The Smiley Smile Message Board

From Capitol/EMI in my inbox...

Hollywood, California – March 11, 2009 – Put the needle in the groove! Capitol/EMI’s high quality “From The Capitol Vaults” U.S. vinyl campaign continues on June 16 with the limited edition release of 11 classic, standout albums from the label’s celebrated catalog on 180-gram vinyl.

 
Capitol/EMI’s June 16 “From The Capitol Vaults” releases, all previously out of print on vinyl, include The Beach Boys’ Sunflower and Surf’s Up, Merle Haggard’s Mama Tried, Megadeth’s So Far, So Good... So What!, Plastic Ono Band’s Live Peace In Toronto 1969, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Freaky Styley, Mother's Milk, and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, Roxy Music’s Country Life and Stranded, and The Specials’ self-titled album.


How cool is that?

It is - except they're two of the only BB LPs I already have fairly recent copies of! Both were reissued in 1980 on Caribou, and SU was reissued on 180g as part of EMI's 100th anniversary (100 LPs specially produced). Holland would be good...

Great news, I dont have either on vinyl and the local shop want $30 for Surfs Up.  Thanks for posting.

Good news, but I can guarantee they'll each go for close to $30

If it's at Amoeba or somewhere, yeah, $25.99 or some merda. Online, maybe cheaper.

I'd suggest spending the same on an original! I have one and it sounds amazing, and remember, it's the only mix/master that Desper will sign off on!!

Will Surf's Up include the original fold out insert w/ lyrics n pics?

Very good news as this will give Sunflower and Surf's Up more exposure on the collectors market and should be a lot closer to what Desper and the guys intended.  Now if only WIBNTLA was a bonus cut.

... likely from a digital master.  i will stick with the original analog pressings.

Probably the same 2000 digital master as the Two-fer CDs

Now, if they reissued Holland with the Mount Vernon EP in its original cartoon sleeve, that would be lovely.

Funny that it probably won't ever happen because Holland is the only album of the three to contain a hit single.

Odd that Capitol/EMI is celebrating their historic legacy & diving into their legendary catalog to release on vinyl...two albums that were originally on another label, and only first appeared on Capitol/EMI eight years ago...

Not that I mind, of course.  Just find it odd.  On the other hand...they WERE originally released in the U.K. on Stateside/EMI...so maybe that's close enough for them.

My local Costco stocked the last batch at $12.99, including TLOS.
Still, I'd recommend the originals too unless it's a completist habit being sated. No CD never sounded right compared to the originals.

This is great news, and I'm looking forward to adding 180 gram vinyl versions to my collection.

I do hope that the following press release description is inaccurate, as it lists Sunflower as being reissued with a single jacket, rather than the original US Brother/Reprise and UK EMI/Stateside gatefold jacket with the great color pics inside of the BBs and BW's house. The 1980's UK CBS/Caribou version of Sunflower was a single jacket, and the visual impact (which is one of the great selling points of LPs) was definitely diminished compared to the original gatefold cover.

JUNE 16, 2009: "FROM THE CAPITOL VAULTS" [artist / title (configuration)]
The Beach Boys / Sunflower (1 LP, single jacket)
The Beach Boys / Surf's Up (1 LP, single jacket, lyrics sheet insert)

Also, as a followup to C-man's comment about the release being on Capital, in addition to his mention that the UK release was on EMI/Stateside, there was a Capitol Record Club version of Sunflower (SKAO 93352) but with the normal Brother/Reprise labeling.  Personally, I think it will be cool to see Sunflower and Surf's Up on vinyl with Capitol labels, preferably the same lime green with new Capitol logo label from the late 60s and early 70s that they used for the CD reissues.

... and don't forget the limited vinyl-release in the early 90-ies on Epic  (from the digitally remastered series, along with the first CD-release)

I urge everyone not in the possession of vinyl editions to at least give them a listen, if possible. I am sure that, even if the source is digital, 'All I Wanna Do' via headphones will blow you away. I'll never forget that experience. I have SF on German EMI-Disc; and it is one of my treasures.

Easily the rarest commercial Beach Boys LP issues except maybe Summer In Paradise or the Ariola 45.

Heartical- This Whole World on headphones when the lp first came out was what got me into the Boys in the first place... my brother came into my room and said "put on the headphones, you've got to hear this!"...

And the Sunflower package was incredible... all the guys looked so cool (except Bruce)... the shot of Brian is perhaps my all-time favorite...

Man, what a great album...

That is such a lovely post! Thanks. So we decidedly have something in common. I was in a Smiley Smile-phase then, and bought Sunflower, not really sure what to expect. A headphone session with SF meant an absolute shift: from monaural simplicity to sophisticated stereo... I urged my brother to listen too, and he absolutely loved it.

Sorry for going OT, but Smiley Smile was an album that, when it 1st came out, my brother purchased.  My friends and I listened to it a few times and thought "what a load of CRAP!" (we were in 9th grade).  Then, after Sunflower, I got interested in the group and bought Smiley (my 3rd or 4th purchase of their stuff by then).  I played it and thought "hey, I remember this, I used to hate it" but this time around I loved it!  Smiley is sometimes my favorite BB album.  "Gettin' Hungry" gets in my head still to this day (For MYYYY kind of woman...).

Back to Sunflower... the thing that was so great about that album was that the entire group was involved... seemed like a real GROUP album, as opposed to, say, CATP which was like cuts from four solo albums.  When CATP first came out, I heard "Here She Comes" on FM radio during a block of like 6 songs and when the block was over the DJ came on and said "that was tracks by (somebody, somebody, somebody, somebody, somebody) and the BEACH BOYS" and I FREAKED OUT!  "Which track was the Beach Boys?  WTF?  I DIDN'T HEAR NO FREAKIN' BEACH BOYS!!!

Sunflower is to the Beach Boys as Pet Sounds is to Brian Wilson.

I am pleased that these 2 LPs are being reissued. It certainly won't the chances of additional material being released.

I got into the Beach Boys in 1988 and by 1989 had Surf's Up. It like the other Rieley LP's had to grow on me, mainly because they were so different then the sixties stuff. Of course I liked them better then the stuff the recorded from 75 on, and now can really get into them without comparing them to anything else. Sunflower though was one of those albums that grabed me right off. It is such an amazing experience. I have an NM original and I also have one of the 360 Spatializers so it (along with the LP's of Surf's Up, and Spring) is just wonderful to hear. It's the album I play to show people the Beach Boys had real depth and variety to their sound. Even people that don't care for them seem to like somthing on it. It's fantastic music and yes the best example of the group as a full unit with Brian still in peak form. Dennis is also at his best and has Mike ever sounded better then on All I Wanna Do? Again I am just glad that a few thousand more people will hear this stuff on wax.

Any chance of the LPs being released on colored vinyl? Now that would make it really interesting...

Why? Princely, stately black surely is the finest 'color' for such LPs, no?

I just found a copy of Holland with the Mt. Vernon EP in the original sleeve at a vinyl shop called Low Yo-Yo Stuff here in Atlanta for $8 a few weeks ago. Great condition other than the previous owners name written on Ricky's face. :)

No. Sunflower on yellow or white and Surf's Up on dark green vinyl would be so much cooler.

I have VG++ copies of both..vinyl and sleeve and some lesser backups.  I'll probably pass.

But as for colored vinyl, has there ever been a BB picture disc?  (other than some obscure Japanese pressing)

That would be very cool (if they used period pictures of the band) and would warrant buying one of those combination disc/sleeve matted frame displays that you see in collectible shops.  I would HANG that puppy! 

A bit off topic, but I have a copy of Today where the previous owner had reviewed every song and made notes of to the right of the song titles on the back cover. He even dated each review with the earliest being in 1970 and the latest being 1983! It also appears that he'd loaned the album out to a friend who wrote his own little reviews, often in direct opposition to what the other guy thought!

After Kiss me baby he writes: "Pure Brian at his peak of Spectorian glory"
after In The Back Of My Mind he writes: Brian in an introspective mood! And the other guy writes: "More like suicidal"

Priceless!!!!

Thats funny, sounds like someone was a little high....

Yeah, I have an LA (Light Album) picture disc. British, I believe.

(http://www.wreckchords.com/beachboys.jpg)

Plus:
- a 12'' maxisingle picturedisc of Happy Endings (can't find a picture on the web right now)

- a 1961-recordings best of called "25 Years Later"
(http://www.musicexp.com/beachboy/25years.jpg)

- a 7'' single of Surfin' USA (forgot the B-side)
http://cgi.ebay.com.my/7-Picture-Disc-Beach-Boys-Surfin-USA-Surfin-Safa_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ310122309732#ebayphotohosting

- a 7'' single with Status Quo
(http://www.musicexp.com/beachboy/status45.jpg)

- a shapedisc of Wipe Out (Hamburger-shaped, how appropriate ...)
(http://www.discogs.com/image/R-167379-001.jpg)

(http://www.smileysmile.net/uncanny/media/beach%20boys%20fat%20boys.jpg)

Is that Brian's dressing-gown from the 70s?

(sorry, bathrobe)

hey sh...i have all those also..kinda cool...plus there was a christmas single shaped like a green christmas tree.no pic on it but odd just the same.

I can't see the front of the burger

That´s "Little St. NicK" by the Surf Raiders (Erika Records E-104)

darn, it disappeared again... just a moment...



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Yikes that's scarey. At least they didn't put 1982 Brian in there.

The beauty of living near a Tower Rcords, can't wait to get my hands on these.

these seem to be out now. anyone heard them?

I thought Tower went out of business.

still one in Dublin Ireland, kept the name and logo etc but is actually an independent store.

records were gone when i went in on Sunday. guess wild honey in stereo got there before me.

I bet he waited outside and  took photos with his cellphone to preserve your disillusion for eternity... goes to show how true friendships flower on an internet board, heh?  :smokin

ha ha, i think i can wait for the next batch to come in  ;D

Question about the Sunflower analogue master:  Wouldn't the 2000 twofer have been mastered from the analogue master tapes?  What's the story here?  Was the album remixed, what's all the objections?

Regarding vinyl reissues:  I can't imagine there's anybody today not -- first digitizing -- then mastering, cleaning, boosting, EQ'ing in the digital realm -- then pressing to vinyl.  I've always been somewhat suspect/disappointed with that prospect.  I think analogue should be kept totally analogue.  As well, I also believe you shouldn't REISSUE on vinyl, unless you do a total REISSUE.  Package and all.  Go all out, you know?

FYI - These two albums were remastered especially for this release.  We were finally able to locate all of the first generation mixdown masters for the SURF'S UP LP (which were scattered over a number of source reels), and this may have been the first time that SUNFLOWER has been remastered from the first generation tapes, as the tape box itself had been mislabeled.  Mark Linett did a great job with these vintage source tapes, the two albums sound great, and I'm hoping we'll be able to redo the CD versions as well now that we have these new masters to work with.

Also, there's a little surprise in the SUNFLOWER LP.  I found an interesting unused item filed away with the surviving artwork elements, and Tom Recchion at Capitol was inspired to integrate it into the package....

Alan

Thanks for the info, dedication and effort by you and all concerned.

We can always count on you to go the extra mile and get things right (or better) inasmuch as you are able with the leeway and budget allotted to you. :)

That's great news, many thanks Alan.  I look forward to the possible CD issues as my turntable's been defunct a while but might just invest!

That'll mean buying a new turntable, possibly at the same time as I buy an 8-track cassette player on which to listen to the two Wombles cartridges I've just invested in!

Yes please !!! - double CDs for each with bonus cuts of all period out-takes! A Sunflower double in particular would be something else.

Just picked up these beautiful (solid, heavy) heavy (confident!) discs and they do sound, in a word, wonderful - punchy, bright, alive, pushing through the speakers into the very air...what a difference from the CDs. I am excited to test out Sunflower with the height speaker possibilities of Audyssey DSX and Pro Logic IIz, hoping that perhaps some of Mr. Desper's originally spatialized spaces will come alive in interesting ways with these setups. Even with Pro Logic II it is enveloping --- and truly a wall of sound...

I envy you, Alan. The perfect man for the perfect job. Thank you.

The background vocals by themselves in SUNFLOWER are among the most beautiful and ethereal sounds I have ever heard, and one of the most stunning achievements in all of popular music. If I could, I would like to reside inside them - they seem to emerge from the very tops of their heads, not their bodies (except for Mike's -  gorgeous and spot on - bass singing throughout). Brian's tops have never been so...soaring...they cut through...

What a rush to unexpectedly see these two, stacked together in the record bins of Twist and Shout in Denver (if you've never been, you must go if you find yourself in these parts - one of the best in the country). Sunflower was where I started, my BB's Big Bang, where my head was 'turned around'...though I had "heard" the Beach Boys all of my youth on the radio, it wasn't until the one-two punch of the single Breakaway (which was in stereo - rare for its day on 45) and Sunflower that I was able to enter that heavenly realm of sound. Found Sunflower in the record bins at EJ Korvettes in the burbs of NYC (remember that there was very little advance word in those days of forthcoming records except for Rolling Stone's RANDOM NOTES, so you went record shopping looking for surprises each week...). Went home, put the headphones on, and soared above the clouds (heck, even Got to Know the Woman, It's About Time and Slip on Through, practically anthems for the Golden Penetrators Club, still have those heavenly backups, calling down from above - Denny's Apollonian and Dionysian halves, dancing together like Fred and Ginger...)

In his (unforgettable) "plastic madmen, rock geniuses" Rolling Stone review of SUNFLOWER, Jim Miller wrote:

After a long period of recovery, mediocrity, and general disaster, the Beach Boys have finally produced an album that can stand with Pet Sounds: the old vocal and instrumental complexity has returned and the result largely justifies the absurd faith some of us have had that the Beach Boys were actually still capable of producing a superb rock album–or, more precisely, a suberb rock muzak album. "Add Some Music to Your Day"; hip supermarkets might program this album for contented browsing among the frozen vegetables and canned fruit.

As a reassuring note, most of the lyric impotence of the group remains, though not so prominently displayed as on such colorful recent outings as Friends. In what is mainly a simple collection of love songs, Dennis Wilson has explored some aspects of rhythm and blues while Brian continues to work within his own distinctive framework. Thus on the one hand we have "It's About Time" and "Slip on Through," hints of the soft hard rock that marked "I Get Around," "Help Me Rhonda," etc., transferred to the domain of contemporary Motown. Dennis even pulls off a rib-tickling imitation of Barry Melton imitating James Brown on "Got to Know the Woman." All of these tracks are executed with a certain aplomb that often was lacking in post-"Good Vibrations" Beach Boy music, as if the self-consciousness of such homogenizing enterprise as making a new Beach Boy record has been again overcome. As a result, the naivete of the group is more astounding than ever–I mean, good Christ, it's 1970 and here we have a new, excellent Beach Boys' epic, and isn't that irrelevant?

In any case, Brian's new stuff is great, especially "This Whole World" and "All I Wanna Do." Which brings up the engineering and production work on this album: it's flawless, especially in view of the number of overdubs. There is a warmth, a floating quality to the stereo that far surpasses the mixing on, say, Abbey Road. The effects are subtle, except for the outrageous echo on "All I Wanna Do" that makes the song such a mind – wrenching experience. And then there is "Cool, Cool Water," Brian's exquisite ode to water in all its manifestations, which, like "Add Some Music," is encyclopedic in its trivial catalogue of the subject at hand. "Cool, Cool Water" pulls off a Smiley Smile far better than most of the material on that disappointing venture.

The inevitable saccharine ballads are present in abundance. "Deirdre" and particularly Brian's "Our Sweet Love" rejoin the ongoing tradition of "Surfer Girl," although "Our Sweet Love" is most reminiscent of the mood of Pet Sounds. Of course there is some lesser stuff here, like "At My Window." No matter: as a whole, Sunflower is without doubt the best Beach Boys album in recent memory, a stylistically coherent tour de force. It makes one wonder though whether anyone still listens to their music, or could give a sh*t about it. This album will probably have the fate of being taken as a decadent piece of fluff at a time when we could use more Liberation Music Orchestras. It is decadent fluff–but brilliant fluff. The Beach Boys are plastic madmen, rock geniuses. The plastic should not hide from use the geniuses who molded it.


Indeed...

Glad you like the new vinyl. As Alan indicated we used the original flat mixes for Sunflower  which we found in mislabeled boxes in the EMI vault. It is doubtful that they have been used since the original release , and the sonic difference is significant.

We also made new hi-res HDCD digital masters of both Sunflower and Surfs Up and hope to be able to release those as well.

Mark

Well, I am listening to my favorite Beach Boys album (Sunflower) in its new reissued form... it sounds incredible. I am going to pick up Surf's Up later on today, and replace my old, mildewy worn copy.

Those bass drum stutter-steps in "This Whole World" are coming through much clearer than on the 2000 CD reissue!

This sounds so good that I am going to have to make a 24-bit vinyl rip that I can listen to on the go. Just unbelievable. Thanks to Mark Linnet and Alan Boyd. You guys are the greatest.

I am going to flip on "Pro Logic II" or "DTS NEO:6" for my next listen. I've done it with the 2000 CD reissue and I got some cool sounds ..

b00ts

Ditto. I bought these today, I've already listened to Sunflower and I'm listening to Surf's Up right now. They're just amazing: the CD versions, as good as they are, don't even come close to these discs. Thanks again to all involved in these reissues - you've done a great job!  :-D





It took me some time to notice it as I couldn't wait to play the album, but I finally paid attention to the sleeve, and I went "wait... there's something strange here..."  :lol

I highly recommend the new Sunflower and Surf's Up 180 gram vinyl LP reissues.  In addition to top-notch sound quality, the packaging is absolutely first rate.  Surf's Up features the original foldout insert with lyrics and photos, and Sunflower features its original gatefold cover with great photos of the group, and rather than a typical paper or plastic record sleeve inside you get the very special paperboard sleeve with the artwork bonus that Alan Boyd alluded to in his post.  If you are a long time fan who had the Warner/Reprise 2 dollar loss leader LP 'The Big Ball' from early 1970 containing the notation "'This Whole World' is from their first album on Brother, slated for release in April 1970" you'll probably recognize this artwork immediately, but now it's full size and in full color.  It's not a large departure from the existing artwork  that's been around for almost 40 years now, but it is a really cool addition to the packaging, and is indicative of the care that went into this reissue.

The sound quality of both albums is great, although one must be prepared for the typical clicks and pops found on vinyl.  My copy of Surf's Up was in very good shape in this regard, but I've been through three copies of the Sunflower reissue (the worst of which I returned) and all have more irritating clicks and pops  than I would like, especially on side two. (The worst clicks and pops found here consist of a short burst of clicks in just one channel;  the left channel on one copy and the right channel on the two other copies I purchased.)  In the past it has been  possible, but not common, for some pressing plants to consistently produce quieter vinyl, (and I tend to be far more irritated by clicks and pops than many people), but many albums are far worse in this regard.  However, don't let intermittent vinyl clicks and pops dissuade you from making a purchase.  If you do not own these albums on vinyl (or if you have the non-gatefold version of Sunflower) it's really cool to see and hear them in their original packaging, and they are also a great addition to your collection if you have worn copies.  I'm not one of those who feels vinyl automatically sounds superior to CDs (although it can, and vice versa, depending on the original source tapes used, along with eq, etc, applied) but listening to vinyl is a cool sonic experience.  I'd even recommend these albums to hardcore fans without a turntable, just to experience the look and feel of the original releases.

Prior to my purchase of the new vinyl reissue of Sunflower, over the years I've purchased 12 other vinyl copies of the album, starting with my original purchase on 8-21-70 (ten days before most discographies now state it was released) and including two white label promo copies, the Capitol Record Club pressing, the Stateside European release, and the CBS/Caribou 1980 UK release.  (But not the ultra rare limited edition 1990 EMI vinyl release!)  There are some significant sonic difference within these vinyl releases (including two differences of which I am aware within the Brother/Reprise pressings, which remained in print for almost 10 years after the album was released) as well as the 10-90 and 7-00 CD releases.

As stated before, this new release sounds fabulous, and I'm hoping it will find its way to CD very soon.  My original vinyl copy(which is rather worn!) and my two promo copies (in pristine shape), the three of which, between them, were made with two different stampers, all sound identical.  As far as sonic balance of this new reissue is concerned, in my listening tests I felt that, compared to the original early pressings, the new reissue overall has more bass and in some cases slightly smoother and less strident vocals.  Both of these attributes are a good thing, as the original album could use more low end (especially by modern eq standards) and somewhat less strident vocals.  However, on the new reissue Slip on Through has slightly less bass than the original, Deirdre and Tears in the Morning have about the same (the latter definitely could use more), and Got to Know the Woman has less treble, which, in my opinion, is undesirable, giving it a somewhat less forward sound.

(If anyone reading this is a glutton for punishment, I can post info on the sonic differences I found on the various other vinyl and CD issues, although I only went to the trouble of comparing the first song, Slip on Through.  And, when comparing vinyl to CD, it's important to remember that the phono cartridge used can make a significant sonic difference in the vinyl playback experience.)

And now a question for Mark Linett - Alan Boyd stated that "this may have been the first time that SUNFLOWER has been remastered from the first generation tapes as the tape box itself had been mislabeled".  Did you transfer this first generation tape directly to vinyl, or did you apply any EQ or compression?  If EQ (or compression) was applied, did you apply it differently to certain songs, or was it applied in the same fashion across the entire album?

Thanks again to Mark Linett and Alan Boyd for bringing these great reissues to us.