The Smiley Smile Message Board

What's with the lack of Sunflower songs being played live. "It's About Time," "Forever,"  and "Add Some Music" are really the only songs I've seen or heard live. Even from their early 70s shows the Sunflower songs seem curiously absent from concert recordings. I'd love to hear a live version of "All I Wanna Do" or even "At My Window" if they even exist.

Bootlegs don't exist. In fact, I don't even know what the term 'bootleg' means. Isn't a type of Levi's jeans or something?

Never mind. Figured out whats going on. Changed the topic to Sunflower Live. Thanks.

"Cool Cool Water" was played live quite a bit in the seventies, and it was also performed on The David Frost show from which footage exists. "Tears In The Morning" was played in the seventies as well. "This Whole World" was played live by the band in the eighties. Those are the ones I know of.

I have a few pairs of old levi-boot-cut jeans which include live versions of Cool Cool Water, It's About Time, Forever, Tears In The Morning (solo Bruce on piano as well as full-band), Add Some Music (with a LONG intro by Mike), This Whole World (70s,)

I'd pay to ensure Deirdre & Tears In The Morning don't ever again get played live.

I agree with you on Tears Wee Helper, but Deirdre has grown on me. Just so strange though that apparently there's recordings of Tears live but none of All I Wanna Do or Our Sweet Love that I know of.

I'm pretty sure theres a live version of "All I Wanna Do" on Youtube. No footage, just the song. I'm obsessed with that song.

I know there's the recorded track from Sunflower on youtube for All I Wanna Do, but I can't find a live version. Maybe it got deleted? Either way, I understand your obsession. One of the top 10 BB songs ever, unbelievably beautiful.

I guess it did because I could of sworn I had it saved to my favorites. :(

Yep, 'All I Wanna Do' is one of the greatest BB songs ever, such a great vocal from Mike, never heard it live though, that would be great.

They also did Slip On Through once on TV though I don't know the show. A boot exists.

Chances are I'll be promptly proven wrong, but given its technical complexity, I don't think it was possible to perform "All I Wanna Do" live in the 70s. Now, they did do "All I Want To Do" frequently in the late 60s...

Those are Bruce's best songs!!!

Agree wholeheartedly. When I first heard it (via headphones) I thought that I might just end my music hobby right there and then. There would never be anything as delicate and musical ever again. Perhaps there wasn't.

Why pay for something you can probably get for free?   :-D I think the likelihood of these being played live again are slim to none, at least by the directly-related BB bands out there.

Slightly off the topic of Sunflower live, but definitely on topic for not liking Tears In The Morning...I know that many people make a big deal about HCTN being an unwelcome interruption to the LA Light Album...I love HCTN, and think it fits in well even though it's different.  Tears, however, is like this large, horrible blemish right smack dab in the middle of an otherwise wonderful album.  I think that Sunflower would have been MUCH better off with one less track.

Hmmm... -

I like TITM much better than 'Disney Girls'. The first one is a nice ballad, the second some sort of TV advert soundtrack.

Also: TITM is the better abbreviation.

True, but the Beach Boys never really had much of a problem with simplifying their songs for live performances, did they? They've done 'God Only Knows' and 'Good Vibrations' plenty of times without any backing musicians, for instance.

Well, isn't it always the case that our favorite tracks are rarely played live?  I think that's curse of being a hardcore fan.  Maybe someone could make a list of Sunflower tracks played live so that people know, or maybe what gigs have recordings from that era.

How come they've never done Mount Vernon and Fairway live?  :king :listening

There WAS one rare live performance of "This Whole World" played sometime during the late 1980's.  There used to be a Youtube video of it as well but the man (being Youtube) shut it down. 

Y'know, that's a question that's kept me awake nights.

Oh AGD,  I didn't know you were so passionate and romantic! :love

Well, All I Want To Do was the better of the 2 songs, anyway...   ;) ;) ;) ;):lol :lol

Slip On Through WAS a single right?

I think I remember reading of them doing it on David Frost!

But of course, I could be completely and totally wrong.

It's not David Frost.... but i can't remember what it was on. It's on get the Boot, in theory,  because i obviously don't have it :angel: I've heard it, and the audio quality is really poor, which is a shame. It would seem a cert to be done live, was it something to do with the track being sped up in the studio? Thus rendering it unsingable by Denny in the finished key....

According to the liners for Get the Boot it was performed live in 1970 on The Dennis Wolley Show

I still say Brian should do that as an encore at his live shows---the crowd would eat it up and Brian could be the Pied Piper for one last time! Are you listening Melinda?? ;D

It was in 1988 and they played it at multiple venues: Atlanta, NYC, and at least one other that I know of.

 :love

I agree with you about TITM (admittedly nice acronym though). Even though it sort of fits the
rest of the album production-wise, for me it is one song where Bruce's innate sentimentality
crosses the line into maudlin territory. IMO, Disney Girls is vastly superior, a perfect encapsulation of his particular brand of evocative, yearning idealism, filtered through his
individual creative lens. I like Dierdre and Nearest Faraway Place too, but TITM goes too far,
IMO. :P

That was all the information the liners gave, including the misspelled name.  The version that appears there sounds like it's slowed down and it is of very poor quality, most likely someone recorded the audio off of an old VHS

I believe it is probably an Australian TV show-if so they taped it in April-May 1970-before the album came out (but the song was already a year old)

As I mentioned before, I think, I learned of this tape after my article on their TV apps was featured in ESQ.  In addition- I have learned that on their appearance on Happening in August 1969 they did indeed perform "Cotton Fields" as well as "Breakaway" and "Johnny B. Goode".  In the article I also stated that the footage of the Beach Boys performing "Good Vibrations" on Something Else in 1970 has not been seen since, but Alan Boyd informed me that in fact-the song accompanied a video of the group members in various settings and that this footage was incorporated in Endless Harmony-Mike meditating and on a bridge, Dennis kissing a blonde on some steps, etc...I also neglected to mention that on the May 1971 David Frost -which only survives on audio-Dennis sang "Forever" as well as "Lady".   I have another article-on TV and film apps from 1977-1998 completed and in David Beard's hands now-so it may come out in a future ESQ

It was with the Raiders....According to the TV summary ("Tonight's Programs" in the paper)-they sang "Johnny B. Goode" as a duet with Paul Revere.  Are you saying that only two BBs were there for the taping?? That is crazy-wow!

before the fire i had a vhs tape of the after game show at yankee stadium in 1988. the song was done in that show. that video of the concert was easy to find 20 years ago. sounded good also.

There is a live recording (a crappy audience recording, unfortionately) of This Whole World on the Surfin' Rarities Vol. 6 boot, recorded in Philadelphia in 1988.

Someone posted a video of it on youtube...as I mentioned in the youtube thread.

did they ever do "Our Sweet Love"... one of my favorites

One of mine, too. Almost sounds like a rewrite of "God Only Knows" to me, but then it's just so much lighter. Love Brian's easy-going background vocals and the gorgeous productions sums up everything that's so great about the whole Sunflower project. One of the group's most underrated songs.

The youtube video from 1988 of This Whole World is back up by the way...

Thanks for the tip - in the likely event that this clip will get removed again, you can put the link to it on www.keepvid.com and directly download the video. 

I would like that....the Fairy tale version from the box..........and Darian could make that work.  Serious.   The dom dom king-dom round thing would sound great with all of that vocal talent.....hell just do the whole piece....have scott, taylor, brian, jeff do different parts of the narrative.....would be waaaay better than the original narration....(Jack Reiley?)....what an encore!!!!!!!

Definitely Melinda!!!!

Why make the album shorter when you can just replace the large, horrible blemish with a far better track?

I put together my own version of SUNFLOWER on a CD (now on my iPod): I dropped "Tears in the Morning" and replaced it with "San Miguel."

Turned a very good album into a GREAT one!

I think Deirdre and Tears In The Morning are excellent songs.

I really like "Deirdre". It's not among Sunflower's best, but I certainly prefer it over "Got To Know The Woman", which is easily my least favourite song on that album. "Tears In The Morning", however... let's say it depends on the mood I'm in whether I'd want to skip it or not. It's quite enjoyable from time to time, just not a big favourite of mine.

Really there is not one single song I would want to remove from the Sunflower line-up, however, as each song perfectly represents a crucial aspect of the group's overall personality. In that very respect, there really is no other album like this in the Beach Boys' whole catalogue.

Nicely put.

I agree.

And "Got To Know The Woman" is a great song if you take it with a grain of salt. Sure it's over-the-top, but I'm sure that's how it's meant to be.

I loveee "Got To Know The Woman", one of my favs. I think it sounds so different & Denny's vocals are amazing, especially when he does that laugh bit towards the end, adds something to the song. Defintley fits Dennis well ;D

In a certain sense, that little laugh is the most important part of the song. Without the laugh, it just sucks (lyrically).

I read somewhere...was it Catch A Wave?....that Denny's laugh is real because he thought the line "Come on, come on & do the chicken" was so stupid but funny. Am I correct?

The one thing I find to be highly enjoyable about this song is Dennis' vocal delivery, which is quite stunning and even more so when compared to the limited range he was going to be capable of only a few years later. While it's probably not a performance as virtuosic as "Slip On Through", here you actually get to HEAR this guy's related to Brian Wilson and he sure doesn't sound like a singer about to lose his voice within such a short period of time.

Yes I totally agree especially when he says "You got so much soul, you blow my mind"

I've always considered Sunflower to be the Beach Boys' first "adult" album (with Friends almost getting there). And, Bruce's "Deidre" and "Tears In The Morning" contribute to that feeling; they're not the gretaest songs but they seem to fit. I think I'd keep 'em. I would like to hear "Deidre" open Side B, but I also think Sunflower is one of worst sequenced Beach Boys' albums. Opening the album with "Add Some Music To Your Day" THEN "Slip On Through" is a no-brainer...

I like "Got To Know The Woman" a lot, but not on Sunflower; it might've sounded better on 20/20. I think I might've sacrificed it for "Lady". I also like "Good Time", but now you're back to the juvenile Beach Boys again.

i enjoy the background vocal answers by brian and the boys on got to know the woman..

I totally agree, Sunflower could have really benefited from being sequenced differently, but as is it is still one of my very favorite albums.  I like Got To Know The Woman too, but I agree that Lady probably would have been the better choice for the album.  And yeah, Good Time may be juvenile, but it is a really fun song and would have worked a lot better on Sunflower than it did on Love You

Love that song too. It is purely Jerry Lee Lewis-style, from the prominent honky tonk-piano to the macho-laugh. I just think the ending is a little bit over the top.

I think Good Time would have been a better fit as a Wilson/Jardine composition than At My Window. I agree the album shows everyone's personality except Al's.  Back Home would have worked too I think.