Well, we've had Pet Sounds Sessions, Pet Sounds Live, so might as well have a companion Pet Sounds studio re-recording. I don't think we'll have to wait 20 years for it,  though, because they will also want to release Pet Sounds - the Duets, where Brian sings the songs with current pop stars. I can't wait to hear Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande bless us with their versions of those classic songs.

As another poster said, this sounds almost plausible, but one thing that reassures me is that No Pier Pressure was already practically a duets album in its way.

The Landlocked version of 'Big Sur' is a lot lot lot lot better than the Holland version.

Is that really an unpopular opinion?

doinnothin, if there was a "like" function on this board, I'd click it on every one of your posts.

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't feel like I own a song that I downloaded.  But, if I can hold a CD in my hold while listening to it, it feels more real. 

You're not in the minority, or at least you shouldn't be. Legally speaking, you don't actually own a song you've downloaded. All you paid for was a license to access the file for as long as the provider allows you to. If people think they "own" their iTunes library, they should check out the Terms of Service.

As Century Deprived says: "imagine what it will be like to wear a Beach Boys shirt in the city of San Francisco, for example, after this inauguration.  It might be like wearing a confederate flag shirt while walking down the streets of Compton." - he's not exaggerating. If you people really want your favorite band associated with this bullshit then so be it. But, Trump politics aside, I want Mike to keep his little touring band as far away from this nightmare as possible. Frankly I'd still like to tell people I like the Beach Boys without the threat of getting punched or irritation thrown my way.

It's funny, in another politically-laced thread that was moved to the sandbox a few months ago (wrongly, IMO), I predicted that at some point being a fan of the Beach Boys will be code for 'racist.' That prediction was based on the growing notion of the Boys as "white dad music," which in our increasingly PC world is automatically categorized on the racist spectrum.  I was castigated for that prediction by some of the very posters on this thread.

I maintain that, given the ascendancy of progressive/PC culture, any older white band or artist will be regarded as racist to a degree.  Mike playing at a Trump inauguration will seal that deal for the Beach Boys.  This is one reason I hope they decline-- and soon.

That said, I continue to be fascinated by the psychological phenomena I'm seeing in this thread. Double standards like crazy (for instance- The Professor banned for a single stupid, yet fairly innocuous comment while more toxic jabs from other perspectives are completely ignored).  The special pleading fallacy, which has become the crux of so many arguments on this thread is cracking me up.  It's funny how concern for the band's legacy is being used to justify the demonization of roughly half the country.

Speaking of demonizing half the country, how are your hysterical pronouncements about "the ascendancy of progressive/PC culture" making "any older white band or artist [seem] racist" different from those who call Trump supporters ignorant, misogynistic, homophobic, or white supremacist? "Your progressive values are ruining my culture!"

From TWGMTR, is Mike on Shelter or Strange World at all?

There is a YouTube video of one of the sessions from "Shelter" (it was part of the TWGMTR promo blitz) and Mike is there. Bruce sings a part that was used on the album so I don't think it's staged.

Does anyone know if the Beach Boys released their 1977 Christmas Album/CD

Most of what was finished from those sessions is on the CDs called Ultimate Christmas and Christmas with the Beach Boys (the latter is missing one track, a version of "Peggy Sue" with Christmas lyrics).

The released tracks are:

"Child of Winter" (1974 single)
"Santa's Got an Airplane" (Xmas version of "Loop de Loop," same backing track as the Endless Harmony version)
"Winter Symphony"
"I Saw Santa Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (based on Brian's "Hey There Momma")
"Melekalikimaka" (released on MIU as "Kona Coast" with less Christmassey lyrics)
"Bells of Christmas" (released on MIU as "Belles of Paris" with non-Xmas lyrics)
"Morning Christmas" (Dennis production from Pacific Ocean Blue sessions)
"Christmas Time Is Here Again" (released as "Peggy Sue" on MIU)*

* only on Ultimate Christmas -- all other tracks on both CDs.

"Child of Winter," "Melekalikimaka," and "I Saw Santa Rockin'" are also on the CD called Christmas Harmonies.

[Shut Down, Volume 2]

The three talk tracks on Shut Down, Volume 2, All Summer Long and Today! tend to get a lot of flak thrown at them but this has always been en passant, when discussing the album in question or during fan rearrangements of albums. Hence this topic. I feel I can justify all three (yes, even the Mike--Brian feud):

"'Cassius' Love Vs 'Sonny' Wilson"
It took me a while to realize that back in March '64 this track was just about the only way Alan fans were going to hear him say more than just his name in some group interview.

"Our Favorite Recording Sessions"  
The note Brian forgot is the first one to be heard in the next track, "Don't Back Down".

"Bull Session With 'Big Daddy'"
I know this is debatable but I feel there's no way you could follow Dennis's utterly unique "ITBOMM" with another song, or even an instrumental. On the other hand, you can't just leave it dangling there...

Your turn.

In my view, both "Bull Session" and especially "Our Favorite Recording Sessions" are worthy items. A lot of people get very stuck up about them breaking up the "artistic integrity" of the albums they're on, but let's get real. Albums are artworks, but they're also entertainment. And "Our Favorite Recording Sessions," in particular, is very entertaining -- as entertaining as any pop song. I never skip it when listening to ASL. I don't know how much of it is scripted or hammed up for the tape recorder, but much of the byplay feels natural and human, and I love the way it pulls back the curtain on the recording process (the "forgot my note" part especially -- and you're right to point out the brilliance of that transition to "Don't Back Down," which must have been on purpose).

I also enjoy "Bull Session," although I can't pretend I listen to it every time. I should say, it does leave me craving a hamburger and fries.

The only one of these tracks I don't get consistent enjoyment out of is the forced skit "Cassius Love." The guys' acting isn't too convincing, and the tantalizing song snippets are performed in a rather perfunctory fashion except for "Farmer's Daughter" (my first exposure to that song).

I really like Bells of Christmas while not liking the MIU equivalent at all.

Me too, and I also like "Melikalikimaka" a lot, even though the rhyme with "Hawaii talk-a" is a crime against humanity. Still, I don't understand the seemingly widely-held opinion that the '77 Christmas tracks are dreadful. In my very humble opinion, as a body of songs they're superior to the '64 album at least.

I think the alternate version of Breakaway is much better than the single.

Do you mean the Endless Summer version? Isn't the instrumental take the same?

The alternate I'm So Young kicked a ton of ass, moreso than the album version.

I don't know that I agree. It's easy to prefer the alternate version because it's in a clean modern stereo mix. A 1965 mix probably would have sounded similar to the release version.

I confess that I like the idea that there will always be a Beach Boys group touring the music, as long as there is a real link with the originals, be it a long collaboration and experience (by now, almost everyone in Brian's and Mike's groups) or even better blood relationship (Matt Jardine etc.). A big pool of talent has gathered around Brian's music.

I agree, and this is how ghost bands have always worked -- usually it is either members of the original group or epigones of serious standing. That is to say, generally everyone in a ghost band is either one or, at most, two steps removed from the original leader/members.

I probably wouldn't see a "Beach Boys" with no original members, but what I would do is neither here or there. I certainly wouldn't object to such an entity existing, and Jeff Foskett in particular has as much a right as anyone else to direct it.

The Four Freshmen still tour to this day. The last original member, Bob Flanigan, the tenor, upon whom Brian based his vocal style), retired in 1992. He continued to authorize other musicians to continue with the Four Freshmen name and playing their music. The Beach Boys could continue to do the same thing for decades.

Could, and almost certainly will. As I said upthread, the audiences who go to M&B shows don't care who's in the band.

In another thread a fan speculated about the future of the Beach Boys touring franchise after Mike goes/retires, mentioning that Jeffrey Foskett has designs on it. Must admit, that idea never occurred to me. I know Foskett has a long history with the band and Brian Wilson, but would a Foskett-led touring BB even be financially viable? I wouldn't bother to go see them, would you? And is there any truth to this speculation?

I can't speak to whether or not there is any truth to it, but as I said in the other thread, it absolutely makes sense on a human level even if it isn't what we as fans would like to see: Foskett has been working for one or another part of Beach Boys Inc. on and off for more than 30 years (nearer 40 years actually). It stands to reason from his perspective that, having put in the time, he's as entitled as anyone to take over the business when the bossman retires.

As for whether it would be financially viable, I don't see how it would be that much less so than the Mike & Bruce show. They would at least be able to continue playing the casino circuit and other venues of that nature. The people who go to Mike & Bruce shows, for the most part, clearly don't care who's in the band, as long as the hits and harmonies keep coming.

To my knowledge, the Basie and Ellington bands are still touring and I don't see how a Beach Boys ghost band shouldn't carry on similarly. They practically are a ghost band already -- no judgment intended -- for all intents and purposes led by Scott Totten.

Has anybody ever ordered anything off this site before?

I haven't, but they're an official website of Universal Music Group.

I'm surprised no one remembers this from David Leaf's booK (pgs. 143-144):

"The resurrection of the song 'Surf's Up' is a confusing tale. Part of the album track was from a recording Brian had made for the 1967 Leonard Bernstein special; other segments were recorded in 1971 to fit in with the old track. Bruce: 'I remember thinking, "Well, if I voice this chord into Brian's part from the end of Carl's part, it'll sound okay and no one will know about it." We ended up doing vocals to sort of emulate ourselves without Brian Wilson, which was kind of silly.'"

It sounds like he is referring to the "ooh" part that bridges "Part 1" and Brian's piano demo. Guess we can credit that piece to Bruce! And it would seem like Bruce (not usually the type to take undue credit?) did more arranging on the Surf's Up album than I thought.

It's all over when Mike calls it Quits !  ( not financially feasible for Foskett or anyone else to tour )

I don't think that's true. If most of the people who buy tickets to Beach Boys shows (as opposed to Brian's shows) cared who was in the band, they probably wouldn't be there. I don't see why it would be that much less feasible for a Mike-less band to tour than a band with Mike.

The Beach Boys are very close to a ghost band as it is, and I expect a Totten-Foskett band to keep touring into the 2020s. Although the idea doesn't fill me with anticipation, I can understand it on a human level. Foskett has been with the Beach Boys or Brian continuously (I believe) since 1979. So he's been with them longer than I've been alive, longer than Dennis or Carl were in the band. His job is at Beach Boys Inc., and when the boss retires, why shouldn't he expect to take over the operation?

In one of the comments on the Fendertones' version of "Surf's Up" (featuring much of both Brian's band and the M&B band, including Mike and Bruce), one of the Fendertones attributes the vocal arrangement of the ending to Bruce. The tone of the rest of the reply is ironic (the arrangement, he says, "can be heard on some obscure releases") but I'm really puzzled about how seriously to take the rest of what he says. Is there any truth at all to this claim, is it something that has been generally known to BBs fans but just escaped my notice, or is he just putting on?

Here's the video which you've probably all seen by this point (the arrangement follows BWPS and features Brian's Stockholm group playing the strings):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKx6t8T9iwY

Here's a link to the comment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKx6t8T9iwY&lc=z12tv334ownte12gd04ch1nz3qnvtp5w01g.1452969166381079

Isn't all the interview material from the CD on the 2000 expanded edition of the album?

I don't think so as far as I can remember. It has been a zillion years since I listened to that "Words and Music" CD from 1988, but I recall him going into more tracks. I recall for instance a discussion of Jeff Lynne that isn't on the 2000 CD.

The entire CD is 28 minutes so it's definitely not all on the reissue which has about four or five minutes of it.

Although much of the 28 minutes is tracks from the album, isn't it?

I have a foggy memory of seeing some of the interview content on the 2000 CD in video form. Like, I remember that specific version of the first half of "Love and Mercy" with Brian at the piano, but in a low-res video. Was that the original form of the '88 press kit?

Isn't all the interview material from the CD on the 2000 expanded edition of the album?

  I don't like how the video describes the fall (saying that he fell on his ass) , but it is sad to see,,,,I'm wondering if it's time for him to retire from touring... maybe JUST do studio stuff... Poor Guy first footage of him in a wheel chair, now this footage,,,God bless him..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E4DB_Smchg

Not too surprising or concerning since he is an elderly man with severe back problems. It is interesting to see, though, the dynamics of who comes to his aid. Al is first -- his oldest friend on the bandstand (but of course he is also standing the closest). Meanwhile, Darian rushes over. Paul Von Mertens immediately puts his horn down, hesitates a bit, then takes over when Darian and Al can't get Brian upright. Finally Matt Jardine comes over, seemingly playing the Foskett role of giving Brian a pep talk and a shoulder rub.

Is Matt Brian's touring assistant/carer the way Foskett was (as acknowledged in the autobiography), or has Paul taken over that role?

It would be Coltrane for me, but if allowed 2, the Beach Boys would be the other.

It really does seem as if the thing that burns Mike's ass more than anything else is that Brian doesn't want to write with him anymore. What I don't get is the assertion that this wound has been festering since Brian went to work with Tony Asher and Van Dyke Parks in 1966. By then, Brian had already struck up short-lived but basically exclusive (for a while) writing partnerships with Gary Usher and Roger Christian (I mean, Christian wasn't a "writing partner," but you know what I mean). How were Asher and Parks any different?

And then Brian went on to write a ton of songs with Mike during the '67-'70 period, almost as many as they had written during the '62-'65 period.

For that matter, I can't think of a B. Wilson/D. Wilson off the top of my head either.

"Little Bird," though it isn't credited. They do share credit on several other songs on Friends, albeit along with everyone else.

This can perhaps go under the "unpopular opinions" thread too, but if I were in Brian's ear for this album I would suggest he dust off Dennis' Sea Cruise track from the mid-70's, strip it down, and build it back up with some sort of arrangement that includes both he and Dennis.

I think it would be boss if Brian harmonized up one of Dennis's rockers from the 70s. Not saying he could do better or more soulful than Dennis, but it would undoubtedly be interesting and probably touching in itself. "School Girl" or "What's Wrong" or "Rainbows" or even "River Song," something like that. And, of course, "Tug of Love" is supposed to be about Brian...