Thank you everyone for the insight! I've included a closeup of the track listing, which is hopefully a bit more legible. I noticed that it matches the total number of songs which were eventually included on Surf's Up.  Is that a coincidence, or could that just be the number they were shooting for? The asterisks confuse me a little. Would the three songs with two asterisks possibly indicate where potential singles might be placed? With the final track listing, this coincides with Long Promised Road, Student Demonstration Time, and Surf's Up.



Emdeeh, so this transparency is possibly an intermediary between, say, a production drawing and the end result (whether a trade ad or album cover)? The dimensions are 12"x15". Would that size have any bearing on the finished product, whether trade ad or album cover?

When examining the transparency from the back, I noticed reddish-brown marks across the letters. I'm not totally sure what these might be. Some adhesive for the letters? Someone's child getting a hold of it for an art project? A code to be deciphered?  These marks are barely visible from the front with the help of some light and can be viewed in the attached image in my first post. I have included a mirrored image of the back below. I apologize if the images haven't turned out very clear; I am not very familiar with posting images on message boards.

Last year, I purchased a Landlocked transparency from Rockaway Records in Los Angeles. It is about the size of an album cover, but slightly taller. I have included a scanned image of the piece; it was larger than my scanner, so I had to merge two images together to show the whole thing.



The item’s listing said that it was original test artwork for an album cover created in 1970. I’ve only been a Beach Boys fan for a few years now, but I am somewhat familiar with the story of Landlocked: a working title for Surf’s Up/a collection of potential tracks for a follow-up album to Sunflower. From what I’ve gathered, Landlocked was never intended as an album. The listing specified that the song titles on the bottom right were only intended to show where the final track listing would appear on the cover, having been pulled from The Best of Michael Parks album from 1971, not which songs would actually appear on the album. I’m unsure of the significance of the asterisks next to the song titles.

I’ve seen this cover on multiple fan albums/mixes, but I have been unable to figure out exactly where it came from or who created it. I’ve read that the art might be from a hoax perpetuated to show off a “lost” Beach Boys album. I’d really appreciate some expert insight: is this test artwork or a fan fabrication? If it was a working title for Surf’s Up, was it considered long enough for test cover art to be created? Either way, I’ve always been fond of the stark design of the cover and have it hanging up on my wall; it’s a nice piece of Beach Boys history, though I’m not sure what type of history that might be.

Mr. Desper,

Thank you for all your hard work putting together your Study Videos. I really enjoy hearing the stories of how songs were recorded, what equipment was used, and how the often densely-layered sounds were mixed. I look forward to watching your video on Surf’s Up!

I have a question about Ecology, one of Dennis Wilson’s songs. I haven’t heard that much concrete information about the song and I was hoping you could set the record straight. I’ve heard Ecology described as SMiLE-like, in that it was recorded in segments to be assembled later. I understand that you used some of Dennis’ song segments for a presentation on quadraphonic recording. Were Ecology fragments used in that presentation, or was the music unrelated? Was the song meant for release on Dennis' first attempted solo record, or were the segments created solely for use in the presentation? I heard some fragments claimed to be from Ecology, but other listeners said the order was incorrect, some segments were missing, and parts didn’t belong to the song at all. Was the song ever completed and, if so, how many segments did it have?

I ask all this because I listened to a fragment titled ‘All of My Love’ and got chills from the wall of sound backing vocals. There’s an undeniable energy and passion in his voice that really draws the listener in. I would love to hear this song officially released someday.

Mr. Desper,

I have greatly enjoyed watching your study videos since I first encountered them recently. It is captivating to read in detail how songs were constructed, arranged, and mixed. I have also loved listening to your remasters of tracks from Friends and Sunflower; with your notes, it feels like listening to these songs for the first time! As an amateur musician, it has been very educational reading the technical details of how different equipment was used and the process of mixing a song to make it just how you want it.

I recently heard the Beach Boys song 'My Solution', recorded on Halloween 1970. It is definitely one of their most unique, unconventional songs. Do you have any stories about the recording of this song? Was it considered for an album release, or was it more of a spur-of-the-moment, novelty song?

Thank you for all your effort in creating your study videos. I'm looking forward to your video on Surf's Up!

Who says "Hi" at the beginning of 'The Trader'? I assume it is one of the Beach Boys' kids, but have never heard any mention of it.

Great stuff, man! I look forward to each of your uploads; So much great music I have never heard before or heard arranged in such a great way. Break Away and So Tough are wonderful mixes.

Hi all, I’m Bardley. After lurking the board for a few weeks, I decided to make an account and join! I’m looking forward to joining the discussion here.

I’m a newer fan of the Beach Boys, only listening to them intently a little over a year ago. Growing up, I was more of a Beatles/classic rock fan. Not that I actively disliked the Beach Boys, but I just didn’t give them much thought. While snowed in my apartment at college last year, I came across the story of SMiLE and wanted to listen to the mythical unreleased album I previously had heard nothing about. I was hooked after the first listening and quickly ordered copies of The SMiLE Sessions and Pet Sounds, listening to both on repeat for months. I loved the intricate vocal harmonies that seemed otherworldly in their beauty and the sincerity behind the lyrics of Pet Sounds.

For a band that has been around for half a century, I knew next to nothing about them, of how the band had transitioned from surf rock into the experimentation of SMiLE, or what exactly they did after the project collapsed. Love & Mercy hit theaters right around the time I really became interested in the band and Brian Wilson and I absolutely loved it. Since then, I’ve been slowly moving through their catalog and really enjoying it.

At the moment, I would say that my five favorite Beach Boys albums are:
1. Pet Sounds
2. SMiLE/The SMiLE Sessions
3. Sunflower
4. Friends
5. The Beach Boys Today!

Around the time I started listening intently to the band, I began toying around with music in my spare time and working on vocal covers. I recently created a Sound Cloud account and have added some music at https://soundcloud.com/bardley-723912877. I performed a vocal cover of “Surfer Girl,” doing each of the parts myself as a first test for myself in recording multiple vocal parts. A few months ago, I covered “God Only Knows” in the barbershop quartet arrangement featured in Bioshock: Infinite, performing each part myself. I recently finished a cover of “A Day in the Life of a Tree,” doing all the instrumentation myself.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback!