I should note, my love for Holland ought to prove my position. I'm not a Brian-only fan.

Pfft... you're not one of them "I'll only like it if Bri was involved" Beach Boys fans are you Luther?

No. But neither am I one of those, "I'm going to act as if Brian weren't CLEARLY the most talented member, just to be different and spite others," either.

"Brian Wilson, the often-alleged “genius” of the group"

No, this is heresy.

I have maybe 2 or so (unreleased). Woe is me.

Sadly, yes.

[gotta]

Just found this website, read that, and believe.

You found that on the internet? Then it's gotta be true...

It fvcking sucks. One of the worst BB songs ever. Carl singing well doesn't make words less awful.

Al's On Broadway is by far his best oldie performance. Really good.

I am put to sleep by that entire song. Arguably the dullest, most lifeless piece of music I've ever heard.

He says "artist" Luther, not "star"...

That doesn't help. In another band, someone would have said, "Man, these lyrics are ridiculously bad."

But it was the Beach Boys...Hell, Al and Carl probaby thought they were great. I'd rather hear some Riely enviro-trash than that.

OK, maybe not.

Well, Deep Purple being a classic standard, and Brian covering it makes part of this weird text that runs through the album of Brian interpreting the big-band sounds so loved by his dad. I think it's actually a tribute to Murry, that album. By a broken-hearted and wasted son.
Life, Purple, Still I Dream and It's Over all share that sound, with Over actually stating "I'll put a Frank Sinatra album on and cry my blues away. I wish he would have carried that sound through the whole album.

No doubt that it would have been a more cohesive, and probably interesting, album. It is definitely "interrupted" by the 1970 songs, and even the other, differently-arranged tracks.

Ow.

Criminey!

These ain't just the words of an aussie drongo... It's About Time is absolutely fantastic... the most convincingly rocky the Beach Boys ever got in the studio, instrumentation is fabulous, The harmonies jaw dropping eg. "another WOOOOOOOOOORLLLLLD!"  Holy crap!  How can you not like that!?  Shoulda been a big single.

Easy. It's garbage.

I used to be a famous star yap yap blah blah fvck me. Jesus.

Isn't Live the one where he says "A cigarette butt in the water goes pffft"?

Been in my mind for days.

I think Deep Purple is a good song, but his singing is weak, even for him at that time. (There's a line in there where he sounds as if he's either choking or laughing.) I agree wholeheartedly about the other three.

I only recently heard the entire thing, but was very familiar with about half of the tracks before. It's an even more odd piece of Brian than we got on Love You, in my opinion. Songs like "Everybody Wants To Live" are just...well, nuts. The first verse is so bizarre it's just brilliant to me. That, "Lines," "ITTS (Baseball)," etc...

And more of the good ol' exercise-mantra coming from the, ah, slightly hypocritical Brian ("Life is For the Living," paired with the aforementioned). It is an interesting album, but I can't quite bring myself to call it exactly good. It's better than MIU and all that followed, of course, but so are the random sounds of passing traffic.

Didn't it come out on Sept. 11? You listened that day? Wow. I got fvcking drunk and listened to a (drunker) friend become a hateful "patriot."

I can't explain my favorite line--no idea why it does it to me--but "he said, you can't repeat the past? Whaddaya mean you can't? Of course you can..." immediately struck me as just great. One of many greats on that disc.

It does to me.

I do like plenty of loud guitar solo noisy rock stuff. Just not sh i t.

If I stub my toe, I don't hit it with a hammer to make it feel better.

I don't know about the first two, but I'll take a double of the third.

Seriously, though, the lyrics of the bulk of L&T are among his finest. I believe that.

If or when I am, I will. Until then...

Practice makes perfect?

Man, Deirdre, It's About Time and Our Sweet Love rule! Give em a chance again.

Two out of three ain't bad.

Agreed on Love and Theft. As I think I said on the old version of the board, I rank it among my favorites. It isn't Blonde on Blonde or Bringin It All Back Home...but you don't drop down too many other albums before you've got to mention it. The sound is excellent, perfect for the songs he's doing. Performances are just great. And those songs are wonderful, alternatingly funny and touching, and sometimes simultaneously. It's like (and I mean this nicely) a musical Garrison Keillor or something.

GREAT story, Mr. Desper. Honestly, your presence on this board is invaluable. I enjoy your stories more than you'd believe--not to mention the technical info!

I love He Gives Speeches. I also dig the creepy-sounding wives part of the Smiley Smile Wonderful--but the unreleased (till box set), Smile-era Wonderful is easily my favorite.

Staight No chaser- The Bill Holman Band-playing the music of Monk

One of the best jazz riffs ever. Does anyone know how many studio versions Monk cut by himself? Seven? Eight? Fifteen?

(PS: I love the version on "Five By Monk By Five".)

It is a great riff, but I don't know the answer to your question. The album quoted above is great, by the way. The Holman does Monk thing.