The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'm trying to sort out my various BB boots to put on my ipod in chronological order. I know, how cool am I!? I'm in good company :)

Anyway, i have three versions of California Feelin' and I was hoping someone could clarify for the dates they were recorded.

I have Brian's version from 2001/2 on the Brian-curated compilation, but i also have 2 70s-sounding versions. One has Carl singing, which sounds like the version Brian did. It has more prominent backing vocals and a synth and organ.

The other version is more basic, piano-based at the start, there is some organ and guitar but no synth, and has either Brian or Al singing. I would guess Al doing his most Brian-like voice.

I love this song, and can't believe they never put it out in their lifetime. Now where's that boxset?

Unless you've got something extraordinary, 'the other version' is the 1977 American Spring recording with Rocky Pamplin on lead vocal. The version with carl taking the lead hails from 1978.

Rocky Pamplin? His voice is pretty good!

Even though most will disagree, I also think Pamplin's vox are great, certainly way better than Carl's laconic attempt. But what of the mysterious BW version from the early 70's...?

It's never been booted, and there are maybe 5 people on the board who have heard it. Sadly, I'm not one of them.

I'd definitely agree, I think the Pamplin one is the best one though has the poorest reputation. The track isn't as plodding and the production is brought out a bit more, I like Rockys voice, its a bit Hasselhoff-esque but at least he sounds like he's interested. As for the track though, its a bit dull, I have a feeling that Brians demo is the one that might trump them all!

Carl's version sounds better when speeded up.

There may be yet another (unheard) version somewhere in the vaults...Bruce has said he sang on "a couple" of Beach Boys versions, one being the 1978 "L.A." outtake.  Apparently (from those who've heard it), the 1974 version is just Brian and a piano.

I am aware of a 1978 version that has a (disinterested) Brian lead vocal.

So why was California Feelin' not released on the Light Album?

Me neither and its truly one of the Holy Grails of Bootlegs for me. I just hope Brian releases it someday.  :'( :'( :'(

Reportedly because Brian didn't want it to be.  Whether he was dissatisfied with that version, or he wanted to hold it for someone else (American Spring?) I do not know.

Were American Spring still around at that stage?

I doubt Brian's version of CF would have been considered for L.A. or MIU since he recorded it in 1974.

Bruce didn't like it is why it wasn't on LA Light

Is the 1974 piano version the one which was recorded in the studio by Brian and engineered by Jim Lockhart? According to Steve Kalinich, that's the best version.

That didn't stop Sunflower outtakes turning up in the late 70s though - susie cincinatti, Good time, When girls get together...

An early title for MIU was California Feelin', but BW didn't want to let them use the track!  Was it recorded for MIU?  Is it the same version that didn't make it to LA?  If so, Bruce would've appeared on every album since he first joined them.  Carl's lead on this version sounds a bit perfunctory, but the hamrony vocals are pretty good.

No, it wasn't the 1974 Brian sung version that was considered for release on "L.A.", but rather the version produced by Brian at Criteria in Miami in Aug/Sept '78, which is the bootlegged version (Carl's lead on the verses, Bruce's on the choruses). 

Come to think of it...it was the earlier "MIU" version which Brian insisted not be included on the last Warners album (originally to be titled "California Feeling", then "Winds Of Change", and finally "The MIU Album").  That version was earmarked for American Spring, which at that time consisted of Rocky Pamplin and the Rovell Sisters.  So in other words, Brian didn't want it on what became "MIU" because he wanted Spring to do it.  He recut it with the Beach Boys in Miami for inclusion on "L.A." but it didn't make the cut (when asked for David Leaf's 'Pet Sounds' fanzine what songs would be on the next LP, Bruce said "A heavy 'no' on 'California Feelin'"). 

Thats true. The thought occured to me once I had posted it... But really the important thing is for Brian to release the 74 Version. COME ONE BRIAN!!!!  :P

Which version is this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0EKAR_KJR0

That's the Rocky version I believe.

Rocky Pamplin's version. The Honeys are on it too.

I thought so but I could barely hear the Honey's on background at all in this.

It is.

Would really love to hear Brian's demo. My fave is actually Brian's re=recording. The Pamplin version is amateurish, and Carl's just comes off depressing....awful

Eat a grapefruit....from a grapefruit tree.

I live the Carl and Bruce vocal, but I like the Rocky Pamplin instrumental track better. It's to bad that the sound quality of the Rocky Pamplin version isn't that great, because of ot sounded clearer you could probably synch the two together.

I was one of the lucky few who got to hear this demo, back in the early 'aughts, at an East Coast Beach Boys convention. Oh, I would so love to hear it again. From my notes at the time:

California Feelin’ demo. 1974. Just Brian and a piano. Wow. The first time I heard it I was a bit disappointed because the approach was so unexpected. Then when I had the chance to hear it a second time its beauty hit home. Brian plays a GOSPEL piano on this cut. Gone is the straight reading and measured ease of the remake. Gone is the soft, sauntering laze. Instead it’s a dangerous and desperate stab at reclaiming the landscape as a haven for the soul. Brian believes what he’s singing but it’s crumbling around him. The more the scary truth threatens to overtake him – the truth that it’s all a veneer – the more his voice breaks in an earnest, exuberant plea. There are some gulped phrasings bordering on embarrassment; some rushed lyrics and some frankly goofy interpretations on the theme. He wants this to be a postcard sung in Las Vegas. He wants it to be a classic. It’s not, just like California is not. At least not in a God Only Knows sense. Now THAT’S a classic. But that’s also an ideal, and wouldn’t it be nice if it were true. When you’re 24 and on top of the music business the love of the ideal can just about take you away. When you’ve lost your father and you’ve returned from exile, your mind shattered, your drugs medicating less and less, the ideal taunts you no matter how hard you try to still believe. This is a very moving cut, if nothing else. I really hope everyone gets to hear it someday. When you do, you will be surprised. Expect a gospel piano (not the usual chordal banging), an affected, bewildered crooning, and a wandering, lost-at-sea tempo, and you might just get the spirit of it all.

Two things real quick...

1) I would kill to hear that song and Lucy Jones. 1974 Brian is kind of an obsession for me
2) Love your writing style...Highly intelligent without being pretentious.

Yes, your posts so far have been outstanding. You made the Smile discoveries scenarios come to life, and now make me salivate even more than before to hear this rare track, right up there with WIBNTLA (I'm with you on Lucy Jones too, Billy).

Have to throw Al Jardine's version from 'Postcard' into the mix.  Especially if we are throwing in AS and the Honey's.

Anybody know who's on Al's version?

You are very good at what you do..

Al, perhaps

:lol

Ha, perhaps!
++++++++++++
How does it rate against previous versions?

Al has had so many guest stars on his album that I'm sure even he probably gets mixed up.  ;D

Have to say, parts of it remind me somewhat of Brian's 1974 version: I'd rate it as #2.

1 - BW 1974
2 - AJ 2010
3 - AS 1977
4 - BW 2002
5 - BB 1978

before the fire i had a rocky/american spring version from session tapes. brian was on the talkback telling rocky how to sing. multiple starts/takes until rocky sings the whole song. lost mine but i know for a fact that version is out there seeing i made copies in the early '80's for other collectors i traded with back then.

There's a new version of California Feelin' by the Honeys available on the upcoming Stephen Kalinich CD, California Feeling.  The CD is available for pre-order or you can download an MP3 of the title track now at this link:

http://www.foothillrecords.com/detail-pages/mmr-california-feeling.html (http://www.foothillrecords.com/detail-pages/mmr-california-feeling.html)

Nicely done but I resent you.  :(

 :p

Just curious -- is it the same melody or a new one?

For anyone else who has heard the 1974 demo, how does Catbirdman's description compare to your own opinions?


p.s. I am SO SO envious.

Can't say I agree with the deeper extrapolations, but as regards the overall sound and ambience, spot on.

Fair enough - the deeper extrapolations are just that. One man's making sense of the music in the midst of the milieu. Grain of salt, and all that.

I'm glad to see some of you enjoyed what I wrote; thanks for the kind words. And please don't be too envious; I share the common yearning to hear this track today and dearly wish it was sitting comfortably in my iTunes library. Maybe soon, now that the 50-year anniversary is upon us...

I hope to God so. I just have a bad feeling no more unbooted stuff is going to surface (legally or otherwise) in any of the BB's lifetimes, and maybe not after depending on the quality.


This is going to be crazy, but this is the depth of my Brian Wilson fandom....If a song has Brian singing on it, I want to hear it, regardles of year. Or quality, for that matter.

It is really quite irreverent--I recall chuckling at it.  Kind of hammy singing, at times melodramatic and overwrought singing, I'm not quite sure if this is really how Brian envisioned the final delivery, or if he was just doing it as a throw-off...definitely great piano playing unlike what you think of when you think of Brian's playing.

How was his voice though?

Good.  Oddly Carl-like at times, I seem to recall, when singing in the lower register, but with good facilty and clarity in the upper register as well.

Awesome...

Here's the big question: Did the overall tone(not necessarily hoarseness) of his voice sound like the "young" voice of 1963-71-ish? Or more like the guy speaking on the Mike Douglas show in 1976?

It's been years now, but I remember it having none of the hoarsenesss of the "Love Is A Woman" era. It sounded like the man who sang "on my way to sunny Californ-I-A," with plenty of range and agility left, but maybe a bit stained.

I will hear this!!

Good luck.  :lol

STOP IT EVERYONE, I'M GETTING JEALOUS ;D

That's consistent with how I recall it.

You know, this is the is the song that led me to this board. I sure hope the song gets an official release someday soon because I actually want to hear this more than anything SMiLE related.

That's high praise for Al's version.

... right up to the point where he futzed it up at the end and morphed into a really bad Vegas lounge singer. ;D

Damn it, this is a depressing thread.  :(  :p

Forgot to mention Dennis's I've Got A Friend instrumental track as another must-hear, hopefully ad nauseum, meaning so many multiple, multiple times that I'm sick of them (could never happen) i.e. own them, someday! Keep hope alive, people...

So...in other words...a bit like he sounded on "Daddy Dear"...? now which one of these smiley options is *cheeky grin*? :-D how about this one?

What else was played there that we haven't heard?

^ Good question.

The majestic "(Wouldn't It be Nice To) Live Again".

That deserves the Yao Ming rage face

(http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/assets_c/2011/03/yao-thumb-331x419.png)

Release the f*cker :lol

What an interesting phenomenon it is (or perhaps even a noumenon), don't you think, whatever goes on in the mind desiring to hear something one hasn't heard...

I mean, I think most people have a pretty good imagination--most of us could, in our mind's ear, imagine what the CF demo would sound like, or having heard Chaos Band's Live Again, imagine Dennis singing that over an early 70s Beach Boys arrangement.  Or even stranger, I strongly desire to hear isolated tracks from multitrack tapes, be they a bass or a voice.  It's all right there on the track, but I have to mentally subtract everything else to imagine an isolated vocal.  And yet, what a payoff there is when you actually hear something like this.  Like, say, hearing the hidden clip of Vocals-Only Don't Worry Baby at the end of the latest set.  The wave of pleasure that rolls over you.

But then once you've heard it, you can't unring the bell, you'll never quite get that same pleasure again.  Sounds like an intereting research project, I guess.

I mentioned before wishing to hear the surviving  band do a really nice recording of CF for the reunion ....I imagine the BB blend and the perfect vocal and music arrangement for this song....I can almost HEAR it.   Strong and wistful with a soaring background harmony.  Lead vocals shared.   Yeah......

Brian's '74 demo of "California Feelin'" is definitely at the top of my list of songs that I wish would be released at some point. I think the reasoning for me, and maybe for others, is that this song somewhat seems to be the exact point where the early era of The Beach Boys ended and the later era started. A lot of that probably having to do with this probably being the last time "the voice" was heard from Brian. However, there are a bunch of other songs that I wish the band would release officially, with quite a few of them being after '74, things like "Boys & Girls", "You're Still A Mystery", "Sweetie", etc.

But also, and this kinda goes off track a bit, but besides "CF", was there any other complete Brian performances of "new" songs recorded from '69 to '74? I know there is "Where Is She?". Is there anything else? I'm not sure....there are titles like "Rooftop Harry" and the medley of "Baby I Need Your Lovin' / Gimme Some Lovin'', but who knows how finished those things ever were. Probably not much more then a track.

Lastly, i wonder if there is a demo of "Good Timin'" from around '74. That would be quite interesting to hear a '74 Brian "Good Timin'' vocal.

Below is the full list of tracks that was played at that convention in 2003. I took notes on each of the individual tracks so if you want to hear anything more about any of the tracks specifically just let me know. Many of the tracks are now widely traded amongst collectors, but at the time most of it was "new."

“Sneak Preview” Listening Session, Friday Night, August 9.
As a special treat, Stephen Desper played us the unreleased second album by the Flame. I really dug this. I didn't write down all the titles for some reason, but some of them I did: Seven Sisters, Sigh Baby Sigh, Sunny Skies, Sweet Jane, and Thank Someone. Sweet Jane was not the Lou Reed song.

Official Listening Session #1, Saturday afternoon, August 10.
Busy Doin' Somethin' (Convention Theme Song) - written and recorded by Alan Boyd
Cottonfields. Vocals only.
I’m In Great Shape, version #1
It’s A New Day. Dennis solo track from 1971.
Da Doo Ron Ron. Keepin’ The Summer Alive outtake.
I’m In Great Shape, version #2
Won’t You Tell Me. This is a Rick Henn/Murry-driven track from 1970.
I’m Going Your Way. Dennis solo, 1969.
Kiss Me Baby, instrumental track only.
Walkin’. 1969 Sunflower outtake.
Vega-Tables. First version.
Caroline, No. Stars ‘n’ Stripes, 1996. Backing vocals only.
Shake, Rattle, & Roll. 15 Big Ones outtake, 1976.
Intro – Ecology. 1971, Dennis solo track.
Please Let Me Wonder. Live 1965 in Chicago.
Our Sweet Love. Instrumental track and partial backing vocals only.
I’m In Great Shape, version #3
Wonderful. Live from the “box set tour,” 1993.
California Feelin’ demo. 1974.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Live Again. 1971, Dennis solo.

Official Listening Session #2, Saturday afternoon, August 10.
Warmth Of The Sun. Stars & Stripes, 1996. Backing vocals only.
Add Some Music To Your Day. Alternate lyrics.
Honda 55. 1964 studio session for radio commercial.
Mona Kani. 20/20 outtake, 1968.
Vega-Tables/Take A Load Off Your Feet (medley). Live from the “unplugged” tour, 1993.
Had To Phone Ya. Instrumental track.
Back Home. Demo version, 1970.
Back Home. Sunflower outtake, 1970.
Slip On Through. Instrumental track, 1969.
Tones. March 1967.
Running Bear. 15 Big Ones outtake, 1976.
Fig Plucker. 20/20 Sessions, 1968.
Breakaway. Vocals-only version.
Boys And Girls. Keepin’ The Summer Alive outtake, 1979.
Time To Get Alone. Partial vocals.
Only With You. Live from Carnegie Hall, 1972.
Surf’s Up. Piano demo. Vocals only.

“Bonus Tracks” – impromptu listening session, Saturday night, August 10.
Solar System. Instrumental track only.
Country Air. Stereo Mix.
Companion. Dennis solo.
I Can Hear Music. Live on the tour with Chicago, 1975.
Baby, Baby. This is a Dennis song from 1971.
All Day. Recorded January 3, 1967 at the tail end of a Heroes And Villains session.
Wind Chimes. Smiley Smile version, stereo mix.

Gosh, that concert just has to be released this year !! What did you think about this song/performance?

Well, wouldn't you know you picked the ONE song that I didn't have much to say about in my notes. Just this: "Brian is present and sings lead. I’m more of a studio outtakes kind of guy myself, so this kind of stuff interests me but doesn’t thrill me."

Thanks anyway for your comment. I really didn't think there would be a liveperformance from that early. I didn't like that the Shindig!-performance was not completely live. Wonder how that must've sound

Maybe others around here can pinpoint exactly what these are, but what were the three versions of "I'm In Great Shape"?

To me, BW 2002 version is the most atrocious version of all. 
Much worse than Mike & Dean's 1983 version with the cheerleaders choir and new lyrics about Bud beer *.
And Stephen Kalinich should be no longer allowed to write lyrics.  There, I said it.


No, it doesn't exist, but it would still be better than BW 2002 version.

They were the same backing tracks as have been circulating for a while now. Recorded October 27 at a Heroes and Villains session. From my notes:

"The first take features a heavily-reverbed piano or tack piano, played in the lower register, medium-slow tempo. Over the piano is a saxophone playing the eggs and grits melody. All three takes feature a “tape explosion” as heard in the Cantina H&V. The second take is very similar, but a bit faster and a brighter sound to the piano. The third take is my favorite. It features a plucked sound – maybe piano strings taped down? The sax plays staccato notes. The bass line is great in this third take, as it does some little jaunty runs a la Child Is Father Of The Man."

Catbirdman, if I can ask about a few of those, get your comments on them:
I've always had an interest in this one, it's a bit of a rocker right? Love to hear it one day.

This has to be killer, gosh I'm jealous.

What's that like?

I've heard this, it's glorious.

From my notes:

There were some false starts and by the time it got to the complete version I think it was on take 5. It was a slow boogie-woogie piano kind of thing, with Dennis goofing around over that. I can’t remember any of the lyrics but it was silly. There was a blues guitar on the track. It would make a nice companion to Walkin’, but it was even rougher than that track.


Oh, this was a trip! From my notes:

Alan Boyd, on a sudden inspiration, challenged us with this: “I’d be interested to see how many of you can sing along to this…” and then with no further introduction as to what we were about to hear, he proceeded to jar our headphones with:

Solar System. Instrumental track only. I made my entrance on “the planets,” missing the first two words. Not bad for a song that has vocals from the top. I doubt anyone would deny that I was the biggest singing fool in the room on this one. Pity, ‘cause I missed the nuances of the instruments. But hell, the Beach Boys are all about having fun, right? And I wasn’t the only one singing. Alan visibly got a charge out of watching the room get lost in space. Who wouldn’t be? The line about Mars really choked me up, too, I have to say.



Well, you've probably heard some of it already. From my notes:

Part of this has often been referred to as “All Of My Love.” Actually, there are a number of sections to it, and more than anything other than Rio Grande or SMiLE itself, this music smacks of “grand-suite-itis.” Most of the pieces overlapped each other, begging the question of whether Dennis planned on editing them together in that sequence or if they just happened to end up on tape that way. Again, Mr. Desper stressed that the music of this time was a collection of works-in-progress, and Dennis was feeling his way through. But the title of the track certainly suggests a larger frame story. The first section of “Intro – Ecology” is the “all of my love” choral section as heard on the track many of us have heard. It’s Dennis, double-, triple-, and kazilliontuple-tracked with himself so that it sounds like a huge choir. Then there’s a count-in to a different section. We hear water bubble sounds and exotic Moog sounds over a shimmery Eastern-flavored track. If you’re familiar with Pink Floyd’s Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, Richard Wright’s keyboard parts in particular, that will give you a feel for the mood (and harmonic mode) of this section. Dennis had laid down some backing vocals as well, and I can hear the exact melody in my head, a chant-like “run, run, river run / move the body.” This section was WAY COOL. Then there’s another overlapping count-in and a new section begins. This one, in a faster tempo, is based on a piano playing arpeggiated chords VERY much like in the opening of River Song. That section then segues into a final section that I was familiar with; I think it’s usually called “Quad Symphony” or some such. This particular part features some organ trills played in a very fast baroque style.


Glorious indeed. I got a little carried away with this one in my notes (hey, I was younger then):

Yes, I am biased toward the 15 Big Ones material. To me it is the John The Baptist to Love You’s Jesus. Virtually no one on this Earth agrees with me, so I’ll accept it and shut up. But this track would blow me away no matter what album it comes from. The internet is plagued with hyperbole. With all the people infesting this world, you get every imaginable permutation of sickness in word and thought and it’s all collected for us on the internet. So maybe I’m just adding my sludge to the foul pool, but I will stand up and say it clearly: This track is as good as Pet Sounds. Better. With vocals or without, I would stand by that statement. In this case it was just the instruments. Has anyone ever REALLY sat down and listened to this track? Why is it not consistently listed as one of Brian’s top 10 pocket symphonies? The version that was played to us was a much fuller arrangement, most notably due to the addition/emphasis of a bed of strings that ran throughout the song. The final version on 15 Big Ones was cut back considerably, but it is still majestic. Add the words (one of Brian’s most brilliant guided tours of the mystic minutiae of everyday life – ultimately an essay on human longing) and it’s a masterpiece.

I could live with this comp being officially released.... thanks for sharing Catbirdman.

Now that's a treat indeed. Could you tell us about these songs a bit more?

And more in general: was this convention - with all these listening sessions - a unique event? Or was this done more often during conventions at the time? Must have been a real highlight for Beach Boys fans.

Wasn't "Pattycake" actually a translated cover of a weird French song? Or am I wrong? Anyway, it seems like we lost a great 1974 Brian album because he fell into depression. Think about it:

It's OK
Good Timin'
California Feelin'
Ding Dang
Pattycake (don't know if this was even good, but whatever)
Just an Imitation
Child of Winter
Lucy Jones (personally never heard it)

It seems like Brian went on a little songwriting tear after Murray died. At least 3 or 4 of those songs could've been potential singles. Add in a Dennis song or two and you have a rocking album.

Gosh Steve did play me a little over the phone but I promised not to record it and I didn't. It's hard to remember exactly what he played but it may have been part of Baby Baby. I forgot all about that. I did not hear CF or WIBNTLA. I did hear a few Flame cuts and they were very good. I don't think Carl produced them.

I think that more people would feel this way if 15 Big Ones was remixed.  I've only heard a couple of experiments as far as that goes, but they were shocking.

Will do. I just started a thread on this subject, and I will post more to it shortly...


Oh man, I would LOVE to hear that kind of thing.

I just listened to the Pamplin version on youtube.  Great vocals? Way better than Carl's, eh?

You guys are a little early. Post again in a week.
 

What does that mean?

As much as I would love to hear this, I hope that it is NOT "leaked". Diehard collectors and hoarders are a fickle bunch. If somebody let this slip out without "authorization", then it may well completely ruin our chances of hearing something really obscure like "Lucy Jones" or "You're Riding High On The Music". Not that our chances of hearing those recordings are even high enough to be considered.  ;D To get right to the point....we don't want to piss off the wrong people.  ;)

Never said that, but the 1978 BB version just plods... plods... plods.

I agree.

I always thought the tape ran slow on the bootleg or is it really like that?

I'm kinda surprised nobody has mentioned much interest in hearing Brian's 1975 re-recording of "In the Back of My Mind" where he apparently alternates between the old and the new voice. That seems like something that would be incredible to hear. Has anybody heard that?

That is in my top ten things I want to hear. Especally if a date can be pinpointed down on it.