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| March 28, 2024, 06:15:34 PM |
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5851
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Had it
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on: July 19, 2008, 07:35:35 PM
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Not wanting to blame Brian, but some folks do nurture psychodrama around themselves, as a way of getting folks to pay attention to them, give them what they want. (I should know -- I've done it myself.) And I think Brian does that sometimes, but I don't have to be party to it if I don't want to be.
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5852
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Had it
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on: July 19, 2008, 06:52:08 PM
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This is not one of those, "I'm never going to post again, goodbye all," posts.
But after seeing the eruptions over at the blue board, and after watching the way things seem to be moving in the world of Mr. Wilson (TLOS = great, everything else = dubious without further info), I am henceforth retiring as an armchair psychiatrist or defender of Brian the man.
He's a 65-year-old adult and can surely handle himself fine, whatever the situation. If not, there will be many others to do the job. He has had a difficult life, and I sympathize, but his issues, past and present, can't be solved by exhaustive message board posts. I'm sure he'll be fine.
How much psychic energy have so many of us expended on this man? Whew.
I will, however, continue to listen to and enjoy, and comment on the music. That's what I have liked, that's what I continue to like, and that's hopefully what I'll like in the future. I will still defend that.
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5854
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: POB-Legacy Edition
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on: July 18, 2008, 09:28:26 PM
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I believe the legacy edition is the one that unfolds like a gatfold record album, with the addition of the unfolded letter from Dennis. There is apparently a regular jewel box edition that is just making its way into stores.
Edit: The actual answer is below.
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5856
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian's New Album Cover
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on: July 18, 2008, 02:33:18 PM
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Brian -- It absolutely is the real thing. I have it in front of me now, and the promos have been bopping around the web for a few years now (presumably as record critics clear out their collections). That art is actually inside the released Imagination liner notes, only reproduced quite small.
And incredible in a good or bad way? Personally, I've always felt it was heads and shoulders above the released CD cover. But it doesn't quite reflect the music, I suppose.
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5859
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian's New Album Cover
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on: July 16, 2008, 08:10:00 AM
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Um ... ya'll have a ways to go as graphic designers. Just saying.
BW88 the best? Painfully bland. The more recent covers (since London came on board) have been at least decent -- the shiny stuff makes the XMas album, and that has seldom translated in an online version. The Smile cover rocks. The embossing, the fat white box -- it gives the impression of being something fun and special. And it is.
Those of you who say you can do better in two minutes in photoshop -- let's see it. No, really, let's see it.
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5860
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Lowest point in the BB career?
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on: July 15, 2008, 02:21:51 PM
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Honestly, I don't think "Kokomo" sounds like classic BB recordings at all. No falsetto. No thick harmonies. No orchestral (or even Chuck Berry-style) backup. And Mike never sounded that creepy in any 60s hit. And if you don't like the word "creepy," substitute "smooth and soft."
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5861
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Smiley Smile Stuff / Concert Reviews / Re: BW and band in Hampton Beach, NH
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on: July 14, 2008, 11:45:59 AM
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These are my expanded thoughts on last night.
Rock band
In his later years, Ray Charles would appear in one of three formats for his live shows. With an orchestra, with a jazz band, or with a trio.
The show last night was Brian's version of a trio show. (The big Smile and TLOS events, complete with strings, are his versions of Ray's orchestra shows. The basic dozen-member shows are his jazz band. This was his trio.)
"The Magnificent Seven," Jeff called them.
The full band -- or at least a version of it -- will be back soon, certainly for the fall tour. But it was thrilling to see the small band, at least for me.
This was my fifth BW show. I first saw him live in Denver, Colo, in 2000. This was the first of several "Pet Sounds" live tours, the one that featured a Van Dyke Parks-arranged overture. That was a magical show, if a little stiff.
My second concert was his summer tour with Paul Simon, 2001 in Camden, NJ. A looser set, a shorter setlist, but with songs from Smile. And Brian seemed to be having a good time.
My third? The Smile show in Tampa, FL, in 2004. There, Brian was digging the music, but his band -- for once -- were the tired ones. But Smile as a performance piece was great, and I loved the unplugged --> electic --> symphonic format of the show.
Fourth show was another Pet Sounds once, this in 2006 in Boston, with Al joining the band. A rocking show, with a bit of setlist atrophy, but Al clearly made everyone step up.
So this is the fifth. The first show I've seen without Darian or Taylor or Jim or Bob or Paul. But you know what? They frigging rocked.
Two guitars, a bass, a keyboard, a drummer and a percussionist. That was it. And in front, Brian, singing like a man possessed.
Make no mistake -- BW can still sing. That voice cuts through the harmony like a knife through butter. I don't think I've heard him sound better. His duet with Jeff on "Then I Kissed Her?" great. The two big ballads -- GOK and Southern California? Impeccable.
Brian was not at his most animated. He looked tired. Exhausted actually -- with this being the third show in three straight days. But neither did he look uncomfortable. He was there with a job to do -- and that was to sing. And that's what he did.
Without a prompter. Another first for me.
Did he flub up more often than he does with a teleprompter? Sure. ("She was gonna be my man" in Help Me Rhonda. Heh.) Did that mean he looked around a lot more and got distracted? Sure. Did that make you want to hug him? Yep.
A tight little show. A tight little greatest hits show.
And there's the one real problem. The setlist. Oh lord, the setlist. I have seen more imaginative setlists on Beach Boys greatest hits collections. It was probably the right one for the crowd, but a couple of less obvious choices would have been appreciated. The deepest we got into rarities was "Add Some Music." Well, and the TLOS tracks.
But somehow, by the end of the show, the wonky setlist didn't matter. This was a rock show, by a rock band. They pulled it off. And now my ears hurt.
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5862
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Smiley Smile Stuff / Concert Reviews / Re: BW and band in Hampton Beach, NH
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on: July 14, 2008, 11:42:07 AM
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Tony ... this is what I know of the band.
Darian has a job working for Disney, so he can't make every show, just most of them. He will be back soon.
Taylor had some other prior commitments, but she's still in the band.
Mickey D'Amico will be coming back to fill in for Jim Hines, who has departed. But in the meantime, we get Scott.
A new bassist has been drafted, I hear, but until he shows up we get Probyn. (Bob Lizik departed along with Jim, for reasons that no one knows.)
Paul Mertens could well be back too, since he arranged the TLOS string and horn parts. But I haven't heard anything definitive on him.
Since this is kind of a stripped-down hits tour, we get this small and unusual combo. I have to say, with the exception of Gary Griffin for Darian, I really kind of like it.
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5863
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Smiley Smile Stuff / Concert Reviews / BW and band in Hampton Beach, NH
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on: July 13, 2008, 08:41:50 PM
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Just back from Hampton Beach.
Quick hits.
-- Seven-member band, including Brian. Scott on drums, Probyn on bass, Gary G. on keys, Jeff and Nick on guitars. -- Quick and dirty hits show, about 1 hour 40 minutes. -- Goin' Home and Southern California the teases from TLOS. -- Brian in excellent voice (as good as any time I've seen him live, and this is the 5th), sans prompter. -- Brian not especially animated, although he lightened up as the show progressed. -- A much more rock-band sounding show than you might expect. -- Killer GOK performance. Afterward, Brian stood up and bowed.
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5866
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: brianwilson.com - New TLOS VIdeo
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on: July 12, 2008, 08:07:37 PM
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There has never -- NEVER -- been the understanding that the entire OCA album had its vocals recorded in one day. This is patently ludicrous to begin with. I was a fan at the time, following the press in Billboard, etc., and it was never put that way.
Van Dyke said, when talking about the title track (which was all he planned on having Brian sing originally), that Brian came in and finished the vocals in a day. They had time for a chicken salad sandwich, he said (or something similar.)
The source for OCA having Brian-arranged vocals is the Timothy White book. The album had not been released at that time. The publicity for the album itself was pretty straightforward, in that Brian said that Van Dyke told him what parts to sing throughout the album.
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