A listen to the a capela mix of "Your Imagination" gives us an idea of what kind of production work was done. There's pitch correction in various spots and maybe a plug in added to give even more "layered" effect (layers of layers, that is). However, there definitely seems to be a lot of actual Brian vocals present in the mix. Even some clever bits that are buried in the final mix.

I wouldn't mind having access to the multi tracks for this one. It'd be a lot of fun to mess around with.

Brian must have really worked his butt off doing all those layers of harmonies and it shows.

Ha. If he worked his butt off, I'll eat my hat. Well, I'm not wearing a hat. But point being, it's shiny cheese.

True. Brian can pull off harmonies in his sleep but when you consider he's singing every vocal part on all 11 of these songs, it's nothing short of astounding (especially considering that Brian triple-tracked each of them which is where my 'worked his butt off' comment would come in).

Yeah, they were rather polished with some handy dandy software but the vocal harmonies really brought it home for me.

"Your Imagination" is a great track from start to finish.

So what if the instrumental tracks sound like the greatest album Julio Iglesias never made?! I can live with that.

Life is for the living.

I thought I'd share this one. If there's ever another tribute cover album from the folks here at SS, I hope this one would be considered for it. I re-worked it to a mostly acoustic arrangement but kept the vocal parts complex.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9078565

I'm doing all the vocals and instruments myself.

Recorded it within the span of a week using a Tascam 4 track analog tape machine.
The complexity of the vocal parts required a lot of bouncing back and forth which thankfully didn't hinder the quality of the final mix too much.
I am quite pleased with the outcome. It's my little home made homage to what I consider a hidden gem from their highly commercial 80s period.

The mono Don't Back Down on the US Singles Collection sounds clear and is far superior to the one found on the GV Box Set. As for We'll Run Away, I don't know of a mono mix on any CD. Can I assume that you ripped the track from the mono LP?

I do indeed have the mono LP (I have actually acquired all of Brian's mono mixes on decent quality vinyl). I also think that "Drive-In" has a better balance in mono but it's fun to hear the vocals in stereo (and if you re-eq it to add more emphasis on the bottom end then it's not that bad).

For me, All Summer Long is possibly the most satisfying Beach Boys album made before Brian really went all out with his productions. Not to say the production of the album is unambitious; Brian had a lot of good tricks up his sleeve for a lot of the songs. I love the sequencing of the album but I could really do without "Our Favorite Recording Sessions".

In fact, if you remove "..Recording Sessions" and put "Carl's Big Chance" in it's spot, it would be a perfect summer album. Some may argue that you could lose "Carl's Big Chance" entirely but of the few beach rock instrumentals they recorded, it's easily the best. At least IMHO.

So there's my All Summer Long CD-R:

I Get Around [mono]

All Summer Long [mono]

Hushabye [stereo remix on SUMMER LOVE SONGS]

Little Honda [original stereo mix]

We'll Run Away [the mono mix has better balance between vocals and instruments]

Wendy [If you want coughing, the original stereo mix, if you don't there's a remix on THE WARMTH OF THE SUN CD]

Do You Remember? [stereo mix]

Girls On The Beach [stereo mix]

Drive-In [stereo mix]

Carl's Big Chance [stereo mix]

Don't Back Down [the mono mix is longer but most digital transfers of it suffer from a certain 'swishing' caused by playing the tape back on a stereo machine and then summing the output to mono]

I'll throw in my cover of Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk" done a'la Beach Boys Party.

Hello all!

I am releasing my EP entitled 'Looking For Diamonds' in May. Musically, it's a throw back to the 1960s. A bit like The Byrds, The Turtles, The Beatles, The Beach Boys but recorded in a basement on cheaper equipment. Lyrically, it's a mini-patchwork covering the bases of having love, losing love, looking for love, and abandoning love.

The EP was mastered by Doug Van Sloun at Focus Mastering. Doug is a pro and has done work with She & Him, Johnathan Rice, Conor Oberst, Tilly & The Wall, and of course, Bright Eyes.

I loved Imagination when I first heard it. I still love the way the vocals on it sound. Brian must have really worked his butt off doing all those layers of harmonies and it shows.