The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi Andrew, Apologies if this has been covered before but I read somewhere that you had heard Brians 1974 demo of 'California Feeling', I was just wondering if you could describe it any sort of detail, and whilst we're on the subject I was wondering what other gems and rarities that you have heard over the years (perhaps unbooted?) that you think are very good!
Cheers

The 1974 demo of "CF" is, essentially, Brian and a piano - towords the end he starts futzing around and sings in the style of a bad Vegas lounge act. Thing is, throughout, his voice is pretty much intact, and the falsetto is great.

Unbooted ? Well, "(Wouldn't It Be Nice To) Live Again" is quite simply one of the best five archive BB tracks I've ever heard. It's magnificent on a grand scale, and Dennis sings so sweetly you wouldn't believe it. The bvs (Carl & Brian) aren't too shabby either. When that was pulled off Surf's Up, major, major loss.  It'll make your teeth fall out, it's that good.

Also, Dennis' studio track for "I've Got A Friend" - he never got around to doing even a scratch vocal, but  the track still rocks.

Those are by far the best two unbooted tracks I know of. "Surfer Suzie" is kinda cool, if you like 'em retro. "Spark In the Dark" is NOT "Funky Pretty". It's about 12-14 minutes of Brian noodling on the piano - I forget now how it starts out ("Loop De Loop" rings a bell) but it ends up sounding awfully like "Chain Reaction Of Love". Part of Dennis'1971 project "Ecology" has been booted - as "All Of My Love", that amazing vocal fragment - but not the remaining instrumental five minutes, which makes good use of the "River Song" intro.

Those are the ones I can recall.

I'll chime in here.... the November 1974 demo of CALIFORNIA FEELING is just Brian at the piano, playing rather more like Randy Newman than what we tend to expect from Brian's demos.... beautiful vocal, reminiscent of Harry Nilsson, especially when he holds the last notes on "feelin'" at the end.

Alan

And I'll back up AGD on "Live Again."  Probably Dennis' best vocal.

Of course, Evie Sands does a darned fine job singing the song on the new "Long Promised Road" live album from Adam Marsland's Chaos Band (utterly shameless plug, I know).

AB

Alan is the man you should be asking this kind of question, not me.

Oh hell yes - buy Adam's album, not just for a stellar version of "(WIBNT)LA", but also for some knockout covers of Dennis' & Carl's songs, and some great original stuff too. One by some guy called... Boyd, I do believe.

if so, how come the song hasn't been released?

Is there a chance that it WILL come out at some point?

Thanks AGD and Alan for your answers. Godammit! I want to hear that California Feelin demo!!! and WIBNTLA!!!!  ;D

Wasn't it supposed to be on the "Surf's up"-audio DVD? And wasn't that already finished but didn't come out for some reason?

Is the alternate, "Less Beatlesque" Girl Don't Tell Me of releasable quality, performance-wise? How different is it?

Carl & Dennis had a spat over the sequencing of Surf's Up, so Dennis pulled his songs (or rather, song, as "4th Of july" wasn't finished by that stage).

The alternate "GDTM" is probably releaseable, but speaking for myself, I don't rate it above, say, "All Dressed Up For School".

So how come "(Wouldn't it be Nice to) Live Again" has never been released?  Even "4th of July" got released eventually!

Not to mention the fact that Live Again was probably more "finished" than 4th.

Dennis did have "Lady," "Sound of Free," and "San Miguel" in consideration for the album as well, although none may have ended up on it.  And wasn't "Old Movies" around in semi-finished form at that time as well (early version of Cuddle Up)?

 
And probably a better song, too. "4th" just never did it for me. It really wasn't the song itself, but Carl's vocals on it. I dunno, I just don't like the vocals at all. They sound a bit strained, and IMHO it sounded like Carl was out of hit element.

"Old Movie" seems to have been a catch-all title for Dennis - I've heard a track tagged "Old Movie"... only it was "4th Of July". Go figure.

That's weird. I assumed the title was given to Cuddle Up, because of its lush instrumental score. Maybe he just moved the working title over because he couldn't be bothered thinking of a new one, and maybe it was just before he had Reiley's lyrics in place. When was Cuddle Up recorded?

Late summer-fall 1971, I think.

Along these lines, Alan...I assume you've heard Dennis' "Holy Man" that John Hanlon raved about in the Adam Webb book....?  Could you possibly describe THAT for us?

Sound of Free would fit the quality of production for Surf's Up, but it has a positivty that Sunflower possessed and i dont think it'd fit in. I love the track to sound of free, very underrated song

All I've heard of "Holy Man" are some tracking session outtakes, no vocals.  A more finished version might be on a tape we haven't pulled yet.

By the way, Carl's lead vocal on "Fourth of July" seems to have been recorded at some point during Brian's 29th birthday party.  Dennis does not appear to have been present for that overdub - listening to the tape, it sounds like Jack Reiley was producing that session.  I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that Carl's vocal is not on the 16 track master for this song, but exists only on a mixdown reel.  Hmmm.....

Alan