The Smiley Smile Message Board

During the bridge, I always thought they were singing "aum diddy wadda", which is a common doo-wop nonsense phrase. However, it just hit me that maybe they're actually saying "aum dirty water", which, if so, is incredibly clever.

Does anyone else hear it?

I've always assumed it was "ah-oom dirty water."

For me it's revelatory. Never heard it that way. Now I hate the track.

For a second I thought that the big secret was that Brian Wilson wrote the tune, then after the revelation everyone would start LOVING the track. Damn.

The Standells.

Actually, I think that WAS the intent of the group. I remember reading a quote somewhere, by Bruce Johnston, and I'm paraphrasing, "We were trying to fool the public that Brian was involved". And, "We were trying to emulate ourselves without Brian, which was silly".

I think it worked to some extent. I like "Don't Go Near The Water".

 

I also like DGNtW. Decent tune, EXCELLENT production and peformance.

Bruce surely was thinking about the authopsy of a 5 years old unfinished track... but you gotta wonder about the Brian Wilson credit for 'Take Good care of Your Feet'.

Well, apparently Brian did all of the sounds effects on "Take a Load Off Your Feet". I'm not sure if that extends to the synthesized strings and other weird background instruments, though.

interesting. it's a strange song. surf's up is my favourite album of theirs outside of pet sounds. so dark.
i was in a record store with a guy, and i found surf's up, so i asked him - hey, there's a beach boys album called Surf's Up, what do you think the cover is like? and he goes, i imagine them all with surfboards and like, a large arrow pointing "up". then i show him the surf's up cover. and he's like woah, is that even the same band? everything about that moment is what makes the beach boys so interesting.

And, of course, it was Van Dyke Parks who suggested the album title, at least according to him.

I think if you replace "Take A Load Off Your Feet" with ANY Dennis Wilson song from that period, the album goes up one grade.

"student demonstration time" is odd. it is totally out of place but it works really well in the strangest way. gives it this unexpected edge.

Al and Gary WInfrey initially wrote "Feet", but later on Brian provided additional lyrics (probably the opening verse, which he sings) and helped with the melody (probably the bridge, which he also sings).  The songwriting credit on the LP's label and insert went to just Jardine/Winfrey, but Brian WAS cc-credited on the sheet music, and eventually the CD release.  He did do all of the sound effects on the track, as well as playing "drums" on an empty water bottle.  But the "synthesized strings" are actually real, live violas played by real, live musicians.

Ha. So they're real. I'm too used to my electronic keyboard, I think. They didn't quite have our technology then, did they?

They did have Mellotrons and Chamberlins, which used tapes of actual flutes & string instruments.  The violins on "Add Some Music To Your Day" are from a Chamberlin.  And the Spanish guitar intro on the Beatles' "Bungalow Bill" is reportedly from a Mellotron. 

I wouldn't want "Feet" to be replaced by any other song, no matter which one. That one song adds some much-needed humor to an otherwise rather dark record and though I love the album's overall atmosphere, "Feet" really adds to its variety. Not even sure I would want to exclude Student Demonstration Time from the tracklist. That song sure is an important part of the BB's whole 70s output.

Sure, Surf's Up could've used a Dennis tune or two. Then again I actually like the Boys' early 70s records being so short and unpredictable. Like Carl And The Passions, which only features eight songs and yet is home to so many priceless "WTF, this is the Beach Boys?" moments (no matter if you appreciate that kind of mellow seventies rock or not).
They just should've released a couple more albums around that time/after Holland.

Something more in the vein of Holland, with "River Song", "Good Timin'", "I've Got A Friend", "Out In The Country", "Carry Me Home", "California Feeling", etc., would've been nice to put out instead of 15 Big Ones.

That's true. In fact, when the guy who bought Lennon's mellotron at auction (presumably not the one McCartney has now, or the dude sold it on to Paul) apparently the Bungalow Bill tape was still "dialled up" in it. And I think that probably IS the last time the Beatles' used a mellotron.

I'd get rid of TALOYF from Surf's Up too. Partly a quality thing, but partly because it's a little earlier than the rest of the album. And 4th of July and Wouldn't I tBe Nice To Live Again would surely be better.

Replace SDT with 4th of July and have WIBNTLA come after Surf's Up and close the album. And replace Disney Girls with Sound of Free and/or Lady (Fallin' In Love).

I'd replace TaLoYF with H.E.L.P. Even 'Games People Play'! 'Doctor Tom', anything! I hate TaLoYF.

I like it; it's SDT that bugs me, though it does rock and I like the sound--and can bear it.

The funny thing about Bruce's comment is: I wonder how many songsbruce worked on on Surf's Up?

I bet he didn't work on DITLOAT, Surf's Up, Feel Flows, and just a tiny bit on SDT and LPR.

I bet Brian's on the album more than Bruce.

Bruce is one of only a few backing vocalists on Feel Flows. I'd imagine he's on Surf's Up too, at the end.


I'd keep Disney Girls; it's the acceptable face of schlockmeister Bruce.

Oh.

Bruce did some additional vocal arrangements on "Surf's Up".

And awhile back, I burned myself a "Surf's Up Deluxe Edition" CDR by placing "Fourth Of July" in the lineup between "Disney Girls" and "SDT", and "Lady" (the stereo version from the Landlocked boot) between "Feel Flows" and "Welfare Song".  It makes for a very good listen.  Shame we don't have the BBs version of "WIBN To Live Again" for me to throw on there too!

Still waiting for that Surf's Up DVD-A...

i reckon that would have been less bizarre and interesting than 15 big ones though. 
when you think about it, there is absolutely no other record that sounds anything like it (and love you).
that 1976 left-hand turn into the freakish is another thing that makes them so interesting.

Reminiscent of their 1967 left-hand turn into the freakish with Smiley Smile.  What a shock THAT musta been to those who were fans back then.

I've often thought about it like that. After Endless Summer and Spirit Of America (Summer Days & Summer Nights and Pet Sounds) came 15 Big Ones (Smiley Smile) then came Love You (Wild Honey) then MIU (Friends) - just 10 years apart. And the net effect was the same. They lost all of their fans! :o

The only flaw in that logic is that for MIU to be equivalent to Friends, MIU would have to not suck. And clearly, MIU doesn't not suck.  ;)

Apparently Brother Records is releasing it the same day as the new Al Jardine CD...  :lol

yeah true. that said, the only beach boys album i truly *don't like* is keepin' the summer alive. with the exception of the title track and "endless harmony", it is a completely tepid and unmemorable album. everything else they've done is awesome in some way or another. friends is understated, laid-back, chilled out. m.i.u. is just so f***ed up and evil that you've got to respect it.

Brian does add alot to DGNTW vocally at the end.

Adam Marsland's version will suffice for me...for now...

My podiatrist wrote take a load off of your feet on a prescription pad when he prescribed orthotics.

Damn good advice.

I saw a sign saying don't go near the water on a Lake Erie beach in the early 70's.

I went to Ashtibula in the early 90's and there were people in the water.  They were way out there and it was shallow.

The warm water and sand felt good on my tired feet.

No sarcasm intended, but is Brian even on "Don't Go Near The Water"?

Yes I think Desper and Daryl Dragon both told me that he is there. He didn't arrange it but his voice is present and very nice.. Stephen may of put it in his book too if I recall, which generally tells of Brian doing more during those sessions vocally and musically then we would have guessed.

He is on Disney Girls "Old Time Dances" something Bruce and Brian talk about on the 1990 hotel tape. He also does the "Down Down Down "part on Long Promised Road. Brad Elliot mistakengly put his credit on He Come Down in the Surf's Up book but it's Long Promised Road. Feet everybody knows about, Feel Flows he does the "White Puffs" background (done drunk lying on the floor according to a vistiting David Marks), and we know he was a part of the last three song. So I think that means he did something on 8 of 10 songs and he may have added somthing musically to the other two.

Thanks for the info, MBE. I guess I put too much stock in that Bruce Johnston quote in David Leaf's book, and I'm paraphrasing, "We were trying to fool the public into thinking Brian was involved", or something like that. I guess I always thought that the Surf's Up album was comprised of mainly solo tracks, with Brian working on his exclusively.

I think that Bruce wrote in an article right after he had been sacked by Reilly, right? Sour grapes, i guess. I definitely here Brian's voice on don't go near the water, near the end--not necessarily the coda, but the when the song sort of starts cooking, it's him on those "right aways!" and "let's start todays!" I know because his voice from that era always hurts my ears.

Are you talking about the chorus? I hear him doing a nice little resonating "whooooo" in falsetto and that's it for him in that song.  On "Long Promised Road" it sounds like he could be doing the the background parts right before "down, down, down" too (when the song switches up-tempo), but I'm only saying that because the voice seems to stay consistent throughout the whole thing. It could easily be Carl or even Al though. Who knows?

So Touch was more the solo tracks record, though I think Brian's songs were group efforts on the whole. Yeah I put too much stock into the Bruce quote too until I read Desper's book, did an interview with him,  and read his online posts. He said more or less while he was there Brian did something vocally or instrumentally on each song. That not to say he was always heavily involved, but he was more likely then not to walk in and spend ten minutes to add a quick part that made the song better. He is doing the White Puffs part as David and Stephen both have wrote about it. I love Brian's voice during this era myself. His still sang fasetto but A lot of his vocals were mid ranged and he sounded a lot like he did on verses of I'm Waiting For The Day. He and Al really sounded a lot alike at the time.

I could've sworn that Brian played the piano intro.



Heh. I remember Bruce denying it was Brian on Disney Girls on the AOL chat from about a decade ago. Didn't believe him then or now.

Brian *is* on He Came Down, albeit barely. And good to get confirmation on Brian being on Feel Flows. Actually, come to think of it, the only track he wasn't on was SDT, which isn't surprising as he has named that as his least favorite BB song in more than one interview.

Yeah Brian did work on He Come Down, he co-wrote it so his involvment isn't too surprising. He didn't do the "Down Down Down" vocal though that was Blondie. Again Elliot had the two songs confused. I don't know if you have seen the hotel video or heard the audio of it, but Bruce says right on there that Brian should sing his old part. He does and totally botches it, but Brian's voice was really bad in 1990 so not a surprise.

Hotel tape? is this the one of John Stamos, Jeff F, BW, and Bruce? That's the only one I can think of, I don't remember that part

beach boy foreshadowing at its best...

Just to clear it up I meant Disney Girls in reply to what Billy said. I should have started a new paragraph. Yes that is the tape.