The Smiley Smile Message Board

9/4/09

BEACH BOYS ARCHIVE INCLUDES LEGENDARY 1972 CARNEGIE HALL TAPES

by Howie Edelson

The Beatles aren't the only '60s icons preserving their legendary catalogue and vault; the Beach Boys' team is hard at work cataloging the thousands of tapes which make up their archive. The team -- chief archivist Alan Boyd and producer/engineer Mark Linett -- has recently collected all of the known elements of the band's unfinished 1967 album Smile, and have now uncovered the multi-tracks for the Beach Boys' two historic concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall on November 23rd, 1972.

For years, only half of one of the shows has been available in pristine stereo on the underground market. Boyd says that the band's company Brother Records is in possession of all of the multi-track masters of the shows, and is now collecting appropriate film and video footage which could be included on a potential project.

Elvis Costello saw the Beach Boys six months prior to the Carnegie Hall show in his then-hometown of Liverpool, and was amazed at how the band's current image and musicality transcended their iconic '60s image: "I saw the Beach Boys in Liverpool at the Liverpool Empire. That was a very different experience. They were in that... one of the periods, although Carl and Dennis (Wilson) were singing in the band, Brian (Wilson) wasn't with them, but the Surf's Up album and the beautiful Carl And The Passions album were out -- and Holland -- those records were out. Dennis sang an extraordinary version of "Cuddle Up" at that gig, which I'll never forget. That was an incredible thing to see; because although the main writer wasn't present, you realize that they had reclaimed themselves as a creative band away from the cliched idea of these guys that sing these car songs and dress in stripey shirts."

The songs performed by the Beach Boys at Carnegie Hall: "Sloop John B.," "You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone," "Leaving This Town," "Darlin'," "Only With You," "Heroes And Villains," "Long Promised Road," "Don't Worry Baby," "Student Demonstration Time," "I Get Around," "Marcella," "California Saga," "Help Me, Rhonda," "Medley: Wonderful/Don't Worry Bill," "God Only Knows," "Do It Again," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Wild Honey," "Good Vibrations," "Surfin' U.S.A," "Fun, Fun, Fun," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash."

The official members of the Beach Boys at the time were Dennis and Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Blondie Chaplin, and Ricky Fataar.

Alan Boyd says that his and Linett's primary public duties for the Beach Boys are locating the masters to the band's earlier work, and remixing them into modern stereo mixes for the band's numerous career-spanning compilations: "The fans and the public at large really seem to like these new stereo mixes, and that was really apparent when Mark did Pet Sounds in 1997. And the reaction to that is so strong that he started looking at other albums and other tracks, so every time we have the opportunity -- we did a lot of this on the Hawthorne record -- we've been going back and doing that, 'cause there's so much pressure brought to bear, y'know, in the market, for things to be in stereo."

Boyd and Linett -- both Grammy nominees -- have collaborated on such recent Beach Boys collections as Endless Harmony, Hawthorne, CA, Good Timin': Live At Knebworth England 1980, The Warmth Of The Sun, The Original U.S. Singles Collection The Capitol Years 1962-1965 box set, and the recently released Summer Love Songs.

Linett is also known for his work with Brian Wilson over the past two decades -- including the revamping of the entire Beach Boys' catalogue beginning in the late 1980's. Linett's work on 2004's Brian Wilson Presents Smile was nominated for a Grammy for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical).

Based on a contemporaneous review of this show and photos I've seen from other November '72 shows, the band's lineup was ten people:  Dennis (vocals/piano/electric piano/organ/synth), Carl (vocals/guitar/electric piano), Mike (vocals/tambourine/theremin), Alan (vocals/guitar), Blondie (vocals/guitar/bass/tambourine), Ricky (vocals/drums/flute/pedal steel guitar), and four side-people:  Toni Tennille (piano/electric piano), Daryl Dragon (organ/synth/piano/vibes), Ed Carter (bass/guitar/congas), and a percussionist on drums/timbales/tambourine/sleighbells/bass (Dennis Dragon told me he doesn't play bass, but since Mike Kowalski does, it was likely him).  Dennis (Wilson) sang lead on "Rhonda" and he sang Bruce's parts on "Wonderful" and "God Only Knows".  Al MAYBE played banjo on "California Saga" (as he would later), but it doesn't really sound like it here.

One of the most beautiful versions of God Only Knows that I've ever heard is from a show in 1997, believe it or not. It was posted on Andrew Hickey's Tumblr page. I believe it was done at one of Carl's last shows.

Yeah, that's a lovely version ( https://olsenbloom.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/13-god-only-knows.mp3 ). It's from the August 2 1997 show if I remember right (not posting this from the computer with the full show on), something like two weeks before Carl stopped touring forever. I'm not always a fan of Carl's 90s performances -- he sometimes sounded like he was phoning it in a bit -- but that one is genuinely heartbreaking.