The Smiley Smile Message Board

Apologies if this was already mentioned in another NPP thread. I was at a Barnes & Noble a few days ago and saw they were selling autographed copies of Brian's "No Pier Pressure." Weird thing was, there was no apparent signature on the front or back cover (I even checked under the stickers). I suppose it's possible the inner gatefold was signed, but that wouldn't make it very easy to display. In any event, might be worth checking out for those looking for a relatively inexpensive signed item (price was around $35 as I recall) and/or someone who is already interested in NPP on vinyl. Typical overpriced B&N stuff, but if it really has a signature then it's not too bad I suppose. Might have inquired further at the store if I felt I needed another signed Brian item.

(https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtl1/v/t1.0-9/12295451_1649715348631822_7083744685642110193_n.jpg?oh=bfd234b8fa472a39d9e0b9c0bb7d9e68&oe=56F297D3)

Maybe they keep the signed ones behind the counter, so when you go to pay, they switch it out. 

Which B&N was this?  I was at a signing he did at B&N in Tyson's Corner, VA.  It was lightly attended, and they had tons of vinyl and CD copies of NPP, as well as DVDs and BluRays of L&M, and the soundtrack. 

I wonder if they had him sign a ton of stuff and distributed it. 

All the way out in Northern California!

I've read other reports of B&N selling autographed copies of other vinyl, and in the other examples I've heard, the signature is visible on the actual copy. The whole selling point for carrying something like this would be in seeing the autograph I would think. They had two copies and neither had a visible signature.

My best guess is simply that the inner gatefold was signed. Or non-signed copies accidentally got stickered.  :lol

There is an 11x11 inch print (of the front cover) on the inside that is autographed. I think it's a good idea. You can have the jacket w/lp on your shelf and have the print framed.

Nice! Interesting....

I was confused at first too, but was glad to see the signed 11x11 inside. It was a pretty good deal!

Was this the 13, 16, or 18 track version?

Oh gosh, I can't even remember. I only glanced at it and looked over it for an autograph as mentioned above. But looking elsewhere on eBay (where they're kind of scalping copies for far above the $35.99), it looks like it's the 16-track version, albeit with tracks in a weird order. I assume it's the stock vinyl copy sold elsewhere, just with the autograph thrown in.

Assuming it's the regular vinyl, sixteen tracks.

16 Track version

To be honest, this is a great deal in my opinion.  I've got an autographed Beach Boys album I bought on ebay years ago, but who the hell knows if it's even legit.  I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Brian in person. 

Getting an autographed album straight from the record distributor is the best certificate of authenticity you can have besides meeting Brian yourself. 

on top of that, it's probably his best looking album cover! 

Where in northern ca?

I wanted to support The Beach Boys upon their release of TWGMTR and bought, at Mike Love's prompting, ten copies at one of the two C50 shows I went to.
The deal was, buy 10, one of them is autographed by all of the guys.
I wanted my favorite band to reach the top of the charts - and this is what Mike Love wanted, too - and was thrilled at the thought of getting a Brian Wilson signature. I never thought I'd get to meet him.
It was later exposed on this board that my copy is a Jeff Foskett forgery, not a Brian Wilson authentic signature.

I will NEVER buy or believe a signature that I don't witness in person.
Who knows, in any case with ANY artist, who is signing these things unless you are there to watch the sharpie hit the merch with your own eyes.

I have been fortunate enough to watch Brian sign things for me two times after that - and those I treasure dearly.

That's a good point, it could always be someone else's signature unless you saw it in person...

The “Foskett signing for Brian” thing, if true, is one of the lamest things I’ve seen in terms of attitude towards fans. In part because it isn’t exactly the most taxing and difficult thing to just sign a pic. Brian still does in-person signings, so it’s not a case where he can’t sign. And, obviously, if they don’t have time to sign stuff, then just don’t sell it.

Even more perplexing is that, on C50, they didn’t appear to have any problem *not* producing and selling a signed item if they couldn’t get it that night in time. At the C50 show I attended, I wanted to get a signed program, and the merch dude said they hadn’t had the time to get all of them to sign some programs (which seemed to imply they had the guys signing them continually as the tour went on, making it sound like every day or every few days they had the guys sign a bunch when they had some downtime and, if they didn’t have time, they just wouldn’t sell them). They did have the signed promo photo for half the price, which I went for. My “Brian” signature is really borderline. Doesn’t look as clean as some of the alleged “Foskett” examples, nor as messy as many (though not all) actual Brian signatures.

I agree with the sentiment. Unless you see it signed, you can't be 100% sure if it's real.

That being said, clearly in the case of the C50 items being signed by Foskett, people realized immediately that the items were not signed by Brian. All of the NPP CDs and LPs sold through Brian's website and at his concerts look correct/authentic. That goes for the Barnes & Noble LP inserts, as well.

Brian's signature from the in-store appearances, meet & greets and NPP promotional items have all been very consistent with him spelling out most letters. He still gives out a garbage scribble to fans and autograph hounds outside of the more official settings (i.e. airports, hotel, etc.) and I think those are a little tougher to definitively authenticate.

As Ron stated, the NPP signed items are very affordable at the moment. The past year of promotion and touring has brought the available supply of authentic Brian Wilson signatures way up and has resulted in lower value on the secondary market (which, to me, is good).

HeyJude, I would love to see a photo/scan of your "Brian" signature.

I picked one of those signed NPP albums at B&N over the weekend. The signature in my copy looks like a lot of the other BW signatures I have, some of which were signed in my presence.

Of course these days the issue is differentiating an authentic Mike Love autograph vs those done by Foskett.

I got a bit of interesting back and forth last year when I posted a pic of a signed copy of the Gershwin CD that I found at a used CD shop:

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sGG776tpDpY/U26QG7ZTJmI/AAAAAAAAADo/7J-QMd_gVXc/s1600/IMG_20140510_134350_820.jpg)

The thread is here: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17579.0.html

There seemed to be differing opinions, but I guess the consensus was that it was probably legit.

As far as the signed NPP albums at B&N, I would highly doubt they're fake. B&N usually sources them in a way where someone from B&N arranges and watches the signing session. There was a thread about B&N signed albums over on the Hoffman forum when someone got an album that they thought might not be legit. I would just tend to doubt the NPP stuff sold at shows or at B&N are fake.

Why Foskett may have been signing for Brian in 2012, I don't know. Seriously, setting aside how "bad" it is to do something like that, does anyone have a specific reason why they would have needed to do that? Were they just selling so fast at every C50 show that they didn't have time or Brian didn't have the stamina?

I think the Gershwin CD is legit. Seems like the surface is glossy and probably had a hard time sticking. I think the signature is very consistent with what he has been giving out in official settings.

I don't think there's much chance at all that your Gershwin CD was signed by Jeff Foskett as Foskett would have been expected to come prepared and use a Sharpie style permanent pen which rather than the water based one used on your CD.

As far as Foskett signing C50 stuff for BW, I don't think that's ever been definitely confirmed that he did so, but please correct me if I'm wrong on that account. BW autographs vary greatly these days, and I have been told there are experts who say they can tell the diff between a genuine BW signature and one done by Foskett. For sure there are examples of BW signatures out there that don't look much like Brian's true autograph.

It wasn't just 'fake' official signatures during C50.  I payed a lot of money for a signed poster during the Gershwin Tour (against my better judgement) and i'm not convinced it's legit.  I would consider myself an expert in Brian signatures over the last 25 years or so.  Is it too late to get a refund?!

Sad to say, I'm also in possession of a fake Brian signature. I don't collect autographs, really, so it doesn't bother me as much as it would others. It's still kind of a bummer because it's not like I can ever say "the great man touched this". It's kind of pointless. I'm glad I didn't pay for it.

At least I know my Al Jardine autograph is legit because he signed it right in front of me.

:lol

Mike: "Jeff, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is we're all going to visit a castle today. The bad news is you have to stay back and sign my name to a bunch of merchandise."

I purchased one of the Brian and Friends DVD that included an autograph. 

I also got Brian to sign a copy of NPP and the BluRay of Love and Mercy at an instore appearance at Barnes and Noble in September.  His signatures on my copy of NPP and L&M are pretty much identical to the signature inside the Brian and Friends DVD. 

Maybe with Jeff out of the picture, Brian does all his signing now. 

Yes, it seems he does.  I also have the signed DVD package of the Soundstage Brian and Friends show and the signature is fabulous.  Which makes me wish I had that one on the C50 programme instead of the one that looks faked.

Here's a link to a 'fake'. Similar to one I bought at the merch stand during the Gershwin Tour. Mines also had 'Wilson' on it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brian-Wilson-The-Beach-Boys-Hand-Signed-Autographed-2011-Concert-Tour-Promo-Card-/350947953793?hash=item51b620cc81:g:cukAAOxyXDhSoiCg

What do you think?

Yes, the Brian "signature" in that listing is not genuine in my opinion.

Cheers Marty, that's what I thought and can't believe these were sold officially at shows.  I paid about £50 for one.  A lovely big poster right enough!

That's definitely not signed by Brian. They were selling things like that at shows? Wow...