The Lei'd in Hawaii mono master - wow!  So With a Little Help from my Friends was recorded for the "live" Hawaii album?  And we finally get to hear Game of Love?  This is going to be the greatest BB vault release ... maybe ever! 

Despite all that, I'm delighted to have 'closure' on 'Good News' at long last.

Or has it been known for years what that was? If so, I missed the memo, clearly...!

As we were working on this project we went back and re-reviewed all of the surviving "Smiley" session tapes, and I was hoping to find "Good News" in particular even though there's nothing on any of the tape boxes or tracksheets mentioning that title.  On one reel there was this very brief fragment with a couple of acoustic guitars strumming and on that bit you can barely make out Al mumbling/singing off mic, difficult to discern the words he's singing... but there was something kinda familiar about the tune he was humming.  So I checked a couple of my dad's old Kingston Trio LPs, and there it was: "Good News," an old traditional gospel tune adapted by Lou Gottlieb (of the Limeliters), the first cut on side two of the 1959 LP "The Kingston Trio At Large."

The Kingston Trio version is on YouTube. Check it out.  A Beach Boys version might have been a wonderful thing. Al was definitely onto something there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-SGONxEJFM

Thanks for all your work on this Alan!  Incidentally, Brian was very familiar with the "Good News" gospel song, as it appears on Brian's "garage tapes" on the Sea of Tunes boot "In the Beginning/the Garage Tapes."  I've thought ever since then that the Smiley outtake was likely the same song.  Great to get confirmation of this.

This is a fantastic release from the vaults and more than I think any fan could have expected.  Kudos to BRI.  BUT . . . I guess this means a complete release of all the Smile sessions, every instrumental take and vocal session still extant, is not in the cards for 2017, the 40th anniversary and copy extension year?  I was hoping that would be the case . . . unless a digital only release at the end of the year is still a possibility.  Pepper is getting an anniversary release, Brian's "Pepper" should likewise.

It must be for all the Brother/Reprise CD's?

"Jumping ship" was a poor choice of words - "pushed overboard" might be more accurate.  The whole incident is a shame because Christianity does not have to be incompatible with Transcendental Meditation.

I still would count it as Dennis' best vocal, as I did however many years ago when I first heard it (1999 Eddie? Alan?). His voice is very pure and powerful, and absolutely in it's peak form. Hearing it now just frustrates me that there aren't more from him while that vocal range was at his disposal.

Definitely not his best composition or production, those came later...but it is clearly a shame it didn't see a 1971 release.

I find it curious and a little disappointing that at this time that Dennis's vocals were at their peak, he was giving away vocals on his songs - like Fourth of July, and then later with Steamboat and Only With You and It's a New Day (perhaps past his best shape voice but nevertheless so much better than later)

Oh, and one more that I just thought of - Life is for the Living!  Usually makes me laugh out loud when I hear it, pure genius.

I Wanna Pick You Up
Mona
Lazy Lizzie
Take a Load Off Your Feet
Little Pad
She's Goin' Bald
Roller Skating Child
Johnny Carson (you're getting the idea I love the Love You album, right?)
She's Got Rhythm
Kona Coast (and the Christmas version, Melekalikimaka)
Child of Winter

I like Hey Little Tomboy but don't love it.

My understanding is that there are missing tapes and/or overdubs added directly to the mono mix with the following songs:

Aren't You Glad
I'd Love Just Once to See You
How She Boogalooed It
Mama Says

C-man knows the details I'm sure - he's said that a good stereo mix of Aren't You Glad could be made although elements would be missing.  The alternative to making stereo mixes with missing overdubs is to do "extraction" mixes as they did with songs on Today and Summer Days (and with Good Vibrations).  The rest of the songs have either been mixed to stereo by Mark or appeared in stereo on Sea of Tunes Unsurpassed Masters boots or in the case of I Was Born to Love Her  on the vinyl Beach Boys rarities (and Japanese CD of the same).

But then BEFORE Pet Sounds, and after, Brian sang great!!  His vocal on The Night was So Young was perfect.  Love and Mercy - great.  It was very bizarre.

Evidently Brian has made a decision to sing the Pet Sounds songs differently from the rest of them. The exception I noted in my review was Sloop John B. Maybe he sang in a "regular" style because he was singing alternate verses with Al.
I have noticed that he sometimes has trouble with the lyrics, particularly with "Here Today," trying to get the words out, particularly such as "it makes you feel so bad, it makes your heart feel sad" etc.
Of course, these songs weren't easy to sing 50 years ago when Brian was at his peak vocally

Yes I noticed that for some reason he sang Sloop better than the rest of the PS material.  Maybe he didn't want to piss Al off?

And the 2000 discs!

I prefer the 1990 discs in terms of sound but the 2000 discs have some remixed songs that you need if you're a completist, and unlisted bonus tracks at the end of many of the discs.  The remixed songs off the top of my head are Baker Man, I Do, Old Folks at Home/Old Man River, and Can't Wait Too Long.

I'm having a family get together tomorrow and I was looking at music I could play (and that my wife would accept - she knows I"m a BB fanatic but she's not much of a fan).  There isn't really party "background" music in the BB catalogue, there are too many quirky weird tracks, even the party album is too goofy and those fake party sounds . . .

The most acceptable would be Wild Honey (for a rocking crowd), Friends for soft music not too loud so they don't notice the weirdness, Holland for a progressive music crowd, and maybe Sunflower.  But I'm going to play Abbey Road, some Al Green and some Aretha instead of Beach Boys.

Saw the New Orleans show - band was great as usual.  Loved seeing Billy Hinsche on keys.  Blondie was at his best - much better vocals than when I saw him with Brian in Biloxi last year.  Al as always was great.  Sound was flawed - too bass heavy and the lead guitar was at times inaudible.  I felt like running up to the stage and yelling like Murry, more treble on the guitars - turn the treble all the way up!!  Dance Dance Dance really needed the top end on the guitars.  Feel Flows was great but the flute was barely audible.

Then there was Brian - told the audience to be seated at least three times - I guess he didn't like us standing up and clapping!!  Did Row Row Row Your Boat, asked the women and then the men to scream several times.  Priceless -" this is a song Carl wrote before he died" - I much prefer those to  the songs he wrote after he died!

The bad - Brian's vocals on Pet Sounds were horrendous.  He "talked" most of the vocals and seemed to be reading them, at times not even in synch with the music.  He changed the lyrics to several songs and cut out some verses.  On God Only Knows - "you never need to doubt it - I'll make you so DAMN sure about it" with emphasis on the damn!  Dont' Talk - "don't talk, put your head right on my shoulder" plus other ad libs.  The singing coordination between he and Matt for the high parts of the songs sounded abrupt and awkward.  The whole thing made me glad I saw the first Pet Sounds tour with orchestra and with Brian singing all the songs, all the way through.

But then BEFORE Pet Sounds, and after, Brian sang great!!  His vocal on The Night was So Young was perfect.  Love and Mercy - great.  It was very bizarre.

Overall a rocking show but Pet Sounds was unfortunately disappointing.  Maybe it was an off night for Brian.

I'd go see the Doors and Love live.  Hang out around Goldstar and Western and Columbia studios. I'd make sure the master vocal multitrack of Good Vibrations was secure for future generations.  See the Beatles live at Dodgers Stadium.  See the Beach Boys summer spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl with Captain Beefheart's Magic Band.

The stereo mix without the "party" effects was worth the admission price alone.  The other stuff is good for a couple of listens but that's about it.

However I strongly disagree that this is comparable to listening to the SOT sets of multiple instrumental takes and vocal takes.  Those are MUCH more interesting than the Party sessions and reward repeated listening IMO.

Side 1:

I'm Bugged at my Old Man
Man with all the Toys
Amusement Parks USA
Cassius Love vs. Sonny Wilson
medley:  I Get Around/Little Deuce Coupe (from Party)
Long Tall Texan
Vegetables (Smiley version)

Side 2:

Day in the Life of Tree
Ding Dang
She's Goin' Bald
Do You Like Worms
Take a Load off your Feet
Solar System
Wind Chimes (Smiley version)

Plus EP of previously unreleased bizarre cuts:

Life is for the Living
My Solution
Marilyn Rovell
Battle Hymn of the Republic

Not surprised his death scared Brian - most things do.

I'd love them to add Johnny B Good to the set list in place of Barbara Ann!!  The Beach Boys used to close their shows with it back in the old days.

He Comes Down
TM Song
I Just Got My Pay
Good Time
Honkin' down the Highway
Don't go Near the Water
Student Demonstration Time

Musically all good to great songs, lyrically they're clunkers - awkward and even downright embarrassing lyrics.

Kokomo was an incredible blown opportunity for Mike and the Beach Boys to follow up that hit with a good album and possibly another hit single.  The problem:  no decent material, and we all know what Mike was coming up with on his own.  Why didn't they just repeat the Kokomo "formula" - find some good songs by outside writers which Mike and Carl could add some Beach Boy-isms and vocal hooks, work out some co-writing credits?  The reluctance to look outside the BB circle doomed their resurgence.  After a big hit like Kokomo songwriters would jump at giving their songs to the BB if they could repeat that success. 

Why didn't they do it?  Mike "money" love thought he could do it himself and thereby keep all the songwriting/publishing monies.  But he couldn't, and the publishing monies were nonexistent because the records didn't sell.

What does "For Let Him Run Wild" mean?  How do we know that's why he had that single in there, if that's what that indicates?

I'm impressed with the amount of soul/R & B, not just Motown but lots of Atlantic and Stax artists.  I'm surprised there aren't more girl group records since the Beatles were fond of them and recorded several girl group songs.  Maybe that was John and Paul's thing.

It was Carl's specific use of the word "arranging" in this case. My point is and was that there is no question who was arranging the vocals specifically in the classic Capitol hitmaking era, 62-66. There is no question who was producing the records. There is no question who was the "leader" in terms of bringing the creative vision to life for the band. The band members themselves going back to that era have backed that up many times publicly, in interviews and even on stage. Any potential attempts to dispute or diminish that, or even raise challenges, are to me a waste of time and effort.

But no one is disputing that  - this is setting up a paper tiger to destroy, it's irrelevant to what was asked and suggested.  Are you so insecure about the dominance of Brian's creative control over the band's output that any comment that could be twisted to be read as challenging that brings such an extreme and exaggerated response?  Brian doesn't need you as his defender.

Brian was writing and arranging and producing the music yet that was clearly at times a collaborative venture with the musicians having important input, whether they played it differently than Brian intended and he liked it and kept it, or they made suggestions which he approved of as in the God Only Knows bridge.  There is no reason the vocal arrangements couldn't also at times be collaborative and here we were talking specifically about Mike's bass lines.  It's an interesting question which has been unnecessarily sidetracked.

No surprise Mike came up with many of the bass vocal lines on the songs, rather than those being dictated by Brian

Could you elaborate on this?

I gave two examples, I'm sure there are more.  Just like he came up with "Good night, baby, sleep tight, baby" on WIBN, but that's just on the tag.  Mike was intimately familiar with doo wop and bass vocal lines and likely needed little prompting to come up with bass lines to go with many of the early songs.  Obviously tightly arranged four and five part harmonies were dictated by Brian - Prayer, Lord's Prayer, A Young Man is Gone, And Your Dream Comes True, Old Man River, Their Hearts were Full of Spring.

But Vosse is saying the verses were a separate song (Home on the Range) and the song was Who Ran/Bicycle Rider/Grand Coulee Dam.  Which doesn't make much of a song.  Unless the "verses" were the "this is a recording" lyric and "Truck Driving Man" over the Who Ran music/vocals, the break or chorus was Bicycle Rider and the tag Grand Coulee Dam.

No surprise Mike came up with many of the bass vocal lines on the songs, rather than those being dictated by Brian - Good Vibrations comes to mind (although it just echoes the bass line), the part in the Water chant was Mike's (now now now ...) and I'm sure numerous others.  It would be interesting to try and list all the songs with vocal bass lines that "make" the song or at least are an inseparable part of their structure.

I asked about Mike's surfing, about writing All I Wanna Do with Brian, and about his songwriting collaborations with Dennis.