The more sumptuous stuff, for example Time To Get Alone, Full Sail, Nearest Faraway Place, Still I Dream Of It, Sumahama, Winds of Change, Lady Linda, etc.

Was it Bruce, Daryl Dragon, or uncredited persons brought in for whatever the song required? Don't have any liner notes at hand.

I believe Gene Page (artist, producer and major pop/RnB arranger)  did string arrangements on 20/20 tracks. I believe Bruce mentions that, somewhere.

i'm going to be ditching my friends (who are going to see either modest mouse or the antlers) to see this show. anyone else going?

I'm on the G line. I can transfer to the F...and I'm there!! I dig Coney, but I still miss Santa Monica pier.

from Billboard Magazine Jul 17, 1965:
"THREE JOB CHANGES AT CAP. INTL. ...The other two changes involve Richard Rising, appointed Sales Director...Rising is slated to return here from Paris in the fall. With Capitol since 1953, he has been international marketing manager overseas for two years..."

The only way I can access the board on my home computer is to google "smileysmile.net" and, on the second from the top result,  click on 'cache.' I cannot get there, directly.

Neil at Christies sent me scans from the 1999 Sotheby's (New York) catalog where the vendor originally bought the letters. You're gonna love it... can I upload those images from my laptop, or does it have to have a web-based origin ?

Can't wait to see them!

...And what was he doing at the Sands Hotel in Vegas in Dec. '64? That also seemed out of character... Just doesn't smell right.

Yeah, and just what was he doing in AMARILLO, TEXAS?

We're good. 

Well, we're getting there...

One more thing. I don't think Zip Codes were in effect at that time, but the two digit postal codes were used in addresses. For instance the Zip Code for Manhattan Beach is 90266. If those letters were mailed from those distant cities, at that time, they should have been addressed as: ..."Manhattan Beach, 66, California." Those postal code numbers were not often left off addresses (as I recall...what do I know, I was  kid back then).

'Xactly - Brian & Marilyn were married at the LA City Court House, December 7th 1964, about 80 miles down the coast from Santa Barbara. Incidentally, the Miramar Hotel is actually in Montecito, not SB itself.

Also, the cancellations, which would show the date and city,  have been removed from the photos. One envelope has been doctored further, it appears; there is an Asian stamp with Asian characters in the cancellation.

There is some weird stuff in there....

I see them.

I don't see them, either. 5/24 12:29pm EST.

[Surf's Up]

[/quote]

Had the DVD-A of Surf's Up come to pass, we'd have it by now.
[/quote]

Hmm...maybe. I believe that when the Beach Boys' organisation realized that they didn't have 100% of the publishing, the song was scratched.

It is Vosse's articles and it was in TeenSet in the March [or maybe April?] 1967 iss..

Wow.  Thanks for the info.  Knowing Vosse is the author changes the tone of the article for me.  Good to know what angle it was written from.  Much thanks!  Once again, the SS board proves to be an amazing resource.

Also,  Teen Set was a marketing/publicity concoction of Capitol Records.

The youtube video shows Bruce on guitar. The three photos show him playing bass.

I always thought these tracks, which I've never heard, were just a tutorial session with Reynolds teaching Brian some things about arranging, particularly with strings, I guess. "Three Blind Mice" was just an exercise, right?

In my mind, I see these as possibly being backing tracks for The Beach Boys to sing on a TV variety show (Andy Williams, Red Skelton, etc.?) . I could see the group overdubbing the BG vocals and then singing the lead vocal and BG vocals 'live' on a show. I view the Dick Reybolds' singing as a 'guide vocal' for the track. The guide vocal would indicate the entry points of the lead and background vocals.

I don't think the vocals Mr. Reynolds put down were anything but dummy vocals. It is rare to do vocal tracking during an instrumental tracking date.   

The Beach Boys did do some MOR songs on TV at about this time.

Dennis didn't play drums post his accident, which was, I think, May or thereabouts. On "Feel Flows" Woody Thews played percussion and Charles Lloyd flute. Darryl Dragon played keyboards & bass, Eddie Carter guitar. This is top of the head stuff, will get back with a  better response soon.

Wasn't the other Dennis (Dragon) drumming on Beach Boys stuff around this time?

That irritates me every time I hear the song. Fortunately, it's at the very end.

What is it? THE FADE IS TOO SHORT!!! It's the best part of the song ... where it should turn into a wild freak out of a celebration, but we get about a second of it before it's gone. A shiver went down my spine recently when I saw a performance of the song where Carl sang that wild, floating melody right at the end of the single as the band expanded a bit on it. Really captured how great it is.

I guess it was probably done to meet some requirements or something for the radio. Or maybe Brian and Chuck and whoever else just made a mistake?

Chuck Britz wan't making mistakes, nether was Brian. Beach Boy fades were  often short. Whenever I mixed a track,  I often requested a "Beach Boys fade." That's what some people (in LA) called a short fade back in the day.
If you listen to some of the group's alternate material, it is obvious that  they were limited to the amount of fade that was good before players (session guys, or the group) started getting loose...

or hearing Brian say "cut it" or whatever

agree with what you said but still, i feel GV could've used a second or two more.

Oh, for sure. I've always wanted a longer fade on that single.

That irritates me every time I hear the song. Fortunately, it's at the very end.

What is it? THE FADE IS TOO SHORT!!! It's the best part of the song ... where it should turn into a wild freak out of a celebration, but we get about a second of it before it's gone. A shiver went down my spine recently when I saw a performance of the song where Carl sang that wild, floating melody right at the end of the single as the band expanded a bit on it. Really captured how great it is.

I guess it was probably done to meet some requirements or something for the radio. Or maybe Brian and Chuck and whoever else just made a mistake?

Chuck Britz wan't making mistakes, nether was Brian. Beach Boy fades were  often short. Whenever I mixed a track,  I often requested a "Beach Boys fade." That's what some people (in LA) called a short fade back in the day.
If you listen to some of the group's alternate material, it is obvious that  they were limited to the amount of fade that was good before players (session guys, or the group) started getting loose...

What kind of bothers me, though, is how they act like Carnie and Wendy aren't really his children. Of course we all know they are and don't need to be reminded of it whenever reading a biography on Brian, and I know he didn't do all that much in raising them, but even on his site it says, "A father of three..." Yeah...plus his two biological kids.

You know... that's the sort of thing which, if it was Mike, would be added to the 10 Reasons Why Mike Is A Meanie list. Must say I lost a little bit of respect for Brian in reading that.

On the subject of Brian's kids and in the fashion of my awesome "Here's A Mystery" thread: why is Wendy so hot and Carnie so... not?

Wendy looks more like Marilyn. Carnie looks more like mid-70s Brian. 

Wendy looks like her aunt.

Honestly, I don't expect Pleasure Island to ever appear. Don't know why. Instinct.

I hope somethng appears...just not under the title, "Pleasure Island." It's a lame name for an album.

Oh, gosh do I have to choose?  Well then,  it has to be "Love Songs."

Just because I can't choose between Rubber Soul, Seargent Pepper and The White Album.

I wish it was a little bit longer - what's there is pretty good (aside from He Came Down, which is a bit much), but it's a little underwhelming at 8 tracks.

I also wanted to plug the two "outsiders'" songs. I kinda like "Here She Comes"; the drumming is brilliant as usual. And, even though "Hold On Dear Brother" isn't about Brian (it isn't, right?), it sounds like it could be and I enjoy it!

Back then, I wondered if the song referred to Brother Fataar.

As great as some of these songs were, it amazes me that they were also using lyrics like "One more summer, and your dream comes true," and about how Salt Lake City's "got the grooviest kids" who "talk so cool."  This was the year of My Generation, Satisfaction, Help, Turn Turn Turn, etc.--sad that the Beach Boys were still stuck.

In 1965 those lyrics weren't as lame as they may seem today. To a twelve year old each those songs was just as good as the other; they were all cool. Also, these were album tracks, the comparison with those other hugely succsessful songs is unfair.