Sadly i was beaten to the punch on the Dennis bangs Mike gag.

Friends is a great mellow out album. Side one is solid, the second half a tad inconsistent - I think the two Dennis songs are the weakest things on the album. Still, a wonderful entry in the BB canyon.

I agree. I like Dennis' songs but they just don't fit to my ears. I'd rather they'd put in something like Sail Plane Song/Time To Get Alone and I Went To Sleep instead.
Busy Doing Nothing and Diamond Head are brilliant and i even love Transcendental Meditation - i'm sure Brian's having a laugh there writing one of the hardest rocking BB's tracks with discordant jazz chords to celebrate the extremely mellow practice of TM.
Friends itself, is a brilliantly written song. Top five BB's album as far as i'm concerned.

It makes me sad. I like Van Dyke very much, and I wish he felt better about his association with BW.

 Couldn't agree more.

Zoinks that's pretty distressing to watch.   

Oh i forgot , one more thing please Mike.
Did Brian or Van ever explain anything about The Elements to you ? Any indication of what Air or Earth might have consisted of ?

Less questions i'd like addressed in the book perhaps but certainly questions i'd like to ask Mike -
Did you keep much in the way of acetates/reel to reel copies of work from 1960s recording sessions or ones given to you by people like Brian ? Did Brian ever give you anything like home recordings/studio backing tracks for you to hear in order to write lyrics to or practice with ?
If so, is there a possibility that you,family or friends have some in storage somewhere that might be of interest to Beach Boys fans on future archival releases ?

You have often stated that you felt that Heroes and Villains was the last really dynamic track that Brian produced for the band. Brian and all of the band probably worked on that track more than any other including Good Vibrations. What do you remember about the various versions of Heroes and Villains that nearly became singles ?
Do you remember a barnyard type version or the alleged barroom brawl version ?  Any other versions spring to mind ?
To the best of your knowledge do you remember if Heroes was ever planned as a 2 sided single in a part 1 , part 2 form ? If yes, can you tell us how it went please ?
You once mentioned that you thought there were around 5 or 6 versions and it was a matter of selecting which one would be the single. Was there a particular version that you thought should have been the single rather than the one that Brian finally chose for release?
Can you have another really good hard look for that tape of Heroes and Villains you were playing to journalists in 1967 and anything else from that era or the 1960s era in general please ?
When the Smile Sessions Box was given to you to listen through before release, was there anything that sprung to mind as not being there that you can remember hearing at the time or working on such as melody lines or your bass vocal parts for songs such as Look/I Ran, Child Is Father Of The Man, Holidays, Do You Like Worms ?
With the benefit of hindsight, how do you think the band's career might have turned out if Smile had been released in 1967 ?
Are you surprised/pleased that the Smile album became so highly thought of amongst fans and musicians despite it's non-appearance ?
Can you remember if Brian stated flat out to the rest of the band that he had decided not to finish the album or from your perspective did it just evolve into the Smiley Smile album?
Is Brian the Orson Welles of rock or just a very naughty boy ?
 

One issue about the Bugliosi-Manson connection is that there was quite a bundle of information that did not make it to either the court through Bugliosi's prosecution, nor did it get into most if not every period report of the events. There are reasons for this, or it could be implied there are reasons for this by digging a little deeper under the surface of all involved, as well as the scene in which Manson waltzed in and out of surrounding LA and Hollywood at the time.

Put it this way: Vincent Bugliosi had a job to do as prosecutor for his area, and that was to win a conviction in a jury trial. He had to write what amounted to a narrative and support that narrative using the evidence, research, and witnesses that he had to work with, and write that narrative into a story convincing enough to win over a jury enough to convict based on the evidence they heard.

Part of that process involves the psychological elements of trying to convince a group of strangers of something you're telling them, so they believe you over the defense. Related to that is the process of deciding which specific elements of the case and exactly what evidence and testimony you can use to convince those strangers in the jury to believe you, and eliminating elements that may be more difficult to prove, or which may put the case in general in a different perspective than you might want in order to be most convincing in proving your case.

Bugliosi did that masterfully with the Manson case, and the way he did it is well documented in the book Helter Skelter. He achieved the goal he was given as prosecutor, which was to convict Manson and any number of his followers in jury trials.

However, consider there were other elements, not "conspiracy theory" stuff, but just some basic historical events and happenings that surrounded the Manson case as a whole, and which Bugliosi left out of the narrative he used to get the convictions in court.

Among them: The role drugs and Manson's involvement with the drug trade played in his life. Bugliosi spins the story as Manson "The Wizard" with all associated implications, and that could be because if the drug-trade angle were played up, it could have been taken as just another series of drug deals gone bad, and never mind the sensationalism, a jury would look at a case built atop convicting a drug dealer in crimes related to drug dealing perhaps differently than the way Manson's case played out.

Again, Bugliosi as the prosecutor did this masterfully, and won the case much to his credit. But there are still questions about the events he left out of the case: Not at all questioning what he did, but just saying a read into more elements of the Manson saga reveals more than what Helter Skelter might have suggested was in play.

Manson's story, some might suggest, would make "Hollywood Babylon" look like a nursery rhyme. It wasn't just what he did, but also who he interacted with and why he even got the access to interact with them. Obviously if some of the Babylon-type rumors and whispers were or are true, there could have been a lot of wrecked careers in the entertainment business had it gotten out in 1969-70. Perhaps not wanting to drag some names and reputations through the mud could have been a factor, and perhaps things were done to ensure that anonymity as the case was heard in open court.

I might compare it to the old film cliche of a Madam character who has a little black book full of names of the powerful and connected, and if anything happens to go wrong where that book could be made public, it would be a bomb going off.

Again I'm not into conspiracies, I'm not challenging or questioning Bugliosi because he ultimately won the case and did his job, but for those interested in the history of the era, the scene around LA in the 60's, and the whole saga in general, try to dig a little deeper and see how many connections start to appear, things like the drug trade and who was involved (and also who happened to be at the Tate house that day and what they are said to have been involved with), and it leads down many interesting paths.

As far as Manson killing anyone, check into what happened regarding a certain drug dealer prior to the Tate-LaBianca killings, and how Manson was said to be involved in that, too. But again, the big fish Bugliosi had to reel in during the trial wasn't a drug deal gone bad, it was the Tate-LaBianca "hippy murderers" angle that he used to almost guarantee a win in court. But there was a lot of evidence still on the table after the guilty verdict. And some of that can be the more interesting stuff.

Just think about this: Neil Young bought Manson a motorcycle. Neil freakin' Young...who also was a guest of the Manson clan and heard Charlie's music. In what kind of friendship circles around the LA scene did Neil Young end up coming to the decision to buy this guy a motorcycle? Then apply that to Hollywood TV-film circles beyond musicians and artists, and consider just what Manson may have been doing in order to have access in those circles.

So these conspiracy theories about Charlie's guilt or innocence - Just take 'em with a grain of salt and if interested, dig a little deeper into what this guy was doing in LA at that time and who he was rolling with. It's not quite the same perspective as Helter Skelter writes with, and not the same perspective Vincent Bugliosi used to get those convictions in court.

I very much agree. While Bug essentially got the right verdict in court, i find the rest of  his story   re Manson deeply unconvincing. There appears to have been a certain protection of Hollywood elite/ celeb lifestyle/ drug dealing going on. Does anyone really believe that the reasons for those awful murders  was as given in Helter Skelter etc..? The whole case is so horrible it is easier to blame things like the White Album rather than take a good hard look at other areas of scrutiny. There again, Yoko's singing on Bungalow Bill is pretty offensive and does sometimes make me want to kill. Maybe i'm wrong.
 He did have things right in the RFK case though. I wish he'd done something about it. It would have been really interesting to see where that would have lead. 

By the way, in the movie Love & Mercy there is if I'm not mistaken a veiled reference to Dennis's involvement in this nightmare. It's the gloomy foreboding scene with the three brothers up on the patio at the house that is supposed to be Laurel Way. Dennis gazes out into the canyon and makes a dark, cryptic comment about loss.

I took the comment in LOVE & MERCY to be more forshadowing his drowning, than  anything else.

Regarding Vincent Bugliosi, I have always appreciated his level-headedness regarding the JFK assasination.  And I'll leave it at that.

I have always appreciated his level-headedness regarding the RFK assassination.

Technically Keith is undead.

If Mike wasn't in the band they'd be called The Beach Boy.  
The only possible nomination would be Bruce.

Re: You're The Beach Boys, it's 1966, and come home from a tour to find the people surrounding Brian that we know of, Lauren Daro, etc, who are telling Brian you don't need these other guys, you are THE MAN! How would you feel?

I'd feel like saying to him, wow that's some pretty far out music Brian.  I'll tell you what, let's go to Western Studios right now ( I'll bring my reel to reel too ). Can you sit at the piano there and play the sections how they fit together and talk us through the backing vocals so we can practice at home and get them real good. While we're there make sure you put a lead vocal on those last few , you know that Worms one, Child Is The Father, Holidays, er...what was that one with the Good Vibes riff, yeah Look coz it'll really help us work out how our backing lines fit in. I'm not sure what we can add to Fire but talk us through that Elements cut phew that one's crazy....oh yeah get Van to copy out some lyric sheets for all of us too and make sure you send lead vocal charts to the copyright office. We're gonna need acetates of this tape reel too, make sure you give one to Capitol and keep a couple for our tape library. Also make sure you give an acetate to Mrs Linnett's kid Mark. I don't know why but i've just got a gut feeling about this, go with me on that one Brian. 
Man we should have this finished in a week. If you can put all those different versions of Heroes on the tape too maybe we can decide which one works best but don't chuck any of them, maybe we could put different versions on the single and album.
Man, i'm not sure our fans are ready for this yet but i'll tell you what Brian , John and Paul will crap their collarless suits when they hear this. sh*t, Dylan's gonna crash his motorbike when he hears this album.
If we cant get it right in time for Christmas maybe we could make it a light up box set some time in the future.
OK, Bri, i'll go and get my reel to reel. Bruce, get Chuck on the phone tell him we're coming over to Western in 1 hour. Denny can you sort Bri out with some hash joints till i get back. This record is gonna be so good it'll make Pet Sounds stink. Mike, call Van, we're gonna need his help on this session, we're gonna need  help with the chicken noises on that Heroes fade. It's gotta be perfect....

or something like that.

In an interview in the 90s for a British mag (?) which focused on the Paley/Wilson sessions and Mike's Brit fag attack on High Lama Sean, Brian mentioned that he had once had monkeys and they threw tihS everywhere. Wish i could find that mag...it was a classic Brianism.

Well he could have had at least one more but couldn't be bothered because checking out his new surfboard was more important (?) - feel free to kick my ass if i've got that story wrong.
I'd have thought very carefully about giving him a lead after In The Back Of My Mind - one of Brian's best backing tracks but a total duffer on Today thanks to the terrible vocal.
On the flipside i'd love to have heard his take on Cabin Essence which i'm sure i read he was meant to sing (unless that referred only to the Truck Driving Man section).

Isn't it a bit weird that, of all the songs created by Brian Wilson during the Smile era, 10 songs out of the 12 in the proposed December track list had partially made mixes (Heroes, Worms, Barnyard and The Old Master Painter, Cabin Essence, Wonderful, Child Is Father Of The Man, Surf's Up demo, Vegetables, Wind Chimes, The Elements: Fire), plus two unknown listed tracks that could have been opening at closing of the album (Prayer and You're Welcome). Good Vibrations was already in the can and Im' In Great Shape is still the big mystery! Call me crazy, but im' beginning to think that the 12 tracks memo make sense.

I agree. I never thought so until making a fan mix using just those tracks (but not in the order given on the sleeve) but it really does click, that tracklist. Much as I like them, Holidays and Look only slow things down and Dada didn't become a track until later. Still, you have to consider that Look was pretty much done too. It had vocals recorded. That and I don't think Youre Welcome was ever meant for the album.

If we had an idea of what the vocals for Holidays and Look were it'd probably change our whole idea of those 2 tracks. As it is, there's just that teeny snippet we can hear in the background of Holidays on the official box. Did the original lyric sheets Frank Holmes handed over include either of these? I think AGD implied that these sheets were lost between BWPS and The Smile Sessions box. I cannot for the life of me imagine why else they weren't included in the boxset book, especially Worms. I guess that the dispute with Van Dyke was a significant reason for there being no discussion of the songs as compositions with no reference to missing lead vocals/lyrics.
I'm willing to bet Worms would have been even more killer with the original lead vocal melody/lyrics too. If only these and the original Child melody/lyrics had been recorded and kept in some form even just a composing demo we'd have a far better understanding of the album. I wonder how much survives in locations unknown from this period. If missing prints of Metropolis and the like can still turn up, there must be some hope for a few more Smile snippets assuming there was anything else recorded in the first place. Surely Brian and Van Dyke taped occasional demos at home if only for , for example, Van Dyke to continue work on the lyrics.

This is a mysterious area as it is for many other significant artists. I can imagine a lot of demos were taped as part of the songwriting process at home or on the road but whether they were kept,lost or wiped is a complete unknown. A number of Beatle era Lennon tapes have surfaced over the years. Generally speaking these kind of tapes were made at home so the chances of them getting into circulation is greatly reduced. Lennon's were broadcast in The Lost Lennon Tapes radio series - among those tapes was  Paul's demo for We Can Work It Out cut off after 45secs or so for John to record some gobbledegook aarrgghh.
In my dreams, somewhere there are demos for some of the Smile tracks such as Worms/Look/Child and Holidays, heck even Heroes in one of it's incarnations. Songwriters, especially "working" songwriters tend to record a lot of demos. Unfortunately, most of the songwriters i know dispose of them pretty quickly. I have boxes of my own stuff but probably wiped ten times that quantity or left it with publishers never to be seen again. I suspect the same may well be true for Brian. But you never know....maybe there's some boxes in storage somewhere in California with piles of reel to reels in them. 
Lee's comment re Library of Congress filings is a good point though i suspect that the turn around from writing to record was so quick that if recordings were submitted they would quite probably be standard studio recordings. 

I cut my vinyl copy of Summer In Paradise into 30 second snippets, shuffled the pieces around a bit and then tried to set fire to them and then put them in the bin. Can't get more Smile than that.

Great to know tapes are still being found. I have not completely given up hope for the missing Smile multitracks or the directors cut of Magnificent Ambersons for that matter.

Had to jump in and correct AGD. It's high F.
Wow, that'll never happen again.

Tesco ----Dettol Disinfectant Antiseptic 750Ml

glad i could clear that up !

Well i had both arms in the air listening to this one but that was a response to Carl's opening line "Who wants to throw up?".  I then took responsibility.
I would like that 3.49 back plus the 5 it took to mop the floor and the £3.47 i spent on disinfectant please.

Glad some of you agree with me. I really cannot find anything of real merit post-Holland beyond a handful of tracks and that's a small hand.
Around 1989/90 i was playing in a band and when we played in the states i'd often be asked who my favourite band was. This was 4 or 5 years after i had "discovered" Pet Sounds and Smile. When i replied Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys the usual reaction was total laughter. No-one could believe it. The Beach Boys were just seen as a joke band and there was i like a total dumb-ass in my chelsea boots and paisley shirt saying "no no you've got it all wrong, listen to this, it's the most amazing album ever...this one's called Fire it's unbelievable". The damage to their reputation from crap like 15 big ones and the career that followed is so sad.
Now has anyone got a faders down mix of Rock 'n' Roll Music ? I think that could be the keeper.

I cannot see anything to be positive about regarding the Beach Boys version of Rock 'n' Roll Music in any mix you suggest other than the legendary cold (all faders down) mix. It is pretty much everything i hate about the fall of this once great band in one record. Does not rock, does not roll though i concede it is music but so is Metal Machine Music and for that matter Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band both of which are more easy listening by comparison. If Brian had Jasper Dailey  record all the lead vocals on Pet Sounds it would still be a better record than this monstrosity. If there is anyone in the entire world who thinks it is better than either Chuck Berry's or The Beatles versions well there's always one who spoils it for the rest. I cannot believe i just re-listened to this crap. I swore i would never listen to it again.
What if this and in fact nothing post-Holland had been released ? Would the band be held in higher esteem than it is today ? It is a measure of just how good they were at their peak and just after,  that the awful sh** they have released over the last 37 years (with one or two notable exceptions) has not completely destroyed their reputation. Sorry i need to go and calm down.

The first half or so of that is wonderful. I'm actually quite shocked at how well Brian is singing. He does sort of drift off after that but all in all that's a very decent and moving performance.

great track. the version on Made In California is stonking, one of my favourite moments on the set.
It is one of the rare occasions when The Beach Boys actually rock real hard. Wish they'd done it more and credit to Mike for a terrific vocal performance.

I really like Friends. It's one of my top 5 Beach Boys albums. When i first heard it i wasn't impressed with the exception of Busy Doing Nothing,Diamond Head and Transcendental Meditation (which rocks and is hilarious too). It's one of those records that is deceptively light in the same way that Burt Bacharach can be but deeper analysis reveals great compositional technique.ideas and arrangements in places. Sit at the piano and work the songs out. It'll really up your appreciation of what Brian's doing here.
Although there are some weaker tracks, the only things i'd change would be Be Still and Little Bird. I think those would have been better on 20/20 (certainly Be Still less so Little Bird) and in their place i would put Time To Get Alone,Sail Plane Song and I Went To Sleep as they seem to fit in so well with the overall mood of the album.
With a little more work this album could have been a masterpiece. As it is, it's probably the last really "Brian" album of the classic Beach Boys era.