I’m not one who usually super scrutinized soundtrack selections like this, especially when they’re reaching back and repurposing an old track. But the use of Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” was perfect. “Guess I got what I deserved” is the first line you hear, and I’d wager that was important to the writers.

I’d argue that Badfinger song is musically and lyrically just as good if not better than the Dennis/BB track, and arguably in some ways a more important recording as it’s one of the earliest examples of “Power Pop.”

In any event, it goes without saying that the two tracks are pretty different, and both are great. But I think an argument that they should have used the BB track could be grounded in a “I like the BB’s, so they should have used a BB track” mentality.

Now, as Howie Edelson has pointed out, someone in the BRI camp *should* be more aggressively marketing the use of BB tracks in TV and film. I’m not a big fan of trendy use of old songs, especially when they’re just used in movie trailers and don’t even appear in the actual film. But it does proportionately bring a lot of new ears to a song (and reminds old ears as well), and makes a good chunk of money as well.

I don't want to start another 10-page autotune debate. I'm more than willing to call "autotune" when I hear it. But I'm not so sure Al is autotuned on this track. If he is, it's more subtle and not nearly as obvious as something like "From There to Back Again."

Some of the backing vocals with Brian sound a bit more "auto-tuney", and I agree it's difficult to know by listening, and probably difficult to know even if you're there watching the vocals being recorded (since it will often be applied long after the initial recording). But Al sounds much more organic on this recording. The track is awash in reverb, way too much for my taste, and that might account for a bit of the difficulty in discerning whether autotune is there.

Interestingly, the song does not fade out...it has a clear ending. Unusual for BW songs.

Again, kind of ballsy.  Very few songs have a clear ending anymore, I like that we're getting something a little different...

I think the new song is good and all, but is a cold ending really "ballsy"? I'll go ahead and assume "very few" songs have a clean ending anymore for the sake of this discussion. But it isn't like Brian busted out a two minute trumpet solo in the middle of the song. In the realm of recorded music, there's pretty much only two ways to end a track (other than the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever" or the original "Help Me Ronda" or something), and this track uses one of those two ways. Not "ballsy" in the slightest in any way I can measure, nor does it need to be.

http://denniswilsonthebeachboys.tumblr.com/

Anyone ever seen the two avatar pictures at the top of this site? They look like they could've been taken in 1983, don't they?

Well spotted - they've been posted now.





The Beach Boys outdoor concert on the island of Maui, Hawaii, 1983

Is that the early 1983 gig where Landy "allowed" Brian to play with the band before going back into seclusion for a few more months?

Musically and lyrically, that wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. A simple acoustic track, and probably would have worked that way better than a big production.

I was somehow thinking this was kind of a duet or that they traded off on the lead. But this is, performance-wise, pretty much a solo Myrna track with Carl simply singing the harmony on the chorus (sounds like they mixed Carl's voice up a bit louder than I would think a harmony vocal would typically be mixed, which isn't a bad thing for Carl fans of course). It is indeed very comforting to hear Carl's voice. Based on Schilling's description of the time frame it was recorded, I'm guessing this was recorded in 1980 more likely than 1981, not that that particularly matters.

This is essentially a Myrna track, so I'm not sure where the best venue would be to release the track if they were inclined. I suppose some sort of deluxe release of Carl's albums would be a good enough spot, since Myrna is on his albums too. 

I think I heard that he produced an album for her that is unreleased.  I wonder if any of those tracks are co-written by him.  I would like to hear that, but doubt it would ever come out.

I'm down for seeing anything and everything released. I don't find Carl's solo album's to be particularly awesome. A hand full of good tracks, the rest is kind of bland. What I would like to see released is a good-sounding live recording from Carl's 1981 tour. The circulating recording of his 1981 gig at "My Father's Place" (presumably from radio, or a few generations down from a regular soundboard recording) is solid-sounding recording, and the live show breathed a lot of life into the solo album tracks. They sound much less sterile when performed live, especially stuff like "Bright Lights" and "The Grammy."

It's obvious Stamos is familiar with the Shindig clip.  He and Cowsill are matching Dennis' playing perfectly.

Slightly interesting that the "Shindig" footage on the big screen appears to still have a timecode running at the top. Did they get that part of the footage from YouTube or something?

It would be interesting to see (preferably with the full surviving band on stage) different Dennis and Carl tracks swapped. When they don't have to sync any video footage, then I would presume they just have to isolate a lead vocal and then add a click track to it.

Nice tribute. I always find it not right though that they don't use one of Dennis' own extraordinary songs to pay him tribute. But I believe they were already using "Do you wanna dance" when Carl was still alive.
Just my opinion of course.

What else have they used besides this and Forever? Forever is his own song. Do You Wanna Dance was the only hit record with a Dennis lead vocal. I thought it was terrific to honor him with such a rockin' track.

"Forever" would be cool.
I'm not saying it's terrible. Just my opinion. "Forever" is a great track and meanwhile it's known among concert goers. And "Do you wanna dance" is not a very good song. I always wondered how they could record it and put that out back in the 60s. The production is great but...well, wtf. Let's just keep it at that.

Huh? They've done Forever like, forever.

Only on the Beach Boys tour in 2012. I'm talking about using a video etc. When they didn't use video walls they practically could've done every song Dennis ever wrote for and recorded with the Beach Boys. That would be no problem. Imo still more fitting than DYWD (which - also imo - sucks in the live versions no matter by which band although it sounds kinda cool on the few 60s audience recordings I have heard).

Honestly, I don't care what song they choose. I am just really happy that Mike includes Dennis' contribution to the band in the Live show.

I can't fault any attempt to pay tribute to Carl and Dennis.

I just still find it beyond bizarro that you can go to a "Beach Boys" show in 2015 and hear Carl and Dennis sing, but not Brian or Al.   

Musically and lyrically, that wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. A simple acoustic track, and probably would have worked that way better than a big production.

I was somehow thinking this was kind of a duet or that they traded off on the lead. But this is, performance-wise, pretty much a solo Myrna track with Carl simply singing the harmony on the chorus (sounds like they mixed Carl's voice up a bit louder than I would think a harmony vocal would typically be mixed, which isn't a bad thing for Carl fans of course). It is indeed very comforting to hear Carl's voice. Based on Schilling's description of the time frame it was recorded, I'm guessing this was recorded in 1980 more likely than 1981, not that that particularly matters.

This is essentially a Myrna track, so I'm not sure where the best venue would be to release the track if they were inclined. I suppose some sort of deluxe release of Carl's albums would be a good enough spot, since Myrna is on his albums too. 

It was very out of character for him. I may be mistaken, but I don't think there were any other incidents that were ever documented about Carl being inebriated while on stage. While listening to him on stage that day it sounded funny, but I don't think anybody was laughing when he fell down. I think the band understood what happened and forgave him right away. But the Australian press obviously made a big deal about it, and he was still a little high the next day, as can be seen during the press interview. If he'd done it in America, it probably wouldn't have been acknowledged by the press - they were use to seeing singers stoned or drunk on stage all the time. Carl continued having his drinks before/after concerts right up until his last concert. Mike Love was very surprised and thought he should have quit as soon as he found out he had cancer.

If I'm recalling correctly, the extant video of the Largo, MD 1977 show, which I believe is from 1/21/77 or so (a full year before Australia) shows Carl looking pretty toasted or whatever one wants to call it. Not nearly as intense as the Australia '78 shows, but it looks and sounds like Carl had had some drinks that night too. His demeanor at Largo is way different from anything from 1979 and on.

As for Carl drinking right up until his last concert, and I'm not shooting the messenger here, just throwing ideas out, that would be an issue he would take up with his doctor, not Mike Love. When you are terminally ill, there are many degrees of "do's" and "don'ts." For instance, a doctor will tell you in most cases to continue leading a healthy lifestyle. But will having some drinks actually worsen the cancer or hinder treatment? A doctor may say no, statistically not. Just like they may tell you not to eat rare meat or something while doing chemo, because your immune system is weakened. Same with drinking. Some doctors will say if someone is terminally ill and has a few months left from lung cancer, even *smoking* at that stage won't make it any worse than it already is. This is all theoretical, but there are many life decisions one makes in those situations, including how happy or miserable they want to be, and what one's prognosis is as far as treatment. I believe there might be cases where drinking a moderate amount of alcohol would not in any way worsen cancer or hinder treatment.

I've seen some other blurbs where Mike commented that his wife was a registered nurse, "especially pulmonary" (Mike's words from a 1999 interview, where he weirdly points out that his wife correctly guessed that Carl had two months left to live in December 1997), but Carl surely had an oncologist who would have been the person to discuss all of those issues with.

Carl was so private that this is kind of a Catch-22 situation... if anyone close to Carl spoke to the biographer, they probably wouldn't have given much away. And if no one spoke to the biographer, what's he really gonna tell us that we can't find from using the search function on this board?

Does anyone really think this is going to be a great biography?

Having said that, i don't know much about Carl's life so it'd be interesting to find out even a little more.

These are good and important questions. I’m hopeful this will have some insight and tell us things we don’t already know. As I mentioned in another thread, I would hope the author had access to some friends and family so that we get some degree of new info. If we just get a reiteration of past biographies with a more narrow focus towards Carl-related events, then it indeed could just end up being like Carlin’s book without as much solo Brian information. I would hope the author was able to get some real, firm, new information and insights. And/or that the author is just *really* good at sleuthing extant sources for info we didn’t already know about Carl.

I would hope but would not expect that any associates that talked to the author would be willing to be frank (but respectful) and get into things like the Australia 1978 debacle, the mid-late 90’s inter-band politics (Mike/Al, Carl’s attitude towards the Paley material, etc.), and so on. 

"Slightly American Music" is allegedly almost entirely a Paley composition, and in private conversation with a mutual friend many years ago, he stated that "Soul Searching" was 95% him.

The first part of the verses is a complete rewrite of Brian's Hey Little Tomboy. The 'I heard it', 'I gotcha' and 'we made it' bits are Rudy Clark's Got My Mind Set On You and the 'Honest Abe done freed those slaves' bit is the 'Round and around and around we go, the music keeps me on my feet' hook from Brian's Roller Skating Child etc etc.

Meh, in the realm of Brian “re-purposing” melodies/songs, these aren’t the most clear examples. I agree there are similarities in the comparisons here, but they are not straight lifts of the chords/melody as much as using similar syncopation and meter. The “honest abe” versus “round and round and round we go” are not the exact same chord changes. Same thing with the verses on “Slightly” versus “Hey Little Tomboy.” I suppose the “we made it” bit is like “Got My Mind Set On You” on that two-chord riff, but when each song moves to a third chord to move to the next part of the song, that chord is different.

I’d say something like “Walkin’ the Line” versus “Looking Down the Coast” is a better example of two very different songs where a prolonged very similar chord *and* melody pattern was used.

To the degree Paley material sounds like “Roller Skating Child” and “Hey Little Tomboy”, that *would* maybe help to explain why they couldn’t score a record deal off of the material.

I have no idea how good this song might be (it would no doubt be great to hear Carl’s voice, but sometimes “tribute” songs can be kind of clunky or cloying, at least lyrically), but I’m hoping they actually get around to really releasing this song in some form rather than just talking about it. Neither the Carl estate nor the BB’s seem to be churning out archival product at a quick pace, so I’m worried about how they’ll get this song out unless they just throw a free download up on the interwebs.

There is that apparent Carl biography coming out later this year, and I would hope that was done with some amount of co-operation from Carl’s family and friends (his story is harder to research, so I would imagine the author would have some new sources; otherwise it would be a potentially extremely short book), so perhaps they might get some Carl archival release out there (perhaps Carl’s other solo album CD, or a set with both along with some rarities) to tie in with the book.

Looks like it's still available online at one of their online stores. Good luck, and let us know if you're able to order!

http://thebeachboys.shop.bravadousa.com/Product.aspx?pc=BGAMBZ06&view_in=Mobile

In the interview, he says they "may've written a hundred songs", not recorded a hundred: all he says there is "there are many other recordings that haven't seen the light of day as far as I know".

The original poster only extrapolated that there MAY be up to a hundred songs recorded. It’s certainly possible Paley has at least some sort of rudimentary demo recording for any songs he co-wrote with Brian. So *if* they really wrote a hundred songs (which is probably where the hyperbole lies), I don’t think it’s inappropriate to suggest there then *may* be up to a hundred songs recorded in some form.

No huge revelations in this Paley interview, but I’m glad people are still asking and trying to get some info. Sounds like the Usher sessions situation; years after the fact, there are parties who would be happy to put the recordings out, but Brian is unlikely to spearhead any such release. It’s probably especially unlikely with the Paley stuff since Brian re-worked a few of the tracks on later releases.

I’ve mentioned it many times and there are links to the old “Internet Wayback Machine”, but there was a really interesting interview with Paley on the short-lived “petsounds.com” website where he got into some specifics about the sessions and especially the BB involvement. It always sticks in my mind that, even if an exaggerated claim, he felt the BB’s could have cut vocals for an entire album’s worth of the material in a couple days. He had some good insights into their vocal strengths. How *good* a BB album full of Paley/Wilson songs could have been, I don’t know. I think having the BB’s add vocals to maybe 5 or 6 of the strongest songs would have been cool. I don’t know if a full strong album of material was there. I’ve even grown to like some of the kitschy eclectic stuff like “Slightly American Music” and even “Chain Reaction of Love”, but the critics would have torn that stuff apart most likely.

That's a crazy place to have a party, isn't it?  Didn't they tear down the original house on the property though? But still......what the hell were they thinking?

Just saw Jeff Lynne's ELO playing a little bit of "Evil Woman" and the entire "Mr. Blue Sky at the 2015 Grammys. For some reason some guy named Sheeran joined him on stage for "Mr. Blue Sky" but didn't need to. McCartney was standing up and cheerleading during the brief set. Lynn hasn't missed a beat since I last saw the original ELO back in 1978. Only original member left is Richard Tandy, playing piano next to him on stage, and his full band is very tight! Last year, he played to 50,000 people at Hyde Park and after that great reception said he'd be touring the States around the release of his new album this year. He hates touring, but if he comes to Northern Cali, I'll definitely be at that concert!

Hope such a tour goes better than the 2001 ELO reunion (with him and Tandy): following a few TV appearances, the actual tour was cancelled. Shame, since the in-concert DVD shot on a soundstage was preety good. All the best to them, I like ELO!

I got to attend that ELO DVD taping in 2001 at CBS Television City in Los Angeles! I’d have to say that that show along with the BB’s C50 tour are two of the best shows I’ve ever seen. The “DVD taping” was actually initially for a PBS TV special, and then later on they released it on DVD with some extra songs.

I (hopefully) have Lynne’s ELO bit from the Grammys DVR’d. I haven’t watched it yet. His show in Hyde Park a few months ago was great. For being his first full-length show in 13 years (and only his third or fourth full-length show in 28 years), it was pretty impressive. His voice is amazingly intact. Hopefully they’ll learn from the mistakes of the doomed 2001 tour (which was mostly down to booking too many HUGE venues, like arenas, and not very elaborate promotion), and do something smaller-scale this time around. Lynne and ELO have a higher profile now than he did in 2001, so if they start with a smaller North American tour of theaters, I think that would do well. Europe is even easier if he goes that route; he could probably make more money touring Europe than North America.

Back to that Probyn interview from 2012, I recall that the thing was pulled initially since it apparently spilled the beans on some C50 stuff. I really wish we could get more interviews like this with guys from the backing bands. I’m always surprised that with all of the guys who have backed Brian and the BB’s over the years, we haven’t seen a ton of interviews with the backing band guys. I think it was discussed some time back that there is the possibility that some of the guys, especially in the 70s/80s era, may have signed some non-disclosure agreements of some sort. But that info from Probyn in that interview was really interesting. It’s interesting to hear things from a working musician’s point of view, but who also probably comes at some of the stuff like any of us would (e.g. Diana Ross ignoring everybody, etc.).

A quote from AGD from the previous Brian autobiography thread (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15517.msg364439.html#msg364439):

You're making a very basic error here - assuming that Brian will be actually writing the book, or even directing the overall flow. I'm willing to wager a large sum that the compositional process will follow this basic framework:

1 - Co-author does the research and makes a list of topics to be covered...
2 - Brian is interviewed...
3 - Based on Brian's responses, Fine produces a rough-cut...
4 - Brian - or more likely, his 'people' - review this and request changes, inclusions and excisions...
5 - Fine 'remixes' his text...
6 - Text is reviewed again...
7 - steps 5 & 6 are repeated until the text is deemed acceptable by Brian's management...
8 - book is published...
9 - we tear it apart...
10 - lawsuits commence.

I'm always pleased to hear about a new book regarding the Beach Boys.  I'm almost always pleased to read these new books.   But I harbor no illusion that this will be anymore an unfiltered look into the life of Brian anymore than the first "autobiography" was.  The filters this time around may have better intentions, but they are filters none the less.

Frankly, even much more lucid and talkative "celebrities" couldn't sit down and actually WRITE much of anything. Even genuinely intelligent people often can't string a paragraph together, let along write a book. I'm talking from all the different angles, from style to content to grammar, and so on.

I would imagine few "autobiographies" involve the subject actually sitting down alone and even doing a rough draft. I've actually found Fine's writing to be pretty informed as the band and Brian go (his Rolling Stone article during C50 was one of the only revelatory pieces written about the tour). I actually wish they had simply contracted Fine to write an "Authorized Biography", not unlike the Marks/Stebbins book.

I would imagine, or at least HOPE, that both Brian and Mike's "people" are well aware of the history of the group, and the history of litigation, and even more specifically the history of litigation pertaining to "autobiographies." If anything, I'm worried too many punches will be pulled in both books concerning anyone who is still living and thus can still sue. I'm frankly expecting more blunt pictures of Carl and Dennis in both books than I am of Mike or Brian (or Al, etc.) in either book. Dead people nor estates can sue for slander or libel.

And Matt lasted how long, exactly ? Two, three gigs ?

Matt Jardine was at the most recent gig Brian did, in December in Las Vegas. I'm the first to admit that the announcement of Matt joining, followed by appearing at two gigs, followed by an eleventh hours falsetto replacement guy (the Fendertones dude), then followed by another seemingly semi-permanent replacement (Ike), all while Matt did appear at at least one gig with one of his sidebands with Carter, Hinshce, Probyn Gregory, etc., suggested something unexplained, to us anyway.

If there were a serious falling out on either side, I doubt Matt would have appeared with the band in Las Vegas, even if just as a guest. Granted, Matt also appeared with Mike and Bruce in 2013 only months after the C50 fallout, so maybe Matt has more of a David Marks-ish attitude at this stage of just staying friendly with everybody.

I think the main problem with the original '64 version is indeed that it sounds like of limp and unfinished. It lacks the punch of something like "Little Saint Nick."

I would say, though, that the mono mix (or some iterations of the "Sea of Tunes" takes) have more punch and sonically work better than the spread-out stereo mix.

I enjoy a lot of the vocals on Brian's X-Mas album. I dig the vocal arrangement on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." I do wish the album was a little more dry, and a bit more subdued. It tends to occasionally sound a bit shrill and a bit too wet, with occasionally over-worked arrangements.

Blondie Chaplin has to be on the tour for this.

 Sell Al's spare white suit if you absolutely must raise the funds for it but he HAS to be part of the band for all the dates, not just two cities. Sail Away, Wild Honey, Sail On, Sailor... bust out Hold on, Dear Brother a time or two! His guitar sound mixes in great and I just love seeing him and Al Jardine together with BW.

Bribe Ricky for a few dates too. Tell him its a Rutles reunion, whatever it takes. That lineup was unbelievable at the Venetian. Imagine how good they'd sound by the end of a tour.

I'm wondering, if a full tour happens, if it might be like the 2013 dates. Al on board, with Blondie at select dates. (Not sure if Dave might appear with Brian again). I think Blondie doing some Blondie-specific stuff with Brian is great (the new album stuff, Sailor, Wild Honey, maybe some other stuff like "Hold on Dear Brother" or "Funky Pretty"), but I don't know how much he would be able to contribute to a setlist with stuff like "Please Let Me Wonder" and whatnot. I certainly hope they can get Al, Blondie, Dave, and even Ricky for as many dates as possible. It would probably cost too much money to lug all these guys out on a full tour, but it would be an intriguing headline to see Brian wrestle up FIVE Beach Boys for a "solo" tour.

Happy Danny Boy is not on there, but confused if LDR is on there or not. Hopefully it's just an oversight.

Agreed. No loss there.

At least we have one good-sounding recording (via the Fallon TV show appearance) and a number of tour recordings of the "Danny Boy" rendition. So if one is inclined to like it, there is a way to hear it.

I agree that Jeff Beck ended up acting like a tool, but I'm still bummed we won't get to hear a few of those Beck tracks. The description of a few of them, even if hyperbolic, sounded quite intriguing. Beck doing some guitar stuff with Brian and Al harmonizing wordlessly. That sounds more interesting to me than the Hollens track, for instance.

Nothing at amazon has changed yet...Album still available March 31.  Can't pre-order it yet.  Will comment AFTER I have had the chance to enjoy it...as I know I will.

Trust me, you'll know when the real US listing is up at Amazon. It'll have cover art, and will not be priced above $20 or so.

That current listing on Amazon for 3/31 (which is listed at $36.95 and can actually be pre-ordered) is also listed as an "Import." I'm assuming it's perhaps the Japan or UK version that Amazon might end up importing. If that's the case, the release dates don't mean much. Often, an import version of a CD on Amazon will, on "release date", then revert to "ships in 2-3 weeks" status.

I would imagine, with a press release now out, we'll see the US release up on Amazon soon. I'm guessing the "standard" version will be in the $15 range give or take, and the deluxe $20 give or take, and it could go down significantly lower by April.

Maybe the Lana Del Rey track will be a Japanese bonus track, making us all have to spring for the import version.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a Japanese bonus track (there often if not usually is), but I don't think they'd hide a high-profile duet there. Or, rather, they wouldn't have it exclusively there. I could envision a scenario where they issue it as a single, and then the Japanese CD includes it as a bonus track.

That makes me sad. Maybe it'll be in her new album...

And/or perhaps an online single release. That would be nice, as an "alternate" way to hear the track. That would probably get Brian more genuinely "new" listeners than most of the other guest stars, if that's what they're looking for.

But as I've mentioned before, if "Last Song" is even half as epic and meaningful as they've been making it sound, I'd rather have an all-Brian version than a duet if I could only have one version.

No Beck. Told you so. And plenty of songs left over for the next BB album, which BW has in the back of his mind. The Professor thinks this will be a gem, as some have said, if that Pete Holmes track is an indication--love that song.  2 tracks with DM and AJ; I bet they will be deep with BB reflection.

Yeah, we heard that already. No huge loss. Maybe we can just listen to "Half Moon Bay" and pretend a man with a sleeveless shirt is doing the solo.

I would hope Brian has more BB stuff in the back of his mind. But the press release makes it sound like he wanted to do another BB album, and when that didn't happen (which is understandably worded rather diplomatically), he just said fudge it and sculpted *that* into another solo album.

I wonder if that interesting song in the background of the "Doin' It Again" documentary will ever make it out. Some guessed/suggested that was the "I'll Go Anywhere" track.