If we can go post-Beatles, the first Wings album, Wildlife, is very Brian-like.  Just like the post-Smile Brian of Wild Honey and Friends, lowering the expectations everyone had of a masterpiece, playing loose music with friends and family, happy now, after a period of perfectionism, to leave flaws in as part of the charm.  The lyrics simplified but the songwriting still strong, with gorgeous chord changes.  But Paul's concept of what the band Wings was about was soon to change and to go in a very un-Brian direction.

Awesome. I'm glad to see someone giving love to Wildlife. It's one of my favorite Beatles solo albums, for all the reasons you pointed out.

[especially if you're high/tripping] then it spans ages.

Which is exactly the condition Brian was in while he made it...remember in the Don Was documentary, he was talking about how "twenty seconds of music sounds like two hours when you're stoned."

3 minutes of repeating "on and on she go dum de doo ba" and "remember the day, remember the night, all day long" probably felt like 5 hours to Brian!

That means that, like, our whole solar system... could be, like... one tiny atom in the fingernail of some other giant being.

You about want to die when Domenic goes and says these things. Van Dyke... hey, I don't mind. It's his opinion, and people are entitled to them, but like I said in another thread, interviews are third tier for fact checking, and too often, people use interview quotes as facts, when IN FACT, they are largely impressionistic... to give colour to an already verified fact.

But Domenic has an agenda with "Smile," and that, unfortunately, will always make the solid parts of his research a bit marginalized. At least in serious research circles.

Hi All.

I just discovered this rather interesting description of "The Soft Bulletin" album by the Flaming Lips leader, Wayne Coyne. After some interesting and eccentric meandering at the beginning, he starts to explain the album much as Brian Wilson would describe his 1966-67 recordings... the studio being the instrument and all.

Enjoy!




The Soft Bulletin

Album info • Wayne's notes

The Soft Bulletin - Notes by Wayne Coyne, February 1999

I Am Not On Drugs...yet.

I sometimes think about how quiet the world must have been, maybe a hundred years ago. I say that, having just come back from a walk outside (outside the recording studio which is in Cassadaga, a sparse farming community in western New York) and it was so dark I could not even see my own feet as I walked. But more startling was what I could hear...?? I could hear everything... but it made so little clatter that the mere volume of my breathing drowned out the entire world.... I thought, "How torturous this soundlessness would be, a hundred or so years ago, when music and the noises that surround us today - like even just the whir of the refrigerator - could give no shelter from the dead silences that easily provoke anxiety in someone with a troubled mind... not to have the slightest distraction from your worries could prove to be unbearable." My imagination stops in fear that if, for some reason, the molecular structure of our atmosphere shifted slightly and all sounds ceased - not hearing, but sounds - for even just twenty-four hours, the suicides could be in the millions, myself perhaps included.

Some of the melodrama of my story may be inherent in my circumstances. For years my mind has been filled with the pursuit of sounds. Some coming in from outside, some emanating from within. And I've struggled to reconcile the difference between the two - what has been imagined versus what is actually being heard. And sometimes I feel like I've taken this path so many times that, if it is done consciously, the logic and naturalness eludes me... kind of like when you say a word over and over, after about ten or fifteen times it starts to sound like gibberish and, if analyzed, loses its meaning. Reality is like that - the more you think about it the less real it seems.... So maybe when I was suddenly submerged into this total, empty silence on that dreadful evening walk, it caused me to consider this mechanism of listening that I so much take for granted. And I hope to never be so scared again.... It may sound like I am a trembling, drooling, freak who has gone mad.... This is not madness; it is, I believe, the very opposite....

I say this only to make the point that I do not wish to be perceived as nuts, mad, drug-damaged or even eccentric.... All of these cliches, if they were true, I would openly accept. But since they are wrong I feel the need to proclaim, with some authority, that this image be rejected. Knowing full well that there is a certain amount of insulation and sympathy that accompanies this persona. What I mean is that, when a person is considered "unstable," he or she is able to do things that would otherwise be deemed "stupid" and get away with it.... I have pursued questionable goals, I admit... but I have pursued them with sober determination towards, I feel, an appreciation of new possibilities....

So when we began work on The Soft Bulletin, we were aware of some new vistas that we had opened up for ourselves in the process of making Zaireeka (the 1997, 4-disc set, designed so all four CD's can be played simultaneously). What started out as an exploration slowly changed to a realization. Let me explain...

The technical work load of Zaireeka was exhausting... having no real blueprint as to how we could make such a complicated recording left us having to, unwittingly, devise a new system of tracking and playback... kind of like having to make your own shovel before you can dig the hole. However, what once seemed impossible after a while became ordinary, and in the course of us "getting our heads around" such huge compositions we started accepting a wider range of sounds for more accurate expression. More precise and more complicated. We had no choice.

Early on we discovered one big pile of unsynchronized music sounds much like another and we didn't want this. We wanted a variety of moods.... We wanted to experiment with unexpected sounds but not sacrifice a song's emotional impact. We were finding that we had to exaggerate all aspects of the things we liked about our songs. So in the past, we would simply record as many tracks as possible, hope for happy accidents and try to make sense of it at the end of the mix. Now, with the capability of having (if we wanted) hundreds of tracks, the luxury of following a "happy accident" to a more unique sound quickly became a frustrating routine of endless possibilities. The song itself would have to be the guide for the sound. But songs are not ideas - if you have ideas you should be able to hear them in your song. Songs are to a man what crying is to a baby - they communicate the unspeakable with sound. But I do not believe, like some, that the song and the sound can be separated. There is an old saying, "It's the singer, not the song." But I would change that to "It's the sound, not the song." Songs are vehicles for ideas of sound. And if you think about it, the song itself really is just sound. So anyway, as recording went on, inevitably, some songs were failures. Despite sometimes weeks of doing everything we could, they still would not work in the extended 4-CD form that Zaireeka commanded. These were the songs that began to make up The Soft Bulletin as far back as March of '97. What happened was this: after weeks and weeks of willy-nilly reworking a song's structure, pushing it to extremes in every direction, it would still come out sounding "normal" to us...?? But, and here's where the evidence of what kind of damage can be done to one's perspective is measurable, what now sounded "normal" to us sounded "strange" to everyone else. Our odyssey of experimentation had poisoned us and we hope, if we are lucky, to never fully detox from it.

You see, we had hoped that the sonic boundaries that were stretched to the limit on Zaireeka would not retract and continue to allow us a bigger palette to work with - hopefully with an earned confidence to conquer ambitious visions - to communicate "real" expressions, not just references, about the nature of existence, outer space, love, death, reality, melancholy, madness, self-doubt, the victory of optimism, the wonder of things, and whatever else the songs would be about.

So with the simple approach of just using our ears to guide us, not "music culture," we were, for the first time, truly exploring all sounds and applying them. Any pretense of our past band structure was simply forgotten and, instead of being a singer who plays guitar, I began to take on the role of something like a movie director. I would plot and plan how sounds could enhance our songs and organize our daily undertakings. Often the hardest part of working on such big productions is not knowing if what you are doing is actually any good. To endlessly spend time, money and ideas on something, with no certainty of its outcome, can be very stressful.

But while this journey was worrisome it was also very liberating. It finally occurred to us that we are not performers, we are recording artists.... I don't mean this in a pompous way - what I mean is, if someone was to ask me what instrument do I play, I would say "the recording studio." The difference being, most bands are made up of performers - you know, singers, musicians, entertainers - and they go into the recording studio and "perform." Then usually the "producers" just make sure it's properly recorded, and that would be the finished record.... Well, maybe that's over simplifying. But this isn't what we do - and really have never done - though I believe, in the past, we thought we were doing conventional recording. Now it's clear, we have neither the desire nor the ability to do so. I no longer view our exploration and experimentation as a temporary quest. It is the quest... and this, in my opinion, is both the joy and the curse of the curious explorer... the joy of the adventure and the discovery, and the curse of constantly seeking a new adventure and a new discovery.... I pause again to say, I am not mad or on drugs... yet.

And now, upon its completion, I feel although The Soft Bulletin is not an experimental record, its identity and its reach are a direct product of experimentation. In a strange reversal of musical universes, the more indulgent and sonically perverse we got, the more commercial we sounded. We have accidentally made a record that is not a response to music that we love or a reaction against music that we hate. Finally, there are no more enemies, and there are no more heroes... just sound.

Wayne February '99

Great info on the Rousseau comparison. I remember a few years back, Cam Mott suggested that Capitol art director George Osaki might know more about the cover art, but I think he had passed away by that time. I wonder if anyone ever followed up with looking into Capitol paperwork?

[Endless Summer]

Well I have written text in seven books. Five on Elvis Presley, one on the Beatles and one on the Three Stooges. Recently I did the liners for an Elvis dvd and also wrote the info used to introduce the various clips. This is a review of the latest book
http://www.elvisnews.com/Presentation/Functional/Page/shop.aspx?command=show&item=1379
As I mentioned here before I am doing a song by song look at the Beach Boys original LP's and 45's. It's a different format then Andrew's work with a lot of new interviews and a certain degree of  biography as far as what went into making each album. I am trying to not only view them from today's standpopint but also try to access how they were viewed in their time. As a big vinyl fan I also include quite a bit of info as to what has been released in that format over the last twenty years. I have been working on it on and off for many years, but am about sixty percent done with the final draft. It would have been done sooner, but I do a lot of freelance work for JAT Publishing in Chicago so my attention gets diverted away from it sometimes. Everyone here really has been a real encouragement. Domenic read a very early draft and was pretty encouraging too. I think my main goal with it is to give every Beach Boys his due. I try to present a balance giving all sides a voice. In saying that I also am not afraid to offer strong criticism on many of their post Endless Summer decisions. All in all I hope it will offer some new views and bring some previously unknown facts to light. Feel free to email me anytime if you want to know more and I can send you a sample of something I did. edermike@msn.com

That Elvis Concerts book looks awesome. I just got done re-reading Jerry Hopkins' "Elvis in Hawaii." Nice to hear of another Elvis fan in Beach Boys world. Let me know if I can help in any way with your BBs book. It sounds like a great project. I have a huge pile of collectibles on my desk that I keep forgetting to photocopy for Ian Rustin, but it all eventually goes out...

Thanks guys. This is all compelling information. Unfortunately, without paperwork OR Dale Smallin alive today, many of these questions about OMC may be left to speculation.

Again, I'm not committed to defending either side. Whatever information comes forward, I will embrace as getting us closer to the truth.

Like I said before, the point of using OMC as an example in the book was always to point out the influence of R&B and rock instrumentals on the nascent surf scene of 1961-62. And so, whether the whole soundtrack was Beachboys, Genteels or Raindrops... or if it was somewhere in between... the point of the sentences in that chapter still make sense, even as hard and fast facts remain somewhat elusive.

And I say this with all due respect to Dave Marks, the late Dale Smallin and the listening/logical skills that many have employed here, myself included. After a decade and a half of beating my head against a wall trying to figure Smile out, who would have thought OMC would be so difficult?

You know, I don't keep up with all of the Beach Boys books, though I have a pretty big library myself. I had no idea ANYONE was still using Brian's discredited autobiography as a primary source.

I must have had a pretty good journalism 101 teacher, as those simple rules always did me well. You'd be surprised how many people go on 3rd tier quotes alone for their facts. With OMC, the early version of "Surf Jam" in the film seems to lend credence to those later statements delivered to Domenic... essentially a set of #3's -- years-after confirmation quotes from Dale Smallin and David Marks. Now that David has denied his involvement, and claimed that he was not sober enough to be trusted in the '80s... it's sorta back to the drawing board. And, again, hopefully some more information will emerge.

What do you write about? I'd love to read anything you've published, in print or online.

Brian

Thanks for your responce and again I am sorry that I rushed to judgment before knowing the facts.

No problem MBE. I don't mind being challenged, provided the evidence against something I wrote is strong. I think John Stebbins or any other author that post here would agree that there are at least three tiers of fact checking that come up:

[1] Contractual information, or some physical paperwork with dates and times... a time-stamped tapebox... a photo contact sheet with a time-stamp... an advertisement... these are usually the most solid form of fact checking that an author or researcher can have. That being said, the contractual paperwork can have its problems as well. Specifically in the world of music, a contract for a concert doesn't necessitate that the show ever took place. Artists have cancellations for a variety of reasons. Sessions too. But contracts and tape boxes and that type of paperwork, I would consider first tier.

[2] Next tier would be an article or interview from the actual time when the event or action took place. Again, we know the problems here. The journalist may have given their opinion on something that was said or heard, which could have changed or been mis-reported on. In the instance of music, of course, artists say all kinds of things that never come to pass.

[3] The next tier would be an interview with the artist or someone who was present at the time of the event, recorded years after the event took place. These are important, but of course #1 and/or 2 are preferred. When #1, 2 and 3 all seem to line up, with little to no discrepancy, you have what one would call a "solid fact." That's rare. But we do the best we can to present things that generally fit with the story, and at some point, claims in fact have to be made. But almost anything and everything is disputable.

On the other hand, I was there when Jon and David were meticulously analyzing OMC - and there was certain things about watching that movie that spurred some very specific memories - for example, hearing the sound track reminded him that he and Carl wrote an instrumental together that was never recorded but was performed live many times called Blue City.[/quote]

By the way, another very cool tidbit. I wish one of those live versions would pop up someday.

One thing I will add about the R&B instrumentals in OMC... it is pretty obvious that rock and R&B instrumentals were pervasive in the surf scene. I wouldn't want to diminish David's take on his guitar sound. If he feels that that was not his guitar playing, then that is equally persuasive evidence as Dale Smallin's absolute certification that he recorded the BBs for the soundtrack.

Regardless, the point of said paragraph in "Pop Surf Culture" was to point out R&B tracks like "Honky Tonk" by Bill Doggett and other such cuts that were recorded by surf bands. Chapter 16, in which OMC is discussed, is all about the stock surf music examples that came FROM Southern California and hit nationwide in 1963. The previous five chapters were all about the SoCal bands, singles and nightclubs that took off locally. Chapter 16 is about the national explosion of surf music, and how the Beach Boys' 1963 sound was very much based in the nightclub scene of L.A. Of course, chapter 17 is where we see it go international. 1964. There was a definite story-arc there, and even if the BBs didn't record the OMC soundtrack, the notion that R&B instrumentals permeated the surf music scene stands true.

Hi Carrie,

Thanks for your post. I don't know the exact circumstances of David 20 years ago versus David today. I'm sure you guys are in a better position to judge his state than I am. And I appreciate the input. It is worth quite a lot. However, without documentation to prove otherwise, it is simply Dale's word versus David's word.

As for the bit in my book, it might have been a bit too much information to talk about the instrumentals in OMC, while at the same time trying to explain the lost masters and session information to the reader. Most readers would simply not be interested in the fact checking details of a soundtrack that we considered already confirmed. That stuff is, obviously, best left to the discussion forums. If it can be proven with documentation that the instrumentals on OMC were recorded by a band other than the BBs, I'd be happy to suggest a revision, when the book is reprinted. Anyone who has read the book would probably understand that neither Domenic nor myself wish to attribute anything the BBs didn't record to them. Quite the contrary, the book praises all manner of artists and bands, regardless of their celebrity status. I could care less if a band is famous or not. The music is what counts. Always.

All my best to David, and thanks again to you guys for letting us use the picture of Dave and the BBs in their Pendleton shirts in the book!

Brian

Hi MBE,

I'm sorry if I came across as too harsh, and believe me, I think it's very interesting that Dave Marks watched the movie with John Stebbins, and I acknowledge an artist's guitar-sound being akin to the fingerprint of a musician. That being said, we went with the information we had. Beyond that, we never claimed that the main theme was written by the Beachboys, nor performed by them. In fact, both Domenic and myself have the Genteels 45, and sought it out because of the OMC movie. We both have DJ'd "The Hitchhiker" at clubs and on Luxuria radio. That's one of THEE classic examples of the beatnik surf aesthetic.

If it came across that I was suggesting that the main theme was by the Beachboys, I know I would have never meant to imply that. I know it was never in anything I published, but it might have seemed like I was implying that on a message board post. However, again, the thought never crossed my mind.

Thanks to all for your very kind comments. Apologies if I seemed a bit overly protective. Hopefully, someday we will have more to go on than memories and ears. Some session contractual info or master tapes would go a long way.

Brian

John,

I have no beef with you, and I appreciate your kind words about the book. You and I have a mutual admiration society that doesn't need restating in public, but at every turn, you and I have tried to make laudatory comments about eachother's work, and I know you mean it as much as I do. Thank you, as always.

And I respect your opinion about what you hear on the film. I also respect what David has gone through, and his efforts to clear the deck of misnomers over the years. That being said, "Pop Surf Culture" was taken to task here... not by you... and the OMC example was labeled "a huge error," of which, our claim has been definitely refuted. It has not.

Furthermore, whether it is the Raindrops or the Beachboys... besides not being definitely known at this time... the Beachboys' "Surf Jam," in an early version, is played on OMC. Therefore, whether they played that themselves or the Raindrops played a new BW song in '62... we are still talking about, at least, some of OMC being soundtracked by the BBs. I'm still going with Dale Smallin until further evidence pops up.

But, regardless of whether or not Domenic has been questioned in the past, I would hope that people would allow for his reputation to grow positively as well as negatively, should the work warrant it. In the case of "Pop Surf Culture," it was co-written by ME. I may have posted my share of good AND bad information on a message board, where it is conversational in nature, but so far as my publishing goes, I always try to do fact checks thoroughly. Granted, some things will always be up for refutation, and evidence can always evolve further to create more clarity. I just was astounded that someone would take the entire book to task based on something we wrote that was not only NOT refuted, but far as I can tell, NOT an error, nor a "huge error." Until further evidence, we are very much in the right here. We went on the evidence we had:

[1] Dale Smallin's claim that the BBs recorded the soundtrack.

[2] Dave Marks' claim that the BBs recorded the soundtrack. In fact, he told Domenic that he remembered the session being a quick one-day thing.

[3] An early version of "Surf Jam" on there, which is NOT the live performance.

**There was a well circulated anecdote(maybe by Domenic) that the BB's didn't sing on Surfer Girl, the story was that it was Brian's friends who sang with him on it(Norberg, Survivors?) while the BB's were on tour. That anecdote came directly from Norberg i believe, and anyway its not true**

I've known Domenic for almost fifteen years now, and never once has he ever said anything like that to me. The closest I've ever heard him say was that "Your Summer Dream" featured the Norberg guys backing a solo BW vocal. But Domenic told me that was Norberg's story and not confirmed.

[Jon Stebbins has refuted that and nothing Andrew or Ian have written lead me to believe it's true. A huge error.]

Jon Stebbins has refuted that and nothing Andrew or Ian have written lead me to believe it's true. A huge error.

Please post this refutation, with the hard facts of Stebbins' research.

So let me get this straight...

You guys have basically claimed that Domenic and I did not do our proper fact check here, with your own claims attesting to being certain beyond certain that the BBs involvement in OMC was factual proven incorrect. And then you come back with THIS?

David Marks' recall to John Stebbins some 40 odd years later? The same guy who was 13 years old at the time, and playing how many number of malt shops and rec halls? So, we are to believe Dave Marks over Dale Smallin, who directed and produced the film? I'll have you know, Domenic Priore worked at Dodger Stadium with Dave Marks in the '80s, and not only did Dale Smallin confirm the BBs involvement with the OMC soundtrack, but Dave Marks said the same to Domenic.

So Marks said one thing to Domenic in the '80s, something else to Stebbins two decades later.

See, and here I thought you guys were going to have Raindrops sessions sheets or master logs from the editing booth or something. You have your ears and ONE contradictory claim from Dave Marks? It's utterly preposterous that you could take our research abilities to task when you literally have NOTHING here.

Look, we covered over 100 years of surfing in the arts for this book. Two sources confirming the BBs involvement with OMC seems to be enough fact-checking. Furthermore, we asked Alan Boyd multiple times over about early '60s Beach Boys research. I sat with him on the phone for hours going over early '60s titles that he might have come across in the Brother vault or the Capitol vault. He never ran across anything on OMC. We contacted Dick Clark Productions about logs on OMC, way before we ever started "Pop Surf Culture." No one had anything hard and fast. If the BBs were proven NOT to have recorded the backing music, fine. We'd be more than happy to list the proper band. But, the next best thing was to take the director/producer at his word. And yes, the melody of "Surf Jam" IS a part of the background music soundtrack, delivered in the same minimal recording technique applied to the rest of the soundtrack, which wasn't out of the ordinary for a band that just recorded, essentially, a garage 45 for Candix. Even the BBs' first Capitol album isn't a massive production, but I'm sure the fidelity of Capitol Studios could trump those of anything Smallin or Hite Morgan could afford. Comparing ANYTHING by Brian from 1962 to the All Summer Long productions is ridiculous.

I'm not sure where the information came from that the Beach Boys DIDN'T record the instrumentals for "One Man's Challenge." Domenic Priore was friends with the film's director/producer, Dale Smallin. The two had lunch together in San Francisco for five years. Smallin told Priore that the Beach Boys DID record those musical interludes. So what information has come forward to counter that fact?

[But did you really expect some vivid poetic images of suburban LA life from a 66 year old man with Brian's history.]

But did you really expect some vivid poetic images of suburban LA life from a 66 year old man with Brian's history.

I don't know about suburban. Or even poetic. But vivid? Yes. Something from the soul. These postcards of surface L.A. never get beneath, well... the surface.

Nice write up, Luther.

For some reason, I imagine this album, even with half backing tracks and half vocal song, would sound good. Here's hoping it gets released someday. With so much good lo-fi country and Americana being put out these days, it seems like the perfect time.

Never know. It could grow on this old crab, as the years go by.

[Only three of the 10 original songs deal with the city or region particularly -- Morning Beat, California Role and Southern California. The first could be about any city, with some lyrical revision. And the last is more about Brian than the region.]

Only three of the 10 original songs deal with the city or region particularly -- Morning Beat, California Role and Southern California. The first could be about any city, with some lyrical revision. And the last is more about Brian than the region.

First off, "Mexican Girl" is about as in-crowd as Jar-Jar Binks was to the reggae contingent. The other SoCal stuff is all nice and fluffy... a few steps up from "Kona Coast." Van Dyke's poems are fine, in terms of the words. I like the last one a lot. But they are read with the vibrancy of a man asleep. It's the best solo album he's done since Orange Crate Art. But that isn't saying much. I listened to the latter yesterday and felt genuinely excited and moved by it. With the exception of "Midnight's Another Day," this new one makes me feel pretty much nothing. But that's just me. I'm one person, and entitled to my opinion. I'm glad so many are getting something out of it. Brian undertook something ambitious, and it's cool that so many are getting so much out of it. I just have little desire to put it on, so it's been sitting on my shelf since the first few spins.

Yeah, but musically, is it any good? Wasn't there a whole album's worth of backing tracks cut?

[I think, as happens so often in fan sites regardless of their subject, familiarity breeds contempt... people get so used to the sort of material under discussion that the bar for acceptance gets raised unseemingly high. As someone who hasn't immersed himself in the canon of Literature About LA to the extent it sounds like you have, I found the lyrics and readings nicely evocative. Not revelatory, but then it doesn't need to be to be worthwhile...]

I think, as happens so often in fan sites regardless of their subject, familiarity breeds contempt...  people get so used to the sort of material under discussion that the bar for acceptance gets raised unseemingly high.  As someone who hasn't immersed himself in the canon of Literature About LA to the extent it sounds like you have, I found the lyrics and readings nicely evocative.  Not revelatory, but then it doesn't need to be to be worthwhile...

Brian's lived in this city for 66 years, and I thought, "Is this all he has to say about it?"

No, I meant it completely that way. I wasn't backhanded at all. It wasn't even a compliment. Lyrically, this album adds nothing to the canon of Los Angeles. If you bought a booklet of postcards on a first visit, you could have written these lyrics. I just got done listening to the Chavez Ravine album by Ry Cooder, and the lyrics to Brian's "Mexican Girl"... downright embarassing. Why would I want to sit around listening to that?

For a man that has spent his entire life here, he's got little to say that you couldn't go to the Chamber of Commerce and get after being here for ten minutes. Bleh.