For me it goes more with BWPS because of the older Brian vocals and "happier" vibe vs. the young Brian vocals and slightly spooky/ominous vibe of TSS.

He sounds fine on "Male Ego", to me. A bit over the top, but agayn, there's too much energy and charm there for me to think of it as bad.

He sounded worst in the early/mid 90s to me. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times... *shudders*

I agree on IJWMFTT.  As mentioned earlier, Let the Wind Blow is particularly bad, and I think Warmth of the Sun, too. On that album Brian's voice sounds the thinnest I've ever heard it, not to mention strained and pitchy. And on some of those songs he sounds even older than he does now.

Love is a Woman is really bad, too, but in general I don't mind Brian's gruff late '70s to very early '80s vocals because they had soulfulness like phirnis was saying.

It just arrived on my doorstep!   So happy I was able to work from home today! Work is gonna be so much more pleasant as I play through all the CDs in order starting in about five minutes.   (I ordered on Aug. 26 with two-day shipping when it was $146.89. The price drop saved me $14.)

Have you guys seen that Imagine film? The John Lennon thing? You know that guy that wanders up the property asking John strange questions?

That dude was tripping. 

The fact that it is -- song for song -- based on tracklisting created more than three decades after the original sessions.

In what world is that historically accurate?

There _is_ a contemporaneous and historically accurate tracklisting. It's the memo to Capitol. But it is not being used.

That 66 'tracklisting' has never been confirmed as THE tracklisting - back covers were never printed up like the fronts - recording was done after it was written so its unlikely

What makes the 2003 tracklisting inaccurate - it the only one we have had until now

"Good Vibrations" was completed in Sept. '66 and released in October of that year.  It was never worked on again (except for the Sept. '67 Wally Heider sessions, which were for "Lei'd in Hawaii"), so this new mix of GV mix is in no way historically accurate.  Is there any evidence Brian thought about redoing it this way for the '67 "SMiLE"?

I think some fans pull back on the various methods of remastering because it might remind them of colorizing a black-and-white film.

And this is exactly what I was thinking about when I heard those two 'spoiler' tracks yesterday for the first time (Good Vibrations and Heroes & Villains). It's one thing to improve the sonic quality to today's standards, but the additional edits thrown in............it just seems to me there's a line there. I really do like the edits, I've heard them many times before in alternate takes, but was that really what Brian originally envisioned for the songs?

I dunno. Damn if you do - damned if you don't. I used the word "sacrilege" yesterday - which may have been too harsh.

Sacrilege may be too harsh a word, but anachronism is appropriate if mixes on the first CD are based on new/BWPS ideas but presented as being as close as possible to what would've been released as SMiLE in '67.

I think Carl was better than George on guitar. Likewise Dennis > Ringo has more of an energy in his playing. Also Brian > Paul on piano and bass. Let's not forget where Paul learned a lot of his bass tricks...

It's very true that Paul learned a lot about the use of the bass line in songwriting and arranging from Brian. He's been quoted many times as saying that "Pet Sounds" taught him that you don't always have to play the root note. But I don't think Brian had quite the skills that Paul did on the actual bass guitar. Now, Brian's left-hand bass playing on the piano is quite another thing altogether...

But wait, Lennon wrote a song about Mike on his first solo album:

Love is real , real is Love
Love is feeling , feeling Love
Love is wanting to be Loved
Love is touch, touch is Love
Love is reaching, reaching Love
Love is asking to be Loved
Love is you
You and me
Love is knowing
we can be
Love is free, free is Love
Love is living, living Love
Love is needed to be Loved


...and later in his career he would write another tribute to Mike that the Beatles just HAD to record for their "reunion":

All my little plans and schemes
Lost like some forgotten dream
Seems like all I really was doing
Was waiting for you
Just like little girls and boys
Playing with their little toys
Seems like all they really were doing
Was waiting for you
Don't need to be alone
No need to be alone
It's real LOVE
It's real, yes it's real LOVE...

they were intended to be a part of the original tracklisting, the who version of lifehouse 1971.

I'm fairly sure they were written for a later attempt (of which there were a few) at completing Lifehouse circa 1977, and were not part of the original album as conceived in 1970/71.

I think we got the better deal anyway with "Who's Next." It's concise and rockin'.  IMHO, the full "Pure & Easy" would've been a much better choice than "Love Ain't for Keeping," but "Join Together" and "Relay" are of lesser quality than the rest of the songs that made the final cut.

"'California Feeling,' With 'Lucy Jones' and Other Big Ones - The best of Brian Unbooted" 

Heroes and Villains: Mission Pak? Heroes And Villains: Part 3 (Animals) (Master Take)?? "All Day" is on Disc 2, so that means the two versions of Dada from 1966 are something different. What the hell!?

Yeah, and better yet, why are the tracks from '66 called simply "DaDa" and the ones from May '67 called "Love To Say DaDa"?  Hmmm...

And "Love to Say Dada"/"Cool, Cool Water" from 12/22/66?  The "Cool, Cool Water" idea/variation was conceived back then? 

[Beach Boys]

Gosh, I can't wait to read this. This sounds like its gonna be a must-read for any real Beach Boys fan. Do you have any idea when it'll be out. I really think is gonna be great, judging by your posts.

Well I am looking for a publisher so it will be out as soon as possible.
By the way this is a Beach Boys book not a Brian and the other jerks type of deal.

Awesome, Mike! After reading your interview snippets and notes these past couple of years, I'm really looking forward to the book as well. Maybe it'll be out before the SMiLE Sessions? 

What was Kevin's role with Landy and how did he interact with Brian? I was very young when this went down so i am wondering what was the information on Kevin during the Landy years.

After Landy was required by the court to get the hell out of Brian's life in late 1991, guess who continued to live with Brian for almost another year...

I know it was Kevin Leslie.  Do you know anything about his time with Brian, or has he ever talked about it?

Nope - it's like he's vanished off the face of the earth. As was noted before, that would be one hell of an interview.

Yeah, vanished into that black hole where Tandyn Almer and that other matching sock have disappeared.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pZSw7ojvw8

Captain Kirk would've taken out those Nausicaans and impaled them with one hand!  And Dennis would've loved it! 

Psychedelic drugs like LSD or cannabis (yes, it's a psychedelic drug) enhance creativity during the trip, but ofcourse can give you some real mental issues. Both Pet Sounds and Smile are products of the creativity boost that Brian got from his early use of psychedelic drugs. It's impossible to know if he'd reach that musical peak if he hadn't used this stuff to go deep down into his mind.

Psychedelic drugs can stimulate creativity because they provide a different perspective on your thoughts and environment. But any new perspective or experience can boost artistic creativity. I'm confident that Brian would have reached very high (no pun intended), incredible musical peaks even if he never touched illegal substances. And I bet he'd be scaling those musical peaks for a lot longer, too.

[excellent]

did Brian want Cabinessence and Our Prayer put on there? i doubt it.

That is one excellent question: we all know he pitched a fit about "Surf's Up" being on, er, Surf's Up, but I've never seen anything about a similar problem with 20/20. Given it was less than two years later, you could argue maybe not, but that would be supposition.

Also, why were those two particular songs chosen to be finished for 20/20? I can understand why they didn't pick "Wonderful," "Wind Chimes," or "H&V" since they'd already been released (although in scaled-down form) on Smiley Smile, but why not finish "Plymouth Rock," "Barnyard," or "I'm in Great Shape" instead? Maybe because those songs aren't as strong or don't stand on their own as well? Heck, they could've even chosen "Cool, Cool Water" or (as mentioned previously) "Can't Wait Too Long" to finish for the album. Who knows.

No, THIS is a thread hi-jack

My arteries backed up just looking at that. I have a large puddle of drool in my lap.

JUST drool?

That looks absolutely delicious. Where might I be able to find one of those? Please say California.

Houston, TX.

Ah, near me! Where in Houston?

No, THIS is a thread hi-jack

For Brian's next musical project, someone on the inside needs to convince him to write a song about this. I'm sure he'd find it inspiring - and more exciting than plain vegetables! 

..........asked Marilyn the main reason that Smile was aborted.....stuff like that. You shoulda been there, man!

What was her response to that question?

["is it just me"]

nothin to do with trolling, but "is it just me" or do you find yourself sighing every time there's a new Smile post.
I honestly can't keep up with them all. I need someone to just PM me whenever there's something notable or official from the "big wigs."   

This is all you need to know on the subject:

1 - it will be released this year

2 - whatever is included, someone will bitch about their fave fragment being left off

3 - whatever the CD 1 sequence is, almost everyone will bitch about it being "wrong"...

4 - ... whereas the indisputable fact is, no-one knows what it was going to be anyway. No-one, not even Brian.

I just hope there's a 5 - everyone marveling at an unearthed lead vocal that's never been booted. 

slept a lot, watched TV a lot, always was lazy...

Poof! 

My favorite Brian-less recording is "All This & That." Very beautiful tune.

I love that '74 Jim Pewter interview. Brian's recollections are sharp and he's in very good spirits - if somewhat distracted (and apparently feeling no pain). You can hear that his voice has already lowered somewhat, but it's got none of the rasp and phlegm that would show up the following year. Makes me long to hear "California Feeling" and "Lucy Jones." 

42. High Llamas - Giddy and Gay, from their Gideon Gaye album. Sean O'Hagan sure loves Brian-style organ sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWirShZ2MWo

Issuing them in 78 rpm format but not on shellac! What were they thinking?

 

How do you know they're not on shellac?

This discussion reminds me of a fine and funny Richard Thompson song - "Don't Sit on My Jimmy Shands" (The "Jimmy Shands" being shellac 78s): http://www.richardthompson-music.com/song_o_matic.asp?id=181