I heard about that. Drives me crazy, 'cause...

Almost 7 years ago, I bought this box set downtown, at Virgin Megastore for like $70 bucks! Ow. But, upon first listen, I decided it was very worth it (I think that was the same trip where I bought the LLVS book, from the same store. Lo those many years ago...).

Now, a couple of weeks ago, I went down to that same Virgin Megastore and found the same box set to be priced $19.99. *sigh*

Oh well. At least I've had it all these years, and it's given me much happiness.

I can hit Brian's part of that in the '66 piano demo, but barely.
Carl's is somehow tougher. It's so effortless. It's way easier to sing the high part of "canvas the town and brush the back DROP. Are you sleeping, brother JOOOHNN?"

I've also noticed I can hit Brian's falsettos easier than, say, Smokey Robinson.

I've always loved the quasi-fade out of 'In The Back Of My Mind', where the strings wander where they will after the song proper abruptly ends. Really cool. Brian has a way of bringing the uncertainty of that song home with such a simple trick and neat arrangement. It's little moments like this that make me appreciate his talent so much.

1. SMiLE Sessions box set

2. POB/Bamboo tracks CD twofer (plus bonus tracks)

3. Rarities from '67-'72 (WH leftovers, Landlocked stuff, We Go Love studio version, etc.)

4. More live stuff. Different eras; we got live albums for '64 (Concert, the classic/popular era), '68 (Live in London, the quiet, musically vibrant era), '73 (In Concert, the hippie era), and '80 (Knebworth, the oldies era). A 2-disc live CD compiled from many different years would be interesting ('66 triumphant tours of the UK, '68-'69 Europe stuff, '71 triumphant Big Sur, etc...)

5. something somebody mentioned in the Country Air thread: Brother reissues of Smiley Smile through Holland or so on single CD with another CD devoted to demos, alternates, etc, akin to the latter-day Fleetwood Mac reissues recently. Also, since so many are screaming for it ('cept me, I love it the way it is), the Wild Honey reissue to have a stereo remix following the mono program, like the many PS reissues.

I'm very sure it's all Brian on lead vocals of 'I'm Waiting For The Day', including the "you didn't think" tag. Brian did change his vocal tone for the second verse and it sounds tougher, but it matches the song's dynamics and tension.

Also that is Mike on the "ba ba ba" vocals on the tag of WIBN. Mike just overdubbed the "good night baby" lines (which he claimed he wrote).

I've come to the point where I can usually tell each Beach Boy from another, vocally. (Even though when I was a BBs newbie several years ago, I actually thought it was Brian singing lead on stuff like 'This Whole World'....god how far I've come!)

Al's parts on PS live would be pretty small unless Brian wanted to give away some leads (like Sloop perhaps, and certainly great swaths of 'I Know There's An Answer'). I only wish Carl were still with us; imagine HIM singing w/ Brian on PS live - 'God Only Knows'. Whew...

If anybody here owns Paul Williams' book How Deep Is The Ocean, he talks about hanging out with Brian and the boys in December of '66, and he mentions that Sony camera Brian got (a gift from Capitol, yes) and has some friends, including Paul, interviewed on camera.

His brief visit with Brian is pretty interesting; he gets high on a hookah with Brian in that infamous tent (where he also plays Paul some acetates of Smile tracks); hangs out with Brian at night in that warm pool of his; goes with Brian to a recording studio with the Beach Boys and ends up on the studio floor, making animal noises (naturally). I love his recounting of Carl breaking a 45 of Spencer Davis Group's 'Gimme Some Lovin' single over his knee 'cause it was remixed for American radio and thus ruined the song for Carl. Made me smile.

Great book.

Merry Christmas, Baby - The Beach Boys

....god I wish this song had more ...texture. Like the Little Saint Nick single. Throw some glock and sleighbells or somethin' on there. Ah well, great song either way.

"My baby she told me she don't wanna hold me and kiss my lips anymore"  (BW: Nuh uh!)

"Three cuts are impossibly dated and don't even enter into consideration: a boring cover of "Sloop John B." that had some success as a single (with all the genius on this record, Capitol Records chose this as the single because it probably sounded truest to preconceptions about the Beach Boy "formula"). The two instrumentals, "Pet Sounds" and "Let's Go Away For Awhile," are pretty mood pieces and that's all."

That's not all to me, Rolling Stone. Let's Go Away For Awhile especially is one of the best examples why Brian Wilson is a master composer. Dear listener, while you're out one day, at work or where ever, try to whistle this song.
....Yeah. I got lost too. Yet it's still immensly memorable.

And since WHEN is Sloop John B. BORING? This is one of the most exciting backing tracks of Brian's and the vocals (especially the break) are outta sight. It's especially interesting to note that most people I think don't entirely recall any earlier Sloop versions than the Beach Boys' cover. Music nuts certainly know all about the Kingston Trio's (and others') version of it, but it can't be nowhere near as popular as the Beach Boys' version; I doubt that writer at Rolling Stone ever heard another version of this song. Heck, I haven't!
Sloop John B. may as well be an original BBs song, especially since Brian's arrangement is so....him.
Brian brought it back to public consciousness, and there it has stayed...the BBs version of it, that is.

The only things that's kept me from getting the Sights And Sounds of Summer is that I already (for some dumb reason) own SOS CD and plus I was disappointed Capitol didn't put the 1964 Ed Sullivan performance of I Get Around on there. That clip is the first time I remember ever seeing the Beach Boys, when I was a kid. It's dynamite; I still remember how cool Brian was, with his falsetto and all. Even as a kid, I sensed this guy was the center of the music.

But since it does have those TAMI songs, I'll probably pick it up now....I guess. I've always adored that Surfer Girl perfomance, which I've seen everywhere (AAB docu, IJWMFTT docu, Beautiful Dreamer, etc...I think Endless Harmony too). It's classic.

@Summer_Days: Looks great. Are these the original recordings or re-recordings?

As far as I know, they are the originals. They sound downright vintage to me! Beautiful stuff.

Sure, it could use stuff like 'Gee', etc... but what's there makes fora good sampler. I'm still thinking about getting the Doo Wop box sets to satiate my appetite.

I love Doo-Wop. If anyone's looking for a good sampler CD instead of putting down alot of green for the Doo-Wop box sets, I heartily recommend this compilation:

Street Corner Serenade


tracklist:
1. Why Do Fools Fall In Love - The Teenagers, featuring Frankie Lymon
2. Whispering Bells - The Dell-Vikings, featuring Krips Johnson
3. Speedo - The Cadillacs, with Jesse Powell Orch.
4. Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) - The Penguins
5. Little Star - The Elegants
6. I Wonder Why - Dion & The Belmonts
7. Book Of Love - The Monotones
8. Sincerely - The Moonglows
9. Come Go With Me - The Dell Vikings
10. Only You (And You Alone) - The Platters
11. Hushabye - The Mystics
12. There Goes My Baby - The Drifters
13. I Only Have Eyes For You - The Flamingos
14. A Teenager In Love - Dion & The Belmonts
15. 16 Candles - The Crests
16. Stay - Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs
17. Oh What A Nite - The Dells
18. There's A Moon Out Tonight - The Capris
19. Blue Moon - The Marcels
20. Get A Job - The Silhouettes
21. Barbara Ann - The Regents
22. In The Still Of The Nite - The Five Satins

Incredible selection. Every one of 'em are classics. BUY. NOW.

The Phil Spector Back To Mono box set (I looooove this box set. One flaw: where's I Can Hear Music?).

The song I'm listening to on Back to Mono: 'Uptown' by The Crystals.

VIVA LA MONO! Brian and Spector had the right idea.

I picked:
Pet Sounds
Today!
Summer Days...(And Summer Nights!!)
Sunflower
Wild Honey
Love You
Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys
Friends
20/20
Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE

Where's the 3-volume Greatest Hits comps up on there? I enjoy the first two, imperfect though they are. I mean, you got wickedly out of print stuff like Made In USA and Endless Summer on there, but not these still in print GH albums? Hmm...

And who the f*** voted for MIU?

God, I LOVE Wild Honey. It's so fun and charming and like nothing else the band did before, and to a certain extent, since.

Even though Pet Sounds and Today! are my favorite BBs albums, Wild Honey I have more fun listening to, it seems. Every single song makes me feel soo good inside.
I can barely contain myself when listening to WH (just like right now - I'm listening to I Was Made To Love Her; Carl rules on this).

I even love that cover; it's gotta be my favorite BBs album cover. I'm gonna get a tattoo of that one of these days, I SWEAR...

*sigh* I don't know what to make of Smiley Smile sometimes

Let me be clear. I enjoy the record, mostly, but it's mere existence as it is just turns my brain upside down at times. It's like Smile is some novel akin to the Iliad and Smiley Smile is the Cliff's Notes written by, well, Mike Love. It's the over-simplification of precious Smile tracks that nearly ruins Smiley for me. Plus, if the Beach Boys supposedly hate Brian's Smile songs so much, then HOW COME after that album is shelved, (much to Mike's relief I can guess) WHY do they insist on recording half-baked versions of gems like Wonderful and Wind Chimes anyway?? WHY?!? It all drives me to distraction; Smiley Smile is an oxy moron. If Smile was deemed unreleasable because of it's weirdness, than WHY ON EARTH is Smiley there in its stead, being A HELLUVA LOT WEIRDER and then some?? Grrr...

That said, I do love many things about this record, namely With Me Tonight, Fall Breaks And Back To Winter, the terrific H&V single, and the delightful Gettin' Hungry.

Other things, like the previously mentioned cannibalized Wind Chimes and Wonderful plus the really silly things like She's Goin' Bald and Little Pad drive me bonkers. WTF? I DO like them, but I have trouble understanding why these tracks are here instead of Smile beauties.

When I first bought the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey two-fer, I immediately fell in love with Wild Honey. I guess I still listen through Smiley with baited breath for WH to arrive, and that might not be so good for me if I want to understand this crazy album. Despite the fact I find it to be very enjoyable for the most part, I don't know if I'll ever understand Smiley Smile after all.

*sigh* Brian, is this record a sarcastic insult of Smile (be it waged by you or the band) or an honest attempt at recreation/reimagining it?

Good Vibrations doesn't really fit on any BBs album; it's stand alone, to me.
It would've been an odd fit on Pet Sounds because it doesn't really sound like anything else on there (even Here Today, arguably)
It would've been out of place on Smile because of it's commercial appeal and full group sound (whearas the boys seem all over the place on Smile...which is cool)
It surely doesn't fit on Smiley Smile because it dwarfs everything else on that record in terms of brilliance.

As for Guess I'm Dumb, I don't think it would fit on Pet Sounds, either. I adore that song and it sounds more akin to the Today! ballads to me. Take off Bull Session and put on a BBs recording of Guess I'm Dumb instead (but have the album end with In The Back of My Mind; I love the idea of the record ending with those strings going off in different directions....it's a discordant vibe).

I heartily request some Pet Sounds pictures.....especially rare pics from the cover photo session at the San Diego Zoo.

I just finished this book and I LOVED it. Finally, a really well done Brian/BBs bio in print (Leaf's book is out of print still, Gaines' book is trashy, White's book is a labyrinth, and Brian's "autobiography" is...not). This is the way to go.

Incredible job, Peter. Heck, I'm thinking of re-reading it already...

A somewhat pointless release, but it was nice to read Brain's thoughts on some of the songs. Cheers to him picking The Warmth of the Sun!

The only real reason I like this one (beside Brian's notes) is that when I bought it, it had been quite a while since I listened to any BBs music, so with hearing stuff like Surf's Up after a long while made my heart soar.
Nice cover art, too. I think I'm gonna compile my own CD with my own favorite pics and use the same cover art (finally give Let Him Run Wild some due attention....).

Fits perfectly. I get so tired of people saying it doesn't simply because it eventually became a hit single and is a cover instead of an original. I love Sloop's place in the sequence too. The rev-up from Let's Go Away for Awhile...I love it.

What does Bruce know anyway? If I remember correctly, he also wanted Good Vibrations on Pet Sounds, the nutbar.

Thanks sloop, for the welcome.

I just did a google pic search for Brian Wilson 1966 and I found that picture. I just like his expression there...like he knows something you don't (which is entirely likely).

I wish I had the Pet Projects (or especially the Still I Dream Of You collection), but alas.....

Hey. I'm new to this forum. I've looked around, and I like what I see. Some people bere also post over at Shut Down vol. 2, as do I (under the name Soulful Old Man Sunshine). I guess I just can't get enough of discussing BB/BW topis with others.