The Smiley Smile Message Board

Various online retailers have a BB CD titled "Warmth of the Sun" due for release on June 6. No cover art, no tracklistings yet. The only bit of info is that it is apparently a Capitol release. It may well just be another hits compilation, but does anybody know anything about this? It can't be the Hallmark CD, which has a different title and is a Hallmark-exclusive. The two other projects I've heard Capitol might be working on are a Pet Sounds reissue and some sort of CD titled "Good Vibrations" which may be another hits compilation or some sort of CD of GV sessions or something.

About a year ago, there was a survey where they wanted casual Beach Boys fans to answer questions, including the best title for a possible hits compilation (I guess Warmth of the Sun won). Basically, it was a Sounds of Summer Part II with stuff like Then I Kissed Her, You're So Good To Me, Little Girl I Once Knew, etc. It was actually a pretty solid tracklisting, as we all know that you could make three or four Beach Boys 'hits' CDs with no overlap. I think the worst part about it was that it was lacking Add Some Music To Your Day but they had that as a title option.

Does anyone have any more info about the proposed "Good Vibrations" release? I think somebody found a website listing this as a proposed release but I fear it may be a mistake or just another best of ...

I think that, in terms of anthologies, one of the ultimate public waggles any band has ever managed or ever will manage took place when Capitol issued Endless Summer- a wildly successful, definitive, and archetypal two-record hits collection, and then followed that shortly with the very successful double-set Spirit of America, with no repetition, and then followed that with the immaculate two-record Summer Dreams* set (which I'd still love to have on CD), all limited to their Capitol years, and not dipping into their best album or including their biggest hit or anything that didn't predate their commercial peak (except for one song) until the third double entry.

That's six discs (granted, they were short discs, but still) of best-of material, or roughly one best-of album per year on the label.  Think about that.

* Summer Dreams- is that the right title? My brains cells are going faster than WWII vets.

the one in 82 was called sunshine dream

Thank you, that's it.  I must have had the bad TV film on the brain.  Awful title, great collection.

"Sunshine Dream" was the name of the sort-of sequel to "Spirit of America." But Capitol also did release another hits compilation in the early 80's titled "Summer Dreams." I have a cassette of it and several other compilations Capitol put out in the early 80's. They all have totally off the wall tracklistings. There is one titled "Golden Harmonies" that has the instrumental "Pet Sounds" on it!

Sounds like "Warmth of the Sun" is another compilation. I'm actually surprised that Capitol, if they were actually looking to do a "sequel" to "Sounds of Summer", didn't title it something like "Sounds of Summer 2" or "More Sounds of Summer" to tie it in to what was evidently a pretty successful marketing campagin for the SOS CD a few years ago.

Amazing- I misused that title and yet it exists; I've never heard of that one as far as I know.

I think that proves that  Capitol has used pretty much every conceivable title on a Beach Boys collection at some point since 1975.  I'm still combing the bins for Painful Rectal Itch: The Best Of the Beach Boys, A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu: 20 All Time Beach Boys Smashes, and Up Against The Wall, Whitey: The Beach Boys Golden Greats.

So, have they discontinued 20 Good Vibrations Vol.1 & 2 and Best of the Brother Years?

Another compilation Capitol did around the same time as "Summer Dreams" was one (which I also have on cassette) titled........."The Beach Boys."

Not to be confused of course with the 1985 album titled "The Beach Boys." I've got another one titled "For All Seasons" with a bunch of stuff mixed in from the Concert album. Weird stuff Capitol was doing back then. These cassettes are on Capitol subidiaries such as "Pear Records." Some of them are "Capitol Special Markets."

As for the status of the three "Greatest Hits" CD's, I believe they are still in print. It was put around that those three volumes of greatest hits were supposed to replace every other compilation, to "clean up" the catalog. Of course, it wasn't longer after GH3: Brother Years that we saw stuff like "Classics Selected by Brian Wilson" and "Sounds of Summer." And I still think Capitol or its offshoots are putting out various budget-priced CD compilations to be found in drug stores, grocery stores, etc.

Capitol didn't include "Good Vibrations" or any "Pet Sounds" songs on "Endless Summer" or "Spirit of America" because they couldn't...those tracks were under lease to Warner/Reprise (who put out "Good Vibrations - Best of the Beach Boys" the same year that Capitol put out "Spirit of America", and it included stuff from '66-'68 as well as their own stuff from the early '70s).  Capitol regained the rights to this stuff again in 1981, so they were able to use it for "Sunshine Dream".

I agree with you..."Sunshine Dream" is an immaculate set.  You could easily burn a CD with all those tracks...I love the way it starts with "I Can Hear Music", which they started playing again in their live set that year.  Awesome.  Some cool pictures in the gatefold spread, too.  The following year, Capitol put out the "Rarities" LP with more cool archives pics on the inner sleeve, as well as some basic recording info (dates & studios used). 

One thing I thought was interesting about "Endless Summer" and "Spirit" is they both depict the Boys as they were at the time...long hair, some of them bearded...even though they were signed to another label at the time!  For "Summer" it was a drawingon the cover, for "Spirit" it was a photo in the gatefold!

C-Man

Very interesting- don't think I had ever connected those dots before.  It ended up making the series far more impressive.


That's a good observation.  I think it was done because the Beach Boys were still a vital act at the time and were cooler in their contemporary form, touring with Chicago, etc.,  than their then out-of-date earlier selves. 

Capitol launched a pretty big tenth-anniversay-in-America campaign for the Beatles in 1974, including some art by the Endless Summer cover artist (whose name I wish I knew), and it featured a mocked up logo picturing the artificially reunited Beatles- as they looked in 1974- cropped into a believable group pose.

My opinion is I've got TONS of Beach Boys Hits compilations, so when it comes out, I'm saving my money. Granted, SOS is a great comp.

This new CD, whatever it is, has apparently been pushed back to 1st quarter next year...according to www.musictap.net.

Here's the link:

http://www.musictap.net/Archives/Posts/Posts06/ArchivalPosts2006May0106.html#050606

"A Marillion 3-pak to drool over"...you don't read that every day.

 :lol