It has caused some pretty intense arguments in the past, but I still have the opinion (based on the actual timeline, reports from those involved, and interviews with band members from 1967) that the Derek Taylor announcement was premature, if not inaccurate, and that the two weeks between that last "DaDa" session in May, the Beach Boys returning from a European tour where they got some bad reviews in the press, and work starting the first week in June on what would become the "Smiley" working method are KEY and absolutely essential in understanding why things happened as they did.

Literally everything about the band's working methods in terms of recording and production changed in those two weeks, late May into June 1967. If the term to describe the changes could be a "seismic event", it would be appropriate. Things simply do not change that drastically in that short a time without a major catalyst leading to the changes.

One of the main events was the Beach Boys returning from Europe shouldering some criticism about their live sound versus the records.

Unfortunately very few have spoken about those two weeks in late May '67 with any specifics, except perhaps Nick Grillo. And I doubt we'll ever know, because I think some seriously heavy discussions happened that went beyond "what's our next album?".

Yea, on some level I think there must have been an explosive confrontation of some sort within the band in the transition to Smiley Smile... I mean, how could there not have been? But then, some things simply cannot be known. And at the same time, if they'd gone straight to Wild Honey, it all would make perfect sense. But Smiley Smile is so incredibly weird, and so incredibly Brian...

With so much of SMiLE already in the can, it is difficult to see why the album could not have been finished by the ”deadline” of January 15. To finish, Brian basically only needed to record vocals for Do You Like Worms, instrumental tracks and vocals for Surf's Up and Vega-Tables, probably some more sweetening, and then do the final mixdowns. So why didn’t he finish?"

I agree with this 100%. My list of things to be done is a little bit longer than the one you're quoting here, but not much. The album was very close to finished. And yet, close but no cigar. Why? On one level, the answer to this question is abundantly clear from the timeline of sessions: because Brian Wilson stopped working on Smile the album, and worked on Heroes and Villains the single almost exclusively, with the exception of a burst of work on Vegetables and the Love to Say Da Da sessions.

I agree with you 100% that Brian did not lose control of the sessions in the way the Smile myth once portrayed things; that he did not become bogged down in drugs and that the sessions did not become out of control weird. He was clearly still working at a high level. And, of course, Smiley Smile itself is the work of an artist still operating at a very high level. But the fact remains that Brian didn't finish Smile. And even if it were true that significant additional vocal sessions were done from which the tapes were left at Columbia and lost... the fact remains that had Brian finished any of these songs, as in mixing them down and assembling them onto a master reel... the fact that the session tapes were thrown out by some janitor at Columbia in 1969 wouldn't matter!

All that said, I feel like I'm usually the one arguing that Smile was way closer to being finished and Brian way more in control for longer than people have thought! So I really don't think we disagree much at all! Maybe just on the question of whether an authentic track sequence for the Smile sessions was created in 1967 which is knowable to fans today through research. But on the real substance of what happened in 1967, I think we're saying similar things, honestly.

Smiley Smile was the album that made me a Beach Boys fan… 26 years ago. Doesn’t even feel that long

I grew up immersed (as a High School Smile obsessive in the early 2000s) in the idea, still widely prevalent at that time, I think, that Smiley Smile was a failure for being not Smile. I absolutely fell in love with Wild Honey, and because it was on a two-fer with Smiley Smile I listened to Smiley Smile a lot too, more or less by accident...and one day I realized... oh my god it's brilliant! One hell of a consolation prize, huh.

I know this is what we have been led to believe but I’m just not sure that what we have in the form of the bootleg tracks substantiates it.  I know that many people have put together their own version but it seems that the whole time Fire was not burnt but was kept safely, that Sail on Sailor was written twice (I know it’s not part of SMiLE), once with Danny Hutton and once with VDP so these are examples of us being led to believe things not strictly speaking true.  We were told that the tapes were in terrible condition in the 70s but then when Alan Boyd went through them he said they were fine.  Then we know that despite Brian not being able to finish SMiLE he went on to re-record much of what he had done.  David Anderle "what Brian tried to do with Smiley Smile is he tried to salvage as much of Smile as he could and at the same time immediately go into his [long-discussed] humor album."so he must have had the ability to function and had not retired to a quivering heap in the corner.

There is an article I read recently which described SMiLE as Brian’s death/rebirth LSD trip and from which the sequence is evident and quite crucial.

We also know that Darian used some bootlegs to work out the sequencing so the majority of the work completed as Brian Wilson Present’s SMiLE is the re-recording of those original tracks in the sequence listed on the  original album.

There are versions which claim to be the album - probably a scam - but how do we really know?

But there is no sequence listed on the original album! There has never been a sequence listed anywhere, except in the imaginations of overeager fans, that had any basis in historical evidence. The album Brian was recording in December, 1966 had 400,000 album jackets printed for it. It had twelve songs listed on those jackets, with a note to see the record for the correct playing order. It had an elaborate booklet. Every single one of the songs had been heavily worked on. So far as I'm concerned, that album was Smile. 12 songs. It was not finished. It was close, but significant work remained to be done. That is a fact.

In 1967, Brian recorded a lot of material. Very conspicuously, the list I made above of what needed to be done for each track on the December track list? Brian didn't do *any* of it in 1967 (except for arguably the work on Vegetables). Instead, he rerecorded things, he tinkered with Heroes, he started some new songs. Whatever he was doing, it wasn't finishing the album that he had conceived in the fall of 1966. Can a bootlegger make a great track list out of all the pieces Brian recorded during the Smile era? Yes, absolutely. But there is just no evidence whatsoever that Brian Wilson ever knew what the sequence was or that there is any way for anyone to figure out what his intentions were for it.

Excellent summary.  For Wonderful, besides the tag it seems clear Brian intended Carl to sing it.  It seems Brian rejected his original attempt that we now all know and love, recorded two new versions of it - the awful Rock with me Henry version, and then a new track with some beautiful backing vocals  in April at the Vegetables sessions, left unfinished.  If he had completed Smile would he have completed the April version, recorded a new version, or reverted back to the August/October Brian lead vocal take?  

I'm in Great Shape - I'm convinced Barnyard would have been part of the song (essentially making this the "Barnyard suite") but as you say what else he would have included, or if other sections were to be recorded (Barnyard Billy?) is unclear.

My personal interpretation of the surviving evidence is that the moment at which Smile turned irrevocably down the path to "lost album" status was when Brian decided not to release the Cantina mix of Heroes. There is an article from mid-February 1967 where he told a reporter about having finished the A side of Heroes, almost certainly referring to the Cantina mix (which, it's worth noting, is along with Good Vibrations really the only indication we have of what "finished" meant to Brian for a song during these sessions, even if he did turn around and reject it a week later). In that interview, he says that he just needed to figure out what to put on the B side, that he didn't want to use a Pet Sounds track or give something away from the rest of the album, and that he was planning to go into the studio and cut something, just him and the piano. If Brian had done that, at that moment, cut a piano-vocal version of Wonderful, say, or anything else, and released the cantina mix of Heroes and Villains, then he would have had a solid month as it was pressed and distributed and climbed the charts however high it was going to go, in which to finish the rest of the album. Similarly, had he mixed down a two-part single in mid-to-late February (which seems pretty plausible based on what was recorded, but wasn't actually done), he would have been in the same position. In any event, if all the pointless Heroes sessions of late February and March had been dedicated to mixing down and recording vocals for the other songs, the album would have moved fast--probably too fast to stop--and come out that spring. I can't prove it, but that's my hunch. Instead, Brian made no real effort to finish the album after January, 1767. Even the Vegetables sessions were only given so much energy because Brian decided to make *that* the single for a hot second.

That said, in this scenario, Brian would have finished the record as he conceived and recorded it in the fall of 66. Which means he would have used the Wonderful track he'd already recorded, he would have used the track list he'd already given Capital. Any scenario that has Brian reinventing the wheel in 1967 is, in my opinion, a scenario in which Smile doesn't come out.

One other point re: sequencing. I don't think there's any evidence that lack of a sequence was ever a barrier to Smile's completion. If Brian had finished the songs, he would have sequenced them, and there's no reason to think that that would have given him any trouble. It's just that because he *didn't* finish the songs and *didn't* sequence them, we have no way of knowing what a finished sequence might have been.

I mean, yes and no. I strongly agree that the album was close enough to finished that it’s quite possible to *imagine* what a finished album might have sounded like. I also believe that the Brian was absolutely capable of finishing Smile, and that the reason Smile wasn’t finished was because Brian stopped working on it in a way that made sense or matched with how he had always worked up until that point, and began obsessively rerecording Heroes and Villains instead of finishing the other tracks. That said, there was absolutely still a lot of work to be done.

Re: sequence. The Look Listen Vibrate Smile track sequence represents the general fan-consensus from the 1990s, more or less (and probably helped create it!). There is a kind of intuitive logic to how it fits together, which is why, I think, it has provided the rough template for so many fan mixes up to the present day. However—and I would love to be proven wrong on this—I don’t believe I have ever seen any evidence whatsoever that Brian had *decided* on a sequence in 1966 or 67, let alone that we have any way of knowing what it might have been. The only sequence-related evidence I know of is that Our Prayer would have gone first and been unlisted. Everything else is conjecture. Does it make sense for Heroes to go first, Surf’s Up to go last, the “life” songs to go on the A side and the “element” songs to go on the B side? Sure. Do we have evidence for any of those ideas? I’d love to see it if we do.

Re: track list. This is a contentious topic as well. Personally, I believe that Brian was still enough in command of the process in late ’66 and early ’67 that he must have approved the track list given to Capital Records, that he was aware it was being printed on jackets, and that he planned to use it. I also believe that Smile would have consisted of 12 discretely-banded songs with fades (there are just too many fades recorded for it to be otherwise!), although I suspect some of those fades would not have been faded, making them functionally “link tracks”.

So what was left to do when Smile was abandoned, in my view? The vast majority of songs were in literal pieces. They needed to be "assembled" for lack of a better word, from the various session tapes, mixed down to a finished backing track, and have any missing vocals recorded. For most of these songs, Brian could probably have done this in a session or two, had he put his mind to it. But Surf's Up, the Elements, and I'm in Great Shape still needed much more extensive recording, and Child is the Father of the Man needed lyrics.

Track by track:

Do You Like Worms? - instrumental track needed to be assembled, lead vocal needed to be recorded. This one is a tragedy, in my view, because the Beach Boys could have done this at any point up to the 1980s and given us a track as finished-sounding as Cabin Essence or Surf's Up, two other songs left in fragments and missing vocals in 1967.

Wind Chimes - needed to be assembled, very close.

Heroes and Villains - needed to be assembled, also close, although the question of what to include in it seems to have tortured Brian.

Surf’s Up - Second Movement and Third Movement tracks needed to be arranged and recorded, backing vocals needed to be recorded, lead vocal needed to be recorded. It is very important to remember that the 70s version simply does not represent what Brian would have done with this track in 1967. It is unquestionable that parts 2 and 3 would have gotten backing tracks as sophisticated and beautiful as part 1. What we got instead was a sweetened piano demo. Another heartbreaking loss, in my view.

Good Vibrations - finished

Cabin Essence - backing track needed to be assembled, lead vocal needed to be recorded. This was done in '68, but when the project was abandoned this one was left in a similar state to Do You Like Worms.

Wonderful - track needed to be assembled. Unclear (to me, anyway) what the intention was for the fade, though Brian seems to have planned one.

I’m in Great Shape - track needed to be assembled, possibly additional instrumental sessions needed, vocals needed to be recorded. Possible that Brian didn’t actually know what all the pieces were going to be for this one.

Child is Father of the Man - we have a finished backing track for this, but the lead vocal not only needed to be recorded but Van Dyke doesn’t seem to have gotten around to writing the lyrics. The surviving track makes clear enough, in my view, that this was intended to be a proper song with verses.

The Elements - I believe the evidence is incontrovertible that this would have consisted of four short instrumental (or wordless vocal) pieces, one for each element. Fire needed backing vocals. Earth and Air were yet to be recorded. Status of “water” unclear. This one still needed a lot of work.

Vega-Tables - needed to be assembled, but very close.

the Old Master Painter - needed to be assembled. If Brian had used a version of Heroes and Villains (like the Cantina mix) that used the Old Master Painter fade, than it’s a little unclear what the status of this track would have been, but barring that, it was basically finished.

Hopefully I explained myself well enough, and that I’m talking about 3-4 people only* and not everyone who didn’t like the new mixes. I mean, it should’ve obvious especially since I’ve said it multiple times, but I’m so used to people taking things I say the wrong way (not just online) that I’m a bit shell shocked.

Yea. And I want to add that I really feel for you, and honestly for anyone else trying to moderate an online community in this day and age, or even just put something positive out into the world of the internet. I definitely appreciate all the unpaid work that goes into keeping a board like this a (relatively) fun and comfortable place for people to chat about music, and the fact that the people doing that work too often get paid with a lot of stupid negativity and just...unwillingness to even try to be sympathetic or even like basically decent is pretty sad...

No desire to restart any debates here, but I finally got a chance to really dig into this set and I just want to weigh in on how much I am enjoying it, especially Marcella and Mess of Help. I've long believed, rationally or not, that my vinyl copy of So Tough sounded just way, way better than the CD. More kick, more punch, more life. Maybe a little muddier, too, but in a good way—some rock music, especially from the 70s, benefits from a little bit of sludge, in my opinion. Maybe a fringe opinion, but to take an example from another band, I’ve always preferred the undeniably muddy original of Derek and the Domino’s Layla album to the much cleaned up and clarified CD version. But of all the records in my collection, only with Carl and the Passions and Dylan's Blonde on Blonde have I ever felt so strongly that the vinyl was unquestionably, if somewhat indefinably, superior to any digital version I’ve heard. These new mixes, of course, are very, very different from the originals, but to me, they nail the *spirit* of them, and so while I'll surely turn to the vinyl when I want to rock out to So Tough with the dedication it deserves, these will be haunting my summer spotify playlists for sure. So I just want to say thanks to all the people who worked so hard on this set. I, for one--and I totally understand that there are other perspectives--found the spirit and attitude of these new mixes to be a welcome surprise. I also love the new mixes of the songs from The Beach Boys Today. I was always a little disappointed with the first stereo remix of that album. Unlike the Pet Sounds or Wild Honey stereo mixes, I felt like something of the spirit of the mono was really lost. Well, I still think that, and honestly, I think that there’s something about the Beach Boys Today that will only ever really sound right to me in mono. But in my humble opinion, the new mixes get closer by going further, if that makes any sense!

Anyway, late to the party I know, but just wanted to share some positivity and how much I’m digging this new light on some old favorites

See, here’s the deal…I agree. That’s why I have such a huge problem with people talking about boycotts and personally insulting Howie and Mark. I don’t care who’s doing what and where; it’s disgraceful regardless. Criticism is fine; that isn’t. People like that to me are scum. Speaking for myself , it’s not restricted to forums , because I’ve seen posts there with the same position I have, and posts here that I reacted quite strongly too. So , speaking strictly for myself (I dont like to speak for anyone else…that’s just how I am) I’m reiterating it’s not forum based in my opinion

Please don't take this personally, but I do think even here, you know, the rhetoric could be toned down. Are these people really "scum"? Are they really worthless and disgusting? I would guess that most of them have and all of them have had families, people that love them, good days and bad days. I agree with you 100% about the behaviors you're talking about. That kind of *behavior* is despicable. There is no excuse for it in any context, let alone the context of an online forum devoted to a band founded in 1962 for God's sake. These people have *lost the thread* (excuse the pun). But they're not scum and personally I just don't think thinking of them that way helps anyone. Not to say your anger and frustration is not understandable, but I feel like it's almost always more productive to call out the behavior than the person.

Yeah, true. I mean it's not the worst song ever written. I was just kind of appalled at the chorus when I was reviewing the album. From a songwriting perspective, Brian couldn't possibly have been lazier and still filled the requisite 16 bars. Repeat the (not very original) 3-word chorus phrase three times over not very interesting generic chord progression and then...finish by modulating up a whole step to the 5 chord, the most generic of all songwriting moves. That's the kind of chorus you write when you just need to crank out a song as fast as possible and you don't care. Not that I blame Brian for that really. Just given the ingenuity he'd displayed up to this point, even on fairly minor tracks, I found it a bit shocking.

The rest of the song is...okay.

Yea totally. And doesn't help the comparison that Merry Christmas Baby is like twice as long as, say, The Man with All the Toys .... and the Man with All the Toys has at least twice the ideas!

I'm a bit critical of parts of this album but I do zero in on Mike's singing as a highlight, just as you say here.

I totally get where you're coming from on Brian phoning it in on parts of this album, and agree completely. But there was something kind of funny when you're talking about Merry Christmas, Baby, and you're like, this song...they're really just phoning it in. Sure, it's got a nice verse melody. And Mike Love really sells the lead vocal. And yea, it's got a nice driving rhythm and a deceptively cool intro that looks forward to Smile.... but just phoning it in! It's a little like the "what have the Romans ever done for us" Monty Python sketch Just goes to show what a great band this was, even when they weren't 100% on the ball!

What I find puzzling about Carl and this organization; if he was so big into it, why wasn't he prosletizing for the group? There was no mention of them in the liner notes of his solo albums; and I'm only aware of one interview where he talked about them. Now how many times have we seen Mike Love talk about the benefits of TM?
I suspect it was a way and a life that he felt was beneficial to him, but he didn't have any desire to push it on anyone else.

I think these kinds of groups can be more like more "ordinary" organized religions than people realize...in that while, yes, there's often corruption and different kinds of abuse in the mix, and there are always some members who become so extreme or single-minded in their devotion that it becomes a detriment to other aspects of their lives, I think even cults often have a significant subset of members who are just getting the same thing from them that a lot of people get from being christian and going to church on Sunday - a sense of spiritual stability, community, and purpose in their lives.

I love the Blondie/Ricky-era albums - that said, it's always puzzled me a bit how anyone could assume these two would be able to substitute for Brian in terms of his diminishing influence on the band's songwriting. "Here She Comes" is perfectly fine in the context of the So Tough album but it's not the kind of song that makes me want to hear it over and over again. The BB at the time were going for a bit of a more generic rock sound with the addition of these two I think - like I said, amazing albums (Holland especially) and the live shows must have been incredible at that time (I'm a big fan of In Concert too), but in terms of songwriting I understand why this phase is not every fan's favorite era.

Not disagreeing with you - I basically agree, in fact! But I think it's worth pointing out that the Beach Boys didn’t really need songwriters. At no point before 1980 did the Beach Boys lack for material, as is attested by the whole albums' worth of unreleased songs we’ve been treated to over the last thirty years. I really think that any band that wasn’t completely weighed down by a decade of interpersonal drama (and trauma) would have taken a dozen of Dennis’s compositions and handed them over to their extremely talented and versatile lyricist, Mike Love! But the obvious combination of the band’s most active composer and long-time lyricist was barely explored. And that, I think, was the problem Carl was trying to solve when he invited Blondie and Ricky, more so than replacing Brian. To get the band out from under their own history a little, get some fresh blood in the room, and maybe in doing so to free up some of the immense talent that wasn't being really utilized in the early 70s.

The Beach Boys are coming to town next month with TV ads sprinkled throught the day. In the venue's description they state that Mike Love was the band's chief lyricist. Anything to sell tickets I guess.  Sad.

Mike Love *was* the band's chief lyricist! He wasn't the *only* lyricist! But chief lyricist? No one else, however talented or important, co-wrote more than 10 songs or so. More importantly, his approach unquestionably defined the band's lyrical style for most of their career, however much some of us might wish it hadn't.

At what point does the *art* of the original artist working in the original medium get top billing? It's a loaded question of course. The debates that follow are usually along the lines of the artist's original work and intent versus using technological advances to present the art to newer and wider audiences. At what point is "Pet Sounds" or "A Love Supreme" any different than the Mona Lisa or the "David" statue in terms of works of art done in or on a specific medium? We clean classic paintings and sculptures to preserve them, and remastering vintage audio recordings is sonic cleaning in a way, but does it ever come into play where someone asks "But did Coltrane want listeners to experience this recording in a virtual surround way?" The answer could be yes or no, obviously, but who would know since the technology didn't exist when Coltrane was alive.

What makes me kind of sad is how much of the music which is current as of this afternoon would benefit or have a market for such immersive audio technology? Lil Nas X? Justin Bieber? Ed Sheeran? Doja Cat?  It's primarily cut-and-paste based sequenced production ruling the day (and the charts). There is no "space" in the mixes, there's no "air" or separation. Would the new immersive technology benefit or improve drum machine tracks and sequenced loops?

For all the people still trying to make albums as a listening experience and making music that can be listened to beyond driving or working out background music, most of the music just doesn't have the elements that technology like this would enhance as an experience. If anything this technology seems to be better suited to video games and action movies, which is of course a pretty massive audience and a lot of commercial value, but in terms of the art of creating audio, it's a pretty narrow artistic field unless it's considered as the art within those media forms.

I think this question about "futzing with" works of art is really interesting. Of course, the famous example that comes immediately to mind, for me, is George Lucas replacing Star Wars practical effects with digital effects...and hurting the pacing and feel of his movie in the process. But then, the stereo mix of Pet Sounds is, to me, a golden example of why using new technology to rework older works of art can be so valuable. (If there had been a stereo mix made in the 60s, it would have been pretty primitive, a la All Summer Long, or Rubber Soul, for that matter). I wouldn't want to never be able to listen to the mono again, but you hear so much more in the anachronistically detailed stereo mix, it gives you a whole new appreciation. Now, being able to remix a "spacialized" version by moving your eyes may not yield quite so much insight! But on philosophical grounds, I think its similar. New ways to experience music almost always only add. Just like how, with classical music, every new interpretation of a piece you hear just adds to your appreciation of the whole, and the different ways it could be interpreted or experienced.

To your second point, I think you're pretty wide of the mark. Sure, maybe they're not at the top of the charts, but a record like Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising from a couple years ago would benefit from this technology as much (or as little) as anything recorded in the 60s and 70s. Up a few notches on the popularity scale, Taylor Swift's last five or so albums have been very lovingly, carefully recorded and have all kinds of detail in the arrangements.

The charts have never really been a great way to understand whats going on in music, because for a variety of reasons they are weighted towards the tastes of teenagers. But with streaming, they're *really* a bad way to understand what's going on in music, because they've become even more than before a measure of how many times a song is played by the people who play it, rather than how many people are exposed to it or much it means to those people. The kids these days send party music and background music to the top of the charts because streaming charts measure how often something is played. But those same kids are listening to all kinds of crazy stuff, as becomes clear once you start digging around online!

I've listened to the song a couple of times and I just don't hear the background vocals. I wonder if I'm listening to the wrong song! LOL

The song is "Here We Go ... Again", and the background vocals aren't exactly buried, although its the Bruce Johnston signature keyboard sound that really gives him away as co-producer!

I don't have any special knowledge, but a search of the board brought up some info about both songs from this post, from user jiggy22:

Telephone Backgrounds (On a Clear Day): This was recorded during the Surf's Up era. Is essentially just some noodling around on a moog, which may or may not be Carl. Could be released on a digital copyright dump at the end of the year.

Sail On, Sailor (Demo): Is not in possession of BRI.

Ten Years of Harmony: The "demo" was recorded in October 1974 and released as the b-side of a California Music session. There is an unfinished backing track from Spring 1972 though.

Burlesque: Written during the Surf's Up/CATP era, but a basic track for the song wouldn't be recorded until 1977 during the MIU Album sessions.

Funky Fever: Most likely not in possession of BRI.

Gimme Some Lovin'/Baby, I Need Your Lovin': Most likely not in possession of BRI. The remake of Gimme Some Lovin' was tracked during the late Adult/Child sessions in June 1977, and only exists as a backing track.

Quad Symphony: This doesn't exist. The pieces of music showcased by Desper during his lecture include sections of Ecology and Before, as well as the version of Barbara released in 1998. The piece commonly referred to as "Follow Me to the Sea" is actually an early take of Cocktails, recorded during the Bambu sessions. No idea how it came to be associated with the so-called "Quad Symphony."

Spark in the Dark: Not just a jam, but an entirely produced track, albeit without any vocals.

Slow Song: Recorded sometime between 1974-1975. Nothing but a bare-bones chord progression on an electric piano done by Dennis in the studio one day.

Out in the Country: The more-finished version was actually the first version cut, featuring Don Goldberg on lead vocals. Brian wanted to include it on CATP, but Bruce hid the master tape away to prevent its inclusion. The second version, featuring organ and vocals, was recorded in summer 1972 for the Holland album. Certainly more stripped-back than the first version, but that in no way means that it is a "skeletal" demo. I believe it was considered finished; it just wasn't included on the album.

River Song: Recording most likely began in late 1973-early 1974, long after the Holland album had been released.

Pattycake: 100% never recorded.

Dr. Tom: Seeing as Brother Studios was still a porn theatre in March 1973, this was more than likely recorded in March 1974, not 1973.

It is baffling to me the firepower people into their criticisms of Brian. Also the constant calls for Brian to quit touring or quit making music (moreso the former). If one doesn't like the music, don't buy the product. If one doesn't like his concerts, don't buy the ticket. But yet people outright call for Brian to "hang it up" - how about you just accept that Brian is a human being who wants to give a concert. If it sucks then people will stop buying tickets. But I think most people get a TON of joy out of seeing Brian and his band perform a concert. Hence, the concerts keep taking place.

This whole post is on point. If you can't see by now that touring and recording give Brian's life meaning and that he wants to be doing both, you've got your head way deep in the sandbox under the piano. And how lucky are we that *that*, and not vegging out on the beach, is how Brian wants to spend his retirement! (Not that it's surprising, artists gonna art). I for one love that little wiggle of distortion in the vocal on the intro to his new song. Yea, it's weird, yea, the first time I heard it, I was like "huh? is there something wrong with my internet connection?" But it's a weird funny cool little effect that I'm not sure I've ever quite heard anything like. There's no way anyone but Brian put it there, because hired guns don't do that kind of thing on their own initiative when they're working with legends. Like it or not, it's Brian messing around with new sounds and having a sense of humor in the studio - two things that made major contributions to the music we all love.

AWESOME documentary and it makes me sad that The Beach Boys won't really have anything like this.

The underlying footage of the Beatles is just so unbelievable, it must have cost a fortune in film stock alone. And of course the cameras did not exactly create a creative working environment, so its almost certainly for the best that the Beach Boys never tried something similar. But man, what I would give for even a half hour of 32 mm color film showing Brian and the band working in the 60s! The Good Vibrations footage in the new Brian doc is more than I ever expected to see, of course, but it's amazing what a difference the higher quality film stock makes. In the Beatles footage, you're *there*, it's unbelievable.

It was even worse, because the lawsuit between the estate of Marvin Gaye and Robin Thickle/Pharrel Williams found copyright infringement in the "feel" of the song, not even the chord progression. It was obvious that "Parallel lines" was a ripoff of the mood and arrangement of "Gotta give it up" (although making a case of that is another thing), but much of that originally came not only from Gaye but the musicians who worked with him on the record.

That case was a miscarriage of justice, for just that reason. The jury was supposed to compare *only the composition*, but they weren't capable of doing that. They couldn't get past the fact that Pharrel Williams had obviously ripped off Marvin Gaye to recognize that under American law you're allowed to borrow arrangement ideas (as is totally necessary to musical creativity). And as you rightly point out, the feel Pharrel borrowed was created by the musicians, the producer (Art Steward), and Gaye all working together, but no one but Gaye's estate got any money.

I am not a lawyer, but I would be shocked if this stands up in court. Laws are written and interpreted by humans, and those humans tend not to be super sympathetic to this kind of loophole. It will be easy for a judge to rule that these melodies are not "works" for the purpose of copyright law. Or, what I would argue, that the work in this case is the algorithm and the set of melodies produced as a whole, and that borrowing an infinitely small percentage of this very large work therefore does not constitute infringement. Again, not a lawyer. But judges generally do not feel entitled to overthrow entire legal regimes set up by congress because someone found this kind of loophole, and they do feel entitled to close this kind of loophole...

I was at the show last night too! The crowd was pretty sparse in the balcony, unfortunately, but the energy level was very high, which made up for it.

I thought Brian was in pretty good form. His vocals were hit or miss as always, but there were a few verses where he really sounded very good, and he seemed pretty engaged, introducing songs and looking around, especially in the first half. It seems like he’s starting to struggle with even some of the higher parts of Mike’s range on some songs, but when he dropped down into the bass, he sounded really good. I feel like Al is being a bit underutilized in the setlist as it stands - but I have a feeling that might be his choice, and he sounded great on the songs he did sing, as always. As myonlysunshine said above, Good Vibrations sounded about as good as I’ve ever heard it, as did California Girls, which for some reason just really bowled me over last night. The rest of the “hits” are what they are. I’m always very happy to hear them, and the band was in great form - but at this point I’ve seen Brian 15 or 20 times, and if I never had to hear him do I Get Around again, I probably wouldn’t mind so much… (Honestly, I think the rest of the audience seems to be leaning in that direction, as well. It feels like the audience has lost a good chunk of the older “Barbara Ann” crowd that used to be a strong contingent at a lot of shows, and picked up a younger audience for whom Wouldn’t it be Nice, Sloop John B, and God Only Knows are the absolute favorites, and the cheering and applause that greeted the Pet Sounds cuts at this show was no exception - definitely the highlight in terms of energy on stage and off. All of which is to say, Brian wasn’t the only one who looked a little bored during Barbara Ann…)

The highlight for me was Blondie, though. It’s just great to see a musician on stage who doesn’t feel bound by a “backing” role, who really lets loose on his instrument and vocals. I’m sure its not to everyone’s taste, but those are the cuts where they really feel like a real band, for me, with some charisma and freedom to cut loose a little. So I’m so grateful to Brian and everyone involved for keeping Blondie on the tour and paying such beautiful tribute to the spirit of Carl Wilson. And man, Feel Flows and Long Promised Road were *good* last night. Like best-I’ve-ever-seen good.

So, yea - it wasn’t Something Great in ’68, with half of Friends on the set list, but it wasn’t billed as such, and I definitely had a big smile on my face on the way out!

If you don't care much about lyrics, it's an utterly unique arrangement worth listening to.

And it seems like fans aren't the only ones who liked the arrangement better than the lyrics, because on the "Last Capital Album" master tape the band prepared in 1970, they included it as an instrumental!

But I think HeyJude hit it on the head, so far as I'm concerned. As one of Brian's late 60s slice-of-life tracks it's something of a highlight; what in god's name would make anyone think it was the right early-70s outtake to include on an official album in 1980, on the other hand...

(One last comment - I don't doubt that Mike was heavily involved in the lyrics, and I'm not trying to argue otherwise, but it definitely *feels* like a Brian song to me thematically, with that kind of naive "the world is strange" attitude that some of his songs have taken right up to Strange World a few years ago.)

I think a lot of Brian's gifts are still with him in regards to vocal arrangement and charm, but he's needed -- not desired, needed -- collaborators to finish anything since his mid-twenties. Initially, I think this was psychologically aversive in nature. By the mid-70s I think it's brain damage due to compulsive drug abuse and past the early 80s it's compounded brain damage. This isn't to say that he's a zombie, he seems perfectly functional and sensible in non-musical aspects, but I do think he's 50 years past the point where he could "turn it on" if he really wanted to simply because what he did took an enormous capacity for concentration and organized creative thought. And that's fine, really, it's not like he wasted time during his fruitful years -- but I think there's a tendency for Beach Boys fans to continuously revisit post-73 material as if by repeating an unpleasant narrative in their head that it will turn out better this time. (Beatles fans do this with the break-up -- it is the subject of 50% of Beatles podcasts -- and I suspect it's not uncommon with other enthusiast communities.) This isn't to say that Brian wasn't responsible for enjoyable music post-73, but was it great, or even continuous with what he was capable of in the 60s? Is inability more of an influence than changing aesthetic inclinations? If Raffi had recorded the lead vocal for Solar System and released it under his name, would anyone care about the track?

I think this is absolutely right.

But I also think the reason the topic never dies is not just the perverse obsessiveness of fans (however perverse and obsessive we all may be!), but also exactly what you're highlighting here. It's obvious, listening to Brian's solo career, that his *gift* is still there. It just rarely if ever reaches full expression, I think for exactly the reasons you give. Also, in my opinion, Beach Boys fans are particularly well-trained to look for the might-have-beens and could-bes, because of Smile. As you listen to the smile sessions and study what Brian was doing, I think something that becomes clearer and clearer is just how fucking good this record would have been if it had been finished; how close it was, and yet how far, too. A Surf's Up with the same attention lavished on the last two minutes as on the first two minutes, A Do You Like Worms with a full, proper lead vocal and even more layers of harmony. Fire with howling backing vocals, not flown in from Smiley Smile, but recorded by the Beach Boys, in their prime. You get these visions in your mind, and you realize that Brian was fully capable of doing all this, these things could have existed, some of these things may actually *have* existed, until Columbia threw out all the multitrack that had been left there whenever that happened. It all came so close to existing! And then, and then, and then... And we listen and read and fantasize and come up with theories, and that's the attraction, I think, for so many of us.

And then Brian's solo career offers a version of the same story, because there are so many moments of brilliance, often on otherwise unremarkable tracks - an unexpected chord change or a melody line that soars upwards in that inimitable Pet Sounds way, or a moment of harmony that sounds simple at first but seems to unfold differently every time you listen to the song. Or even just going to a Beach Boys concert in 2012, on a good night, and hearing Brian sing a song like I Just Wasn't Made for These Times and missing half the notes but then, for a moment, just sounding, so, so much like himself, like the person who wrote that song in 1966. And so even though we *know* we're not getting another Pet Sounds, it's hard not to fantasize, just like it's hard not to fantasize about a backing track to the second half of Surf's Up suddenly showing up on a reel in someone's basement, and being just as wonderful as we imagined, just as wonderful as we know it would have been, because we have the *first* half of Surf's Up, and it is sublime.

Also, in terms of Love You - yes, that record absolutely would be a cult classic no matter who had made it. If some unknown band had formed in 1977 and put out that one album and then broken up, it would be a cult classic. It is not a classic because Brian made it. The Beach Boys Love You is true outsider art, like a John Waters movie or a Henry Darger painting or The Shaggs, and it would have been discovered by that audience eventually, I feel completely confident about that.