The Smiley Smile Message Board

..that with latterday BBs/BW/DW work, for other 'complex' artists/bands? I mean: I find it amazing how we devote time and space to badly sung (subjectively meant) demo's spanning 25 years, voices rasping and hissing because of cigarette/alcohol/drug use, alternate versions not nearly as good or much better as/than the official stuff, and all that other jazz.

Is this a unique BBs obsession? Or is this a very common thing which I never see because I am not remotely interested in the 'secret vaults' of other bands? I could dredge up from my memory banks names like Syd Barrett, John Frusciante, Alex Chilton, Peter Green... but that is about it.

If you can enlighten me, please do. Perhaps there are lots of treasures to discover.

Before the Beatles Anthologies 1-3 came out, I was pretty intent on hearing what the was in the vault at Abbey Road.  Also for me, Dylan's unreleased stuff really gets me going, but again, most of the good stuff seems to have had an official release.  Maybe it is a 60's icon thing, which is strange for me, being that I was born 6 years after the Beatles broke up.  These might be fighting words, but I think 1960's stuff is far better than the music of my own generation.

13th Floor Elevators/Roxy Erikson is comparable . . . Pink Floyd, Beatles (but the Beatles haven't really released anything from the vaults since the Anthologies . . . but the recent unofficial release of the early Revolution take has stirred up waves in the fan community), the Who.

When you put it that way, you make it seem like we're ...crazy.

In the Kinks message board they probably rant away about the merits of Ray Davies' last solo albums and the pros and cons of a reunion. And the beat goes on.

It's fairly unique (can there be degrees of uniqueness?) because A) most artists are dead before they reach the state that Brian and Dennis reached, and B) most artists don't have the funds, contracts, accessibilty to studios, need for money, or REMAINING TALENT, IN WHATEVER DEGREE as Brian and Dennis did, even after frying their brains/throats/etc...

 
  The Beach Boys were the greatest!
  We need to hear all of it!!!....

I did not want to make it seem... not necessary. We are.

Couple angles. Vaults? Prince. Crazy alleged geniuses? Daniel Johnston. Beach Boys just happen to have both angles. Makes for a better story.

(OK, I know Prince is crazy, too. And his genius isn't just alleged, either. But he's never been 300 lbs. puffing away onstage, playing the wrong songs.)

Me, I just like fat guys. Especially bearded fat guys.

You will be one yourself eventually, Luther, with your lifestyle.

I think we're forgetting a certain Mr Young, who not only has tons of unreleased stuff in his own personal vault, but has been teasing about its eventual release for nearly 20 years...

Roger?

Been looking forward to it since I was seven. Gonna take up smoking a big pipe when I achieve it, too. Gods, I'm gonna be great.

When I first started mixing in collectors circles back in the late '70's, I was really surprised that most of the people I dealt with that were HUGE BW/BB freaks were also Bruce Springsteen freaks. Lots of them were. I would trade with these people and they were always giving me Bruce stuff free to entice me in. Sorry, on addiction at a time. Which is funny because my BW/BB thing has outlasted every long term relationship, except for my second wife and I who are going into our 20th year. She lets me alone with all this stuff. :)