it was an very early rough draft for a Beach Boys book that I have been working on for many years. It had some research I did that still hasn't been published.

Cool. What was it about? Are you still gonna get it out? Have you thought about making it available online or as a downloadable ebook?

And wasn't it some character with the handle "Cam Mott" who argued so vigorously that Capitol had actually done a credible amount of promotion for Pet Sounds? Is he still around?

Oh, and the single edit of Cool Cool Water had been previously released - on Ten Years of Harmony, the subject of this thread!

Yeah, but not on CD here in the ol' U.S. of A.

I didn't say that Brad didn't like or even love Dennis's music.  But on the old smileshop site he vigorously defended not including Dennis's songs on Best of the Brother Years because they didn't chart and pointed out that Sunflower, which contained 4 Dennis songs, was the worst selling Beach Boys LP to that point, and specifically said Dennis's songs were not commercial and didn't sell - implying that Sunflower not selling was at least partly due to Dennis's songs.

Hmmm... I hung around ye olde smileshop a lot, made my fair share of contributions, got myself involved in a lot of discussions, but that's one I don't remember at all.

maybe Brad was just defending the Capitol "partyline" justifying what was included and what wasn't, but he didn't give the impression that behind the scenes he was fighting to include Dennis songs.

Having been involved in the record business one way or the other for more years than I care to count, I can tell you it's all based on compromise. Lots of times, you have to get behind something you really don't believe in. I expect that's what must have happened, as I know personally that Brad loved Dennis' music. In fact, after that Carl Wilson benefit compilation CD was so well received, there was a proposal to do something similar for Dennis, and Brad was on-board with that! Somewhere I've got the proposed tracklisting for that, too. (We used to trade e-mails a lot back in the day.)

He took some material I had written and never returned it, and after initially being nice, turned very rude. Thankfully I copyrighted it, but had to go to some pretty severe lengths to ensure it wasn't used. ... She came to me for some info about the stuff he took from me ...

Just curious. What is it he took from you and never returned? Where did he try to use it?

All that aside, it doesn't change the fact that the mish-mash that was the Brother Years set wasn't what the Capitol Records team at the time (which Brad was only part of) intended. As originally designed, it was a lot more coherent than what appeared and really did fit as a third "Greatest Hits" set. That's all I'm saying.

Dennis never wrote an 'in song...ya know...Timin', Goin, Gettin', Dreamin', Cruisin'...maybe that was the problem.

Maybe he should have titled it "Slippin' On Through."  And there was "Fallin' In Love," of course. 

Wow! Sometimes I amaze myself! An hour of digging and I found it!

This is the original planned track lineup for Greatest Hits 3, exactly as sent to me by Brad Elliott in October 1999 (some six months or so before the album came out).

1. Add Some Music to Your Day [#64] (1970)
2. Cool Cool Water [non-charting 45] (1970) (single edit – never before on CD)
3. Long Promised Road [#89] (1971)
4. ‘Til I Die [B-side] (1971)
5. Surf’s Up [non-charting 45] (1971)
6. Marcella [#110] (1972)
7. Sail On Sailor [#79/#49] (1973, 1975)
8. California Saga (On My Way to Sunny Californ-i-a) [#84] (1973) (single version – domestically unavailable on CD)
9. Rock and Roll Music [#5] (1976) (single version – domestically unavailable on CD)
10. It’s O.K. [#29] (1976)
11. Peggy Sue [#59] (1978)
12. Here Comes the Night [#44] (1979) (single edit – never before on CD)
13. Good Timin’ [#40] (1979)
14. Goin’ On [#83] (1980)
15. Come Go With Me [#18] (1981)
16. Getcha Back [#26] (1985)
17. It’s Gettin’ Late [#82] (1985)
18. Rock ‘n’ Roll to the Rescue [#68] (1986) (single version – currently unavailable on CD)
19. California Dreamin’ [#57] (1986) (currently unavailable on CD)
20. Still Cruisin’ [#93] (1989)

All charting singles, with three exceptions: "Til I Die" and "Surf's Up," which I don't think anybody would argue should have been left off, and "Cool Cool Water," which obviously was the rare track come-on for the hardcore collectors. With this concept and lineup, I think it's easy to see why none of Dennis' stuff was included.

Pawelski, that was her last name. Cheryl Pawelski.

It was gonna drive me crazy not being able to remember it, so I pulled out a CD to check it.  I just googled her, and it looks like she's now at Rhino/Warner Bros.

Brad subscribed to the "Dennis's music wasn't commercial and didn't and won't sell" theory

Having personally heard Brad hold forth on the greatness of Dennis' music, especially Pacific Ocean Blue, I think that's a bunch of malarky!

If I remember correctly (and the old brain cells may not be functioning as well as I'd like), that Brother Years set started out as the third volume in the Greatest Hits series of CDs, with a track lineup that focused almost entirely on charting singles, including things like "It's Getting Late," "Rock 'n' Roll To The Rescue" and "Still Cruisin'." (My memory also says the token "rare" track on the set was the 45 edit of "Cool Cool Water," but I won't swear to that.)  Then the suits at Capitol got to playing with the set, dropping songs right and left in favor of non-charting tracks likes "Susie Cincinnati," "Disney Girls," "Trader" and "Honkin' Down The Highway," and even retitling the thing.

In the original conception (charting singles), none of Dennis' songs fit.  By the time the album was released, there was no real concept behind it, other than to put out a collection of songs that a bunch of higher-ups at Capitol personally liked.  I think the entire team on that project -- Brad, Andrew Sandoval and Cheryl whatever-her-last-name-is (she was on staff at Capitol) -- was immensely frustrated by the time it came out.  If, from the outset, the album had been designed as a true "Best of the Brother Years," I feel certain they would have included several Dennis tracks, probably "Forever" and maybe something like "Baby Blue."

Somewhere I think I've got the original track lineup for Greatest Hits 3 that Brad sent me lo those many years ago.  I'll look for it and post it if I can find it.