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As I understand it, The Beach Boys went into the studio around 1995-96 to try to put together another album. Only two songs were allegedly recorded: Soul Searchin' and She's Still A Mystery. I was hoping that we could get AGD or possbly c-man to help with the information on this. Exactly how much got recorded? Why did it all fall apart? Listening to the above songs mentioned is a maddening experience. If you put those together with Gettin' Out Of My Head, Proud Mary, and I Wish For You, this has a lot of potential to be a hell of an album. Of course, i'm just speaking hypothetically. But I think you guys get my point. They could have put out something great, but they released Stars and Stripes instead.

Hiya Jay -
I don't know all the details, but here's my two cents. Andy Paley (of power pop duo The Paley Brothers) has been a longtime friend of Brian's. (Together with brother Jonathan he recorded an LP around 1979; the Ramones collaborated on Richie Valens' 'C'mon Let's Go', but the true standout track is 'Rendez-Vous', where the guys out-Spector mr. Phil himself. It was released on Sire, and to my eternal shame I sold it when my mind was temporarily AWOL). More about him later.
In the mid-'90s all kinds of rumours were flying around, most of these were eloquently written down in UK magazines Vox and Uncut. Both issues are in my possession.
One storyline had it that Sean O'Hagan of the High Llamas had flown over to L.A. to discuss a collaboration with Brian on new material. But this project was still-born, and nothing appeared over the counter or otherwise that I know of. It might have to do with a certain Joe Thomas being not too bowled over about the plans.
The other concept did eventually bear fruit. Paley and Wilson did record a full album's worth of songs, but in what state they finally got left is not so sure. Some are clearly demos, others are more complete. The cycle of songs ended up on the bleg market as 'The Wilson/Paley Sessions', and 'Slightly American Music' (the latter being a true CD in a true digipak cover). I agree with you: had this material been fully realized there and then it would have been a superb latterday Brian album, easily surpassing his other solo material (bar 'SMiLE' that is). 'Getting In Over My Head' is fantastic in its original incarnation, for instance. See for Paley's empathy with Wilson's craft also: 'This Song Wants To Sleep With You Tonight' (only available on a Swedish CD-single with 'Til I Die' on it.
I hope AGD can add some facts here. I can only follow my intuition and guess that Joe Thomas and Mike Love were more successful in pressing forward another project: 'Stars 'n' Stripes', sort of a very forced reunion if you ask me. Love's longtime infatuation with C 'n' W could be a pointer here. But it's also clear in the video material with this album that Brian speaks in a very coerced, unspontaneous way to Mike.

This may help:

http://smileysmile.net/OLDlibrary/timeline.html

One of these days I will move it officially into the Library.

The Virgin offshoot V2 were very desirious of having the band record an album for them, with the rider that Brian HAD to be involved at all levels. Uncut describes the whole affair from Sean O'Hagen's viewpoint, making it obvious why it was never going to happen (whose idea it was to involve him isn't clear, but decidedly not Mike or Brian, who later observed "he's doing stuff I was doing 30 years ago - why would I want to do that all over again ?"). The band did reunite in the studio, and recorded vocals to "Mystery" & "SS", with Don was nominally in control and providing new (i.e. non-Wilson/Paley) instrumental tracks. From what I've heard, Brian was fully in control of the vocal sessions, and it shows, especially on "Mystery". Then, Mike & Brian collaborated on a new song and insisted the band cut it. The title of this new opus ? "Dancin' The Night Away", aimed squarely at the 'Baywatch' spinoff, 'Baywatch Nights'. The band had a bv session (curiously, Paley did the demo vocals), Carl decided he didn't like it, walked out... and that was it.  According to Bruce, Brian's people decided he'd do a solo album first and killed the deal. Exactly where Stars & Stripes fits into this scenario isn't clear.

BTW, the booted versions of "SS" & "Mystery" are the BW-produced BB vocals (but not all of them) flown in over the BW/Paley tracks, apparently by Mark Linett... I think - this is a highly confused and confusing period of BB history. Anyone know better, especially Mark, is highly welcome to correct me.

"See for Paley's empathy with Wilson's craft also: 'This Song Wants To Sleep With You Tonight' (only available on a Swedish CD-single with 'Til I Die' on it."

Also available on the Do It Again single off IJWMFTT

I once read somewhere that it was Bruce's idea to bring in Sean O'Hagan, after hearing The High Llamas' "Gideon Gaye" and/or "Hawaii".

Same CD single.  :-D  Not a US release.

Alan Boyd once said on this same board that "Baywatch Nights" had been recorded several months before "Soul Searchin":

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,4117.msg69121.html#msg69121 (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,4117.msg69121.html#msg69121)

If this is true, "Baywatch Nights" would be unlikely to have been the straw that broke the camel's back. It's a strange period of BB history indeed.  :(

Damn. Forgot that. Maybe that explains the Paley vocal presence.

Wait - the timeline has a lot of interesting information:

On March 27, 1995, a reporter said:

Suddenly, the vibrations seem good again. Pop maestro Brian Wilson, 53, brother Carl, 50, and cousin Mike Love, 54, are gathered round the microphone, just like old times, singing one of those unmistakable harmonies that so often lifted the Beach Boys to the top of the charts. But this is no oldies show. The three are actually working on a new song, happily crooning, "Meet me somewhere out in Malibu!"

But then, sometime in September 1995...

The Beach Boys at Studio C at Western, with Don Was producing, record vocals for the Wilson Paley sessions for Soul Searchin' and Still A Mystery. During background vocal sessions for Baywatch Nights AKA Dancing The Night Away, Carl Wilson walks out and the reunion ends.


So you (Andrew) and Alan were both partially right, it seems. The song was recorded in March, but there was a "background vocals" session held in September during which Carl walked out!


Phew, finally sorted out!

I ought to listen to that once in a while!  :-D

Okidoki. And with a brilliant cover photo. And I have it.  :hat

So Carl walked out of a background vocal situation just because he didn't like what he was supposed to sing? Still, his voice can be heard on so many of the Beach Boys' most embarrassing songs, it's hard to believe that reunion ended just because of irreconcilable musical differences. Having never seen any of the Stars & Stripes footage except for the short clips featured in the Endless Harmony doc, I wonder how Brian and Carl really got along during those Nashville sessions.

I think he was already sick by that point and didn't know it.

Surely it wouldn't have that much of an effect. I find it hard to fathom that in September Carl walks out on a session for a track trhat he had already helped record the previous March and then is perfectly willing to go aling with Stars and Stripes!

But then again we are talking about the Beach Boys.

Hey I'm no expert on recording but if their heart was really into it and given the group knew months prior a deal was in the making, would it not make sense for Carl, Al and even Bruce to turn up with a few tunes or ideas?
They must have known Mike would have a dozen 'Kokomos' and Brian's contribution would be unpredictable.

If Carl was not the first one to walk out, it was only a matter of time before someone else did.

The question as to why Carl would walk out on a "new" Beach Boys' album, and then participate in the Stars & Stripes project is an interesting one. The answer might be simply playing the percentages - and money.

Yes, the two songs "Soul Searchin'" and "She's Still A Mystery" showed some promise. But what were the odds of the finished, released album turning out just as strong. In Carl's view, maybe not so good. Let's look at the past couple of albums before 1995. They all had 3-4 really good songs and a bunch of middle of the road stuff. Sure, Mike probably would've insisted on his dose of Kokomo-like ditties. Bruce might've added his obligatory sugary ballad. Did Carl and/or Al have anything special? And, of course, there was no Dennis. So, what did you have? In Carl's eyes, maybe another MIU, a KTSA, or probably another BB85. Maybe Carl didn't want the disappointment of ANOTHER Beach Boys' album of new material tanking.

So why would Carl agree to Stars & Stripes? Lowered expectations? With tried and true BB/BW classics, it couldn't be a total bomb. And of course, $$$$$$$. Hey, either way there was gonna be a new record released. With Stars & Stripes, you didn't have the investment - physically, spiritually, psychologically, etc. Go in, record a few vocals, get a check. If it fails, at least it wasn't another blow to their legacy.

I should mention that my opinion of the BW/Andy Paley material is not as high as others. Maybe Carl felt the same way....

Andrew, was the band recording those vocals over the BW/AP instrumental tracks, just using the latter as a scratch-pad and with the intention of the Was-produced tracks being added? Or were they using Was tracks? If so, it strikes me as really odd for the vocals to be put over the BW/AP instrumental tracks when they weren't recorded over or for them. Why would Mark (or anyone) do that?

And lastly, when you say "BW-produced BB vocals (but not all of them," do you mean 1) Mark (or whomever) pulled only some of the total vocals that were recorded onto those BW/AP tracks, or 2) not all the boots of those are the BW-produced BB vocals? Or 3) not all are the BW/AP tracks? Sorry if I'm making the questions more confusing than the answers. I've always been curious about this last attempt at a decent piece of work, and I'd love to get whatever can be clarified, clarified.

S & S was a bad idea. Why anyone would think the 90's hot country audience would go for the BB is beyond me.  The Eagles tribute made perfect commercial sense because there was a stronger possibility that your avergae Vince Gill fan bought Eagles' records in the 70's than BB records.

Not a Wilson/Paley? I think Andy got the best out of Brian since SMiLE.  No one would get as much good stuff out of Brian until Scott Benett. As far as everyone else wanting their share. yeah, Mike wanted a creative presence, but I do remember reading a quote from Bruce during the timeframe where he says something to the effect of  it being pointless to do a BB album with out new Brian songs.  He might have been more willing than you give him credit for to be just a singer.

Mu understanding is that Don Was cut the new versions for the BB record and that the Boys were dubbing vocals over the Was tracks.  Why would someone take those vocals and fly them into the W/P tracks? probably the same reason why Steve Desper created the long version of Til I Die, perhaps?  It was rumored that Was when he heard the results thought that Brian's and Andy's backing tracks were much stronger than the tracks he rpoduced. Therefore, if I were Don Was, I would probably  wanted to hear how the BB voices would have sounded over the original tracks.  Of course by that time, the project was probably dead.

I've never felt "Soul Searchin" was more than an average song.  Would have loved to hear "Desert Drive" with lead vocals from Mike Love.

I'm curious about the Baywatch Nights song.  If the song was recorded has anyone actually heard it?  Has it turned up on bootlegs anywhere?  I've heard "Soul Searchin'" and "You're Still A Mystery" but have never heard this song.  I believe it was rumored to be titled "Dancin' The Night Away"; could this have morphed into "How Could We Still Be Dancin'?" or are these two completely different songs?

That definitely does make sense--just wondering if anyone knew whether it was official purposes, unofficial (as you speculate), etc.

I agree with you on the previous thread, though, that the Paley sessions are among the best work Brian has done since generally disassociating himself from the band. I don't think those songs are all brilliant, by any means. But they're generally pretty good. They're catchy. They're fun. And if the band had taken part, the results of an album of such stuff would have been their best in more than 20 years, I think--since Holland.

No, it wasn't recycled into anaother song. "Dancin' The Night Away" has been booted.  If I had to compare it to somethingl I would say Do It Again only with a more Spectorish flavor.  (as one would expect with Andy Paley)

So it was Baywatch Nights/Dancin' The Night Away that was "the straw that broke the camels back" for Carl? I for the life of me could not figure out why he wouldn't like Soul Searchin' and Still A Mystery. I have a theory about this. Do you think that it's possible that those two songs were to GOOD? Before you shake your head at this, hear me out. Let's face it, every album the group did from KTSA to Summer In Paradise got progressively worse. I think that it might have been embarrassing for Carl to suddenly come up with "SS" and "SAM", after putting up with sh*t like Kokomo and Summer of Love. I myself would have been depressed to put out a great album and pretend that everything is fine and dandy, after my group had been pulled through the mud by Mike and his " Fun Fun Fun as America's Band" bull sh*t.  ::)

In a 2005 interview I conducted with Bruce Johnston, I asked him to shed some light on the aborted reunion sessions.

Here's a direct quote from Bruce: "That was a courtesy to Brian for us to be there. Brian certainly wasn't at any kind of peak in those days, but we respected his history and achievements for us to go and record with him and see what it might sound like. We were just trying to support someone who had been successful and good for us. I think if you use your ears, you'll hear that those tapes don't really lift off. It's fine -- but not fine enough."

Stars and Stripes, though -- that really hit the spot!

"Brian certainly wasn't at any kind of peak in those days, but we respected his history and achievements for us to go and record with him and see what it might sound like".

Geesh, I wonder why Brian doesn't want anything to do with Mike and Bruce now?  >:(

Too bad the Beach Boys' best album material in nearly two decades turned out to be not fine enough for Bruce Johnston. That said, theoretically I can even see where the guy's coming from, as there is a bit of an underwhelming quality to some of the Paley sessions material just in terms of it being new "hit material" for the Beach Boys. Then again, most of BB85 was lame and embarrassing while Johnston (as far as I remember) called it their most important record since Sunflower. So all that stuff might not have too much to do with the actual quality of the music... quelle surprise!

Are we sure that Carl really walked out of that "Dancing The Night Away" session? Where does this quote come from?

From a commerical standpoint, I doubt this material would have been very lucrative in the mid 90's. Rerecording hits in a country-style was certainly safer and good promotion for the BB catalog. I regularly hear "Don't Worry Baby" with Lorrie Morgan or "I Can Hear Music" with Kathy Troccoli on the radio.

Bruce has said that 'Til I Die was Brian's last great song, and has pretty much had nothing good to say about anything Brian's done since the early 70s. Nothing but putdowns for any of Brian's latter-day work (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), all the while he's kissing Mike Love's ass, and along with Love, would be cheapening the Beach Boys' name and legacy if it weren't for Brian's tours.

I'm nowhere near my office or notes now, but my recollections of the research I did into the mid-90s project for 'Catch A Wave' are that it stemmed from Brian's collaboration with Andy Paley. The demos they made were ultimately intended to fuel a new Beach Boys project that Brian would produce, or they would co-produce. Then Don Was got involved, probably due to the attention/success of his documentary and his industry-wide rep for being able to draw popular new works out of older artists. I think O'Hagan was more of an outlier, probably a brainstorm of Bruce's or something, but Brian was never particularly interested in him. (I think). And it was all fine and dandy and they started doing sessions, but then Carl suddenly pulled the ripcord. Brian said he didn't know why. Mike said the same thing -- that they were willing to cooperate, even if they weren't wildly enthusiastic about it, but then things went awry and he had no idea when or why or how. That's what he said, anyway.

My conclusion (sketched out in more detail in the book) was that it had nearly nothing to do with the music (which was obviously head and shoulders above BB85 and don't even ask about the Summer in Paradise disaster) and everything to do with ongoing dysfunction between the guys, and particularly between Carl and Brian.

That's what I recall, anyway.

For the Steve Hoffman forum I wrote an overview of the Beach Boys recording carreer. Here is the story of Stars and Stripes album and the surrounding sessions in the period 1994-1996.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=2702935&postcount=958

I wonder if Carl had bad feelings about playing those songs live. I guess stuff like "Soul searchin'" would've been too "big" for the band to recreate. Plus they probably would've had to change a big part of the setlist to include the new songs in a fitting way.

I can not see how anyone can't like that "somewhere near Malibu"-background part of "Dancin' the night away", 'cause it sounds so awesome !

And didn't Mike call O'Hagan a Limey f****t?  And you wonder why he lost his job with the State Deparrtment...

Yuk yuk yuk!   :lol

The "Dancin' The Night Away" session was held in early '95...Brian, Carl, and Mike were the only Beach Boys involved, with the Paley Brothers and Michael Andreas on sax.  Al and Bruce possibly never even heard it.  Carl reportedly had a disagreement with Brian during the sessions, thus the song was never finished.  Reports at the time said they also started a second song, "Grace Of My Heart", which maybe was intended for the movie of the same name (which had a Brian/Dennis-like character in it).  That one's never been booted, and maybe never even made it to tape.

The Wilson/Paley/Was-produced sessions for "Soul Searchin'" and "Still A Mystery" were much later in the year (October or so).  Brian, Andy, and Don cut new tracks using the Was "wrecking crew" (Waddy Wachtel, Benmont Tench, Jim Keltner, etc.) and that's what the Boys (plus Matt) sang too.  My understanding is Carl deemed THOSE results unsatisfactory, and sometime later (possibly a year or more) Mark Linett pasted the group's vocals from that session onto the original Wilson-Paley tracks, producing the versions that were booted.  From what I've been told, Carl may never even have heard the results.  If he had, he might have thought "Soul Searchin'", at least, worthy of release.  Personally, I think it could have been a significant hit for them, and a VH1 heavy roatation clip, especially if the deal with Richard Branson's V2 label, and the associated bucks for promotion, had come together.  Instead, they decided to follow the Eagles' model and record an album of their classics with country artists, a move that ultimately proved unsucessful. 

Wow, a Beach Boys' imbroglio where Mike can't be blamed.  :-D

But seriously... I've said it before, someone would walk out sooner or later. Those people had so many issues between them that it would take just a well-intentioned comment or a pint of criticism to trigger all the repressed troubles. Brian's and Carl's way of expressing their dissatisfaction was going through the motions (Carl since BB85, Brian since God knows when). This time Carl did leave the studio. Mike's way is verbal abuse. You gotta love those guys.

I really don't think the material was SO great. In the field of bluesy ballads, i prefer "Goin' On" to "Soul Searchin'". "Still a Mistery" is fine, up to par with Brian's best tracks in his first solo album. The rest is a mixed bag. But as Carlin said, the failure of the project probably had nothing to do with the songs.

Stars and Stripes suffered the most from being the opposite of what the band really needed at the time...

If they had put together a cd of country rock songs by other artists... ( letting those artists perform the music) with solid Beach Boy lead and backing vocals.. then the band may have had some success on the charts and some sales....

sort of like "Wilson Phillips - California"  cd but many years earlier.. (a different time (96)  it might have worked...)

could you imagine the Eagle's 'Tequila Sunrise' or REM's 'Don't go back to Rockville' ( this song would sound great with a  M. Love  lead.......... )

who knows???  ::)

So how do I go about hearing this song?

Sorry if this has been answered before--but has this stuff all been collected to a boot, designated as "The Last Abortive BB Album" or something similar?

No, but it circulates as part of the "Wilson Paley" sessions...

I'm confused. What's difficult about playing "Soul Searchin'" onstage? It's got, like five chords in it. An extremely straightforward -- in the best way -- rock 'n' soul tune. Coulda been a terrific statge number, and, as someone else pointed out, a tremendous video/radio comeback tune. As were so many of the songs Brian wrote with Paley. Some very sweet and romantic ("Still a Mystery"); some quirky and funny ("Slightly American Music") some 'Pet Sounds'-like autobiography ("It's Not Easy Bein' Me"). And on and on. The problem here, despite Bruce's absurdist comments to the contrary, had nothing to do with music. As per so many....nay, virtually ALL...of the hideous errors in judgment made by the Beach Boys and their various helpmates, the conflicts boiled down to money, power, age-old intra-family disgreements and emotional dysfunction so deep and profound no one dares speak its name. Instead, they file lawsuits and bicker over whatever's left.

It's a lovely story, isn't it. Surf's up!

It could have been terrific on stage, but I just don't think the '97/'98 band would've done such a good job. Even Brian's band can't recreate the great (wall-of-)sound of that song, which surpirses me every time I hear them doing that song.

I'm with Mr. Carlin: I don't see what there is not to do a good job with on "Soul Searchin'." It's probably among the easiest songs Brian Wilson has written, a very typical 50s style chord progression. Nothing even remotely vocally challenging for the Beach Boys.   

Does anyone know either where, or with whom, the whole "Carl walked out of the '95 sessions" story came about? While talking with Mike Love about the sessions, he seemed to me to have felt very positive towards the working arrangement. The only negativvity towards the project was from what I've read/heard of Carl bailing, and of course Bruce's downplaying of the material and importance of the sessions. There was a photo taken of the group during the Don Was sessions, that's been around for a while, although some have said it's actually fron the S&S sessions (the guys around Brian at a piano) -- any clarification on which sessions that was taken at? I've ALSO read that Carl had wanted "Run Don't Walk" to be included in any future project with the band. My question again; where and to whom are these "facts" (first) attributed to?

Can't answer all your questions, but if the "group photo" you speak of is just Brian, Carl, and Al, with Brian wearing what looks like a leather jacket...that's from neither the Wilson/Paley nor Stars 'n' Stripes sessions.  Rather, it's from a "history of rock 'n' roll" TV/video series produced in the mid-'90s (filmed in '94 I believe).  If on the other hand Mike and/or Bruce are in the picture...it's a pic I'm not aware of.  The only photo I've seen from these Wilson/Paley/Was sessions was in Billboard in '95, and it's from the instrumental tracking sessions, so the only BB in it is Brian, plus it's got Was, I think Paley, and guys like Waddy Wachtel and Benmont Tench.

No. The picture is definitely '94 - '96, with Brian at a grand piano, and Al, Mike (wearing a loud sweater), Carl and Bruce surrounding him. Definitely in a studio.

Care to post it?  Or is there a link?  :)

Sadly, I don't have it, and can't find it in an image search. It was small and in color with the photographer's name on the side.

Howie: My sources for that version of events were Brian, Mike and Andy Paley.

Thanks Peter.  I'm wondering how far after the sessions broke down did the deal become known. If you recall that era, there was a lot of activity (IJWMFTT, OCA, S&S) but not much mention of the sessions, Was being brought in, that breaking down -- all of a sudden they're on 'Baywatch' and that's sort of IT. Did the details follow along with the first dupes of the Paley tapes leaking? As far as that, we've all got "opinions" as to who the source of initial leak was -- what year was the first appearance of the Paley sessions on the collector -- not bootleg -- circuit?

To put the timeline somewhat in perspective...the "Baywatch" thing was EARLY '95...according to ESQ, the recording of the proposed "Baywatch Nights" theme song occurred the week of February 28th 1995 at Mark Linett's studio:  "Brian and Andy coproduced the track...the two of them, along with Carl, Jonathon Paley, and Michael Andreas, played on the track...Brian, Carl, Mike, and Andy sang vocals around a single mic".   And get this..."A video crew recorded the vocal session for posterity"...but, the song remained unfinished.  There was extensive coverage in Newsweek and ET!.   Alan Jardine was reportedly unaware of this session, expressing complete surprise when informed of it by a fan some months later. 

Even though that endeavor didn't bear fruit, the Boys filmed a guest appearance for the parent "Baywatch" show on April 25th, 1995 (it was broadcast that fall, I believe).

Brian joined the Beach Boys onstage for the first time in 5 years in early May at Caesars' Palace in Vegas.

The Boys gathered with Was & Paley at Ocean Way (formery United Western) in September to record the vocals for "Still A Mystery" and "Soul Searchin'".   Cindy Lee Berryhill stumbled upon the session by chance and gave a GREAT account of it in the pages of ESQ in early '96.

By October 5th & 6th, the Boys had started the "Stars 'n' Stripes" project with Joe Thomas, visiting Willie Nelson's ranch in Texas to record with Willie (Brian also played a gig or two with the Boys in Texas that month...Carl was strangely absent from the gig).   

By '96, they were going full steam with "Stars" and had apparently abandonded any notion of finishing the Wilson-Paley tracks, at least for now.  The Richard Branson V2 offer likely occurred in '95...

If there was any chance someone could post this article....

Have been reading this thread for days with a lot of interest.  I remember this time period well as I had VERY high hopes for the album and follwed the happenings closely.  I did indeed ask Al Jardine in August 1995 re the Baywatch Nights recording session, which had been covered by that time by Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight and the E Channel. To my surprise, he expressed no knowledge of the events. I believe he was being genuine. That same night I asked Mike Love the same question. His response was that he was indeed writing and working with Brian and they were "hopeful" it would work out.

One more thing...There are indeed two seperate and distinct photos from this era.  One with Carl, Brian and Al during the filming of the History of R&R as descibed above.  However, there is also the other WITH ALL FIVE in the recording studio and has been described as being from those Was sessions.  I have found it previously by doing either a google/yahoo search.  Don't recall the exact site.

I had this back issue of ESQ at one point (and may still be in storage). Hopefully Craig has a copy handier to him but until then, I will give a synopsis (as much as I can recall). Cindy Lee Berryhill is a singer/songwriter (http://www.myspace.com/mscindyleeberryhill  ). She was making a CD called GARAGE ORCHESTRA at the time at a studio next door to United/Western which is where Soul Searchin' and Still a Mystery vox sessions were cut.  She wanders over to Western, drops David Leaf's name with the receptionist  and manages to get in. She finds the studio where Brian, Carl, Al, Bruce and Matt were working.  According to her recollections, the guys were getting aloong quite well and work was progressing quite nicely with Brian firmly in control of the proceedings (she had high praise for both tracks).  Mike arrives at the session late , half-assedly apologizes and makes a disgustingly lascivious comment towards CLB before adding his vocals to the tracks. In between takes, he keeps shooting his mouth off ( a la the Heroes and Vilains sessions "give me a vibrator and dildo" comments ) when the subject turns to money. Mike then comments about "not being paid for a certain lawsuit" - a comment directed toawrd Brian. Brian gave no response during all of this, but all of a sudden Brian blurts out, "hey Mike, do you need a Maharishi robe to sing the damn song?"

To the best of my recollection, that's the gist of the piece. CLB  tells a truncated version of the tale in HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN (she was dating Paul Williams at the time).

Idea to pitch with Box Car Records: "Having Fun with Mike in the Studio"   :-D

Yep, that's basically it.  I do have my copy (of COURSE!  I keep EVERYTHING!), and if I get time this weekend I could possibly post most of it.

Mike then comments about "not being paid for a certain lawsuit" - a comment directed toawrd Brian. Brian gave no response during all of this, but all of a sudden Brian blurts out, "hey Mike, do you need a Maharishi robe to sing the damn song?"
[/quote]

Very sharp.

That was my favorite part.  :-D

It seems BW will take a load of@@@@@ before speaking up..!! My thoughts have been confirmed,,!!

Is that the shot behind the console with Carl's eyes closed? Damned if I can find it anywhere now.

[/quote]
Mike then comments about "not being paid for a certain lawsuit" - a comment directed toawrd Brian. Brian gave no response during all of this, but all of a sudden Brian blurts out, "hey Mike, do you need a Maharishi robe to sing the damn song?"

[/quote] This is, quite possibly, the funniest thing I have ever read in my whole life.  :lol

Ok, after reading this entire topic carefully, am I to understand that the versions of Soul Searchin' and Still a Mystery that exist in the collectors network are not the same versions that The Beach Boys originally overdubed their vocals to? I think it was Mr. Doe that mentioned that Mark Linett "created" these versions. If so, do the original backing tracks(as The Beach Boys originally heard them) circulate in the collectors network?

To answer that question, yes. I can't answer your second question. I've never heard what Andrew described as the Don Was tracks, and didn't even realize there were two sets until the other day.

To make things even more confusing, there is a blog out there that claims to have a version of Soul Searchin' for download with a lead vocal from Andy Paley. I believe there are also a few alternate mixes(3-4?) of that same song.

Correct - there are some boots out there that claim to have Brian singing "SS" when in fact it's Andy's demo vocal (which is very odd as it sound nothing like Brian ever did in his entire career). Allegedly he wrote the song specifically for Carl's voice. However I only know of three versions:

w/Paley vocal
w/BB vocals
GIOMH version

@RobMac & C-Man: Thank you !

The studoio photo can be found @ http://yottamusic.com/artists/The-Beach-Boys/    or google paul natkin beach boys.  Sorry, couldn't get the link to work.  Don't know why thw Copyright date is '97.  Maybe Natkin just waited until then?  The shot is clearly not from from '97...

Wow, thanks for sharing that.  Hadn't seen it before.  I guess if someone knows how to get ahold of Cindy Lee Berryhill, they could ask her if that's what they were wearing at the session she attended...

The picture of Brian from Live Aid is also copyright 1997, so clearly the copyright is not the same as the year taken.

OK, this is from the March-April 1996 ESQ, by singer/songwriter Cindy Lee Berryhill, who I had the pleasure of meeting with her boyfriend (or is it husband now?) Paul Williams (the founder of Crawdaddy! magazine), at the Pala, California Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE show in late 2004.  Nice people.  Anyway, in September of '95, Cindy and her engineer Mike Harris were at Bernie Grundman Mastering on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, mastering her latest album.  Bernie mentioned how the studio next door (Ocean Way) used to be United/Western, so on a whim, Cindy and Mike H. wandered next door, dropped David Leaf's name with the receptionist, and were given the clearance to proceed back to the studio area.  Cindy picks it up from here:


The first person I recognized was Andy Paley...then Don Was.  I looked back at Mike H.  He was standing there halfway in, halfway out, stiff as a board, a completely stunned look on his face.  I followed his gaze, and there, though the glass, in the studio I saw it too:  Brian and Carl Wilson singing simultaneously in the same room!  Wow!  What a weird, cool thing to stumble into!

Now my eyes were starting to focus.  A foot to my right was Audree Wilson...and to my left was Brian's pretty, blonde wife Melinda.  Andy Paley saw me and came over to say hello.  He introduced Mike H. and me to everybody, there was a good feeling in the control room and I knew we would be able to hang out for a bit, so long as we stayed outta the way. 

I told Andy I was mastering my new record next door and we talked about that stuff.  Then the room got serious about listening to the vocals just recorded. 

Carl and Brian came into the little control room and we all hunched in closer to the speakers and heard a song called "Still A Mystery".  It had that sweet sound - so melodic, vulnerable power within its sweetness.  Then the song was over and they were on to something else (We only heard it once).  Brian suggested they do the vocals for a song called "Soul Searchin'" and they chatted about that.  Before Carl left the room to go about his lead vocals for "Soul Searchin'", he came over and gave me a hello hug and met my compadre Mike H....

There were a lot of people coming and going from that control room.  Don Was was in and out, conferring with Andy and Brian, greeting us and other visitors, hanging out on the hall phone.  Audree Wilson was there with a woman friend.  Brian and Melinda's toy poodle was prancing about, tiny little head held high, queen of its dominion.  And Bruce Johnston, Al and Matt Jardine were in for a listen every so often. 

While Carl was singing his lead to "Soul Searchin'", Brian, still with us in the control room, would interject opinions and comments about where he wanted Carl to come from emotionally or sonically.  It was definitely Brian that was in control here, and Carl was more than willing to give the producer what the producer wanted.  Brian was constantly on the "talk box" with ideas for the vocal.  "Carl, you could sing that stronger" or "I think if that line went up, it would have more feeling" or "Now I don't like it, change it back".  Stuff like that.

Don Was wasn't even in the room, Brian was in the driver's seat and Andy was a sort of liaison between Brian and the engineer or he would define something Brian would have difficulty articulating. 

Mike Harris and I felt like we'd stumbled upon the king's ransom.  Every now and then I'd look over at Mike H. and he'd have this incredible look on his face.  I mean, I'm talking about a recording engineer who's in the studio every day of his adult life and he was just standing there stiffly, oddly, like it's the first time he's ever seen a microphone, and then Bruce Johnston walks up to him.  Bruce pats him on the shoulder, introduces himself, and looks straight at my friend Mike. 

"Ya know, you've got that stunned Brian-Wilson-is-a-god-look on your face!  Why don't you just relax and have a nice time."  Then he winked at us and went off down the corridor.  After that Mike H. started breathing a little more and his body language wasn't so angular. 

more to come later, including the arrival of Mike Love...

Thank you, Craig! This is great stuff and I'm glad I was able to remember most of it.

Thank you so much !

Part Two of Cindy Lee Berryhill's account from ESQ:

"Soul Searchin'" was going well, everyone seemed happy with it, Brian too. (It's a kind of R&B song that you could imagine from the "Wild Honey" period.  Perhaps a slower, more deliberate, strolling kinda gate than "Wild Honey", but good Carl vocals.  Personally this song didn't have the magic the previous song ["Mystery"] had.  But I'm partial to the heavenly sweet stuff). 

Throughout the session, there were inquires into Mike Love's ETA.  Apparently his plane from San Francisco was held up due to fog and no one knew just when he was gonna arrive.  Finally Brian piped up in his brusque but casual manner:  "Oh, he's here.  I saw him walk down the hall."  A half hour later the question of Mike Love came up again (he certainly was not in the control or session room) and Brian waved it off saying:  "He's here.  He's wearing a bright blue coat, I saw him."  And everyone in the control room looks at each other like "did Brian really see Mike or did he just think he saw Mike or does he know something intuitively?..."

Another half hour goes by.  I've talked some with Audree...and visited with Melinda.  Bruce, Al, Matt and Carl have nailed their background harmonies together on a single microphone (looked like a Neumann U-47).  Now the question of Mike Love arises again as they need the bass doo-wop part next.  No one has seen Mike Love except Brian and the room wonders if Brian really has seen him.  Just when all have given up hope (except Brian) in walks Mike Love.  Well, he doesn't enter the control room right away; he stands in the doorway.  Brian doesn't even seem to notice him.  (Brian's playing with the little poodle he calls "little Molly Ledbetter").  But Mike Love has shown up and it seems the room heaves a discernible sigh of relief and then holds its breath at once.  "Here it is", the moment seems to say.  "Here they are.  What is to become of this moment?"


to be continued...

...and, what did he wear? I guess the positive vibe will end in the next part...
Thanks for posting this!

That's the one thing I've always wondered.

The final installment of Cindy Lee Berryhill's account from ESQ:


Audree kept telling me how excited and pleased she was to see her two sons finally joined again in the studio, now with Mike Love's arrival she is simply sparkling.  My friend Mike Harris and I are standing next to Mike Love, and he's explaining to us and Don Was why his plane was late, what hell he had to go through.  "Sitting there, four hours on the tarmac waiting for the fog to clear.  It was terrible..." (then he gazes at me - a girl) "but the stewardesses were awfully good-looking."  I ignore him and turn back to the scene inside the control room. 

I decide it's time to call my boyfriend Paul and tell him what a weird day it's been, but while I'm gone I miss some of the best stuff.  My buddy Mike H. clues me in on the drive home: 

Mike Love is out in the session room singing his part into the microphone, when the tape comes to an abrupt halt.  Don Was says over the talk box he thinks Mike should try it again.  Mike Love chides back "Does anyone ever say no to Don Was?"

There's some joking around in the control room, someone asks Don Was:  "Hey, how much money did you make on that project?"

Don Was answers in some six figure amount.  Mike Love, still on the microphone, shoots back "Gee, I'll have to do a few more court cases to get that much money..."

Everyone in the studio is stunned Mike has said this, and all eyes shoot over to Brian who apparently has not been listening and hasn't heard this remark aimed, one would guess, at him. 

Mike goes back to singing his bass notes and Brian gives him a few helpful suggestions.  Finally Mike stops and speaks to Brian:

Mike:  "Who wrote this song?"
Brian:  "Andy Paley."
Andy:  "Well, we both wrote it."
Brian:  "Yeah."
Mike:  (sarcastically) "Well, I was just wondering why you wanted Carl to sing it.  How come there's no more Brian leads.  After all, you did almost all the leads on 'Pet Sounds' yourself."

Mike seems to have fallen into that old antagonistic "Cassius" Love vs. "Sonny" Wilson-type routine and he's waiting for his opponent's volley.  Brian's response comes a minute later:  "Hey Mike, do you need to put on a Maharishi robe to sing this song?" 

The ice is broken and the session proceeds. 

I missed most of this classic Beach Boys dialogue while checking back in with Bernie Grundman's Mastering Lab (got my tape) and making plans for heading home (we had a two and a half hour drive ahead of us and it was turning into a supremely foggy night).  Carl Wilson gave Mike Harris and myself helpful freeway and news radio advice:  "Stay away from 405 and if 5 doesn't work take 10 east to 210 to 15."  Wow - he really knew his freeways!  Then Carl and his friend debated over the best news station for us to tune in on for weather reports. 

It was difficult to pry ourselves away from such an incredible event and then the whole serendipity of the situation left me and Mike Harris a bit stunned and exhausted.  We said our good-byes and walked back down that soft carpeted corridor towards the way out. 

In the reception area someone was being waived in by the same receptionist that had greeted Mike H. and myself earlier.  Clearly this newcomer was a BB fan.  His hands wrapped tightly around an old worn copy of "Summer Days (And Summer Nights)" and he had the look on his face - eyes as big as saucers. 

"Geeze," I said to my buddy Mike.  "Did we look that obvious?  I mean that freaked out?  It looked like that guy had seen a ghost."  We were almost to the car now, the fog was folding around us, it would be a slow thoughtful drive home.  Finally Mike H. answered, "Nah, we weren't that bad."
 

He is an ass


Classic! :-D

One heck of a story.. Thx for posting it...!!!

Did we ever find out the exact reason why Carl walked out of those 1996 sessions? I mean, what song didn't he like, specificly? Why didn't he like it? It just blows my mind that he would not like Soul Searchin' and Still A Mystery, but he could put up with the whole Summer In Paradise album. From what I understand, Carl did not play a single guitar note on the SIP album, and only contributed a very minimal amount of vocals.

On Page 2 of this thread, I opined that maybe Carl wasn't as enamored of the Wilson-Paley material as others, and that maybe he (Carl) felt that the finished album would end up like the previous 3-4 albums, which were mediocre at best. Some posters disagreed, stating that Carl's decision to leave had nothing to do with the songs. Those posters, however, didn't speculate what the other reason(s) might be.

As far as Carl contributing minimally - vocally - to Summer In Paradise, I felt that he was THE bright spot and actually carried the album.  IMO, despite the weak material, SIP is one of Carl's stronger albums. He is excellent on "Hot Fun In The Summertime", 'Lahaina Aloha", "Remember Walking In The Sand", and "Under The Boardwalk". And, his emotional vocal at the end of "Forever" is the highlight of the album for me.

I must have overlooked your post. Sorry about that.  ;) In my opinion/theory, both of the above cases might be true. It must have been hard on all the members to carry on after one mediocre album after another. It must have been hard to guess which song might be a hit...or a miss. I think that another reason might have been some kind of group tension that has not been mentioned in this thread yet. I read somewhere that right before he died, Carl decided to take legal action against Brian for Brian's "autobiography". Were there a lot of bad feelings between the Wilsons by the final few years(1995-98)?

However, this doesn't really answer the SIP issue. Was Carl's involvement another case of feeling the need to "cave in" for group "peace", ala Al Jardine with the cheerleaders?

After Still Cruisin' and SIP I wouldn't have mind a mediocre album ...

...but that's speaking afterwards...

For me too.  :)

"I felt that he was THE bright spot and actually carried the album."

Hmmm, Al did that for my ears.

Remember, there were TWO sets of sessions in '95: the late February sessions for "Dancin' The Night Away" and possibly "Grace Of My Heart"...Carl reportedly walked out of those for non-musical reasons (i.e. some kind of tension with Brian), hence that stuff was never finished.   AND the September Don Was sessions, from which we get "Soul Searchin'" and "Still A Mystery".  Those two songs were finished, albeit with different backing tracks than what we have on the boots.  From what I've read, Carl thought those finished tracks were "not releasable" and then they moved on to "Stars 'n' Stripes".  Reportedly, Carl never heard them with the vocals pasted back onto the original Wilson/Paley tracks.

FYI, Domenic Priore told me back then that after those September sessions, Andy received a call from Was asking him to replace Jim Keltner's drumming on the Was-produced tracks, then shortly afterwards Was asked him to replace the bass or the guitar, then he kept calling him back to replace parts til everything was Andy again, just like it was on the original tracks (which Was had considered to be nothing more than demos).  Don reportedly told Andy "Y'know, Keltner's great but he just can't get the feel you got on the demos, Andy..." and on it went. 

And, if anyone's interested in hearing some more about the aborted February sessions, I can dig out my contemporary copy of Entertainment Weekly and post their article...but before you get excited, it says nothing about the breakdown of the sessions, just Brian's and Mike's positive "for the press" comments.

I'd be interested in reading that article, even if it is just PR stuff.

OK, I'll try to get it posted this weekend.

The only thing I can contribute as a mere listener is this: Carl was the only Beach Boy who did not sing on "Still A Mystery" and Brian did not sing on "Soul Searchin'." Coincidence, or were they fighting again?

BTW, I was a fan of the (Young) Rascals before becoming a Beach Boy fan, and "Soul Searchin'" seems to be a direct Rascals tribute. Not only the backgrounds, but the chord arrangement. Comments?

Who sang lead on Still a Mystery? I was pretty sure it was Carl.

It's Brian!

No, it's definitely Carl.

EDIT: Oops, sorry I thought you were referring to "Soul Searchin'". Yeah, you're definitely right, it's Brian for sure.

Well yeah it's Brian, but with a large dollop of Matt J!

Mmm, Im loving all the info we're getting on Still a Mystery...I was all over this track a few months ago and listening to it again I understand why. Without a doubt the best 90's Beach Boys song.

Carl's on "Still A Mystery" (read Cindy Lee's account of the session - the first thing she saw was the two Wilson brothers singing a part into the same mic), he just blends in with Brian.  And I suspect Brian is on "Soul Searchin'', just not standing out.  Cindy Lee said the others (Carl, Al, Bruce & Matt) laid down their background part right after Carl's lead, then Mike showed up and did his bass part, but the session continued after she left...I'm sure they layered in more vocals tracks, with Brian joining in, and obviously they went back to "Mystery" and tracked Mike on the bass parts. 

Wasn't the session for Still A Mystery and Soul Searchin' one of Carl's last? Which was first, this session, or the one Carl did for the Wilson-Beckley-Lamm album? I have read that Soul Searchin' was supposedly the last song Carl ever sang in the studio. I have also read the same thing for the song "I Wish For You".

Yeah, I don't think either was...Wilson-Beckley-Lamm was recorded over a long period of time, and had been underway for at yeast a year by 1992 or '93.  I'm not sure when it was finished up, but Carl's last venture into the studio was definitely NOT the "Soul Searchin'"/"Still A Mystery" session...that was late '95, but "Stars 'n' Stripes" was mostly recorded in '96, therefore...IT would seem to be Carl's last set of sessions, at least with the Beach Boys.

However, the last NEW song Carl recorded MAY have been "Soul Searchin'"...the last new BW song he recorded definitely was.  Brian had wanted him to do a vocal on his "Imagination" album, but they never got to it. 

Gee, I've never heard that. Probably because I wasn't a fan in the years around Imagination but that would have been fantastic. What song does everyone think Carl would best be suited on?

Carl's final studio recordings were backing vocals for two Michael Angeloff songs, "Here And Now... Is Forever"  & "Life's So Strange".

Carl wanted to do Lay Down Burden. I can't imagine him singing it, though, or any other leads on the album, probably because I'm so used to Brian. I can picture him singing the "runnin', runnin' runnin' wild" part in the chorus of Your Imagination.

That's interesting Aegir. That's nice to know that Carl got to hear atleast some of the songs from the album (not in finished form of course). I can't really imagine him singing any of the songs either (hence why I didn't suggest any songs that I thought he should've sung) but as you say it's probably because we're so used to Brian.

I guess that knocks the myth that Brian wrote "LDB" as a requiem for Carl firmly on the head, then.  :)

Actually, that myth was demolished a long time ago. I remember Lauri Klobas mentioning that title to me, and that was in April 1997.

My understanding is that Brian came up with the title & chorus of "LDB" after learning that Audree's condition had taken a turn for the worse (up to a year before she actually died), and the rest of the song after learning of Carl's cancer diagnosis.  The April '97 date would fit in with that just fine.

I did read somewhere once a different title mentioned in conjunction with the song Brian wanted Carl to sing (and I believe the story goes he wanted him to sing the lead).  It wasn't a song that actually made the "Imagination" album, but the title was something like "Portrait Of A Man".  Not quite I'm sure, but close to that title.

Yep.  Believe I read that in an ESQ around the album release, with the quote attributed to Joe Thomas.  Don't recall the actual song title, but Thomas made it clear that it WAS NOT LDB.  I think that just grew out of myth.

Re: Lay Down Burden. I recall reading that the song was written to Marilyn.

That's interesting, I've never heard that before. 

I guess now that I think about the lyrics, that would make sense.  "Just remember the way I held you, you're always in my heart".

Brian's songs aren't usually very obvious as to who they are about, so who knows?  Maybe its some combination of Marilyn, Carl and his mother. 

I would say it's definitely a comibination of Audree & Carl, and maybe Marilyn. 
Or Landy.  (Just kidding).   ;)

What's the story behind the Beach Boys backing Collin Raye on "Winter wonderland" (doing this very good imo) ? Is Brian with them (it definitely sounds like him on some parts)? Was it from the S&S-sessions?

Brian's there in the mix for sure. Not certain of the chronology, but that might Carl's last BB session. Certainly it post-dates the Quo "Fun, Fun, Fun" thing.

And yes, it is nice.

Were the sessions for Soul Searchin' and Still A Mystery the last Beach Boy's sessions of original material? Are there any confirmed instances of them going into the studio in 1997? I would imagine that Carl was pretty sick by then though.

No 1997 studio sessions that I know of, and by September Carl was too unwell to tour.

Not sure if this has already been posted (maybe on the Beach Boys YouTube thread??) but thought I would post anyway.  It's an Australian Today Show interview from of Brian from 1995.  Brian discusses IGIJWMFTT release and Orange Crate Art and a little on the next Beach Boys record.  Brian sounds really optimistic about a hit record from the Beach Boys in summer of 1996.

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

Thanks! This makes me so sad, Brian and Mike really wanted to work again with each other.