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- Latest Member: bunny505
| September 06, 2025, 12:40:49 AM |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: SMiLE was ready in 1967 - discuss
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on: July 31, 2025, 03:21:01 AM
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And I love VDP since my father bought "Smiley Smile" in 1967. I was just a kid, but spent many nights listening to that magic music on headphomes and dreaming about what could be happening in and around that little house on the cover. What were those oh so menacing Wind Chimes after? Somebody's soul? (Maybe you get why I don't care much for how many copies records sell.)
And that extremely mysterious ("wraithlike" as he has been called) Van Dyke Parks just added to that spell. Somehow, I knew that an important part of that magic had come from him.
Smiley Smile was the very first BB album I bought , in either late 1995 or early 1996 ! I had just purchased BW88 the day before on cassette for 99 cents and that was my next purchase! |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / The Timelessness of Brian and The Beach Boys
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on: July 04, 2025, 06:01:44 AM
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I’ve been coping with Brian’s passing by throwing myself into music, and my band and I are recording covers of some of our favorite Beach Boys songs (our distributor is handling the licensing). Not saying this to shill, but rather bring up how doing this is giving me personally an even greater appreciation for what Brian and the Boys accomplished. We’re releasing Til I Die on the 14th, and I took the Stephen Desper arrangement but using synths (including app versions of the VCS3 and the Jen SX1000)… and it made me realize something. Brian’s music is such that if it had been brand new in any decade following using the current production for the period, they’d still be smashes without changing anything except the instruments/ recording technology. The Beach Boys could’ve been huge as a new pop punk band. If they were a new band now, they’d be the quintessential indie pop rock band sharing the bill with Tame Impala (the amount of covers of All I Wanna Do by younger artists the past few years is a good example).
You know what’s cool? My daughter (recent high school grad) is Gen Z and I was shocked when I realized that they’re held in high regard , and even stuff my generation and before made fun of (the Kokomo and Full House period) is looked at with a certain charm . It makes me feel like as the years go by and the more embarrassing stuff drifts further in the past, the legend will only grow.
Maybe…just maybe… the ones who have been long term fans like us are too “close” to be truly objective about the band’s place in history. Many of us would pine for The Beach Boys to be reappraised and held to the same status as the Beatles, especially those of us who got messed with growing up for being BB fans. At some point, it happened without us even realizing it.
I know this… Brian’s up there with Carl and Dennis beaming with satisfaction knowing the legacy is secure.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has passed away!!!!
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on: June 27, 2025, 04:22:44 AM
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Wow, he was in really bad shape! :-( Yeah that was very hard to read. Seems like a fair bit of it stemmed from his kidneys , and that he’d been sick for longer than we knew. Just occurred to me we still don’t know what happened to Melinda. My heart goes out to their kids…I lost both my parents about the same length apart I think Melinda’s passing has been surprisingly undiscussed. There are a lot of mysteries. — Why wasn’t she seen in public after 2015? — What role did or didn’t she have in BW’s career after that point? — What actually happened with BW’s bad back surgery in 2018/19? — Did BW face challenges a lot earlier than anyone suspected? I suspect a lot of things went on over these final years that we may learn in times to come. And some will likely be really challenging to take. I noticed that Melinda disappearing from the public eye , so to speak, coincided with Brian’s decline in live performance. After 2015 (which was an AMAZING tour), things seemed different. The other thing, and I thought about this when it was announced Brian had dementia and I just thought about it again today… I’m wondering if that time when Brian had to stop a tour because he was having mental issues…I’m seriously wondering if that was when he was first diagnosed. I think that might explain why in Long Promised Road he didn’t remember Jack Rieley passing away, or having listened to Pacific Ocean Blue before. |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has passed away!!!!
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on: June 26, 2025, 11:26:19 PM
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Wow, he was in really bad shape! :-( Yeah that was very hard to read. Seems like a fair bit of it stemmed from his kidneys , and that he’d been sick for longer than we knew. Just occurred to me we still don’t know what happened to Melinda. My heart goes out to their kids…I lost both my parents about the same length apart |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Endless Harmony Board has banned me
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on: June 26, 2025, 01:56:15 AM
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Yes, I too read AGD's absolute ROASTING of someone who suggested he would like the remaining Beach Boys to overdub/finish Brian's unreleased material. I was appalled!
Their holier-than-thou attitude that everyone's opinion is respected is just ridiculous. They were not nice to Mike, on NUMEROUS occasions! Whoever the poor bloke was that AGD turned on didn't deserve that in the least!
And of course from what I saw the moderators didn't say anything to AGD about being nice to people! (Nor ban him, like they did me.)
And that girl who came on this thread and said nasty things about posters here who have been nothing but thoughtful and pleasant as far as I've seen is just completely wacko.
And most people over there probably still think the board doesn't ban people, as I saw a recent poster say!
(BTW, I can go over there and "read only" if I don't try to login. That's how I've read a few things even though I've been banned. And I've only gone back after Brian's passing, just to see if there was anything worth reading over there.)
In the entire time you’ve been here I’ve never seen you post anything that would raise an eyebrow, much less deserve a ban! I can’t even fathom that. Regardless though , recent events have shown just how insignificant this board vs board stuff is . |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has passed away!!!!
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on: June 21, 2025, 05:07:38 PM
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I’m getting extremely angry about the AI generated click bait content we’re getting on YouTube … I just had a really tacky one show up in my feed showing “Brian” in a coffin (and the AI was modeled on a photo from about 2011 on top of that ). Fucking sick.
On a brighter note, my daughter reminded me of the show she went to in 2015 with us when she was going on 8 and we talked with the band after the show (we still have the setlist Paul gave her) . It occurred to us that both Brian and Rodriguez (who opened for him on that tour) are no longer with us , along with Nicky Wonder as well.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has passed away!!!!
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on: June 20, 2025, 05:45:25 PM
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The Beach Boys, “Please Let Me Wonder”
This reminds me that Brian and band played Please Let Me Wonder when I saw them in 2015, and it was *spectacular.* It's one of my favorite deeper cuts from that mid-60s era, and it was perfect for Brian's later/mature voice. Every word rung with emotion. I'm sure there are similar clips on YouTube if you dig for them. I agree, that song always resonated with me and has been a favorite going back to when my dad got an 8-track cartridge of "Best Of Vol. 2" and I used to play it all the time as a kid. And it resonated with Brian too, I think he was very proud of what he accomplished with that song in particular and how it turned out and enjoyed playing it for the fans. And that's why I think this clip at the link I'm posting is so damn special, and one of my favorite Brian moments of all time. I was not at this show, but someone thankfully captured it aiming their camera at the video screen to get the close-ups of Brian singing it, and the texture that the lo-fi video creates visually makes it even more of an experience. Besides the band simply nailing it that night, watch as Brian "conducts" the band during that glorious instrumental break, and you can tell how much he's digging hearing them play it and hearing that arrangement come together. And...(for those who get the reference here)...that instrumental break is PERFECT as-is, one of the best things he ever wrote and arranged, and it absolutely DID NOT need lyrics added to it decades later to make it 25% better. But the most sublime moment in that performance is at the very end, please watch this until the last note! Brian for whatever reason that night - maybe he was just inspired in that moment, maybe with the 50th tour coming to a close he wanted to do something extra - well, he rears back at the end and lets go with a high falsetto note that sounds like 1964 Brian hitting that note. It's amazing for fans who thought that particular voice of Brian's, one of the best and most identifiable sounds in the last 75 years of popular music, would not be heard again. But there it is. And the whole thing came full circle for me with this short clip when it appeared. Please Let Me Wonder, live from the 50th anniversary tour, September 27, 2012 at Royal Albert Hall. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsB3s9xDzRIMy favorite moment during that tour was at the show I went to at the Woodlands; during I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times, Jeff pretty much sat it out and let Brian absolutely nail the sh*t out of the lead, and when it ended, he held out “times” and had it end on a pretty good falsetto. Other great live memories… 2004 - during the cigarette lighter joke , my bandmate/friend Raymond and I yelled out “but we just quit smoking!” … Brian actually heard us and responded back “G*ddamit good for you ! (Slightly quieter voice) Killed my joke but out fucking standing” During Marcella he left before the end of the song and the mic picked up him saying “I got to peeeeee” as he sprinted off stage faster than I’d ever see him move When he strapped on the bass during the encore he acted like it was a rifle and “shot” Jeff and Scott, which was so hilariously random that I’m making it a point to do that myself if I ever do a live show again 2015- before “One Kind Of Love” - “This next song was in a movie . Can you believe it? A movie l! (Pause) AND it was about me” |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has passed away!!!!
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on: June 20, 2025, 12:56:05 AM
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It's more great work from Jason Fine, and that playlist is fascinating enough that it deserves scrutiny from all--and some annotation as well.
Jason does a little of that, but he knew not to go too deep into it in the context of what was called for at this time.
When we are a little further from Brian's passing (can it really be only eight days since it happened?) we might want to create a thread for it, where folks can examine it--either as whole, or in segments--or even individually. I think it's filled with both confirmation of things we know about Brian, but it also contains a number of surprises in terms of what's included (and what's not).
(Of course, it isn't a playlist built via painstaking reflection: it was more spontaneous in nature. But that's also interesting (and pertinent).
To that end, I post the playlist here for ease of access.
The Ronettes, "Be My Baby"
George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord”
The Rolling Stones, “My Obsession”
Bee Gees, “Too Much Heaven”
The Ronettes, “Baby, I Love You”
The Beach Boys, “The Night Was So Young”
Elton John, “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
The Beatles, “Strawberry Fields Forever”
The Beach Boys, “Please Let Me Wonder”
Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”
The Beach Boys, “Mt. Vernon & Fairway”
Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Proud Mary”
Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man”
Dennis Wilson, “Pacific Ocean Blues”
Buddy Holly, “Rave On”
The Crystals, “Then He Kissed Me”
The Beach Boys, “It’s OK”
I made a duplicate of that playlist in Apple Music! For what it’s worth I recently found out Brian had actually covered “Someone Saved My Life Tonight “ live which blew my mind. It’s not the best performance of it (it was one of those times where Jeff was doubling Brian and they both were a bit off pitch ) but he sang it with a lot of feeling |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has passed away!!!!
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on: June 17, 2025, 03:55:19 AM
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Nothing but respect for what you have gone through Billy C. Stay strong. 🙏 Not sure if this has come up, but Mike says he visited Brian just 3 weeks before he passed, sang for him a bit. If this is the case it’s good their last interaction was positive. (about 2:45 in) https://youtu.be/9BwgYSJF0rs?si=KD3clCs-07OdcrN5I notice that Mike’s take on seeing Brian is very similar to Al’s… I’m wondering if Brian knew on some level this was the last time he’d see them. I’m glad they were able to have one final good moment with him. |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has passed away!!!!
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on: June 17, 2025, 12:29:54 AM
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I’m struggling… no way to sugarcoat it. There was a time where I wrote more about Brian in a day than I did anything else in a month, at least . Those who have been around the BW online for the past 30 years know exactly what I mean. Yet I find myself at a loss for words right now . Been wanting to say exactly what Brian meant to me but it’s hard. I’ve buried both parents and lost two babies and this ranks up there . But I gotta try.
It’s no hyperbole for me to say if it wasn’t for me discovering Brian’s music, I wouldn’t be here right now. That’s putting it mildly. But even more than his music, I was a fan of Brian Wilson as a person. The man was my hero, full stop, and a huge inspiration to me on a personal level. He was a fighter. As he loved to say, he was a Wilson… he had a lot of will. A pure force of nature to be reckoned with, for sure, but also one of kindest, gentle people the world has ever known. I’m so blessed to have lived in this timeline with him in it, and the world is a little darker now without him in it.
I love you Brian, and I will miss the hell out of you .
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