Thanks Rocker. The work you did confirms that there is a lot of that stuff around, some of it very good. Good job on the covers!

Isn't Stacey a unisex name?

Edit: Sorry HeyJude. Clicked on the name and the resulting page stated that the author is a "she", indeed. By the way, she seems to have good credentials too.

Edit again: I read the NPP review. It's middling, as you say, but I don't mind middling reviews as long as they are so well written. In fact, I re-evaluated her review of the Mike book, as its exaggerated style is obviously voluntary, and probably modeled after the book itself, as it has been suggested.

Thanks, Rab, but I convinced the already convinced.

I still can't wrap my mind around such a behaviour. Amazing.

Well, some people like BS more than others.

I agree that the author's tone comes out as exaggerated, though almost surely sincere.
One sentence I disagree with: "There was the potential of a better, more thoughtful book here."
No, sadly there was no potential.

I guess the most underrated aspect of Brian's work are his little side-projects, like covers in tribute albums and backing vocals in other artists' songs. Some of those turn out to be real gems: the first coming to my mind are "Listen To Me", "Wanderlust", "Hand On My Shoulder".
Someone should compile and issue a "Pet Projects II" album.
Is there anybody having a complete or near complete list of these side-projects?

Imho the isolated BW track is one of the best things Brian ever did, and I guess David Leaf would agree. Pity that Anton Fig didn't muster the "courage" to ask for a FIVE part harmony.

Thanks Quincy!
I made that long post to try and resume, in just one place, what I think on those matters. Though now I'm sorry I did, as it was totally redundant. Either people alread get those things (like most here), or they are delusional, or they have agendas, or both of the latter.

And I who was hoping for an article about the Tannerin...

Poor Brian. That he managed to do anything good in such a milieu, let alone what he actually did, is nothing short of a miracle.

The "Vege-Tables" Soniclovenoize put together in his "1967 Smile" mix works perfectly for me, and "With Me Tonight" is very much its own song.
But... is Vega-Tables a simple song? To me, with all its alternate versions and sections, it seems almost as mysterious as H & V. Even how it should be really spelled is a mystery!

There are several annoying "narratives" going on in the wacky world of BB fandom.

1) "Brianistas". That it could ever become a sort of insult is absurd in itself. We all owe to Brian a world of music rating among the best ever, done overcoming problems one would not wish upon their worst enemy. He has delighted legions of people, and consistently been a beneficial infuence on many of our lives. While I am comfortably typing this, he is out in the world working his a** off for us fans, again overcoming stage fright, anxiety, fatigue, and his pains. On top of all, he comes out as humble and unassuming as possible.
Do we "Brianistas" think that Brian can do no wrong? No. That he walks on water? No. That all the other Beach Boys are artistically negligible? No. Brian has been and is discussed in depth, here and elsewhere, and not everything is praise, even by the so-called "Brianistas".
But yes, we love Brian, and with reason. He is not only a musical genius. He is a HERO... our hero.

2) "Mike haters". WE DON'T HATE MIKE LOVE. I don't think anybody in this board hates Mike, not even OSD and Smile Brian: their anti-Mike attitude seems more like a put-on to me, a voluntary exaggeration bordering at times on self-parody. After all, some of the reasons I listed for loving Brian are also valid for Mike, up to a point. And "hate" is a big word, which I reserve for those who effectively damage and ruin other people's lives, like UE bureaucrats for example.
Let's rather say that even many ex-fans of his (like me) can't stand any more his relentless self-serving, his attempts to rewrite history, his always harping on Wilson drug abuse and sundry other things, his going after Melinda.
Said that, there's a current thread here about Mike's best vocal moments, started by Century Deprived, who is surely considered a "Brianista". Most of the "regulars" here have contributed. That's how we hate Mike.

3) The bans. A handful of people have been banned, yes. 3381 members, and growing, haven't. First as a lurker then as a member, I have followed the "history" before those bans, and feel free to say that they had it coming. In some cases they were practically asking for it. Sometimes there were specific, very serious, reasons for the ban. In other cases, there was a history of years of trolling and sistematic board disruption.
Sure, the mods have become harsher lately. Imho, if anything they had been too lenient before. There is a self-defence argument too: namely, this board and its mods have been subjected to rather nauseating campaigns against.
Be as it may, with the "new" policy the board is healthier and friendlier than ever before.

Interesting. It'll be interesting to see if Darian stays on for the rest of the dates.

COMMENT:  An update of information that I've been able to glean here and there . . .

Billy Hinsche doing good, but will stay in LA for needed rest after his hospital visit.

Gary Griffen (who was in Love & Mercy as one of the studio musicians) brought back to cover for Billy's absence.

Darian Sahanaja has re-joined the band. He had been involved with a prior Disney commitment.

DON'T HESITATE TO SEE THESE SHOWS. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO GO ON FOREVER. AND THEY ARE WELL WORTH THE PRICE OF A TICKET !!

~swd 

Thanks Stephen for the info and for reassuring us about Billy.

Thanks, OSD, nice reading. And no, you could never have written it. No emoticons!

But then, I like almost all of Mike's vocal contributions. I'd only wish for many more samples of the wonderful soft timbre he uses on "Meant For You".

6. Lost Tones/Tune X vocals
- This was brought forth by another member from this forum... He alleges there were vocal sessions for this song... I would like more insight on this topic, if possible. Could anyone confirm this claim?

I'm gonna veer this off-topic for a second. A guy recorded a phenomenal mash-up of Tune-X and Little Pad back in 2000. The lyrics/melody of Little Pad fit perfectly over Tune-X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAf8zavRG8

If the Beach Boys recorded something remotely similar to this I would have to change my list of top 10 favorite Beach Boys songs to include such a track.

I just was able to listen to this! FANTASTIC, thanks for sharing!

Melinda rescued Brian from a snake-pit.  There was more than 1 snake in Brian's past...  Snakes which negatively contributed HUGELY to Brian's illness and free-fall.  Having rescued Brian [with the IMPORTANT help of Carl and Audree. et al] she was not about to allow history to repeat itself in even small ways.  This '1/2 talent' who really hadn't contributed anything meaningfully creative to ANYONE'S music projects in decades was going to be telling folk what to do and how it was going to happen?

Not!!!

Good for YOU Melinda.  Well and properly done.

I tend to wonder sometimes if Melinda is secretly holding half of this forum's posters at gunpoint.  :-)  Just an observation.  

As usual, I can speak only for myself. Nobody is holding me at gunpoint. I just can't help noticing that Brian never talks ill of anybody, at least in public. Nor does Melinda. Nor does Al, or anybody else except... The mudslinging always comes from one, and only one, source. That's, very simply, the truth. The beginning and end of it, in this context.
No, no gunpoint. Just seeing the obvious, and saying it. As someone said, it's no rocket science. Requires just a bit of honesty. The rest is just smoke and mirrors.

Well said!

If I had not already made up my mind about not even looking at Mike's book, let alone buying it, I'd have made it up now. The guy still manages to surprise me, and not in a good way. I also wonder at most people's patience here. Mine is below zero, by now.

The problem is not Mike forgetting details about an episode. As Amy said, that's more than understandable at 75, and maybe at any age. The problem is that he never forgets putting the blame of everything on others (usually a Wilson, with appearances by Al Jardine).

If we are parsing sentences, I'll point out that Century did not just write "a (flawed) human" but "a (flawed) human thing to have happen". So flawed is not an adjective for human, but flawed and human are adjectives for thing.
In other words, Century was being judgemental to a thing.

Smile would have been surely cheered and cherished by musicophiles in all the world, and would have inspired many musicians, but I doubt it would have been a big global success with the general public, or would have steered pop/rock music away from its course. As for now, it would probably be a contender with Pet Sounds for best album ever.

But, what I really think is that Smile was "the amazing album too wonderful to be heard", how it was defined in a review of the Good Vibrations box.

I think Mike Love had every reason to be annoyed, put off, etc. by Melinda injecting herself into the day to workings of the band.  It was not her place to do it.  And yes, that statement, that she's Mike's partner, whether she said it to him or Mike's wife, indicates that Brian is controlled.

Oh my. Melinda is Brian's wife AND business partner (what does BriMel mean?), so I guess more than entitled to "inject" (?) herself. And by your logic, I am controlling LostArt because I intervened on his behalf some posts ago.

[“Yeah. She once told me that ‘Brian’s not your partner. I’m your f****ng partner.’ That’s what she said,”]

Hey Jude - I am dealing strictly with the contents of the book.  

Okay, filledeplage.  Since you have read the entire book, I have a question for you.

In the CBS news interview, Mike says this:

“Yeah. She once told me that ‘Brian’s not your partner. I’m your f****ng partner.’ That’s what she said,” Love said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/beach-boys-mike-love-opens-up-drama-with-cousin-brian-wilson/

Another poster who I assume has also read the book (I could be wrong, that's why I'm asking you) says that Melinda didn't speak these words to Mike.  Rather, Melinda was speaking to Mike's wife and the exchange was more along these lines:

Melinda "storms" to Jacquelyne, says Ambha can't sing a Brian lead
Mike's wife replies, "Mike already discussed the matter with his partner, Brian.”
And Melinda answers, “Mike’s not his fucking partner. I’m his fucking partner.”

Two very different accounts of what I assume to be the same event.  
One version says Melinda told Mike that Brian wasn't Mike's partner, and that she (Melinda) was Mike's partner.
The other version says that Melinda told Mike's wife that Mike's not Brian's partner, and that she (Melinda) was Brian's partner.
Which of these two versions is in Mike's book?

Cheers

Did you really hope to get a real answer to a question by FdP?

I was hoping.  Not sure why.  She does say that neither Brian nor Mike was there for this little dust up, so I assume that it was Melinda and Mike's wife having the conversation.

So, by inference, it seems you got your answer after all. Well, congrats!