Maybe it's just me - and granted I'm not in the best possible mood right now - but does anyone else here not think it weird, deeply creepy and downright unsavory that people, presumably overwhelmingly male, are asking for pics of a Beach Boys genitalia ?

Is it really any weirder than knowing Brian's grades in high school?

Can any generous Smilers spare a 3-set for Woodstock?

I don't NEED a 3-set. I'd prefer one but I can't afford it.

Can you do $46?  I know where you can get the 3LP for that.  I wouldn't expect to find an original or the 2010 record for less than $30 so I'd go for it personally.

Yeah...  I don't think a Grammy means anything.  Nothing against Zooey, I'm sure she's fine at what she does.

I assume that a mono WIBN would be an east coast pressing (copy) and a duophonic would be a west coast (master), but that's just a guess on my part.  I have no idea how to id which plant pressed it.

edit: Ok, I did some googling and it appears this one was pressed in Jacksonville, Illinois.  I'm betting the copies with the duophonic track were from the L.A. plant.  Can anyone confirm?

Funny cuz the 1980 'Pet Sounds' green label reissue uses the Duophonic master for that track.

Again, not all copies have the duophonic WIBN.  My green label is mono.  Presumably it comes down to where the record was pressed.

I would go for the green label over an original personally.  The green labels of Party through 20/20 are all stunning and highly recommended (though with Pet Sounds it's a coin toss whether WIBN will be in mono or duophonic on any given copy).

That's the one.  From my experience, 60's Capitol vinyl is pretty compressed and kind of muddy - not terrible but nothing great either.  I can't imagine Wild Honey ever sounding better than the green label pressing.

Best sounding releases by far and they can found cheap (even still sealed).

Ebay? Or are you saying you have some dark green label A Capitol Re-issue(s) you're lookin' to get off your hands??? 
It's tough on ebay, though. I wish searching for those green label reissues was just as easy as typing in "Beach Boys capitol green label", but , it's just not that simple.
they're never listed as such, and if they are, it's just a bunch of issues on that other green capitol label, the one that's not so good, from the late 60's ... thatgreen label.

 I'm gonna hit up ebay now. See what I can see.

Ebay, musicstack, gemm, discogs, etc.  Here are the catalog numbers to look for: http://www.bsnpubs.com/capitol/16000/capitol16000.html.  Sealed records can be quickly identified by the green "A Capitol Value" sticker on the front.  Good luck.

I'd avoid it.  Wild Honey is that weird bass/treble fake stereo version, not the real mono.  You want the green label Capitol reissues for those two albums.  Best sounding releases by far and they can found cheap (even still sealed).

(Fact: Dennis never wrote a hit song)

You Are So Beautiful.

Who sequenced BWPS? Brian said on a few occasions it was Darian, but we weren't supposed to know that.

Source?

An abortion doesn't necessarily need to be something to grieve over as no life has started so no life is lost.

What has started then that so needed to be finished?

A problem.

Has anybody seen anything?  Nothing here, but I don't know if that means it was a bust or if there's just too much ambient light.  I did meet an adorable black cat while I was outside so I'll consider this a win.

The ritual was simple: get to the house, Brian always waiting in the driveway

So much great stuff Ray, but this is my favorite part.  I love the image of Brian waiting in the driveway because he can't wait to play his new songs for someone.  So great.

I think TLOS sounds a bit flat by comparison, though I'm not sure whether or not this relates to something or someone different involved with BWRG... has anyone got the vinyl of TLOS? How does this compare with the CD? Is it a good pressing?

It is good, but not amazing.  Definitely an improvement over the cd but it isn't stunning in the way BWPS is on vinyl, for example.

The (Gershwin) producer credit was just entered incorrectly on discogs.  I just looked at my record and BW is the only credited producer.  Schmitt is only credited with the mix.

Duly noted - do you think it's worth going for BWPS vinyl over and above the Smile Sessions vinyl? (sorry for going a bit OT)

Actually, yeah.  The Smile Sessions does sound better than the cd, but BWPS is night and day.  It's so far ahead of the cd it's shocking.  One of the best sounding LPs period.  This is the US pressing btw.  I haven't heard a European pressing but those that have both say it's not as impressive.

I think TLOS sounds a bit flat by comparison, though I'm not sure whether or not this relates to something or someone different involved with BWRG... has anyone got the vinyl of TLOS? How does this compare with the CD? Is it a good pressing?

It is good, but not amazing.  Definitely an improvement over the cd but it isn't stunning in the way BWPS is on vinyl, for example.

The (Gershwin) producer credit was just entered incorrectly on discogs.  I just looked at my record and BW is the only credited producer.  Schmitt is only credited with the mix.

So I guess it means there is trouble 'til the robins come?



 I don't see how they could do that.  I could never eat a bug.

I was thinking along the same lines Rich...

[something about the compiling of this set definitely ruffled VDP's feathers]

We can't know what happened, but something about the compiling of this set definitely ruffled VDP's feathers, and that's a damn shame because this should've been his time to shine as well as Brian.

 

Ok, how about this: since we can agree that something happened that pissed VDP off, was it something that directly pertained to him or something more general that he still found offensive?

Does anybody know why Van Dyke Park's wasn't more involved in the release of The Smile Sessions?  (Specifically, whether he refused to be involved or whether he was somehow excluded?)  I think the answer might have something to do with that.

I'd like an answer to this.

I really would too.

But I think it's one of those things that insiders have to keep hush-hush for some reason.

My theory? (Based on pure speculation and nothing more):

I'm guessing that lots of negotiations between the BBs were going on to get TSS released, as well as C50 up and running. I have to imagine there was a give-and-take type of thing where Brian's side had certain demands, as did Mike's side. You probably had a case where one side said that a particular thing had to happen for another thing to happen, etc. (I doubt that Al/Dave/Bruce would have made any huge demands).

Well, this is several years after Beautiful Dreamer, on which Brian, personally on camera, specifically called out Mike as being a major factor in SMiLE's demise. I'm sure that Mike was not happy at that in the slightest.  So I wonder if a condition of Mike's in the whole TSS release/participation and C50 was that Brian no longer mention Mike as being a factor in SMiLE's demise, and that if asked about it in interviews/the TSS liner notes, etc., that BW was to shift to solely mentioning drugs/record label pressure as being the cause(s).

And VDP, I'll bet, when he got wind of that, was very pissed about it, and what he viewed as rewriting of history (as he saw it) might have turned him off to the whole project. Right or wrong, I think VDP likely blames Mike for SMiLE's demise to some degree (maybe to a large degree).

I assume it was something of that nature... or it was somehow a squabble about money.

Just a wild guess. I could be totally 100% off-base.

More a plausible theory than a wild guess... and yes, 100% off base. 

Come on, it's been nearly three years now...  Throw us a bone?   

I have a rule that when I'm in NYC, I eat nothing but pizza.  Just saying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaKuT3dIwfc

Ha, I knew this was coming.

one of the guys on the team is a native Chicagoan

My condolences. 

I have a rule that when I'm in NYC, I eat nothing but pizza.  Just saying.

Jesus fucking Christ, enough of this sh*t already.

If it was good for Brian to do it then I'm glad for that but I'm also sort of bothered by a feeling that it was a dickish move by Brian to do it without the Beach Boys.

Cam, if two of the three survivors of your group either criticized the lyrics for years (Love), or claimed that Smiley Smile was 1000 times better than the bunch of music bites that are Smile (Johnston)*, are those REALLY the people you would ask to help you finish it?  And no, I am not claiming that they killed it in the first place.  But I don't think it is at all dickish not to involve people who didn't and still don't think that highly of Brian and VDP's work to this day.

* the quote is from memory, but the sentiment has been the same for years.

Yes, I would have because it was a group album and they worked their asses off and put up with a lot of crap.

On the rest we will disagree.

It was always a BW and VDP album.  Yes, the Beach Boys worked on the original sessions but the only two of them that were into it unfortunately didn't make it to 2004.

Do you think it was wrong that the Beach Boys did Darlin and Time to Get Alone without Redwood?  Just curious.  I think that's a fair comparison.

[The Smile Sessions]

Just a gentle reminder, but there were only ever going to be two ways The Smile Sessions was going to be released:

1 - with CD 1 using BWPS as a template for a "completed" Smile or...

2 - never.

I know which one I'd vote for if asked.

I have no complaints about using the BWPS tracklist as a template, but adding robotic Beach Boy voices and phantom demo piano doesn't make it sound complete.  At best, it's unnecessary and distracting.