Brian returned to his Bed Room - L.A. Sessions 1978

Some songs should have been included on MiC.

This `album` is massively overrated by some as Hey Little Tomboy is terrible, On Broadway is dire and out of place and several other songs are nothing to write home about.

first of all any and every REAL rock pundit knows that the BBs were and are so much more than a "fun in the sun" image and second what other image is there to have yknow? What was the beatles image- moptop mod image? How was that any cooler than the BBs yknow? It blows my mind how dolts ignore how the beatles woulda been NOTHING without george martin...he wasnt just a producer/ he was the man who took a crude mediocre pub band and molded them into the hype machine theyre known as. It boggles mind how the typical young douchebag music consumer worships the beatles and led zep when there was so much more quality music. Its a trip how it took awhile for the beatles to get good, starting with meet the beatles... lotta people say surfer girl was the first "great" BBs album but I really think Surfin usa was cuz it showed that they could play REAL surf music just as good if not better than ANY legendary surf band, hell their version of misirlou even mixed up the execs at capitol with dick dales!!

We won't see it sold with TWGMTR in Walmart, that's for sure.

The full album released?  Wouldn't count on it, it's not exactly in high demand and it's also not very good, though there are quite a few gems that will probably see the light of day on rarities compilations which I'm sure we haven't seen the last of.

I've been listening to this thing for almost 2 decades now. I have a love/hate relationship with it. For instance, Brian's cover of "Deep Purple" is so pained sounding that it brings tears to my eyes (but then who wants to do that every time they want to listen to music?). A song like "Everybody Wants To Live" show exactly how the Wilson brothers would sound on their own: beautiful but lazy. "It's Over Now" on MIC (disregard other mixes) is the most depressing song I've ever heard and yet I believe it's the one I've actually played the most from that set. "Shortenin' Bread" makes a much better story about the BB legacy but actually listening to it seems embarrassing and uncomfortable (like the lyrics of "Life Is For The Living", "Hey Little Tomboy" and "HELP Is On The Way". I want to hate Al doing cover songs but he sounds good on "On Broadway" as does the arrangement. I mean, maybe it should have remained an outtake until some archival release but whatever. "Still I Dream Of It" is soooo beautiful and yet soooo sad but I would rank it as one of the best compositions by any song writer of any era. After listening to the album as a whole, I need to listen to Dennis sing "Sea Cruise" (almost the same era) just to cheer back up.

Love You is far cheerier but perhaps doesn't run as deep as a few songs from Adult Child. Now what about New Album? I read somewhere that the lineup for that album was mapped out before Love You and Adult Child which I find hard to believe. Still, it does have an interesting line-up!

Sudden suggestion: Why not combine the best of Adult Child with New Album in a cohesive running order? I know you could easily roll your own between official releases and bootlegs (the early unedited version of "My Diane" would be essential) but how about if it were remixed and make that an example of an official Brothers Rarities cd? The stories about Adult Child would of course attract a lot of press which would equal $$$ (or whatever your currency is) and yet the "rough" sounding bits can be nicely smoothed over.

On the whole Adult Child sucks, the good stuff has already come out.

I'm surprised a few songs from Adult/Child didn't make the cut on MIC. Especially Everybody Wants To Live, or Deep Purple. 

Sure, they'll make it a two-fer with Sweet Insanity. The intention of releasing that is destroying Brian's reputation forever.



Disagree. :o


Agree. (http://smileysmile.net/board/Smileys/default/cool.gif)

People can take a bit of quirkiness. An official release of Adult Child wouldn't damage anyone's reputation at all. Hey Little Tomboy, which may be its most offensive song, has been out since 1978. Stuff like "Lines" or "Still I Dream of It" have been perceived as good and charming enough in order to be covered by other singers.

The only problem I see is the album isn't quite as good as Love You. If it ever got out it would probably be a very small archival release similar to Jan & Dean's Carnival of Sound or even Curt Boettcher's California Music. You can't market AC as a "lost masterpiece"... Still it might receive some media attention from the likes of Pitchfork (my guess would be a 7,2 rating in this particular case :-D ).

everybody wants to live is my personal favorite unreleased song, along with the original my diane...

Is there a known list of tracks for New Album?

It's Trying to Say is not bad at all, I like that DW song.
 

To save AGD from having a heart attack I will copy and paste the information from his mighty fine bellagio site.

http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/unreleased.html

'New Album'
projected release date unknown
recorded fall 1976 except * April 1965 (track), ** November 1969, + 1970, #January-May 1976
produced by Brian Wilson
My Diane - Marilyn Rovell - Hey Little Tomboy - Ruby Baby - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - Sherry She Needs Me* - Come Go With Me# - Mony Mony# - On Broadway# - Sea Cruise# - H.E.L.P Is On The Way+ - Games Two Can Play+ - When Girls Get Together**
(track sequence unknown)
 
Adult/Child
projected release date fall 1977
recorded  early 1977 except * 1970, **winter 1973, + January-May 1976
produced  by Brian Wilson except * The Beach Boys
Life Is For The Living - Hey Little Tomboy+ - Deep Purple - H.E.L.P. Is On The Way* - It's Over Now - Everybody Wants To Live: Shortenin' Bread** - Lines - On Broadway+ - Games Two Can Play* - It's Trying To Say - Still I Dream Of It
 
   Although Brian had found the 15 Big Ones sessions tedious, by fall 1976 his appetite for studio work had returned, so much so that by the year's end he'd completed two new albums. Brian Loves You was released in May 1977 after undergoing a minor change of title, but of 'New Album' little is known bar the title and tracks to be included. As indicated above, eight of the fourteen tracks had histories ranging from a few months - the 15 Big Ones outtakes - to several years (in the case of "Sherry…", an eleven year-old instrumental track overdubbed with a 1976 Brian vocal). The remainder are largely Brian solo recordings, ranging from the near-banal ("Marilyn Rovell") to the sublime ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"). For whatever reason, the album was never released (and here it should be noted that some BB historians hold that the title itself is highly suspect - it's possible that someone misunderstood Brian's reference to "a new album").
 
   Early the following year, Brian hit the studio again, the result being an album entitled (reportedly by Gene Landy) Adult/Child, yet another confection of new recordings and five tracks from the archive, four of which were recycled from 'New Album', the other being the 1973 American Spring recording of "Shortenin' Bread" (with Brian on bass vocal) completed by a Carl lead. Of the new material, four - "Life Is For The Living", "Deep Purple", "It's Over Now" & "Still I Dream Of It" - saw Brian reunited with Dick Reynolds, the arranger for the 1964 Christmas Album, who handled the role again here. The album was widely publicized as the next Beach Boys release, but fell foul of a serious group fall-out, centered on the 'big band' tracks: it's possible that Reprise also rejected the master. Of the titles not covered previously, "My Diane", "Come Go With Me" and "Hey Little Tomboy" were released on  M.I.U. Album, "Come Go…" almost entirely re-recorded, the latter thankfully shorn of some embarrassing voice-overs in the middle eight. "Sea Cruise" appeared on Ten Years Of Harmony, "Shortenin' Bread" on L. A. (Light Album) (completely re-recorded, with Dennis on bass vocal) while the 1993 box included "Still I Dream Of It" and "It's Over Now".
Possibility of release: artistically interesting, but commercially not viable.

Looking at that track listing I would say it is a very good thing that `New Album` wasn`t released. Only 3 new original songs (2 of which are not good at all) and a tracklisting that would have been rather less cohesive than the Still Cruisin` album years later.

Side A:

1.  Life is For The Living - Unreleased, booted
2.  Hey Little Tomboy - Released, MIU. This perv version not appropriate for release.
3.  Deep Purple  - Unreleased, booted
4.  H.E.L.P. Is On The Way - Released, Good Vibrations box
5.  It’s Over Now - Released, Good Vibrations box
6.  Everybody Wants To Live - Unreleased, booted

Side B:

7.  Shortenin’ Bread - Released, L.A. Light Album
8.  Lines - Unreleased, booted
9.  On Broadway - Unreleased, booted
10.  Games Two Can Play - Released, Good Vibrations box.
11.  It’s Trying To Say - Unreleased, booted
12.  Still I Dream of It - Released, Good Vibrations box

Coulda been contenders for Adult Child......

Mony Mony - Unreleased, booted
Ruby Baby - Unreleased, booted
My Diane - Released, MIU
Marilyn Rovell - Unreleased, booted
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ - Released, MIC
Honkin’ Down The Highway - Released, Love You. This version w/Billy H. on lead.
Sherry She Needs Me - Released, MIC
When Girls Get Together - Released, Keepin' The Summer Alive

Now the million dollar question.  Knowing the best of this material has already been formally released, what unreleased tracks above are worth releasing (in any form)?

I would say that the cover versions are very, very average at best.

Of the originals, It`s Trying to Say and Lines are nice songs. They would be fine on a future rarities compilation as would the earlier mix of My Diane.

Most of these songs would be best released if the studio albums are ever issued with bonus tracks though. When BW88 was re-released it included very average stuff like the Walkin the Line demo but it was a great release for the fans. Hopefully the same thing could happen some day with 15 Big Ones and Love You...

Of the stuff Mikie listed, I'd say the best still unreleased are Life, Deep Purple, Everybody Wants To Live, and especially Mony Mony. That's a gem of a cover.

Everybody Wants To Live
It’s Trying To Say
Lines

are worth slipping in something as bonus tracks, not sure if Id give that much of a toss about the remainder.

I was hoping to see Everybody Wants ta on MIC

From AGD's website:
My Diane
Marilyn Rovell
Hey Little Tomboy
Ruby Baby
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
Sherry She Needs Me
Come Go With Me
Mony Mony
On Broadway
Sea Cruise
H.E.L.P Is On The Way
Games Two Can Play
When Girls Get Together

At the very least, Life Is For The Living is deserving of official release, just for Carl belting out "LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!" alone!

;D  Good call, MFP - They should have used that in the inner groove lead out

Thank you! To me "Life Is For The Living" is one of the definite highlights of Adult Child, and it was grieving me that no-one was mentioning it, or else referring to it as "unreleasable" (because of the word "ass"? Or because the world is serious and grey and no-one likes fun songs?)

I personally love Life Is For The Living, but I can understand why some people might deem it unfit for an official release. It's not one of Carl's best vocals. It's pretty obvious that he was under the influence of something when he sang it. Hearing Carl growl out "LIIIIIIIIIIFE!!!!!" is just plain scary.  :o  :lol

I like the song...but I guess I like everything involving a Wilson brother  :-D

Life is for the Living is a song I have disliked ever since first hearing it and not because of the use of the word ass. It`s been mentioned before that the synopsis for this song could be, `Fat crazy man and his drunken brother preach to the world about physical fitness` and it sounds like a bad joke to me.

Carl had one of the best growls in the business :)

LIFTL is alright, but easily the weakest of the big band tracks I think. Although unsurprisingly it has a sweet backing track.

The early version of "Come Go With Me" was included (by accident I believe) on the CD version of Ten Years of Harmony.

How the hell did that happen

Brian's always been like that. (Vegetables comes to mind.) If they were fat or regularly drunk at the time it probably adds to the weirdness of Adult Child but I don't see an overall big problem here.

(By the way, this must've been '77, so Brian was in decent shape at least for a short period of time.)

Wasn`t it included on one of the pressings of M.I.U. as well?

Oh yeah and it is a very common thing for people who destroy their bodies in one way to preach to others about living a healthy lifestyle. Sadly for me since first listen I have found it unlistenable though and think that Carl does sound drunk (at best).

Yeah, he does sound drunk to my ears as well. It's the same on some of the songs on Love You.

I only want an "official" release if it's a DVD featuring some of the more memorable clips from the period, including Brian's very abashed, almost ashamed-of-himself discussion of "Hey Little Tomboy." Along with a roundtable discussion from many of our most esteemed BB experts dissecting the true meaning of the "Adult/Child" concept.

Plus a cleaned-up bonus track of that insanely sped-up, rocked-out version of "Roller Skating Child." (Which I wish like heck they would re-do for Brian's new "rock'n'roll" record....)

 :hat

My opinions for the potential release of songs that remain unreleased from the Adult Child era.

1.  Life is For The Living - Unreleased, booted  *Would have been good for Sinatra. I wonder what Harry Connic Jr. could do with it with a slight change of lyrics.
2.  Hey Little Tomboy - Released, MIU. This perv version not appropriate for release. Should not see the light of day.
3.  Deep Purple  - Unreleased, booted  *Might be OK for a 2-fer bonus track. Not bad, but not strong either.
6.  Everybody Wants To Live - Unreleased, booted  *Not bad, but not worthy of release.
7.  Lines - Unreleased, booted  *Not bad, but nor worthy of release. Reminds me a little of "Marketplace".
8.  On Broadway - Unreleased, booted  *Might be OK for a 2-fer bonus track.
9.  It’s Trying To Say - Unreleased, booted  *Always liked this one. Nice upbeat song about America's pastime. Might be OK for a 2-fer bonus track.


Coulda been contenders for Adult Child......

1. Mony Mony - Unreleased, booted  *Not bad, but not worthy of release. Maybe on a good day.
2. Ruby Baby - Unreleased, booted  *Not bad, but not worthy of release.
3. Marilyn Rovell - Unreleased, booted  *Uh..........no.

For unreleased stuff, I quite like Lines and It's Trying to Say and would be pleased to see them released.  Everybody Wants to Live also provides some quirky fun.  I personally think the non-Big Band tracks sound more like demos in their production, so I think I'd like them even better with more of a Love You sheen.

By the way, who was resposible for pulling the plug on this album? I figure this kind of stuff is quite dramatic when it happens because of all the work and money put into the production of a full album. Prior to Adult Child, the BB had some of their albums rejected, like initial versions of Sunflower and Holland. Why didn't they decide this time around to again put some more work into the record in order for it to be released?

Adult Child was rejected by Warner/Reprise Records (maybe by Mo or Lenny) for not being "commercially viable". Also, rumor was that half of the band didn't like the big band sound of the album.

Isn`t it said that some group members (probably including Mike) disliked the big band style.

Personally I think the fact that either of these albums were even considered for release shows again what a messed up state the band were in by this point. These albums would both have been completely uncommercial and even describing them as `full albums` is slightly misleading when you consider how many old recordings were planned for inclusion. And many of the songs do sound like half-hearted demos.

I think the bigger mystery is why, out of all of these songs, Hey Little Tomboy was deemed worthy of inclusion on M.I.U.

It's Trying to Say is ridiculously infectious. It sounds like it possesses the bones of a circa-1964 Beatles tune.

Adult/Child will never get an official release and doesn't deserve it either. It's atrocious -- that comes from a huge fan of Love You.

 

I enjoy Adult Child very much. It is interesting and fascinating. But, I always felt that it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Both with The Beach Boys and the record companies, I think it was decided that Brian Wilson would no longer be left to his own devices to make records. After Love You & Adult Child, Brian Wilson would now be accompanied, monitored, and/or flat-out have others make records for him.

I agree with most of what you write but didn't he produce the initial sessions for L.A. Light? Of course those recordings were later again deemed unreleasable, right? It's strange how everyone would demand Brian Wilson to be the group's major creative force and then not be willing to actually put the records out that he'd come up with. He didn't produce M.I.U. or KTSA, only contributed to the songwriting and it's not clear to what particular degree he did that. Neither album did sell, while Love You is at least considered a cult classic today.

I wonder if there was some tension with regards to Brian's role as early as the late 60s when Friends didn't sell at all.

In retrospect -  TODAY (45 years after the fact)  - I wonder if there might be some second-guessing of Brian's decisions/ideas in the 1967-68 period. I mean, the guys followed Brian...right off a cliff, being dropped by their record company and into bankruptcy. That wasn't entirely Brian's fault, but, while having a lot of musical merit, the group never fully recovered from the trifecta of Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, and Friends.

Even with that, the guys still wanted Brian to lead them again in 1976. Despite Brian's physical and emotional condition, they thought he "still had it" and were willing to gamble their careers again. There isn't a lot written about it, but I wonder if the guys were maybe thinking "what did we get ourselves into here" (with 15 Big Ones), were willing to be patient and give it another try (with Love You), and finally thought "this is enough" with Adult Child.

With the initial L.A. Light Album sessions, there's no doubt they wanted a lot of Brian's input, but I wonder if Yetnikoff, Guercio, and the group didn't have some quality control in place?

Allegedly. More pertinent is the undeniable fact that Reprise listened to the master delivered (late June/early July 1977) and said "no". They had a habit of doing that.

The odds of Adult Child being released seem slim, which is curious, because I think it's truly a 'lost album' -- I mean the thing was finished and ready to go.

I think I've linked to this article before, but I wrote it in 1999:

http://troun.tripod.com/essentialrarities.html

That`s an interesting article but I can`t agree at all that Adult Child is better than, or even in the same stratosphere as, albums like Surf`s Up and Holland. A lot of the productions sound unfinished, it doesn`t hang together cohesively at all, there are some very average covers and some of the songwriting leaves much to be desired (eg. Hey Little Tomboy).

Plus I think Holland marked the end of an era for the group. When they included an older song (Big Sur) on this album they sensibly re-recorded it. From 15 Big Ones onwards they were happy to just chuck old recordings onto albums even if they stuck out like the proverbial. Adult Child suffers from this more than most and the record company made the correct decision in not releasing it.

Or even Landlocked.

Was the alleged hostility toward the big band style or Dick Reynolds' involvement? If it's the latter, I don't really blame them. On paper, a big band record by Brian in 1977 sounds like a whole heap of fun... had he produced it himself. Dick's arrangements are too serious and saccharine to work well. Brian's talent for arranging and production still could be flexed in great ways, as moments like "Had to Phone Ya" proved, so yeah... I'd have misgivings too if presented with Dick's tracks.



I wouldn't call it atrocious, but I really don't understand how Love You is so accomplished and Adult/Child... isn't. What gives? Wasn't Brian supposed to be "healthier" through to '78? Where was Carl's mixdown producing on this one?

I found a lousy MP3 rip of the "New Album" vinyl boot at one point... and I do like that album.  "My Diane" is a great opener.

"Marilyn Rovell" is pretty catch as well, but obviously Brian would overlook that song these days.

ATTN: SONICLOVENOIZE

Please make New Album your next project.

Thank you in advance!

 :)