The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was reading Mr. Stebbins & Mr. Rusten's book and was quite astounded to see that Papa Oom Mow Mow was played in some encores in late 1977.  I saw the band twice that year but never heard that chestnut.  Have any of those late 70s shows surfaced?

Hello,

Here's a short audio clip of Papa Oom Mow Mow live in 1977, Hope you'll enjoy !

http://youtu.be/TUq3DPtfJbk (http://youtu.be/TUq3DPtfJbk)

Don't think I have ever heard that. Thank you!

Pity Brian didn't remember the words and really go for it.  Still could've sounded like he did in 1964!

Nice, thanks for posting! Love hearing these rare live BW vocals from that era.

Neato!

Thanks, walking on water! It's always nice when things like that happen to turn up  ;)

I'm torn because as cool as these artifacts are, I still think it was a big mistake to let Brian try to sing as many leads ( especially the leads he clearly could no longer sing) during this time. On one hand it's Brian, on the other hand it really affects the songs, the sound, and the flow of the concerts to have Brian sing. I guess they figured the more he sings, maybe the better he will get but that didn't seem to be happening. I know it's Brian f-ing Wilson but to have a world class rock band have vocals that sound that bad is tough to take.

I posted this picture in another thread some time ago.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17360.0.html

Papa Oom Mow Mow is not listed (only the Title? or Jamming titles), but being that it seems like a rehearsal, I think there is a possibility that it could be sourced from that tapes.

I think it may have been an impromptu jam between songs.

Sorry. I was meaning a rehearsal, not a soundchek.

VERY interesting! At the 0:56-1:00 mark it seems like Brian was just short of getting his old voice back before he ruined it indefinetely.

<<I think it may have been an impromptu jam between songs.>>

From the Rusten/Stebbins book...

Saturday December 17, 1977 / Eugene, Oregon
ENCORE:
You Are So Beautiful
Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
Barbara Ann
Rock & Roll Music
Fun Fun Fun

Wednesday December 28, 1977 / Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA
ENCORE:
You Are So Beautiful
Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
Barbara Ann
Rock & Roll Music
Fun Fun Fun
 

 
   
 

But is that performance we just heard either of these? Could still be a rehearsal or soundcheck, we don't know.

Dear Micha and Steve,

Yes it's one of those, (but perhaps there's more show from 1977 with Papa/Barbara Ann) the track after is Barbara Ann, and it's definitely from a live show, not a soundcheck or a rehearsal, I have the complete show, but cannot send it to youtube, my source will be mad at me, sorry it was just to help  8)
Now you are sure that Papa Oom Mow Mow was played in 1977 in concert  ;)

I honestly think Brian needed more practice vocalizing with the band at that time.  Think about it: he was basically dragged into touring by the band after the whole Endless Summer fiasco with even more pressure from his doctor, his fans, and maybe even his wife.  I guess a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do in those circumstances.  However, as much as I believed his voice was completely destroyed during the seventies, I am astonished that he could ever hit that high F note (same one in Surf's Up) again.  After listening to that song, I now believe Brian's voice deteriorated significantly in the mid-range plus his tone became deeper due to the drug influences in his life.

In that case Brian's performance is truly saddening. :(

I don't think it was meant to be a proper version.  It's seems too off the cuff.  The rest of the band start and stop and no one else tries to 'rescue' the leads.  Brian, despite his problems, still delivered when he had to when singing leads around this time.  If they wanted to do it properly I'm sure he would have learned it and done it a whole lot better.

They also did a similar short burst of another similar song (which was discussed on this board about 6 month ago, along with about a minute of live audio and I can't remember what it was!) in the 70s which had the same kind of 'jam' feel to it.

I don't know, he COULD deliver to a degree but I have heard some ROUGH Brian leads from this era.

Great first post on a great message board, and a great link to a great rendition of a great song.

What other rare things do you have hiding up your internet sleeve? I know you were the one who uploaded that tune, so what other good, rarely-heard things are you hiding from us?

Yikes, what a terrible performance. The version on the Lost Concert tape is so much better.

and to think both performances are 13 years apart......

who would have known in 64' the battles Brian was about to undertake  :-[

RickB

The funny thing is that Brian's voice was actually ten times better at that time than a year previous. Miu was recorded in December 1977 and Brian's vocals are in my opinion his best post 1973 vocals

In my opinion that's not just your opinion. :)

Well, I think we sometimes mix up the health or clarity of his voice with the quality of his vocals. I don't think there is one single remarkable Brian Wilson vocal in the albums Surf's Up through Holland. Nothing substantial anyway. His vocals are very few, tiny-sounding, uncomfortable. His voice still possesed some of his youthful qualities and was healthier than it was to be later. But as far as vocal performance goes, there's practically none.