Congratulations! You're absolutely the perfect guy for the job. I won't say I'm not jealous. you've got the best job in the world.

Who said internet message boards are a waste of time!

Happy birthday to [myself AND] Pet Sounds. Truly a pop masterpiece, and in my opinion the greatest baroque pop album ever.

Where can you get a reprint of the booklet?

Are there really only 8-10 of those in existence? If so, I would think it's worth a LOT more than $10,000. I f I were a multi-millionaire, I would probably be willing to dish out $100,000 for one of those things.

By the way, for those who were wondering who was selling this, you can see his name in the payment instructions column--Chris Woods

Is that thing that says "Smile Booklet" part of the actual booklet or just a label he put on it for the picture?

Also, a question for anyone who might know or have a clue: Would SMiLE have likely had a gatefold cover with the booklet stuck in the middle, like Concert, or would the booklet have been separate, inserted in the inside of the record jacket?

Mike - "Big Sur"
Carl - "Feel Flows" (or "Our Sweet Love" if that counts. I'm not sure how much of it he wrote.)
Dennis - Too many to choose from--like trying to choose my favourite Brian track, which I can't.
Bruce - either "Dierdre" or "Brand New Old Friends"
Al - "California" or "At my Window"
Ricky/Blondie - "Leaving This Town"

I must have missed something--Brian used a fake tympani? In the live show, yes, but not on any recordings that I'm aware of.

Yeah, I didn't even realize that until now. Does anyone know who wrote "Someone to Love"? Is it a Wilson/Landy collaboration? It sounds a bit Wilson/Paley-ish to me.

"SOMEONE TO LOVE"!

Possibly the best song Brian ever wrote post-1970-ish

I would love to know (STILL!!!!!!!) how much of that Brian wrote and what David Sandler did - and how much - if any - involvement Brian had in the production on that song.

Mr Desper I think has mentioned that Brian did not have a whole lot to do with the album as a whole.

The LP liner notes list credits for each individual song. For this one in particular, it says produced by Wilson, Desper, and Sandler; vocals arranged by Wilson; and instrumental track arranged by Wilson and Sandler. I'm not sure how correct that is, but I would assume it's pretty accurate since it goes into so much detail for each song.

I love this album. There's some great production by Brian, David, and Steven. "Sweet Mountain" is an excellent track, but my personal favourite is "Tennessee Waltz." Brian's arrangement is wonderful, and Brian and Steve Desper's production on that song is outstanding.

You should get his book. It tells which tracks on Sunflower and Surf's Up have Mellotron.

Have you been to www.spectropop,com? It's an axcellent site for all things Spector-related.

Mr. Boyd, on the forthcoming website, will we be able to download songs in FLAC or some other LOSSLESS format? I love the idea of this website, but I, and I'm sure many others as well, absolutely refuse to pay for mp3's, even high bitrate ones, under any circumstances.

What can you say! He's a melodic GENIUS, as well as an incredibly talented arranger. I haven't really heard much of his work with other artists. I've got a few of his solo albums--Reach Out, Make it Easy On Yourself, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. I'd really like to get all of the Dionne Warwick LPs he produced. Does anyone have any suggestions for which of those are the best ones to get first (I plan on getting all of them eventually)?

I haven't seen much in the way of reviews for Mike's solo album, but after seeing that it was produced entirely by Curt Boettcher, I'm sure it just HAS to be at the very least pretty good. Is it worth getting?

It's a wonderful song! It and " Going On" are really the only tracks that make the album woth getting (IMO).

I love this album! It's almost perfect (I really don't care for the cheezy production on "On Wings of a Dove," and although I love Brian's vocals on the rest of the album, he really is SHOUTING on "Hold Back Time"). It's that one album that I'll always put in whenever I absolutely can't decide what to listen to. The mood of it is wonderful.

On my All Summer Long LP there is a dramatic change in sound quality on "Drive In." It's like it all of the sudden has this weird sound, almost like a telephone sound, with practically no high end or low end. Is this just my copy of the LP, or is this how the track actually sounds?

Is that "Jamaican Farewell" the same one that appears on the Beach Boys Dumb Angel Rarities Vol. 3 bootleg?

http://www.hotelcelebrity.com/rates.htm

Not CHEAP, but very cheap for the area, the service, and the cleanliness. For Hollywood, You could get as low as $70 a night, maybe even a little less, if you wanted to stay in the worst part of town in a terrible hotel with cockroaches in every room. You could also choose to stay in a less touristy part of LA for cheaper, but you wouldn't be as close to a lot of things, and you might actually end up spending more money on gas, cabs, parking, etc.

Did Curt do the arrangements for his songs?

The drive along the coast will be your most favourite part of the entire trip. It's just stunningly beautiful! But BE SURE you've got plenty of time. While it only takes about seven hours to do the straight drive from LA to San Fran, it will take well over twelve hours to do the coastal drive, but you WON'T regret it. Also get a very early start so you'll have as much daylight as possible. It's a little out of the way, but if you find the time, go to Sequoia(sp?) National Forest, and plan to spend AT LEAST two to three hours there. I haven't been to Yosemite but I've heard it's beautiful.

Those studios are all in Hollywood, basically within a one mile radius of Hollywood and Vine. Also check out the former site of Gold Star at Vine Street and Santa Monica Blvd. (a couple of blocks south of Hollywood and Vine). If you'd like a hotel recommendation, I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT RECOMMEND HIGHLY ENOUGH the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel, located in a very quaint, and most importantly, QUIET, little cove right in the heart of Hollywood. It's within easy walking distance of everything in Hollywood, including all of the aforementioned recording studios (I even walked to the Sunset Strip area of Sunset Blvd. from the hotel, but it's about two to three miles away, so don't try it unless you've got time, energy, and a jacket). The staff is the most friendly hotel staff I've ever come across, the rates are among the lowest in that area, and the rooms are just great!

Be sure to check out the Sunset Strip on a Saturday night when it's most alive. You can see the Whiskey A Go Go, the Roxy, the famous Tower Records store (where that infamous Van Dyke Parks interview took place in the parking lot!), and a bunch of other great sites. A couple blocks south on Santa Monica Blvd is the Troubadour where, among other things, Brian Wilson was introduced to Van Dyke Parks. I actually highly recommend taking one of those bus tours, even if you're not into the whole tourist thing. If nothing else, it might give you an idea of what you want to go back and spend more time on.

Also, I'm not sure where it is, but according to an interview with Brian, he eats at the Beverly Glenn deli every morning (I hope that's not too private information, but the only reason I know it is because he said it), so you could probably see him there. Enjoy your stay! (You'll never want to leave, and three months later you'll be aching to go back!)

I don't have much of Curt's productions, but the Millennium album Begin and Present Tense by Sagittarius are essential. I also love Sandy Salisbury's self-titled album. While I wouldn't say that he was lightyears ahead of Brian by any means, his work is on just about the same level, but for a completely different type of music. I haven't heard any of his later productions (except, of course, "Here Comes the Night"), so I can't comment on them.

I'm not sure which ones, but there are some times where he gets impatient with musicians for messing around on their instruments when they are about to begin a take.

Yeah, you're right. I didn't even think about that when I typed that. It's funny to hear him say that. It's also quite funny (because I've been through the same situation myself so many time!) when he complains about one of the harpsichord keys sticking on one of the SMiLE tracks (I think "Wonderful").

It's interesting, I was just listening to SOT 19 (Wild Honey sessions), and on one of the tracks Brian can be heard saying something like, "This piano is TERRIBLE! I HATE this piano!" Is it possible that the detuned piano sound was completely unintentional, and the Boys were just too lazy to get a better piano (or tune the one they had--which won't make a terrible piano any better...)?