Here's what Gettin Hungry should have sounded like live . . . the Blondie/Ricky Beach Boys could have killed with this arrangement!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpD__Fgpl_4

The Produced by the Beach Boys credit:

1. To counter the "beach boys are puppets and Brian the genius/puppet master" hype

2. The music since it is played by the Beach Boys is literally "produced by the Beach Boys"  (a different meaning of produced than the traditional record producing credit to be sure, but it counters the bad press that the music was all done by studio session musicians and the Beach Boys weren't playing on any of the records aka the Monkees.  And the Monkees thing was not completely correct either.)

3. After the bad UK press of recent tours where they were criticized for not reproducing their sound on record, Brian wanted to simplify the music and certainly having the Boys play the music themselves would mean it would be readily reproducible on stage - so this is where I see Brian taking the group's concerns and changing the musical direction to suit the group and their live performances.  Carl as leader of the touring group would certainly be an influence here.

4. In many ways I think Wild Honey, and Smiley to a lesser extent, were done to cater to Mike as a "payback" for the Pet Sounds/Smile experimentation and the cutting him out of songwriting royalties.  First the Brian and Mike single, then Smiley, and then Wild Honey with Mike granted co-writer credit on everything.  Mike was always into R & B (although Brian was too, but Mike more so and I believe Mike's enthusiasm for R & B was shared with Brian who subsequently adopted the same enthusiasm) and Brian knew he would be on board with this direction AND it would suit his lyric writing skills (in a way Pet Sounds and Smile did not).

I have to give kudos to Mark for the sound of this release.  Some of his masterings for MIC and the stereo versions of Today and Summer Days were too compressed for my taste, but this Wild Honey release has wide open dynamics and sounds spectacular - I can really crank it up! 

There is of course the anecdote to the effect that Brian was angry because he felt that Mike "rushed" the vocal.

I was under the impression that Brian the dog-eared perfectionist was unhappy with his own vocals. Another illusion shattered.  

I thought it was the backing vocals that he was unhappy with and had them redo repeatedly to get the timing/rhythm right?

From Smile:

Vegetables tag - the incredible musical track and the great wordless Al vocal with backing vocals is gorgeous, one of the greatest minutes of music Brian ever committed to tape IMO.

Heroes and Villains cantina version tag (false Barnyard) - also the original MY Only Sunshine tag - strange but enthralling, and emblematic of the "cartoon consciousness" music Van Dyke has referred to as part of Smile

Cabinessence - although it's a new final section of the song with new lyrics as much as a tag

The Wonderful vocal tag that was never completed - "mama mama mama mama"

And on Smiley of course as mentioned the whispering winds tag of Wind Chimes is right up there with Brian's greatest musical moments as well.

I would have preferred "Heigh Ho" to Colors of the Wind, Imagination deserves to be on it, and there's lots of uncollected solo singles and plenty more Andy Paley songs worthy of release.  Could have been a double disc easily.  Maybe Amazon/Target/Wal-Mart will have some bonus tracks on an exclusive?

Stephen, a clarification please.  You mention 16 track recorders - wasn't 8 track still fairly new in 67 (EMI still only had 4 track for the Beatles!), and 16 track didn't come in until 68-69?  Or am I misunderstanding (or just misinformed)?

Will the distortion on "Country Air" be fixed? My understanding from previous threads is that it is impossible to extract.

Why would we want it to be fixed?

HIDE GO SEEK and the unknown Redwood instrumental tracks on this new CD are rather brief

I'm so glad that the compilers included these despite their brief length!!

The answer's out there...I forget which book I read it in (maybe Leaf's, maybe Gaines), but it's this:  things had gotten too weird for him...and I mean dope-wise, not music-wise. According to one of those books, there was a lot of hashish being smoked in and around the band (not to mention the acid Brian, Dennis and Carl had all apparently dropped), and that wasn't his thing. He's on record as saying Smiley was "brilliant" - he even calls out "W. Woodpecker Symphony" as genius. He proved his loyalty by going to England on a promo trip for "H&V", even though he wasn't on the released version. That's why Bruce isn't on Smiley Smile, or the latter quarter of the SMiLE sessions, for that matter. That's why Brian was at the Hawaii shows and Bruce wasn't: he took a sabbatical until things apparently normalized to the degree that he felt comfortable returning.

It still sounds a bit strange like there has to be more to the story.  He's a full fledged band member and then suddenly he's absent for four months including for a live album when he was an important part of the live touring band.  He refused to go to Hawaii for a what he must have known was planned to be the next album live?  If that had been released I assume he wouldn't have been in the credits - wouldn't everyone assume then he was out of the band?  And how did he know drugs would be used in Hawaii, especially with the recording of an album?  (Apparently they were, but how would he know that in advance?  Or did he cancel at the last moment when he realized Brian was bringing drugs?)

If he was boycotting the drug scene but then decided to return, does that mean Brian Dennis and Carl stopped smoking hash and taking drugs suddenly in Sept 67?  Seems unlikely.  Or did he realize that if he wanted to be in The Beach Boys he'd just have to accept that drugs were part of the scene as they were becoming ubiquitous in the LA music biz in general?

So what happened?  Had he quit the group or had the group "let him go?" Until they needed him, which they definitely did in Hawaii but he wasn't there?  So from the concert on May 19 Bruce was absent from recording and from the Hawaii concerts until Sept 11!  4 months was like an eternity in the 60s.  What was he doing?

So we know Bruce contributed to the WH album - what about Smiley?  C-man?

Why not?

1. That many fans care about this (or any BBs) CD's chart is really puzzling. I don't understand what big importance there is if it's sitting at #97, #3, #12 etc.
2. Reply to CenturyDeprived - forgive me saying this but your point about 50th T-LB murder Anniversary is absolutely stupid. 1st, it's done deal & very ancient case. Then, generally, the hypersensitive attitude by some of you about Manson connection baffled me since I read related posts. Why do we care if 1) BBs didn't kill these celebs 2) they recorded NLNTL before the murders Edit: 3) BBs track differs from Manson's demo. Therefore, there shouldn't be even question or point made about 20/20 Anniversary coinciding with murders' 50 jubilee. So what if it does? It wouldn't do BBs reputation any bad.

The Manson Connection has probably helped the BBs reputation with certain types of folks!  Not saying that it should, but, it is almost always mentioned in media discussions of Dennis and the Boys circa this time period....

At a time when their musical output was being ignored commercially and they were out of favor and out of style with the rock world, the unusual Manson connection provides them with some "edge" and  collaterally connects them to the more violent and dark underbelly of the aftermath of the "love generation."  That PR angle may make this period more of interest to music fans who are unfamiliar with it.

Looking at the year in terms of their recording and releases, this was an incredible "downer" year for the Beach Boys who seemed directionless.  Smile is abandoned.  Carl is in trouble for refusing the draft.
 They pass on Monterey.  Heroes is released and makes a disappointing 12 on the charts briefly before disappearing.  Smiley makes only 41 on the album charts, a new low for the Boys.  The live album is abandoned after recording the live concerts and a fake studio concert.  Brian decides to get into an "R & B bag" but the Wild Honey single continues the descent with a 31 placing, while Darlin' seems to be a small step in the right direction with a 19 placing. The Beach Boys are castigated in Rolling Stone, the arbiter of hipness, as being too caught up in trying to catch up with the Beatles, and suddenly their music has gone from cutting edge to irrelevant and old fashioned.  Brian tries to get something going with Redwood where he wouldn't have the Beach Boys/Smile/surf and car baggage but is denied by Mike and the group.

But as Don pointed out, through it all they were making incredible music that has more than stood the test of time.  This release will be both a vindication of Brian's vision and direction (or lack of direction, whatever - it seemed to work out for the music) and show that during the "years in the wilderness" between 1967 and 1971 (when they suddenly became hip again with Surf's Up)they were an incredibly productive and creative band.

How much are they?  Cool idea!

There are other recurring issues, myths that he feels entitled to debunk. Like the fact the he is still blamed for opposing Pet Sounds. If that ain't true, and keeps being repeated, he has a right to clarify things even if it's a lost battle among some.

There's quite a bit of evidence to support Mike's not liking Pet Sounds, isn't there?  Calling it Brian's "ego music" and the infamous "don't f*** with the formula" was concerning Pet Sounds, wasn't it?  I suspect Mike resisted at first but eventually came around and was supportive of it, as when he went to Capital with Brian to present them with the album.  Now he just conveniently forgets his initial misgivings about the project. 

Methinks Mike may not be remembering correctly.  Do a Lot first appeared Jan 3 in a piano/drums/vocal version as on TSS, right?  Probably as a possible Heroes section as it seems all the work on that day was on Heroes.  Unlikely Mike was contributing to Heroes lyrically at this point in the Smile saga.

Is it true Mike wrote the lyrics to 'Mama Says'?

Was it one of the songs Mike got credit for in the songwriting lawsuit?  If not, I would say no.  Sounds like all Brian to me.

Mike was ruthless pulling the plug on Redwood, though a single only (brother Records label) was how Danny Hutton understood it at the time.  Brian offered to pay for recording a full album (even if he couldn't be producer) because he'd no doubt promised Danny that at the outset (apparently he wasn't taken up on that financial offer).  It's apparent Mike called the new Brother Records shots by this early incident and Brian learned that the hard way.  It's my belief that Mike's name was added to the Darlin' songwriting credit only AFTER Redwood refused a 45-only deal to start (but after some Redwood vocals had been recorded), interpreting the lyrics were modified by Mike (the title was a common Danny Hutton expression)

Darlin' was a rewrite of Thinkin' Bout You Baby which was a Wilson-Love song, so wouldn't he have to be credited as a co-writer?  Or can you replace lyrics and if the original co-writer only wrote the original lyrics, can you drop them off of the remake?

Wait, that's a misprint on the cover - shouldn't it be "Shunshine Tomorrow?"

He was still using that line in the late 2000's (2008?) when I saw him perform with his touring Beach Boys at a casino.

Cool - don't know why I thought the Live in London was a rehearsal take.  A Good Vibrations rehearsal take was released I believe?  Anyway nice were getting another live version rather than a repeat of what was earlier released!

Live In Hawaii:  August 1967 (Previously Unreleased)
(The Beach Boys recorded two complete concerts and rehearsals in Honolulu on August 25 and 26, 1967. Brian Wilson rejoined the group onstage for these shows; Bruce Johnston was not present. The following tracks derive from the original 1” 8-track master reels discovered in the Brother Records Archives.)
29. Heroes And Villains (Rehearsal) (4:45)

Hey, wait, hold on.  Forgive me if I've got confused, but could this be the version with the Mike monologue?

The version with the Mike monologue was recorded at Wally Heider's for the recreated "live" album, the rehearsal take is from the actual Hawaii rehearsal, and has been previously released (on the Concert/Live in London 2fer)

Also - could a stereo take of Mama Says be made out of the rehearsals?

Previously unreleased :  long Vegetables - so this is different from the long whistle Vegetables released on Hawthorne

Cool Cool Water - a new version not what was on the Smile Sessions!

Can't Wait Too Long - perhaps some unheard sections, or just a different mix of sections we've heard on boot and on the Smiley 2 fer?