The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was thinking about how incredible a BW box set would be, releasing all kinds of stuff from his career...because there is more than enough material to make an incredible release.
Or even just a CD of stuff...

What do you all think would belong on something like this, and how could it best be presented?

Some ideas
-Burlesque (B. Wilson/Rieley)
-The second BW fairytale
-The Original TLOS Demos
-The two(?) songs from the Fred Vail country album
-Please Let Me Wonder Live 1965
-A collection of original piano demos (Til I Die, Little Red Book, Fairy Tale Music)
-Highlights of collaborations between BW and Andy Pailey
-Early BW Productions
-Unreleased Tracking Sessions (Sunflower-Surf's Up era preferably)
-All of the Love You Demos released in high quality
-Alternate Love You tracks from Brother Rarities (Johnny Carson w/Guitar Intro)
-Any interesting live BW vocals
-Any interesting isolated lead/backing vocals
-Bonus stuff from Gershwin album
-Let's Call the Whole Thing Off from Gershwin
-Surf's Up pt. 2 (which is an extra string part?)
-DRIP DROP
-I'm Begging you Please
-Original My Solution
-Black Widow
-Any random sound clips, for example, the 'hypnotize me Van Dyke' tape.
-ANYTHING from the Bedroom Tapes (Even Steven, All I Wanna Do 1968, Song to God, Alternate Day in the Life of a Tree, (anything from that set works))

If Surf's Up part 2 actually existed (or if there's a copy of it out there that hasn't been destroyed), I'd be willing to pay 20 bucks just for that.

Sounds great! Here's my wallet! :wave

Brian's demo of 'Awake' would be an incredible addition.
'Oh Lord' is also an obvious choice.

If such a release were to appear, I would love for it to be a boxset, much along the lines of 'The Smile Sessions'; 3 CDs of demo tracks, alternate takes, a section of a cappella only tracks (showcasing his brilliance of harmony). A book detailing Brian's creative process(es), rare pictures, interviews with the Wrecking Crew about certain sessions. A repressing of the 'Caroline, No' 45.

It's a shame that the VDP's 'Sail on Sailor' tape will probably never see the light of day.

You can make an entire Brian Wilson set just out of bonus tracks, B-sides, soundtrack contributions, and tribute album contributions.  Wilco just came out with a great set of the same sort.  I might be missing a few but look at all what hasn't been collected (used AGD's site to make the list).

Goodnight Irene (from Leadbelly tribute album)
Daddy's Little Girl (She's Out of Control soundtrack)
Sweets for My Sweet (from Doc Pomus tribute album)
Country Feeling (Sweet Insanity outtake from Every Child Deserves a Lifetime compilation)
This Could Be the Night (from Harry Nilsson tribute album)
In My Moondreams (Andy Paley co-production/instrumental)
This Song Wants to Sleep With You Tonight (B-side, Do It Again single)
This Isn't Love (piano instrumental version from Songs Without Words compilation)
Little Deuce Coupe (duet with Brian Setzer)
Everything I Need (duet with Jeff Foskett)
California Feelin' (2002 solo version)
Rodney on the Roq (Mayor of the Sunset Strip soundtrack)
You Are So Beautiful (duet with Carnie)
In My Room (with Wilson Phillips from their California album)
The Spirit of Rock and Roll (2006 version)
Live Let Live (Arctic Tale soundtrack, different Van Dyke Parks lyrics)
Speed Turtle (collab with childrens author Sandra Boynton)
What Love Can Do (Burt Bacharach collab from compilation of the same name)
God Only Knows (solo re-recording from What Love Can Do)
Walking Down the Path of Life/Love and Mercy (charity single)
Believe In Yourself (from Duck Dodgers cartoon show)
Heaven (beautiful cover of Carl's solo song)
California Sun (Curious George soundtrack)
Listen to Me (from Buddy Holly tribute album)
Wanderlust (from Art of McCartney)
Plus exclusives from his website like White Christmas, The Christmas Song, the demo version of Midnight's Another Day.  All the various bonus tracks from different versions of That Lucky Old Sun

With the movie and a new album coming out next year, I feel the next year or two is a good a time as any for a Brian Wilson box set.

I have no inside information, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a Brian Wilson box set timed to concide with his 75th birthday in 2017.

Lee

yes they should finally put all of these on a collection..also the Gershwin Piano Demos..maybe if not a box set maybe a two disc anthology with Disc 1 having highlights from all of his cds and a couple unreleased songs and disc 2 could be these songs you listed..

Those Gershwin piano demos, which appeared on the BW website for a time, were not from Brian. They were, IIRC, recordings made by the Gershwin estate of the unissued tunes.

Personally, I believe they should just reissue all of Brian's solo albums as two- or three-disc sets ...

BW88 -- Already mostly done with the reissue, but they could add even more tracks, including ones with alternate lyrics and more of the Usher sessions.

OCA -- Perhaps some a capella and instrumental mixes, as well as some versions of the tunes with fewer stacked Brian vocals (such as OCA from the documentary). Also, stuff like "What a Wonderful World" and "Rhapsody in Blue" that VDP and BW recorded around that time.

Imagination -- They recorded more tracks than appeared on the record, and there were a capella mixes issued with singles, etc. They could also include some of the live(ish) tracks from the concert special. And the "Cry" piano-only demo could finally find a home.

Live at the Roxy -- Just release it with all available bonus tracks, with a third disc being the "Brian Wilson on Tour" DVD.

Pet Sounds Live in London -- Ditto, with the the second disc being the PS Live DVD. They might want to remix the first disc, too, given its clear inferiority to the DVD mixes.

GIOMH -- Include the original album, but then include a full-on remix, with added vocals from the BW band. There's a listenable record in there, if they gave it a go. Extra tracks could include earlier versions of some of the tunes (but not the Paley ones), as well as some of the BW-Kalinich stuff composed around the time.

BWPS Smile -- First disc would be the studio reconstruction, second disc would be a soundboard recording of the London premiere. Bonus tracks could be some of the instrumental mixes already released. Deluxe version would include the DVD performance of the album.

WIRWFC -- The rest of the Christmas songs that haven't been included on an album, as well as some instrumental and vocal-only mixes. The bonus early versions of On Christmas Day could be included too.

Lucky Old Sun -- Include all the original Scott Bennett demos, the bonus tracks, and a recording of the live premiere. Deluxe version would include DVD performance.

BWRG -- Live performance of the album, as well as some a capella and instrumental versions. Possibly the first, waltz version of Northing But Love.

ITKOFD -- Amazon bonus tracks, along with a special, Darian-produced, maxi-Moog version of the album, with all new, rocking keyboard bass lines on every song. (This is a joke, obviously -- I'm finding it difficult to figure out how to get a second disc out of this record.)

In addition to this core library, we would include three special, all-new sets.

The Complete Paley Sessions -- Everything BW and AP did in the mid-90s. There could be a three-or-four disc main version, including works-in-progress and new mixes -- basically everything possible. There could also be a single-disc version, sold more or less as a new album.

Spare tracks -- All of the BW soundtrack and tribute work on the first disc, with the second disc being his guest backing vocal appearances.

The Touring Years -- A two-disc set of BW's best concert performances from his solo career.

And it could all be packaged together as the compleat BW -- a 33-plus disc boxed set!

A man can dream, right? Come on, Ray -- someone needs to make the case for this!  :-D

I would love this. It'd also be great if they re-issued the vinyl.

No Pier Pressure demos and outtakes would be great as well. I've noticed lately that releasing bonus discs with your album is getting more popular. I hope NPP isn't an exception. I'd love to have a lot of extra goodies alongside the album.

I never knew that,,thanks,

BTW if anyone has those Gershwin Demo's please PM me... I have been looking for them and well since they aren't Brian then I guess I can't see why anyone would have a problem with it.. I just want to hear them in piano form..

Ideally I'd just love to see as much of the Paley sessions released as possible. To me that's the best music Brian's made since Love You.

Actually I like an official issue of those Gary Usher sessions as well. Some nice tunes there like "Christmas Time" and "Turning Point".

I want me some of that alleged 'Song To God' which Brian would hate everyone hearing because it's such a personal song apparently.

Nothing would please me more than hearing a song Brian would do everything to prevent me hearing. ;DI'm the worst kinda fan

On TLOS reissue - alternate version of "Live Let Live" from Arctic Tale.

I'm setting aside the funds...

Just get the Wilson-Paley tracks issued. All of 'em!

Smiley Smilers' new BW Album Artwork Ideas

(http://i.imgur.com/HurFXB6.jpg)

A rerelease of all his albums with bonus tracks would be awesome.  But in terms of a box set:

Disc one and disc two: Unreleased songs pre solo career. (61 - 69ish) and (70ish - 87)
Disc three: Song selections from solo albums
Disc 4: Non album singles, outtakes and demos from solo years

Something like this would be great.  But if the albums are reissued with bonus tracks the first two discs along with one of Adult/Child and a fourth of Sweet Insanity 

I wish there was some way we could push for something like this to be released. It's pretty obvious there's tons of stuff just waiting to be released. I'd like a physical box set packed with unreleased stuff, but even something simple like a digital release ala Big Beat 1963 would be incredible. Who here wouldn't buy that  :smokin

And on that note - will there be a Big Beat type release this year?

More than anything I'd like balance of stuff from the last 52 years - solo career and Beach Boys stuff. 6 CD's in a chronological format ala Made in California would be so cool.

(http://i.imgur.com/2DUvHHf.jpg)

That's super cool. A release of The Bedroom Tapes could be marketed like the Bob Dylan basement tapes.

I've always thought the Beach Boys could use a Bob Dylan-esque 'Bootleg Series'

The Good Vibrations boxset did a tremendous job of pushing the later, lesser known eras to the general population. MiC again drove this point home. But now that you've got my attention, now that you've got many other casual fan's attention, it's time to release some sets with a focus on deeper material. Especially now that Brian Wilson (arguably the greatest American songwriter) will be again thrust into the public eye shortly. Would be the perfect time to announce such a project.

Seems like there's time to prepare something like this to be prepared and released behind No Pier Pressure and Love and Mercy.

As long as they call it Last Wilson Standing, I'm cool with anything they include.

That said (assuming for no good reason it's a 75th birthday project)...

CD1 - 25+ essential tracks 1986-2017, except...
CD2 - BWPS in full
CD3 - 25+ rarities & unreleased
DVD - selected live performances 1985-2017, including BWPS in full

I'd go along with this immediately. I think 50 to 60 tracks apart from BWPS will be fully satisfying, and the DVD is one for delectation every now and then.

A box of rare and unreleased stuff would certainly be great to have.

I would have thought that Brian appearing on so many record labels over the years might be a barrier towards releasing a comprehensive Made in California type thing though.

except ??

I believe AGD means no smile stuff on first best of cd.

Did another mockup during some spare time....

(http://i.imgur.com/f7QXwac.jpg)

 :o

That is what I want.

 :'( it's beautiful

Capitol pls just take my money

I WANT IT RAB

WHY CAN'T THESE THINGS BE REAL

(http://i60.tinypic.com/nl27mw.jpg)

I forgot to add - they should include the Friends rewrites...even if the Passing By tape is missing :(

non-distorted view of the LP boxset cover:

(http://i.imgur.com/xa6keEy.jpg)

...How I wish this were a real thing....

It's a far-fetched idea, but one of the things I'd love most of all is a redo of the '88 album, with the original vocals on brand new backing tracks. The synthesizers and drum machines are what a lot of people can't get past (and I love the arrangements but there's not a lot of subtlety like there is in Love You, so it isn't very easy on the ear), and with an cleaner sound the quality of the songwriting would come through so much better.

PRE-ORDERED!   :hat

I'm not too interested in this...I already own both the CD and DVD of BWPS, so I wouldn't really want to buy either again unless it were a new mix or something...and I'm not a big fan if "Last Wilson Standing" either :P so his brothers are dead...why should that matter here?

You've not seen the 2001 tribute, have you ?  ;D

Although it might crack an initial smile here and there..."The Last Wilson Standing" strikes me as, after those first few titters have died down, being in rather poor taste.  A bit of a disservice to all three brothers really.  Doubtful Brian would go 'there'.

I was told 15 days ago that there is quite a bit of material recorded that could see the light of day as a 'new' Beach Boys release...if the wind decides to blow in that direction again.  Are there enough fans to make the expensive packaging of a Brian Wilson Box Set worth doing for some company of note and stature?  What would their return be?

If the supply far exceeds the demand...even if it's Brian's birthday...what chance is there of this coming to fruition?  If there's Beach Boys' material included then the pie gets sliced thinner doesn't it?  Most here already have all of the official solo releases.  I just can't wrap my head around there being  a big enough group of people ready to step forward with their money to buy material which didn't make it.  This isn't Pet Sounds or Smile...or Brian Wilson Presents Smile.

Just because it was a line in a tribute show doesn't make it a good line. Honestly, it strikes me as rather morbid.


Ya know, I can understand if they wouldn't re-record it in a studio, but I would love if Brian's band played 'Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long', or 'There's So Many', and record it for a live album...and make the instrumentals sound more like Pet Sounds-era or something.

I don't think anyone here seriously believes that a truly lavish BW solo box set is forthcoming. We're indulging in some wish fulfillment fantasies.

That being said, I'm sure some smaller label would be willing to do it, but BW prefers to play by the terms of the big companies, with all of the compromises that requires.

This really needs to include Live at the Roxy, GIOMH and the Christmas album. They all have original BW songs on them that are unavilable anywhere else. The Disney album, on the other hand, has precisely zero BW songwriting credits.

True, I definitely should've put Roxy in there somewhere (I was pressed for space, hence the non-inclusion of certain albums). As it's a fan-made fantasy, I'd rather forget that GIOMH even exists ;D

I hear you Wirestone but wishes have become realities several times in the past...with a nice variety of hidden gems floating to the surface like cream.  And even though they aren't his compositions if you're going where you're going...there has to be some lost Orange Crate Art to be found.  That album never would have worked without Brian.

No, but if you're following my proposal, it will be a re-recorded, remixed special version of GIOMH!


Of course! OCA is essential to the solo BW discography.

So, for that matter, are his four tracks on the Wilsons LP from 97 ... but people don't really talk about that much.

Man, that would be incredible. I really dig most of the tracks on that album, just hate the way they were presented.

The line at Best Buy is already 'round the corner. Tents, sleeping bags, Coleman stoves-we're diggin' in for the long haul!

I'd be happy with a release of the Paley sessions.

Interesting - I've been proposing LWS as a putative album/box title for over fourteen years with nary a word from the same resident Thought Nazis who accused me of homophobia because I used the word "straight"... then suddenly it's "morbid" and "in rather poor taste".

Interesting.

Don't worry none… I like the idea Andrew.

Other, lesser ideas which might better-satisfy anyone prone to taking offence on others' behalfs:

I'm Still Standing
Solo Survivor
There But For The Grace of God Made The Radio
Alone Again, Naturally
…

I was just giving my personal opinion on a name that alludes to the fact that two Wilson brothers are deceased and Brian is the only one left. I wasn't making a big deal out of it, just giving my opinion. Of the 14 years you've been proposing this name I've been a fan for 4...so this is probably the first time I've even seen it mentioned.

So it's not all that interesting.

Those are different people than the people that post here now. I think the name is in poor taste.

Is it actually more complicated than that for you?

The phrase "last Wilson standing" originated at the 2001 Radio City Music Hall tribute concert, and was uttered by Dennis Hopper. I doubt he made it up on the fly, and I'm sure the script would have been approved by Brian's people... and anyway, Brian was in the audience when Hopper said it. Maybe I'm off piste here, but my strong impression was that the lack of reaction or comment, and that Hopper said it at all, indicated that neither Brian nor his management considered it "morbid" or "in rather poor taste".

But hey, what would I know about good taste, huh ?

I get all that, but why bring the "thought nazis" into this.
I don't like the name. I don't care if Dennis Hopper said it at a tribute show and Brian's side is ok with it - *I* don't like it.

That's all I've said here, but to you apparently it's a big issue - or atleast big enough to complain about us not enjoying ur taste  :'( :'( :'(

Moving on...

Any new mock ups?

I hope it's not out of place for me to voice my opinion that I do not find it at all offensive. It's a very loaded statement but, cripes, 30–35 years ago, no one could have predicted that Brian would be the last surviving Wilson brother. "Against All Odds" would be an equally apt term. f***, this is the guy who once rolled up his sleeves and dug his own grave. "Last Wilson Standing" isn't meant as a disrespect to Carl and Dennis; it's a tribute to Brian that he's defied all probability to be with us today and producing the aural nectar we crave.

edit: who cares

How about "War Hero"? That was the working title for "Imagination," after all.

And it would offend no one at all.  ;D

Can we make wirestone "mixdown producer" of the box set? ;D

Yet again, it's personal opinion. Nelson Mandela could've announced this name from a golden scroll and I'd still find it morbid. "Last Wilson Standing" - it just reminds me that the other two are gone. That's it. John is spot on with his breakdown of what the title actually implies. But from my perspective, it's not a title I care for.

If for the 14 years you've been proposing this no one has batted an eye, I wouldn't be too concerned with 3 people that find it in poor taste. It's really not that big of a deal.


No one implied that.

No one implied that anyone implied that.

I'm sure, Andrew, that at the time when Dennis [H] uttered the words, given the time and the place and the situation, that it was probably pretty funny.  And fitting.  I mean Brian?  Outlasting both Carl and Dennis?  It was [and is] noteworthy.  It's just that it's for other folks to say...not for Brian to then grab it and wear like a badge of honour.

It's not how I think he'd want to officially situate the memory of his his Brothers...either for himself or for the fans.

----------------------------------------------------------------

But then this is all a speculative wish list isn't it?  And suggesting that Brian was, is, or would in the future consider naming any project "The Last Wilson Standing" is of our making...here...in this thread...not true?

Wasn't funny at all. Wasn't intended to be funny. Watch that section again.

Ah, f*** it, just call it I'm Not A Genuis, I'm Just A Hard-Working Guy... or is that insufficiently reverential ?

I think I see what you did there….  ;)

Sorry...not sure what section you're referring to Scribe.  At any rate my old friend...I don't think I'm getting your point and I don't think you're getting mine either.  No problem.

I vote for:

"Music is God's Voice."

A quote from Brian's speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1988.  It's such a straight-forward quote that I can't believe that it's not attributed to someone else decades -- if not centuries -- before Brian, but I've never been able to find it attributed to anyone else.  The pundits may say, "Well, David Leaf probably wrote the speech," but I don't believe for a second that Brian would have said something that profound if he didn't mean it.

Controversial perhaps (apologies to the atheists in the crowd), but IMO a summation of Brian's musicality and spirituality in four simple words.

Lee

Seconded.  :)

Happy with that!