Hi Jon. I was wondering if you've given thought to approaching Al about doing a biography from his perspective along the lines of your Dennis and David Marks books. I know Al has spoken a few times in recent years about wanting to do a book from his point of view, and he apparently is confortable dealing with you (I'm only assuming this based on the fact that you're able to call him up and talk to him, so let me know if I'm assuming too much!). If you could do an Al book (or if Al would do one himself), it would really be the first time we'd get a first-hand look at virtually the entire history of the group.

Al doesn't seem to work particularly fast on some of these projects, so I don't know if such a thing can ever happen.

By the way, two quick questions about the new book: First, do you have a release date yet? Apologies if I've missed it. I e-mailed to what I believe is the publisher asking about pre-order details, but never got anything back. Will you announce any pre-release sales here? I'd definitely like to get it as soon as it's available anywhere.

Secondly, were you able to interview Al directly for the David Marks book? For that matter, did you get any other BB's to provide any interviews?

It's easy to fall somewhere between being pretty cynical about even the possibility of a reunion, and thinking "anything is possible." I'm thinking about the logistics of it all, and I think while a one-off "reunion" show seems possible, a full-blown "reunion" tour seems less likely. Doesn't Mike Love's "Beach Boys" book shows a year or two in advance in some cases? They may already have shows booked into 2007.

If Al and Brian were involved in a tour, I would doubt that either financially or logistically it would simply consist of Al and Brian joining the current touring band that Mike heads. If a new band and financial setup had to be made for a reunion tour, what would happen to all of the shows booked by the Mike/Bruce "Beach Boys" for that year?

It seems unlikely that they could do a reunion show late this year, and then decide if a full-blown tour could work. If they did that, they'd have to either wait until 2008 or later to do it, shoehorn it in among the Mike/Bruce dates (what kind of confusion would that cause?), or somehow take over the bookings that Mike/Bruce have. Anything is possible, I suppose.

Either way, I could easily envision a reunion show or even tour, followed by Mike and Bruce going back out on their own just like they have. I don't see a reunion as meaning either a retiring of the BB name, or a revival of continual touring from all of the members. A reunion could conceivably happen completely seperate from any band licenses or touring that Mike or anybody else does.

I have a question which just hit me, which others may or may not find particularly interesting: Are there any tapes in the BB's vaults of stuff from the BB '85 album? I would imagine there are some mixdowns and stuff that presumably could have been put onto tape. I would imagine rough compilations of the album could be on tape. Wasn't "At the Hop" dropped at the last second? I believe there are acetates of rough compilations of the album with rough mixes of some of the songs (and things like an alternate all-Al lead vocal on "California Calling"). I'm just curious if there are DAT multitracks for that album, or how that material, if any, was archived. For that matter, how did they master that album? Did the master stay digital all along the way, or was anything mixed to analog prior to mastering for CD?

Probably more interestingly, is there anything in the vaults containing Brian's attempt during the sessions to record "Oh Lord"? I've always wondered what that would have sounded like, and if Dennis would have received a co-writing credit on it.

I have this weird picture in my head of a BB tape vault that has a ton of tapes, and then, what, an Apple computer harddrive for the "Summer in Paradise" multitracks and outtakes?

I think the idea that "Love You" was ever going to be a BW solo album has come from two pieces of information which may have been misunderstood: 1. The fact that Brian is the most prominent member on the recordings, that he performs some songs almost if not completely solo, and 2. The album supposedly was originally titled "Brian Loves You."

Obviously, #1 above has nothing to do with how the album would be billed, as they ended up calling it a BB album. As for #2, it is my understanding that, in fact, the album was at one point going to be titled "Brian Loves You." But it was going to carry that title as a Beach Boys album. It would have been the Beach Boys' new album, titled "Brian Loves You." I haven't a clue why they changed the title. It could have been ego, or just  a way to avoid confusion. In any event, I was one who always assumed that "Brian Loves You" meant it would have or could have been a solo album. But it seems the group considered that title.

I think it was a few years later when Brian started cutting stuff as clearly "solo" material, which he may or may not have had any strong feelings about regarding whether he actually wanted to put out a solo album. That's not to say that Brian didn't think about a solo album earlier. He was cutting stuff on his own all the time. I just get the feeling that it wasn't until the early 80's that a solo album really seemed at all viable. Conversely, the seemingly "solo" stuff he was cutting into the early 80's like "Night Blooming Jasmine", "My Solution", another version of "Shortenin' Bread" (post LA Light Album), etc. could have easily evolved into Beach Boys recordings.

I bring this topic up once every few years because, well, I just remember it every so often. I know that I used to have a videotape of a TV airing (perhaps in syndication, I don't think this was a HBO or Showtime thing, but I'm not sure) of the BB's July 4th, 1985 show in Philadelphia. This was the show that featured "guest" spots by such luminaries as Jimmy Page, Mr. T, Joan Jett, and I think the Oakridge Boys.

I had this show on videotape from when I originally taped it off the air, but lost it probably 10-15 years ago. I've never run into another collector that had this show on videotape. I've found a few people who remember it being aired. A few years ago I found somebody who said they had it, but I never heard back from them. I know a radio broadcast of the show is common fare among collectors, but even collectors with huge lists that I've seen don't seem to have this show on videotape, and relatively few seem to remember much about it being televised. So, does anybody here have it, and if so, can you help me out? It's not that this particular show was that great (the Mr. T thing seemed kind of funny at the time, then years later it seemed kind of pathetic, and now I kind of find it funny again), and I remember that Jimmy Page seemed totally wasted at this show. I still have on videotape a little news report of the show from "Entertainment Tonight" or something, but that's about it.

Anyway, if anybody has this on videotape and could help me out, that would be great. My e-mail address: heyjude160@hotmail.com

Oddly, Dennis was the best and most consistent Beach Boy at this show.  He was absolutely rock-solid on the drums, zero mistakes.  His only disturbing moment was when he got on the piano and tried to sing along to "Rhonda".  Other than that, he was fit and fine.  Which reminds me of something Foskett said in an interview about a Carl-less show they played in Massachucettes the following spring...Jeff said "Dennis was there and doing a damn good job that night, because nobody else was".  He said this while Dennis was still alive.  Which just goes to show that even in the last three years of his life, Dennis cared enough to put forth extra effort when others were taking a dive around him.  To be fair, at the Long Beach '81 show, Bruce was fine, and the backup from Ed Carter, Ernie Knapp, Bobby F.and Mike Meros was solid.   But Brian, Mike, Al and Adrian all "tanked" in one way or another.

I agree with this assessment, except for Ernie Knapp. His bass sounded horrible. It wasn't that his playing was bad, it was just that the sound he was getting with the bass was horrible. That sort of "boing-boing" sound where you can't even really hear the notes. When Bruce played the same bass during the show, it sounded the same.

It's hard to rate Bruce's performance, because neither his voice or keyboard was particularly prevalent during the show, and he didn't take any leads. Al was okay, below average for him, but still good enough that the show would have come off okay if everybody else even met that basic level of proficiency. Mike really didn't sound a whole lot different than he usually did, at least on leads. His and everybody's group vocals/harmonies were below par for sure, though. I'd say Adrian Baker was the worst of all of them on that show, followed closely by Brian. Brian actually sounded passable on stuff like "Sloop John B" and "Good Vibrations." But "Don't Worry Baby" alone brought the entire show down.

The backing band, minus Baker, did their best to hold it together. I wonder if it sounded as bad on stage as it did on TV.

Dennis was probably the best, but only by default. There wasn't anything that stood out about his drumming, it was just solid overall like his drumming was as late as 1980 and 1981. Dennis actually seemed quite subdued during that show. You can see it during the preshow interview. During that interview, Brian calls it "the longest day ever" in a not particularly effective joking fashion.

Some often lump the late 70's and early 80's together in terms of the quality of the BB's shows, but I actually saw a very marked drop in quality between 1980 and 1981. It can be partly ascribed to Carl's departure, but just about everybody seemed to be less polished for whatever reason, likely to do partly with lack of rehearsals.

The Long Beach show was actually July 5th. They had played Washington DC the previous day. The Wash DC show was broadcast on the radio, while the Long Beach show was shown on TV (and simulcast on the radio).

The Long Beach show was pretty bad. Nobody was in particularly good form. Adrian Baker's singing was horrendous; shockingly sounding worse than Brian's voice, which was in pretty bad shape. Brian tried to sing "Don't Worry Baby" in falsetto in the original key.

Bobby Figueroa's lead vocal is the only decent lead vocal heard on that show. Dennis is relatively subdued (other than his usual bit on "Help Me Rhonda") and handles the drum duties without too much trouble.

There is an interview with Carl done during his solo tour that year, and he talks about going back to his hotel room and watching the BB show in Long Beach. I think his reactions were something like "it was painful" and "a little rehearsal would help a lot."

The Wash DC show from the day before is about the same quality, by the way. It wasn't like the Long Beach show was just one bad night. That was a bad year and a half until Carl returned in mid-1982.

Another compilation Capitol did around the same time as "Summer Dreams" was one (which I also have on cassette) titled........."The Beach Boys."

Not to be confused of course with the 1985 album titled "The Beach Boys." I've got another one titled "For All Seasons" with a bunch of stuff mixed in from the Concert album. Weird stuff Capitol was doing back then. These cassettes are on Capitol subidiaries such as "Pear Records." Some of them are "Capitol Special Markets."

As for the status of the three "Greatest Hits" CD's, I believe they are still in print. It was put around that those three volumes of greatest hits were supposed to replace every other compilation, to "clean up" the catalog. Of course, it wasn't longer after GH3: Brother Years that we saw stuff like "Classics Selected by Brian Wilson" and "Sounds of Summer." And I still think Capitol or its offshoots are putting out various budget-priced CD compilations to be found in drug stores, grocery stores, etc.

"Sunshine Dream" was the name of the sort-of sequel to "Spirit of America." But Capitol also did release another hits compilation in the early 80's titled "Summer Dreams." I have a cassette of it and several other compilations Capitol put out in the early 80's. They all have totally off the wall tracklistings. There is one titled "Golden Harmonies" that has the instrumental "Pet Sounds" on it!

Sounds like "Warmth of the Sun" is another compilation. I'm actually surprised that Capitol, if they were actually looking to do a "sequel" to "Sounds of Summer", didn't title it something like "Sounds of Summer 2" or "More Sounds of Summer" to tie it in to what was evidently a pretty successful marketing campagin for the SOS CD a few years ago.

Various online retailers have a BB CD titled "Warmth of the Sun" due for release on June 6. No cover art, no tracklistings yet. The only bit of info is that it is apparently a Capitol release. It may well just be another hits compilation, but does anybody know anything about this? It can't be the Hallmark CD, which has a different title and is a Hallmark-exclusive. The two other projects I've heard Capitol might be working on are a Pet Sounds reissue and some sort of CD titled "Good Vibrations" which may be another hits compilation or some sort of CD of GV sessions or something.

(Actually, I'd love to see a really decent Carl interview turn up somewhere).

There apparently aren't many. I have a videotape of an interview Carl did on some latenight PBS talkshow in 1983, I believe. The interview doesn't probe too deep, but it goes well beyond the standard inane questions. I believe Brian was just starting to reappear on stage with the BB's at this point after his second Landy stint began, and I think Carl discussed this in the interview as well. I don't remember the name of the show, but it was a Larry King-style thing with a viewer call-in segment. If I recall correctly, there were actually a few fairly knowledgeable fans who called in. I recall some lesser-known albums being brought up during the show.

His team up with Mike Love from the mid 70s onwards

This is often put about, this "alliance" of some sort. But I've heard from a number of people, including people who were more familiar with the actual BB's, who have said that in reality the "alliance" that pitted Al and Mike against Carl and Dennis really only lasted a few years in the late 70's, during the contentious 1977-1978 period or so. I've heard several different people say that, in fact, by the 80's and certainly into the 90's, Al and Carl were much closer than any of the other band members.

A stern champion of Dennis Wilsons music - but that wasn't the case in the past  (when it mattered)

This is certainly the case, although I think Al or any of the BB's could be cut *some* slack in light of the non-musical problems Dennis brought to the band. That probably made it difficult to recognize, let alone champion Dennis' work at the time. Interestingly, in that Goldmine interview from 1999 or 2000, Al not only touts Dennis' work, but goes so far as to say it was better than a lot of what the BB's were doing.

There are things to criticize, though most of those things are in relation to past events. It may have cost Al a cushy gig of playing 180 shows per year, but being on his own has seemed to liberate him to some degree. Some of the things he's said in recent years are things I can't imagine him saying in the 80's or 90's, and I don't think it's a case of sour grapes or anything.

Al is the only one of the BB's I've met, and that happened in August of last year at a little benefit show he did. I just spoke to him a bit before and then after the show. He struck me as a really humble, low key guy. But at the same time, I got the sense that he was aware and proud of his legacy and the legacy of the BB's. He didn't seem big-headed in the slightest, and didn't seem to need to remind anybody of the BB's importance. But he's aware of it.

I used to sort of feel bad for Al that he wasn't able to tour regularly or be more active, particularly in a live setting. But I think the fans who can't see his shows are the ones that we should feel bad for. I think Al must still be quite well off if he's having custom-made hot rod cars done for him. So I don't feel bad for him in that sense.

At this point, what I would criticize Al for more than anything is the lack of an appearance of a solo album or any substantive new material to release. We've had a live album (a very good one), and a few stray tracks here and there. He's surely got enough solo-ish material in the can recorded during the BB days that he could put together a "solo" album comprised completely of stuff that's already been recorded. A related item that I also could criticize is that he's clearly not getting a huge amount of bookings with his current live show (even if we assume he's doing some "private" shows we never hear about), so I'd like to see some sort of stripped-down live show with him and maybe just a few others in a small band performing some BB rarities. If he's not able or willing to do some huge countrywide tour of little clubs, he could just do a gig or two of that sort and put it on DVD or something.

The album was distributed by a small indie company called NAVARRE.  I don't think Brother did any of the actual distribution on the record.

This certainly makes sense. I should have worded what I wrote a bit differently. I didn't really believe the BB's actually pressed the CD's and took orders for retailers themselves. They would have to somewhere to get the CD pressed, and go to a company to physically get the CD's in stores. But I think the setup was different from when, say, Caribou/CBS distributed the '85 album for Brother. I would guess they didn't "sign" with Navarre in the way that they signed with Warners or CBS. I would guess they simply paid Navarre to get the CD's into stores.

I've seen the "revised" version of SIP issued in the UK, and it had an EMI logo on it. Interesting that they got EMI to distribute the CD in the UK, but not in the US, considering EMI's own Capitol had put out a relatively successful album in "Still Cruisin'" only a few years earlier.

Is Dennis' vocal on "Angel Come Home" lip-synched or re-recorded somehow. Everytime I watch the video of this performance, something looks out of whack, much like Brian's recent Christmas TV appearances.

I think the BB's recorded live versions of the songs in front of an audience, and then lip-synched to those live recordings for the actual TV show. There is a totally live audio recording of them performing "Good Timin'" with Dennis on lead vocals, and it purports to be from the Midnight Special taping. I don't think that song made it to air, nor do I know if they even lip-syched to it on the broadcast at all.

I've heard they also performed "Baby Blue" live for that Midnight Special taping, but there aren't even any audio recordings of that, nor are they are any live recordings of them performing "Baby Blue" as far as I know.

I saw (and video taped) the original airing back in April or May of '79.  No, they did not do "Good Timin'" on that show, although yes, they reportedly rehearesed it.  This is the first I'v EVER heard of them even considering "Baby Blue", and I highly doubt it.   Most of the performances were live, but like I said, some punch-ins were needed. 

C-Man

I have the show on videotape as well. Punch-ins or overdubs of some sort seem possible, but my recollection is that pretty much the entire performance of "Angel Come Home" doesn't quite match Dennis' lips. Given that the recording existing of "Good Timin'" is certainly totally live, if that performance is from rehearsals or recording sessions for the TV show, it seems more likely to me that they pre-recorded any material that doesn't match their lips on the TV airing, as opposed to post-production work of some sort.

As for "Baby Blue", I read this report from somebody who was at the taping (which may have also been where I heard about the idea of the BB's pre-recording some of the songs in front of the audience and then taping the show). As with any report from somebody on the internet about an event that happened twenty-some years ago, I read such reports with some skepticism. But when I read such reports, I make a judgement based on how informed the fan seems to be and how well they recall details of the event. The "Baby Blue" report I read seemed pretty credible considering the circumstances.

Apart from some of the string arrangement, "Baby Blue" would otherwise not be too difficult to perform live, mostly piano with some guitar.

I never even knew until I read Jon Stebbins' book that the BB's (well, at least Dennis and the BB touring band) performed a couple of songs from "Pacific Ocean Blue" at a few BB shows in 1977. I can't remember the titles for sure, but I think one of them was "What's Wrong."

Then there is the aborted Dennis solo tour. I vaguely recall that it was Brad Elliott that mentioned they found a tape box in the archives marked as tour rehearsal recordings, but the tape was blank or missing.

Okay, a few more really odd ones quickly:

A Day in the Life of a Tree - 1971 (Jack Rieley and on another occassion allegedly Brian Wilson on lead vocal)

I think I may have inadvertently started that rumor a while back on the old SS Board.  I misunderstood the guy I was trading with, and it's actually just Brian being invited on stage to play organ on ADITLOAT while Jack sang it.   After many people on the board questioned this, I took a closer listen, and sure enough that was the case.  It was not Brian singing.  Although that doesn't rule out that he sang it another time...but that's pretty unlikely.

Good vibes,
Eric

There was a story that somebody told on the old Cabinessence board of a show, presumably different from the show of which a recording exists of Rieley singing the song, where Brian was coaxed on stage and sang the song himself. It's certainly possible that the story was of the same show, and the person incorrectly remembered Brian singing it. But the person seemed to be like a well-informed fan, and I would think (or hope) that he would be able to tell the difference between Jack Rieley's voice and Brian's!

Okay, a few more really odd ones quickly:

A Day in the Life of a Tree - 1971 (Jack Rieley and on another occassion allegedly Brian Wilson on lead vocal)
Love Me Tender - 1977
Bony Maronie - 1984
Forever - 1988 (Carl on lead)
Okie From Muskogee - 1988 (brief semi-parody version)
This Whole World - 1988 (Carl on lead)

Off the top of my head, some other out of the ordinary live inclusions in the BB's setlists over the years:

I'm Waiting for the Day - 1975 w/ Billy Hinsche on lead vocal
Wild Honey - 1976 w/ Carl on lead
Come Softly To Me - a few shows in 1981, I think Mike sang this
Be My Baby - 1982, Mike on lead
California Calling, It's Gettin' Late, She Believes in Love Again, Crack at Your Love - all briefly performed on '85 tour (as well as of course "Getcha Back", which stayed in the setlist for another year or two)
Goin' On, Some of Your Love, Livin' With a Heartache - performed briefly on the 1980 tour ("School Days" survived for awhile longer)
Island Girl, In My Car, Somewhere Near Japan - performed on occasion in 1989-1990

I'll think of more later...... (four posts in a row is enough I think!)

Ehhhh, I felt that in 1979-81, they just didn't seem to care. Those years aren't the best from the BBs. They did take an upward turn around 1982 when Carl returned after his hiatus.

Really, they were never tighter than they were from 1970-74.

I agree with this, but I do think the BB's sometimes sounded pretty solid in 1980, especially considering that at some shows it was one of the last times in the BB's history that the actual BB's on stage outnumbered the backing band members (at something like the Washington DC '80 show, there are six BB's and only three backing members).

Just a few years later, Dennis was gone, Brian was rarely there, and that left four BB's and a backing band usually including Figeuroa, Kowalski, Meros, Foskett, Hinsche, and Carter.

Is Dennis' vocal on "Angel Come Home" lip-synched or re-recorded somehow. Everytime I watch the video of this performance, something looks out of whack, much like Brian's recent Christmas TV appearances.

I think the BB's recorded live versions of the songs in front of an audience, and then lip-synched to those live recordings for the actual TV show. There is a totally live audio recording of them performing "Good Timin'" with Dennis on lead vocals, and it purports to be from the Midnight Special taping. I don't think that song made it to air, nor do I know if they even lip-syched to it on the broadcast at all.

I've heard they also performed "Baby Blue" live for that Midnight Special taping, but there aren't even any audio recordings of that, nor are they are any live recordings of them performing "Baby Blue" as far as I know.

Well I understand the Lovester's unsettlement with the audience. This was right before he played Sumahama, which he was quite into.

How about when the band tried doing the disco version of Here Comes The Night at Radio City Music Hall in March 1979? Almost unanimous disapproval. Only lasted for two shows.

The band brought back California to the setlists in 1990, but that didn't last long. No one got into the song, unfortunately.

I've heard a recording of a performance of "Here Comes the Night" from the Radio City Music Hall, and curiously I didn't hear any booing. I just heard a rather normal amount of applause at the end of the song. Maybe it was another crowd from that run of shows that booed more heavily.

The album probably officially went "out of print" as soon as it was released. That means stores would continue to stock it as long as they cared to keep whatever copies they had in stock. Keep in mind that, as I understand it, the BB's released SIP differently than other albums on "Brother Records." Previously, they simply had their Brother label distributed by a major label (Warner, CBS, now Capitol). But with SIP, they apparently couldn't get a record deal or even a distribution deal through a label (strange considering that "Kokomo" and the "Still Cruisin'" album actually sold fairly well; "Still Cruisin'" went gold), so they actually distrubuted the SIP album themselves via "Brother Entertainment." You can hear them make jokes during the '93 Paramount Theatre show, things along the lines of "buy our new album and help finance our record company."

Just a few years ago, probably 2002 or so, I saw a brand new, sealed copy of the original US version (in that awkward packaging where the CD case is opened up and then shrink wrapped) at a Fry's Electronics store. The price tag on it looked kind of yellowed and old. It probably slipped behind a shelf somewhere for a few years and then got stuck back on the shelf. I've actually found a few items at Fry's that had been out of print for years, so maybe Fry's has some strange way of rotating old stock or something.

I quite enjoy this book. There are some articles that analyze specific older BB songs, or discuss other general topics. But I actually found the contemporary articles about live shows and releases of that time (1978-1984 I believe, although most of the articles seem to cover more like 1979 or 1980 to 1983) to be the most interesting. I think there is even a review from Andrew G. Doe of a BB show from 1980.

If you've ever been interested in that strange time in 1981-82 when Carl left the band, there are several articles on that period, including a very interesting interview with Carl during his departure. There are also some good pics from that period as well, including what I believe are the last two publicity photos of the six-member group taken, one in 1982 and another in 1983.

I think reviews of most of what the BB's put out during this time period are included, and it's interesting to read contemporary reviews of stuff like Mike and Carl's solo albums, the KTSA album, and the "Rock and Roll City" compilation.

Ever seen the Beatles First American Visit video? There's a scene in a hotel room in 1964 where Lennon is tootling around on a melodica (a kid's toy instrument) and starts playing what would become the intro to "Strawberry Fields Forever"!

Some musical ideas take a long time to gestate....

It should be pointed out that there is no strong evidence to suggest that what John played on that melodica in 1964 had anything to do with the mellotron intro to the song several years later.

For one, it's Paul who plays the mellotron intro on the final recording. John's demos of the song in late 1966 as well as the first studio take of the song do not have that mellotron intro at all. I'm not saying Paul neccesarily wrote that intro, but I don't see any strong connection between what John played in '64 and what either Paul added to Take 2 and on (or what John could have instructed Paul to play).

Also, what John plays on that melodica is really only three notes that match the first three notes of the intro on the finished record. The tempo and way in which the notes are played is completely different.

Anything is possible, but this seems to be quite believable as an interesting coincidence.

Here are some tracklistings from some of the compilation cassettes I have:

"The Beach Boys" (not to be confused with the self-titled '85 album)
Release Date: 1983
Label: Capitol/SM (Special Markets)

Side One:
1. Sloop John B.
2. Catch A Wave
3. The Warmth Of The Sun
4. Wild Honey

Side Two:
1. 409
2. Hushabye
3. Don't Back Down
4. Why Do Fools Fall In Love
5. Summer Means New Love

"Summer Dreams"
Release Date: 1983
Label: Capitol/SM (Special Markets)

Side One:
1. Shut Down
2. Do You Remember
3. Summertime Blues
4. Your Summer Dreams
5. Girl Don't Tell Me

Side Two:
1. Heroes & Villains
2. Let Him Run Wild
3. Then I Kissed Her
4. Pet Sounds

"For All Seasons"
Release Date: 1984
Label: Capitol/SM (Special Markets)/Pair Records

Program 1:
1. Surfin' Safari
2. Darlin'
3. Girls On The Beach
4. Let's Go Trippin'
5. I Get Around
6. Hushabye
7. Summertime Blues
8. This Car Of Mine

Program 2:
1. Be True To Your School
2. Surfer Girl
3. Louie, Louie
4. Finders Keepers
5. Wouldn't It Be Nice
6. Don't Worry Baby
7. Devoted To You
8. Why Do Fools Fall In Love

"Golden Harmonies"
Release Date: 1985
Label: Capitol/SM (Special Markets)/Pair Records

Program 1:
1. Help Me Rhonda
2. Dance, Dance, Dance
3. When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
4. Johnny B. Goode
5. Fun, Fun, Fun
6. Keep An Eye On Summer
7. 409
8. Pet Sounds

Program 2:
1. Little Deuce Coupe
2. Do You Wanna Dance
3. Sloop John B.
4. Shut Down
5. Surfin' USA
6. The Little Old Lady From Pasadena
7. The Wanderer
8. Surfin'

I have several budget-line Capitol compilations from the early 80's on cassette (most of them released under the Capitol/SM (Special Markets) label), and they all have eclectic tracklistings like the one listed above. The most strange inclusion I can think of is on a compilation called "Golden Harmonies." It contains the instrumental "Pet Sounds", which I think isn't the best display of their "golden harmonies."

I know a lot of people find the "Instrumental Hits" (or whatever the title is) compilation amusing and eclectic, but at least all of the inclusions on that make some sense thematically.

If this indeed is the same recording excerpted in the A&E Biography documentary (it sounds similar to me, but I probably haven't watched the A&E doc for several years), one would think the compilers of the documentary would have made some attempt to find evidence that the performance is Brian's. Perhaps they even asked him, or had Leaf authenticate it with Brian.

I certainly don't think that any such authentication process would have happened for sure, nor do I believe it would have proven anything 100% positive. But it's another bit of evidence to take into account. That would be pretty funny if a BW A&E Biography had used a recording of Al Jardine to make some sort of reference to Brian's lost years of brilliant but lost compositions.

I still go back to the fact that, to me, it just sounds too much like Brian. If the quality of the recording was worse, I'd be more open to it possibly being Al. I'm usually much more apt to believe something that doesn't immediately seem like the right answer. But in this case, what I'm hearing doesn't give much room to consider that it's Al. I've made these mistakes before, though. I originally thought the outtake "Out in the Country" had Bruce on vocals. But, once I realized the tape was simply running too fast, I realized it was Al. I also picked up on some of Al's vocal inflections.

But I don't hear any of this on the Holland tape. As I said before, a stronger argument could be made that the tape sounds nothing like Al, and it's Al just sounding very much like Brian. Al has indeed sounded like Brian on some recordings from time to time, and in some cases it's quite amazing. But I've never heard any recording of this sort where we can hear singing and speaking voice where one BB sounds like another for nearly four minutes without any indication of who the actual BB is. That is, if this recording is Al, then he never gives a single hint in the recording vocally that it's him (Al). This would have to be the all time greatest Brian impersonation ever. Or, the tape is wildly off speed and a speed correction could reveal something interesting, which I wouldn't completely rule out.

I would also suggest, if anybody tries to alter the recording, that it works better doubling up the right channel as opposed to folding down both channels to mono. If you just fold it down, you're still overlaying the 100% hiss, 0% music of the left channel onto the right channel. If you double up the right channel, you get twice the volume and half of the hiss without losing any sonic information. (Interestingly, there is information on the left channel for the last few seconds of the file).