I think I’ve cracked the code. Some of us have mentioned someone holding out for some future release...Mike wants a 50th box set of SIP coming out in 2043, and that’s the only way he’ll let this go out. 

So I made a comment on ESQ's facebook post regarding the 10th anniversary of Al Jardine's 'Postcard from California' expressing my disappointment at the lack of coverage regarding this box set, and received a PERSONAL MESSAGE, asking why I was taking "unnecessary shots" at ESQ and inquiring what behind-the-scenes disaster I was referring to in my comment (you can decide for yourself if anything I said was out of line, mine is the long post including the link to the change.org petition: https://www.facebook.com/ESQEditor/photos/a.345125747486/10158487201832487/?comment_id=10158495305522487&notif_id=1599151752100968&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif).

Including in my response a statement of surprise and appreciation that they would take the time to personally respond to me, I asked again why there is silence regarding this previously openly acknowledged set. And mentioned that again, 1,000+ fans are eager to spend their hard-earned money on it. The response(s) were basically of the message that they are not the one with the answers, and that there are "more important" things going on, encouraging me to "put this in perspective" with the global pandemic and all.

Among all the articulate and superficially respectful comments, one in particular did not sit right with me; in reference to the change.org petition, they outright said to me that 1,000 fans is "not a large number" to sign this petition. That's the attitude these people are taking.

Unfortunately your comment has been deleted. Nice to know ESQ is on the fans’ side   

Happy Belated Birthday Al Jardine!!

One of the biggest misfires of their career. They put it together at a time when many of the cool younger indie artists had just (re-)discovered the Beach Boys, with bands like the High Llamas or Saint Etienne being huge fans. The Beach Boys, however, did not care. Instead they released this album made for an older conservative audience that wasn't interested in this project at all.

If they'd thought of it a couple years earlier, they could have had Nirvana covering "In My Room".

Thank God that never happened.

What is the largest Brian/BB arrangement in terms of sheer number of instruments? Counting overdubs and all.

I’ve been thinking about it and Three Blind Mice is probably up there.

Like a masochist, I did the maths.

There are 30 musicians playing on the Good Vibrations single, not including Beach Boys who only sang, but the track has 65 individually performed instruments across all sections and overdubs. This isn't counting anything that isn't in the final single mix.

Then a fan’s work is never done. I’d keep editing Wikipedia to add the correct info, but some editors say this board and historians like c-man (and JH and yourself) aren’t good enough sources. Another reason to look forward to c-man’s future MiC sessionography!!

[Levey played the drums, as if left-handed]

An interesting footnote to the photo involves the one player not shown—Bob Levey, the son of legendary jazz drummer Stan Levey.  After his parents divorced, Levey moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Hawthorne in the late 1950s.  Levey pitched, played third base, and was a strong pinch hitter.  “Brian was a fabulous guy,” Levey recalled.  “Just a real good person.  He was always out there cracking jokes.”


Now on Wikipedia I found this about Steve:

Levey's crisp, melodic style continued to have more in common with bop than cool, and he inspired every group he ever played in. A right-handed person, Levey played the drums, as if left-handed. Levey has played on thousands of recordings, ...
So, I don't know if the timing fits or if they had any contact, but do you think that Dennis' style of playing was influenced by Levey, maybe through his son showing Dennis some stuff? Dennis did play like he was left-handed, too.

Stan Levey does play on “At My Window,” although that would likely be too late for him to show Dennis anything.

Happy Birthday David Marks!!

The liner notes say that Carl sang on everything except “Long Tall Texan.”

Wow that’s awesome

Just the thought that Brian wanted to get it as a gift for Melinda is sweet and romantic. But I understand why she wouldn't have wanted a vintage car, they are lots of work and if not properly cared for become a giant decaying money pit.

Has Brian ever owned a vintage car? As in a car that in its day was an antique of some sort? I believe Dennis and Mike both did

...Ole Betsy?

She was born in ‘32...

According to one user’s post in the Sail On FB group, the M&B Wallingford, CT show has been rescheduled to April 17, 2021.

This might be a stupid question, but has anyone ever thought about asking Mike? Didn’t he do this live in 2015? Or maybe there’s a clip from 2015 that’ll help because there can’t be too many effects live, unless the mix and quality get in the way.

Bruce's keyboard is on. It may be quiet in the mix most of the time, or not be in the audiences mix, but Bruce will have his own monitor where he may hear it.

Even then, it's audible on Disney Girls and I'm sure people in the past have said it's audible on other songs, but I cba to trawl the forums for them.

Supposedly he’s also audible on Darlin, GV, and BTTYS since John Cowsill moved from keys to drums in late 2007.

A couple quick kinda related but still somewhat off-topic questions:

1. I haven’t listened to these three yet, but it was discussed earlier in this thread that at least three (obviously more but I’m curious about these) were rejected from MiC by one or more members of BRI: Thank Him, My Solution, and Carry Me Home. While I definitely understand as I know the lyrical content of Carry Me Home, what was wrong with the other two?

2. Other than Let Him Run Wild (plus the three above and probably Stevie), has there been anything else that Brian’s vetoed?

As the official BRI consultant, I was asked my opinion throughout and consulted with brains and heart.
I got the box green-lit by the label.
I saved it from dying on the vine TWICE.

Howie your wordplay makes Van Dyke Parks look like a grade-schooler - impressed with what you've done there.

How is this "wordplay"?
Who else is coming here and telling you about this box set and being as straight as possible?

We all appreciate your work, Howie. Thank you for the time you’ve put into the project. I interpreted the above comment as a compliment - dying on the vine is some nice writing.

Many happies, ASL. No doubt it will be a modest celebration in these strange times. Something sticky to start the day, perhaps, and a glass or two of some beverage to finish it off.

Go well, sir.

Yes 100% to it, ASL will enjoy the birthday tea, perhaps green tea with chocolate cake.
Everybody likes tea. It unites people.

While digging through the board, I just realized I never reponded to this months ago. Thank you both for the well wishes!!

That is indeed one of his best contributions to the BB's catalogue, together with Disney Girls and... ah... let's see, what else...

Personally I love "Deirdre."

Me too.

I use a couple of combinations. In the car, I use SiriusXM, Spotify, and/or CD’s. At home, I use Spotify, videos on YouTube (rare performances or songs that aren’t on Spotify), CD’s, and records. I need to use my records and CD’s more as currently (at home) I typically use them to play through a full album occasionally. My vinyl setup is really nice, so I’m determined to shift a little more away from Spotify to it.

Unbelieveably, two new confirmed dates for M&B:

July 30 -- Springfield, MO -- Ozark Empire Fair (face masks required)
Aug. 21 -- Cedar Rapids, IA -- McGrath Amphitheatre

Even holding a fair right now seems pretty darn risky to me, let alone playing one. Too many people together in one area, no matter how many precautions you take or require. (And no, I'm not going to Disney World anytime soon.)

Just some perspective on this: If I were to travel from my state to see either of these two shows, my state's health department recommends I quarantine for 14 days after I return home. Missouri and Iowa are among the 20 states currently on the "hot list".

Off-topic, but my state has 42 states on the hot list, of course including these two.

Does Dennis participate in this song in any way?

Yes, Dennis sings on it according to c-man and the new ESQ.

I've mentioned this to Craig, and I don't think he's there. There are 5 vocal parts on those tracks and none are unique to Dennis, so unless he's in unison with Al or Mike (and I don't hear that being the case, those two are pretty weak in the blend) I'm pretty sure it's everyone but him. There's no tracksheet evidence for who is or isn't singing on the backing vocals beyond listening. Hopefully a vocals-only mix in the near future'll clear it up.

Edit: Far as I can tell, Brian's singing a high 'oooo', Al has a 'do-do-do-do' scat part harmonising above the guitar riff, Carl's got his mystery line, Bruce is singing the 'all I wanna do' refrain, and Mike is singing those same words beneath him with a different rhythm.

Extra edit: Isolated it a bit and now I'm starting to think Carl sings "if you get lonely in the night I'd wanna be with you [pause] oh"...? Full melody is virtually the same as "sure as the sun will come around again to start off another day."

Thanks Salty for the info. I’ll have to look at this when I listen again now that you’ve broken it down for us.

Does Dennis participate in this song in any way?

Yes, Dennis sings on it according to c-man and the new ESQ.

It might be the Mandela effect, but I swear I remember reading it being part of a comp of the same name along with different mixes of some tracks, in Andrew Doe's book. Course I no longer have it so I can't double check.

I’m going to guess Mandela because both versions of this set had different mixes/versions for various songs. Could that be what you’re thinking of, Billy C?

Packaging delays are not what's holding this up.

So what is?

The obvious implication is that there is the usual internal wrangling going on. Look Mike just sign off on the damn thing - the fact that you don't have as many songwriting credits as you were given earlier on in your career cannot be changed. Also, no good holding out for liner notes that cast you in a better light.

Wouldn’t Brian, Al, and Carl’s sons have a BRI voting majority here though?

Well we now know that he’s on Slip on Through and Got to Know the Woman, and both are overdubs. I think Jon Stebbins confirmed that he and John Hanlon (or maybe Alan Boyd) heard an isolated rhythm guitar part on a Dobro that they were convinced was played by Dennis on one of the POB & Bambu songs or outtakes.

There's no guitar on GTKTW played by Dennis, but I think it's been said that he played the unused Leslie'd rhythm part on Slip on Through that can be heard in bootleg mixes. The only parts audible on the finished song are Carl and Jack Conrad.

So the parts mentioned in the new ESQ weren’t mixed into the masters for both songs?

Well we now know that he’s on Slip on Through and Got to Know the Woman, and both are overdubs. I think Jon Stebbins confirmed that he and John Hanlon (or maybe Alan Boyd) heard an isolated rhythm guitar part on a Dobro that they were convinced was played by Dennis on one of the POB & Bambu songs or outtakes.

The problem is, once we "publish" info, additional info, insight, corrections, or additions eventually materialize, rendering the original version obsolete. A website is easy to update, but once something is out there in a book, it tends to stay out there, even if it's now deemed incorrect or incomplete. You could a second or third addition, but obviously that takes time (like years), and would a publisher be willing to do that? Maybe not. Brad Elliott encountered this problem shortly after the publication of his milestone tome, "Surf's Up - The Beach Boys On Record, 1961-1981". But he found an outlet to publish the corrections and additions, via a regular column in the "Add Some Music" fanzine.

Does that mean you’d be interested in eventually updating your website with more information?

EDIT: I’d hate to repeatedly annoy you with this; it’s just something that I (and hopefully a lot of others) would be really looking forward too.

These didn't used to be mislabeled but somehow were messed up over the last year or two. I could find no apparent way to notify Spotify.

Thanks for looking and taking the time.