At the Darien Lake show the music over the soundsystem pre concert and during the break was indeed interesting to listen too. I liked that several Cowsill songs were played - a nice touch.

Also, during Be True To Your School, in the video accompanying the song after pictures of the group in high school several logos from Buffalo local colleges were included. Has that been happening at other stops too?

yeah, they did that at this show also. i think they showed wayne state (my school) and U of M.

i was at this -- it was my first beach boys show, although i saw brian and his band last summer in grand rapids. the  face i made at my girlfriend when they launched into "still cruisin" was made up for when we both started crying during "forever." great show, i'm still impressed they can crank out a show that long every night.

setlist:

Do It Again
Catch A Wave
Hawaii
Don't Back Down
Surfin' Safari
Surfer Girl
Come Go With Me
Why Do Fools Fall In Love?
When I Grow Up To Be A Man
Please Let Me Wonder
Wendy
Getcha Back (David lead)
And Then I Kissed Her
Disney Girls
Isn't It Time
Kiss Me Baby
California Saga (California)
Cottonfields
Be True To Your School
The Ballad of Ole Betsy (Scott Totten lead)
Still Cruisin'
Don't Worry Baby (Jeff lead)
Little Deuce Coupe
409
Shut Down
I Get Around

(intermission)

Pet Sounds (this was SO GOOD, david's guitar sounded amazing)
Add Some Music To Your Day
Heroes & Villains
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Sail On Sailor
All This Is That
That's Why God Made The Radio
In My Room
Forever
God Only Knows
Good Vibrations
California Girls
Help Me Rhonda
Rock & Roll Music
Do You Wanna Dance?
Surfin' USA

encore:

Kokomo
Barbara Ann
Fun Fun Fun

although the time has obviously passed i think william hurt actually would have been a brilliant choice for the cleaned-up, middle-aged brian.

let the wild speculation begin.

picked (chronologically):

Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
Pet Sounds
Wild Honey
Friends
Sunflower
Surf's Up
Holland
Pacific Ocean Blue
Love You
BWPS

summer days is a MONSTER album for me. it seems criminally overlooked compared to today. all in a row -- girl don't tell me, help me rhonda, california girls, let him run wild, you're so good to me. mindblowing.

1, because "my diane" is a 5 and the rest of the tracks are 0s. just listen to the very first note on this album. how could they have possibly listened to that and thought it was fit for release? just soul-crushing and exploitative of brian.

"my diane," on the other hand, is just stunning and also depressing as hell, for different reasons. for BW at this point in his life to just nakedly write, record, and release to the general public such an aching love song about his wife's sister... jesus. you're not fooling anyone having dennis take the vocal, man. the plodding tempo, just slightly wallpaper-y melody, plaintive lyrics, and the context of the song betray a completely broken human being. one of the most singularly emotional recordings i've ever heard.

yeah, that's a completely understandable point of view for (probably the majority here) most people who have purchased this material over and over. i'm just speaking from the point of view of someone who's young enough to have missed out on the original reissue campaign, i only own most of these records on vinyl (thank god, where i can find it).

bumping an old thread because i was thinking about this today -- this seems like a complete no-brainer for the 50th anniversary. when i got into the beach boys about five years ago their twofers were already more or less impossible to find in the average record store. if an artist like elvis costello (who i love, don't get me wrong) can get albums like "goodbye cruel world" rereleased by rhino in magnificently remastered 2-cd packages with liner notes and bonus material it seems criminal that "sunflower" or "friends" hasn't had the same treatment. i have to imagine that this is just whoever owns the rights to the BB's material being stingy.

i know there's the argument someone made above that this is do-able on our own, but there's something special about getting your hands on a package assembled with care and attentiveness like the EC reissues i mentioned above.

just ridiculously good. it's like dennis' own "pet sounds," his soul in a record. the range of emotion it captures is astonishing. the number of "chills" moments is endless:

- the way his vocals come in on river song ("ooh, mighty river...")

- "hats off to the drummer's little lady"

- the affected vocals on the "thoughts of you" bridge

- the tag on "time"

i'll stop before i get carried away. 5/5, one of the best beach boys-related releases.

when brian wilson is fully engaged with material of his choosing, you get beautiful music. that's why this album succeeds. i could talk about how great his voice sounds, how inspired the arrangements are, or how spot-on and in sync with brian the band is, but the first thing i wrote here is really all there is to it, for this and every other beach boys or solo project.

does CK really play on "i was made to love her"? i think i saw that claim somewhere on the internet and it surprised me, from the stripped-down vibe of it i thought wild honey was mostly BBs performances, although i'm sort of illiterate on personnel issues like that so i could be wrong.

i have very mixed feelings about this album. as a younger fan it's a lot easier for me to stomach levine's production -- this is the version of the BBs that was crammed down my throat as a kid, so the twinge of nostalgia makes it go down pretty smooth. as a collection of songs, it's on the same mixed-to-poor scale as the last couple of albums, with the predictable carl highlights ("it's gettin' late" is a JAM, such a great vocal) and a great brian-assisted throwback single in "getcha back". the tracks on the lower end of the spectrum are so hilariously ill-conceived that no one could have produced them except... well, the beach boys in 1985. i'm talking "california calling." "crack at your love" probably falls into this category but jardine singing over that production is just so Gosh Darn hilarious that it's worth it for me as a novelty alone. hearing brian sing "i'm so lonely" and realizing that's the best original cut he could come up with for the album is pretty depressing -- decent melody but it's just such a charmless, flat retread of the whole "love you" naivete.

all in all, pretty much par for the course for the post-rieley BBs, but more divisive than it really should be because of the production. 2 1/2, rounded up to a 3 for nostalgia's sake.

is there anyone who can clarify the situation with the july shows, specifically whether he'll be playing the gershwin material or not? i know someone who would know posted earlier that he won't be, but as someone else pointed out the website seems to indicate otherwise. i'm seeing my first BW show in grand rapids on the 29th and would be thrilled to hear BWRG.

"i'm glad i went, now i'm that much more sure that we're ready."

chills at this moment, without fail.

the ethereal guitar chords on CIFOTM are destroying me lately too.

oh, i was aware of that, i suppose i should have mentioned that i omitted it from this mix because, at least to me, with its whole pedigree (tacked onto the front of the holland tracklist, the lyric committee, the blondie vocal, etc.) while being a great pop song it didn't really fit with the imaginary "wilson brothers" album vibe i was going for here.

thanks for the welcome. surf's up and SOS are two of my favorite beach boys tracks, but i didn't include them on this particular mix because i wanted to focus more on the brand new songs that the bros. wilson were churning out during this period. the way the band was creatively in sync even as brian slipped away never ceases to amaze me.

as for only with you, some days i prefer the rougher dennis vocal version and some days carl's take. i think the song takes on a sweeter, more devotional quality in the latter and is a little more wistful in the former.

first of all, this is my first post here after lurking for a long time so i just want to say thanks to everyone posting for the incredible depth of knowledge i've gained from going through the archives. a lot of really great threads and very knowledgeable people here, being able to gain insight on the beach boys and their careers from the likes of everyone from peter ames carlin to debbie keil is a privilege to say the least.

being a beach boys fan at times seems like an endless "what if" game, and i'm sure there have been threads before to share your own compilations/versions of albums that could have been. recently i've been getting a lot of mileage out of this playlist i made of brian, dennis, and carl tracks from the jack rieley years. i think it hangs together pretty well listening as an album and showcases each brother's personality and artistic growth. (plus, it's more or less dominated by beautiful carl leads.)


1. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
2. Long Promised Road
3. Steamboat
4. Make It Good
5. The Trader
6. Only With You
7. Funky Pretty
8. Feel Flows
9. Marcella
10. Cuddle Up
11. A Day In The Life Of A Tree
12. 'Til I Die