Great thread and I'm enjoying the alternate lists! This is my take on an alternate Christmas album. The original Christmas album was a tough sequence because of so many slow songs. It also could've used another song or two; it only clocked in at a little over 27 minutes. So, I added a couple of songs, re-sequenced it, and came up with this:

The Beach Boys - Merry Christmas

Side A
01  Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
02  Santa's Beard
03  White Christmas
04  Christmas Day
05  Frosty The Snowman
06  We Three Kings Of Orient Are
07  The Lord's Prayer

Side B
08  Things We Did Last Summer
09  Merry Christmas, Baby
10  Blue Christmas
11  Little Saint Nick
12  The Man With All The Toys
13  I'll Be Home For Christmas
14  Auld Lang Syne

Whatever Happened.

Yep^, or going back one album..."Pacific Coast Highway".

Two part question on The Honey's version of "California Feelin". First, why was Brian recording The Honeys, for a new album? Second, does the fact that Brian used Rocky's voice on the track instead of one of The Honey's mean that Rocky was part of the "new" Honeys group, or was it a one-off guest vocal appearance?

I just finished my complete (47 albums) alternate discography and "A Casual Look" didn't even make the cut. It's in the vaults. My version of 15 Big Ones is pretty different than the one the Boys crapped out in '76.

I'd be interested in seeing your version of 15 Big Ones. Care to list it?

I prefer the later MIU version of "Come Go With Me". It did go to No. 18 as a single in 1981. I'm not sure "A Casual Look" coulda/woulda done that.

I like 15 Big Ones, but I think "A Casual Look" kind of epitomizes that album. With all the great oldies to pick from, why choose THAT one? And, like the other oldies on 15 Big Ones (with the exception of "Palisades park" IMO), Brian/the group doesn't quite nail it. It's just there, nothing special, meh...

Hi guys! I'm an italian musician and producer and I love smile and Brian Wilson works in a very unexplainable way
I'm very proud of a personal smile reconstruction that i did a couple of years ago. I did it for a very simple pleasure and purpose; to make it more fluid and complete of the version we have until that day, so the love i feel for this album can be transmitted, to people near to me that don't know it.. It's unbeleivable but a lot of people don't know this master concept album..
 So i used a few things of the 2003 version to make some song complete, i remixed all.  I love smile because it's a great album with a prpose bigger of the technology of the time
Soon i'll upload it on the tube. If you wanna listen to it, this is an old emule link. it still works!

ed2k://|file|(D4Nk4.IT)%20Beach%20Boys%20-%20A%20personal%20%20Smile%20reconstruction_%202014.rar|66028895|FF220110E4F090C4CCE6AD50B4636D85|h=SQH5DRA4H2XATQ2FFS33FZXXTA7FPRZ7|/

Sorry for language mistakes...
Nice to meet you guy!
Dan

zavarov, the link for your SMiLE mix does not work. Please give it another try; I'd like to listen to it. Thanks...

That's it. A dropbox link.
I hope you Like it.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/enukbkudo1yhbzl/SMiLE%21%20by%20D4nk4%20.IT.mp3?dl=0

 www.danielecatalucci.it

I enjoyed in very much, zavarov. It made me smile (absolutely no pun intended). Every couple of seconds, something was coming in or coming at me, right down to the last note, and I mean that in a good way. Some of your mixes/transitions made it sound like they (the songs/segments) really belonged there, like "I'm In Great Shape" after the "dum dum's", "Cabinessence" after the "whoo whoo's", and the final talking/skit into "You're welcome". I really like your final ending/fadeout; very psychedelic!

Ovi mentioned Dylan; the last four Dylan albums were very...trying. I liked Modern Times, but the next four - Together Through Life, Christmas In The Heart, Tempest, and Shadows In The Night were not of my liking. I didn't even buy Shadows Of The Night (though I heard it). To compound things, Dylan performs several of his new album cuts in concert, so, consequently, I kind of avoided his shows after seeing him every year for a few years. I'm glad Bob is still producing new albums, and I WANT to like them, but...

MC5 - Kick Out The Jams ... When I used to read Creem magazine in the early/mid-1970's, this album was frequently praised and credited as a precursor to heavy metal, punk, and other genre. At the time the album was out of print, but I was able to find it in an import bin at a record store for big bucks. The first two songs on the album, "Ramblin' Rose" and "Kick Out The jams" lived up to the reputation, but after those two songs, for me anyway, the album disappointed. Yes, the attitude was there and the guitars were everywhere, but I found the songs to be lacking, and frankly, just a lot of noise. I did give another MC5 album, Back In The USA, a chance and enjoyed that one a lot more.

Lou Reed - Berlin ... Lou Reed was another artist I got into via Creem magazine. I was on a little Lou Reed roll, purchasing Transformer and then Lou Reed Live and enjoying them very much. I read that Berlin was a great album and found it in a bargain bin for $1.99. I could barely get through it. I like "Sad Song" a lot, but I think the Lou Reed Live version of "Oh Jim" is superior to the studio version. I guess I just don't "get " Berlin, and I'm still surprised at the critical praise it gets. Lou even toured Berlin in 2007. I might have to give it another try.

The Butts Band - Hear And Now ... After The Doors broke up, Robby Krieger and John Densmore formed The Butts Band with lead singer Jess Roden, and released a decent album in 1974. It was by no means a great album, but it had some nice Robby tunes and distinctive vocals from Jess Roden. At least the band showed potential. However, in 1975, the second Butts Band album, Hear And Now, came out and it was terrible. Jess Roden was gone, other members were replaced, and the result was so disappointing. I don't think there's a good song on the album. It's hard to believe a project that involved Robby Krieger and John Densmore could be so underwhelming. I tried listening to it recently... and couldn't.

With the exception of Pacific Ocean Blue and Youngblood, ALL of The Beach Boys' solo albums. But that's for a different thread, I think...

Does this one count? The National Anthem  https://youtu.be/bI_ujE9k9LA

What year did the boys sing O come all ye faithful?

December 15, 1967: https://youtu.be/tc_CVsNn3jM

- Dennis Wilson
- Mike Love
- Mike & Dean
- Mike Love, Dean Torrence & David Marks
- Spring
- Carnie & Wendy Wilson
- The Wilsons

O Come All Ye Faithful

The link worked for me. Just listened to it and I like it. I think your modifications are an improvement. Nice, tight, cohesive mix. I like the sequencing. So, now you have Side A and Side B finished, complete with cover art - burn it, print it, get it out to all of your friends, and blow their minds!

AJ: Well, not for good, I mean, why, [incredulously] how? I mean, I guess you could play snippets of it. Because it was never assembled, so, I mean, it’s an interesting idea but I think people are pushing Brian too hard. I mean, why in the world would he want to go back and do that, you know? Why not do something a little more progressive? I mean, if he wanted to do that he’d need the band to create… But his handlers, the people that make those decisions, they’ve forgotten origins I think of from whence that stuff came, you know? And it would require a great deal of imagination, I think, to call it a quote “SMiLE Tour” – I mean, that’s ridiculous, and who would relate to that? I mean, in this generation? What does that mean? I don’t know. I guess we would enjoy seeing it, but-

Hey, Al, you got any names for those handlers? Huh?

Doors recorded six official studio albums with Jim and a few more after he died

In addition to the six studio albums with Jim, there was Absolutely Live (1970), which eventually became part of the excellent double CD, In Concert. While the two studio albums without Jim, Other Voices (1971) and Full Circle (1972) were not up to previous standards for obvious reasons, the music still showcased "the band" as well as the individual talents of Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, and John Densmore.

The later Bright Midnight Archives features some of The Doors' concerts from 1967-1970, and really shows what the band was capable of on a pretty consistent basis. Many of the "history books" will write that there was a decline post-Miami in 1969, but these live concerts, in my opinion, shows the band actually getting tighter and coming into their own. And, while Jim's behavior was reason for concern due to his alcoholism, I find the overwhelming number of his live performances to be outstanding.

I vote for The Doors.   

I consider 1970 to be their peak as a live band.

I agree.

Modified Side A: https://vimeo.com/152838265

I like the modifications!

Why is there a continuing slant that Dennis Wilson gave or fed drugs to Brian Wilson? Why aren't people talking about Brian feeding drugs to Dennis? It sounds like Brian paid for them. Why isn't Brian beaten up for buying drugs for Dennis or for sharing his drugs with Dennis?

I'm not suggesting AT ALL that Brian should have been beaten up, of course. Or that people should think of Brian as preying on Dennis. But I do think that the two angles are equally valid and that it's revealing that one is chosen over the other so consistently.

They were both doing drugs. They were both procuring drugs, sometimes jointly. Sometimes they did drugs together. The idea that one was the victim of the other seems to me to be totally based on a biased and willful interpretation.

As an aside, Dennis seems to me (opinion!) to have had an addiction while Brian's addiction I think is questionable.

Why is there "a continuing slant"? Why aren't people talking about "Brian feeding drugs to Dennis"? Why isn't "Brian beaten up"? Why is it that "one is chosen over the other so consistently"?

In my opinion, the answer, as it usually applies to this board, is that Brian is mentally ill. However, in this case, the answer is that Brian is MORE mentally ill.

An additional answer, again in my opinion, as it usually applies to this board, is that Brian has provided us with beautiful music. However, in this case, the answer is that Brian has provided us with MORE beautiful music.

So, any feedback or suggestions for next time?

I think it is really good. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you for posting it. I think your sequencing is good (and historically accurate?), your mixing and transitions are smooth, and I like the way you employed the spoken word inserts. Also, you can tell that you spent a lot of time and care on "The Elements"; very interesting. Clear, even sound, too.

Constructive criticism...On Side A, after "Wind Chimes" there is a spoken word section that ends with "I wanna be round my vegetables", then you go right into "The Old Master Painter". It's a little awkward, like I was expecting "Vegetables", not "The Old Master Painter". Maybe edit that short spoken word sentence mentioning vegetables out, or actually put it right before "Vegetables". Just my preference, but I would end Side A with "Cabinessence" fading out instead of the spoken word section. On Side B, the transition from "Good Vibrations" to "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" is a bit jarring, like it needs something there, a link or an intro or something. And, like Side A and "Cabinessence", I think I would fade out Side B with "Surf's Up" and put "George Fell Into His French Horn" BEFORE "Surf's Up".

But, overall, very nice!

I think "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter" was a good example of the dilemma facing The Beach Boys and especially Brian Wilson in 1967. For Beach Boys' diehards and fans of Brian Wlson in particular, "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter" was a cool track. I love it. However, to the casual fan, "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter" was the type of song which caused the Beach Boys' popularity to nosedive and led to the record company dropping them.

And, a similar effect might've happened a second time in the mid-70's when fans bought Endless Summer and Spirit Of America, and then went on to purchase the Warner Brothers' 2fer album, Smiley Smile/Friends.

What's the easiest way to upload a 45-50 minute SMiLE mix on here, you know, as far as signing up for the (free?) program, ease of doing it, sound clarity, etc.? I'd like to upload mine but don't know how.

Doors recorded six official studio albums with Jim and a few more after he died

In addition to the six studio albums with Jim, there was Absolutely Live (1970), which eventually became part of the excellent double CD, In Concert. While the two studio albums without Jim, Other Voices (1971) and Full Circle (1972) were not up to previous standards for obvious reasons, the music still showcased "the band" as well as the individual talents of Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, and John Densmore.

The later Bright Midnight Archives features some of The Doors' concerts from 1967-1970, and really shows what the band was capable of on a pretty consistent basis. Many of the "history books" will write that there was a decline post-Miami in 1969, but these live concerts, in my opinion, shows the band actually getting tighter and coming into their own. And, while Jim's behavior was reason for concern due to his alcoholism, I find the overwhelming number of his live performances to be outstanding.

I vote for The Doors.   

My favorite versions are all original album versions unless noted otherwise:

1. Good Timin'
2. It's OK
3. Getcha Back
4. Goin' On
5. Come Go With Me
6. Rock And Roll Music (1979 Midnight Special TV Show)
7. Summer In Paradise
8. Isn't It Time

 

Not for the first time, after reminding myself of the final David Anderle quote at the end of your post there, I find myself wishing that we could have somehow got Mr Anderle under the microscope for detailed interviews back in the day before he passed away, too. It seems that although Anderle almost certainly 'inhaled', he was one of the people really close-up to Brian and the creation of SMiLE during that crucial Summer to Christmas 1966 period that retained all of his marbles in his latter years — and was pretty together to begin with anyway, as well as being a thoroughly nice, approachable guy (or so the record would seem to have it). Compare such comments as we do have on record from him to the pretty crazy latterday ramblings of, say, Lorren Daro...

It's sort of frustrating to know that when I first got into SMiLE and began finding out about it from 1995 onwards, so many of those key players (Chuck Britz, there's another!!!) were still around and completely compos mentis. That's a stark contrast to today. I wish I'd had more time to look into this stuff back then. I remember I even chatted to Jonathan Anderle over email at one point in 1995 for a while, but then pressure of work and other stuff meant I never followed any of it up...!

Oh well — another reason to keep hoping against hope that someone, somewhere, really IS working on a Hot Tub Time Machine...   

Yes, sadly Britz, Anderle, Vosse, Carl Wilson and other SMiLE "observers" are gone. But Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks are not. I know I keep bringing this up, and because I have a tendency to beat a dead horse, will probably continue to do so. So, with the recent passings of Lemmy, Bowie, and Frey, I'll mention it again.

Depending on what anniversary date you use, we are either at SMiLE's 50th anniversary, or will be fast approaching it. I think this would be the perfect opportunity to arrange a meeting reuniting Brian and Van Dyke, with Darian Sahanaja serving as expert host/facilitator, maybe hold the reunion at Brian's house (complete with lap top, tape recorder and piano!) over a day or two or three, and discuss IN DEPTH each SMiLE track. Obviously Darian serves a very important role. We need that person to get things "out" of Brian.

I don't know how to get something like this off the ground, but I'd like to see somebody with "pull" explore it. Before anybody scoffs at this idea, did YOU believe BWPS would ever come to fruition, or a 75 date reunion tour in 2012 complete with new studio album? We have lost too many key people, and every day I turn on my computer, more people from that era are passing away. SMiLE is THAT important, and deserves something like I am proposing, dontcha think?

I think Smiley Smile might have more of that style of humor than anything else, even The Smile Sessions as released. Take the beginning of Little Pad, or the middle part of Wonderful.

It's interesting, that 'humor element', in that Brian speaks about it in a couple of articles at the time, Vosse talks about musical humour re: the musical change into the chorus of 'Wind Chimes' and what's probably 'Workshop', and Barnyard is pretty consistently described as 'comic' - but very few actual edits or assemblies survive from the period which incorporate the 'talking between verses' or verbal humour aspect. In fact, I think it's just 'You're Under Arrest!' that could be classified as being along these lines.

Mujan made several arguments for the 'Psycodelic Sounds' recordings being early versions of ideas Brian was developing for the final album - mainly in terms of the Elements with the Nov 4 chants, but this could also include 'Brian Falls into a Microphone/Piano' and the similar 'George Fell Into His French Horn' session, etc - and they could probably have fit the 'laughs between the verses' bill, suitably edited. But the Beach Boys themselves (apart from Brian) don't seem to have ever actually recorded any such pieces, at least that made it into an actual edit. Even 'You're Under Arrest', in Cantina, was performed by Gene Gaddy, apparently 'on set' because he was dating Barbara Rovell at the time.

Then there's the separate 'humour album' concept about which Brian was apparently fitfully enthused at the time. Anderle and Vosse both speak about it; the former probably summing things up best (and being very much in line with wantsomecorn's comment quoted above) when he says:

‘DAVID: I think what Brian tried to do with Smiley Smile is he tried to salvage as much of Smile as he could and at the same time immediately go into his humor album. 'Cause it's so—I hear elements in that of our discussions about the humor album, just little pieces of it.’

Agree about the humor in Smiley Smile, but again, I wonder how Brian (at one point in time) intended to employ it in SMiLE. If you do a rundown of the tracks, or specifically the subject matter of the tracks, other than possibly "Vegetables", which other tracks could've Brian employed humor? I have to think that the songs=serious and the spoken word=humor, but I don't know how he would've pulled it off, and I seriously don't know if the ying and yang would've worked. Although, at that time I wouldn't put anything past Brian...

Likewise, can someone shed any further contextual light on this BW quote, apparently from Oct '66:

"This LP will include 'Good Vibrations' and 'Heroes And Villains' and ten other tracks, I've written them all in collaboration Van Dyke Parks. The album will include lots of humour - some musical and some spoken. It won't be like a comedy LP - there won't be any spoken tracks as such - but someone might say something in between verses."

This statement is important, isn't it? Of course we'll never know because SMiLE never came out, but Brian is basically laying out a/the blueprint. And, the December 1966 handwritten list to Capitol also lists twelve tracks.

I find the part about "someone might say something in between verses" significant, too. Verses = plural. Let's be honest, there are some, but not many mixes - including TSS - that uses a lot of humor and spoken parts between verses. "Heroes And Villains" comes to mind as maybe the most prominent example, but I wonder which other tracks Brian had in mind. Actually, BWPS uses some spoken parts, but they are not humorous.