The Smiley Smile Message Board

fellow uk-based insomniacs for whom radio five is affordable non-prescription xanax may, like me, have caught the well-respected music journalist nigel williamson at a million o'clock the other morning plugging his new book, 'the best music you've never heard'.  between extolling the virtues of david ackles and the big three, he mentioned the beach boys, and averred that the album that the world really needs to hear is adult/child.

nuts as i am about the sixties and early seventies bb stuff, i'll confess that i've never heard adult/child.  (i obviously will, soonest, but in the meantime) any personal - or consensus - opinions?  is williamson mad or prescient?

and how would you describe the album in five words?

Really great, but flawed. (Four words)

There are a few songs that don't fit on there that were 70-71 outtakes(H.E.L.P Is On the Way; Games Two Can Play). They're good but they don't fit, soundwise.

 One lacklustre cover(On Broadway too.) The other songs are quirky and cool. For my money it's a more "commercial" record than Love You and it's better than MIU or indeed any other latter Beach Boys album.

There were a few  songs recorded or finished in late seventy-six that would have fit better on the record: Marylyn Rovell, Sherry She Needs Me, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling and My Diane.

If you've got a reasonably complete Beach Boys collection (of legitimate commercial releases) you've heard a good deal of Adult/Child. The Sunflower-era tunes HELP Is On the Way and Games Two Can Play and the then-new tracks It's Over Now and Still i Dream Of It were on the GV box set; Hey Little Tomboy was on MIU; Shortenin' Bread was on L.A. (There are differences in the versions of those latter two.) I'd say A/C is a hodgepodge. I really love Brian's new tunes for it, especially those lacking the big band treatment: It's Trying to Say (Baseball), Lines. Everybody Wants to Live. His "big band" tunes, the aforementioned ION and SIDOI plus Life is For the Living and a cover of Deep Purple are also good. Al's On Broadway makes me vomit. All in all, it's a strange combination of songs. And Brian's new material was really odd. It's far better than any post-Love You Beach Boys album, in my opinion.

some good, some crap + scraps

There, five words. :-)

Now that Smile isn't the lost holy grail anymore, is AC the next step? Ouch. I could probably compile an album of Sunflower/Surf's Up outtakes and leftovers that is more satisfying to listen to. They just were never assembled as an master so that Warner could reject it.

IMHO, "Everybody wants to live just once" is the best unreleased original song out there. Best unreleased cover would be "You've Lost that Loving Feeling", btw.

Not even close. Seven words: "(Wouldn't It Be Nice To) Live Again".  :)


No argument here.  ;D

Ahh...maybe I should change it to "Best Unreleased song I have Heard". :lol

DUN-DUN-dundundunDUNdadun-DUN-DUN. The cigarette butt, when you put in the water goes pshhh! But the trick is you shouldn't laugh. Ba-da-dun-da-dun! Great piano sound!

(I know the lyrics are probably wrong)

Adult/Child is definitely a doozy, a great little collection of tunes that Brian obviously had his heart completely set on. In my opinion, the non-release of it was one of the big events that lead to him going crackers (well...MORE crackers) for that period around 1978-1982. "It's Over Now," run at the correct speed, is one of the most beautiful Wilson compositions there is...

Adult/Child? Among the best music you've never heard? A doozy? A great little collection of tunes that Brian obviously had his heart completely set on? Yeah, that's why five of the songs were vault raids.

If you disagree, just say so. I realize that "HELP," "Game that Two Can Play," "Tomboy" and "On Broadway" are all tunes recorded prior to the AC sessions, but they're obviously tunes that Brian liked anyway. And what I'm doing arguing with you? I love the album, you don't. End of story.

I love the new songs on the LP that aren't covers. Those being Life Is For The Living, It's Over Now, Everybody Wants to Live, Lines, It's Trying To Say, and Still I Dream of It. If Brian was still in Love You mode he could have relied less on archival stuff. But the archival tracks he included on Adult/Child IMO drag the album down a LOT. If EPs weren't out of style in 1977, it would have been a great thing to put out.

Maybe it's because the Adult Child songs weren't totally finished productions - were they? - but the Love You vocals were wince-worthy where the Adult Child vocals were unreleaseable. "Deep Purple", "Still I Dream Of It", "It's Trying To Say", and parts of "Life Is For The Living" are flat out embarrassing.

Honestly, Love You and Adult Child was when I thought Brian WANTED to write....it seems like he had a lot of motivation at that time (after the success of the lacking 15 Big Ones)..

songs like Lines, Everybody Wants to Live, Still I dream of It, his great cover of Deep Purple, etc.....he loved to compose again, which is well worth getting into.

In my opinion, I don't think Brian gave a damn. Maybe he did when he started recording, but eventually lost interest after half an album. I don't think he was shocked when the album as considered unreleasable by Warner.

Yeah, Brian's problems around then seemed a lot more personal than critical reactions towards his music. He wrote and produced when things were going good in his life, and then he laid in bed when things were going badly. Like how he started off the L.A. sessions doing full-on, earnest productions for a few days, wowing some people, and then out of nowhere he got a bad phone call and he was on the couch in the fetal position, never to seriously work on the L.A. album again.

I bought the book "Best Music You've Never heard" recently and was surprised to see Adult Child in there. I do feel that as time moves on and once obscure corners of major bands' catalogues become common knowledge (Smile for example), music journos will elevate increasingly mediocre material to  'lost masterpiece' status, Adult Child being a case in point. It has got some good tunes on there, and I love this period of Brian's career, but if you're not a BW nut I doubt this is going to do much for you. I think Love You would have been a better choice.

I like the new stuff on Adult Child but the old stuff does not fit, they could have easily stuck some others on there - Marilyn Rovell, Lazy Lizzie etc to keep the feel of it - in fact thats quite easy to do with a CD burner

Adult Child is an enjoyable listen, but best music you've never heard?  No way.  Now if Love You had never been relesed, I could see that being listed . . .

How about Summer In Paradise?  :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

There's some good but I wouldn't say the best...

and yes, Everybody Wants to Live Just Once is amazing. The Piano instrumental break might be one of my favorite moments in a BB song.

Is there enough, or is there not enough good unreleased material for another EH/Hawthorne type compilation?

Another question;  Is it time for another boxset, this time including the important stuff left off of the first one?

(And that would include The Righteous Bros cover and Somewhere near Japan along with selected songs and covers/outakes from late 80's through the passing of Carl Wilson)

The Byrds managed a second worthwhile box so  surely the Beach Boys........

There is enough to make two more Hawthorne's, easy.

If the quota is one unreleased track and tons of alternate takes, live tracks, stack'o'tracks and stack'o'vocals, sessions excerpts and radio promos for each CD, they can release maybe twenty more Hawthorne's.  :)

If you're talking about previously unreleased material (not alternate versions, tracks and/or vocals only), I'd have to say that, to my knowledge (which is far from complete), there might just be enough worthwhile material for a single CD. Bear in mind that on both EH and Hawthorne CA, there was relatively little truly unreleased material - four on the former and just the one on the latter.

Okay, say there was.... what would you guys put on it?

One for sure would have to be Wouldn't it be nice to live again. The ones who have heard it say it's great. I haven't heard it, so I can't rate it, but it'd be a damn shame if it wasn't included.

If they made another box, which will never happen, but if they did, I'd love there to be stuff on there that none of us has heard before.  I'm sure the material that has yet to show up on boots isn't all lost. There *have* to be some jems.

If they're gonna play the game of sticking a few live tracks on; lets get this rare stuff:

Glen Campbell (1965, I have no idea if theres a recording for this)
The Beachago material
The original Beach Boys In Concert (1973- with mess of help and jumpin jack flash)
Perhaps a cleaned up version of I've got a Friend

Have you heard Adam Marsland's cover of WIBNTLA?

What I would like to hear, which wouldn't be that popular on this board, but might sell a little bit (with TV advertising), would be an 80 min. CD of a Beach Boys' concert, taking the best versions from a number of concerts. I would like the time frame to be between 1983 - 1998. I would like it to start with "California Girls", play the hits, include the car medley, maybe a couple of singles like "Getcha Back" and "California Dreamin", a couple of rarities like "This Whole World" and "I Can Hear Music", and a great rocking encore featuring the "surf medley". I think the sound would be good, their vocals (both lead and harmonies) were cleaned up after 1983, and it could include about 25-26 songs. It'd be a fun listen.