The Smiley Smile Message Board

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=138434&highlight=beach+boy+tapes+lost+fire

See this thread on the Hoffman board. Started a year ago. Still, interesting if you haven't seen it. Author, who had access to the ranch, claims no tapes were lost in the fire. Interesting reading.

 :o :o :o :o :o :o Maybe the Beachago Tour tapes and parts of the aborted 1974 sessions still exist, then!!!!!

i'm kinda touchy right now on the subject of fire and tapes burning up......  :)

I'm sure Alan Boys tried to contact Guercio about any tape he could have. But Guercio is Guercio.

JG definitely has Beachago live tapes...I thought that was common knowledge.

Most tragically, "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" survived.

I hope JG releases the BB music he has soon.

Hard to believe that  those haven't slipped out to someone over the years.  Seems like nearly everything else has surfaced with much of it widely held by collectors.

I wonder if they would be of good quality.   Such as soundboard recordings?

I would've sworn I read somewhere that the Beachago shows were recorded for a possible live album.

I know for sure that an audience recording of the Madison Square Garden Beachago show is in circulation, or at least the Beach Boys part of the show.

It was recorded at several venues - there's footage of Phil Ramone engineering with two synched 24-tracks -  and a release was tentatively discussed, but the legalistics were apparently horrific.

As for the tapes turning up, some did a few years ago, in Jimmy G's possession... but I'm told they're from just one of the 24-tracks, ergo literally half of the songs are missing - that is, not half of the set, but half of the recording of one song. Where are the other reels ? No idea.

I think he has located the whole thing.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...  ;D

That seems to bring it fulll circle to the conclusion of previous such discussions onthe topic.

I would think this would be marketable.  Maybe that is why it has not surfaced as a boot?

With both Chicago and The BeachBoys both on the road and selling well at a number of large venues across the country, it would seem that NOW is the time.

I hope they would be multi tracks (as AGD mentioned) and not soundboards.

I'm of to purchase a new keyboard. The drooling (with all those super-conductive sodium and potassium ions in it) just exploded.

The main topic of the doc was - sit down, you won't believe this - the logistics of the Beachago tour: transport, setting up/breaking down the stages and so on. The music was distinctly a secondary consideration, although there was a short performance clip right at the end - maybe 30 seconds worth of, I think, "FFF". The whole thing is about 30 minutes. I've seen the whole thing several times down the years, mostly in the homes of fans.

I have it on tape somewhere, albeit in average quality. Great doc even if the music isn't the primary subject. Fragments of Catch A Wave, Good Vibrations, Feeling Stronger Everyday (with CW and Guercio joining on the mic) and Fun Fun Fun pass by.

Is there any further information about these recordings, the missing tapes, etc? I ask because here's the documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy7UZ5nYdmU

At 8:41 you can in fact see two multitrack machines, but they aren't being run in sync, they are being run for overlap. That is, two tape machines recording exactly the same content, but with one machine starting a bit later than the other one, so reel changes could be made without missing anything (when the reel on one machine was being changed, the other machine would still be recording). Note how the reel on the machine on the right is being changed while the machine on the left is still recording.

That said, it's very hard to see, but I think there may actually be 4 machines present. There are the two machines shown at 8:41, immediately to the left of the equipment rack, which appear to be Ampex machines. But starting around 6:01, you can see two more machines to the left of those (which are mostly behind people in that shot). It's hard to tell with absolute certainty, but they appear to be 3M M56 16-track machines; note the "Isoloop" transports and meter bridges above the transports. Presumably these were being run in sync with the main 24-track machines to cover the additional mics during the encores?

I guess it's *those* 16-track tapes that were/are MIA? Or have they been located?

Responding to myself, in case anyone else comes along wondering. From The Beach Boys in Concert!: The Complete History of America's Band On Tour and Onstage:

"Ramone, stationed in the Washington Bullets' locker room, taped four of the shows (June 25-28). Alan Boyd, custodian of the Beach Boys archives, stated that in his opinion, these are some of the best live performances by the group that he's heard. Unfortunately, the album was never released due to the legal difficulties that occur when opposing record companies are involved. After many years where their whereabouts were unknown, the tapes of the group's performances are now safely ensconced in their vaults. Boyd noted that they 'are missing the Beach Boys' tracks for the encores. When both bands took the stage, they ended up running a pair of 2 inch machines in sync: the main 24-track deck, and an additional 16 track to record the Beach Boys' vocals and instruments. The Chicago portions of the encores were sent to Warners (along with the tapes of the main shows) as part of an ongoing legal settlement a few years back, but the Beach Boys' 16-track encore reels somehow didn't make the trip...We're not completely sure as to their exact whereabouts, but we think they exist'."

Boyd is apparently slightly off (actually being *two* pair of 2 inch machines, for 4 machines total), but the general idea is correct.