You know, it's amazing that this went off relatively hitchlessly. No year long delays, no Brian balking at the last moment, no braindeaded decisions we've come to expect from Capitol and the Beach Boys (like, say, not including Frank Holmes' artwork, or using anything but the SMiLE shop cover). That, in itself is a minor miracle. If a 50th anniversary boxset actually comes out next year with goodies like Wouldn't it Be Nice (To Live Again) and California Feelin' 74, then these two years have got to be some of the best ever for a Beach Boys fan since, say, the '60s.

Vega-Tables just doesn't work. It wasn't even close to a finished state by any conceivable 12 song SMiLE timeline. 

How's that?

Also, what constitutes a "track"?

Could you imagine the Cornucopia demo closing a finished SMiLE? Sure, a finished April Vega-Tables might work, but who knows whether or not April Vega-Tables would've been the finished result on a January release?

Well, Pet Sounds had the A-side of a single at the end of side two: Caroline, No. It is even highlighted on the front cover. Actually Party too had a single at the end of side two, although that was released after the album. Pet Sounds on the other hand had originally not a single track at the start of side two - GOK was released as a B-side and only some time after the album. Your claim where singles were "forced" to be placed does not hold up to reality.

Okay, for one, Barbara Ann was released WITHOUT Brian's consent after the Party album was released - The Little Girl I Once Knew was the intended single (and it didn't make the Top Ten, which led to Barbara Ann's release in the first place). For two, you're ignoring Sloop John B, which was placed at the end of Side One, released before the album, and was a Top Ten hit. Caroline No was an exception in the fact that A. Wasn't a top ten single and B. Wasn't released in the Beach Boys name originally - Good Vibrations (and Sloop John B for that matter) was both of those things.

Trying to put Good Vibrations anywhere but the end/beginning of a side (or at the very beginning of the album, but that's laughable) doesn't hold up to reality. Even the Beatles were subjected to this treatment on their American releases (until Sgt. Pepper). Today! was subjected to it. Summer Days was subjected to it. Pet Sounds was subjected to it. There weren't any other singles out like those aforementioned albums, either. In any conceivable SMiLE timeframe, Good Vibrations was the only one.

You can't predict out what ifs.

Also, fair warning, you're opening up a pretty big can of worms here.

And it will always be MHO that Surf's Up is a terrible closer for an album called "SMiLE". There must be something more uplifting at the end, like Good Vibrations on BWPS.

That's like saying A Day In The Life is too much of a downer to close Sgt. Pepper.

Well, first of all, ADITL isn't as sad a song as Surf's Up to me, it is not about collapsing worlds and ends with a big major chord. Then, the album isn't called "Sgt. Happy" for instance.

If you have an album cover like the Surf's Up album (the beaten knight), it fits to have a sad ending like Surf's Up. If the album title had been "Dumb Angel", it could have worked. But not on a "SMiLE" album with that happy cover. Only if "SMiLE" is meant ironically.

Well, Brian himself said that the original '67 SMiLE was supposed to be less "uplifting". Album titles had, and still have about as much relevance to the actual music inside as a rock (Pet Sounds sure isn't uplifting either, despite the happy cover with all of the band members smiling at the petting zoo.) Surf's Up is just such a majestic song that it doesn't fit properly anywhere else but on the end of the album - not without major additions to other songs ala BWPS. It's literally the ADITL of SMiLE. Hell, if Brian was actually paying attention to the title, a dark song like Surf's Up never would've made the cut in the first place. Or Fire, for that matter.

Good Vibrations never would've been on the tail end. Album practices back then effectively forced singles to be either the end of side one, or the beginning of side two. This wasn't Britain where artists could release their albums without paying attention to singles at all. Not until Sgt. Pepper would that dichotomy be broken.   

Vega-Tables just doesn't work. It wasn't even close to a finished state by any conceivable 12 song SMiLE timeline.  And it would probably force Surf's Up back up the track list a pretty long way. (Probably all the way up to the end of Side one). (Surf's Up - Vega-Tables is so jarring that Brian would have to be on acid to consider it.) The fact that Vegetables was the second song on Smiley Smile should be telling. It just doesn't make a good album closer. When you hear the end of a "Teenage Symphony to God", you expect something epic.

Our Prayer is laughable. Brian upright states that it's the intro to the album in the recording session. Now, a Prayer reprise ala BWPS I can maybe accept, though that would bring up a whole multitude of questions regarding Brian's track recall during 2004.

I suppose the only thing I can think of that could go on the end of a '67 SMiLE is You're Welcome - either as a hidden track or a fade in from Surf's Up. And that opens up a whole 'nother can of worms, considering it wasn't on the track list and I believe it wasn't recorded until after the plans for a finished SMiLE fell through. Still, it's barely a track in its own right - not much more so than Our Prayer, at least.

So... Brian Wilson invented rap?

Nah, people were setting beat poetry to pop tunes before that.

Still... I wonder who would've sung that part in a finished '67 Holidays. Dennis?

I could have seen Brian scoring films...that's  what Run James Run was all about.

What exactly is "Run James Run"? Never heard of it before.

Working title for the title track of Pet Sounds. It was originally pitched for an upcoming James Bond movie (what would become You Only Live Twice, judging by the time period).

UPSIDE YO HEEEEAAAAD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix1-Coa7qQQ

That's definitely Brian.

I believe Dennis would have bounced back ... it was an accidental drowning.  I can see him in my mind today.

I'm not so sure. By the accounts I've heard and read, Dennis was really bad in the last few months of 1983. If he hadn't had that drowning accident, he probably wouldn't have made it much longer. It's sad to say, but I think it's true. I don't think he would have lived to see something like Live Aid, some 18 months later, for example.

To be fair, Brian was really bad during the early 80s as well, perhaps even worse in some ways. You can't predict out what ifs, and it's very possible Dennis could've rebounded and gotten the help he needed.

Can anyone tell me, who plays organ on the title track?  Nice!

The organ solo in the middle is Bruce Johnson. In the verses, it could either be Brian or Bruce. I'm not entirely sure.

It depends on how the new album fares.

[Early Period/1962-1965]

In no particular order...

Early Period/1962-1965

1. The Warmth of the Sun. I've always thought that this was the best song on Shut Down Vol. 2. Yes, even better than Don't Worry Baby.

2. Please Let Me Wonder

3. In the Back of My Mind. It was either this or Let Him Run Wild, and I think this just barely edges out over the other.

Middle Period/1966-1970

4. Wouldn't It Be Nice

5. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder). This is a really, really tough call to narrow down Pet Sounds to only two or so tracks.

6. Heroes and Villains. Duh.

7. Cabin Essence.

Late Period/1971-

8. Til' I Die.

9. Surf's Up

10. Lady (Fallin' In Love) - Better than Forever in my honest opinion.

I'm surprised that Drip Drop leaked out. Actually, I'm REALLY shocked that the "cocaine tapes" surfaced(although quite glad to hear it  ). You'd think that it would be something that the "powers that be" would keep a tight lid on. That being said, I don't think we, the fans, would have the recordings if Carl were still living.

It's not really up to the "powers that be" - you can't really control something like theft or "borrowing" and tape copying without sealing up the vault to everyone and anyone, which would be massively impractical. The main problem I have against bootleggers is that it slows down the official releasing process toward incredibly hyped up pieces like Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again, the parts of the Caribou sessions we don't have currently, some of Brian's recordings during the "dark age" that would be nice for historical study, and Dennis' Hubba Hubba/Poops sessions.

Don't get me wrong - I love Get the Boot as much as the next Smiley Smiler, actually probably more so because I actually rather dig a lot of the second disc, but given the choice between the above and things like their recording of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and all those damn oldies recordings near the end of the disc...

Brian = Surf's Up or Here Comes the Night
Carl = I Can Hear Music
Dennis = Cuddle Up or Be With Me
Mike = Big Sur or All I Wanna Do
Al = Cottonfields (either version)
Bruce = Disney Girls (1957)

Although, I can't off the top of my head remember what the album with Kokamo on it was called. Does that count as an album?

Still Crusin'.

It's less an album and more a collection of feces.

No way to know, as Heroes and Villains was never quantified for a Smile release, the Elements was never recorded fully (no other elements besides Fire, Dada is debatable though the main work on it was after any January release was possible. The Water Chant definitely isn't).

Definitely isn't what?

Definitely isn't debatable. There's no possible way Smile would've been released in October/November '67.

What made Brian opt for using such an ancient track for a 76 vocal? Why not re-record it? I love the backing track, obviously, but a re-recording would make the version a lot less frustrating.

Brian's heart undoubtedly wasn't in huge orchestral productions by this point. Sherry's vocals could even be a simple matter of Brian randomly finding the tapes one day in the studio and deciding to finish it.

Something I've found eerie - You can hear Brian's classic voice at the end of the stereo version, the one with no fade out. Sure, he's only speaking to one of the engineer's and not singing, but it makes a frightening contrast to the '76 lead that preceded.

i was watching a "behind-the-scenes a day in the life" video today of bdw when he was touring that lucky old sun and i thought it was really messed up the way jeff foskett was talking about brian behind his back to the camera. the whole atmosphere the band is implicitly upon seems really awkward and plastic; almost to me like they're treating brian as a child. a lot of people on this board seem to do something similar. i don't even think it's morally right to discuss a stranger's mental/emotional health publicity, let alone when jeff subtly brought it up in that video.

just something that disturbed me. i draw a few parallels between brian and myself, and it would suck if this was one of them.

It's quite off putting, I agree. I think a lot of people tend to forget sometimes that Brian is a human being just like the rest of us. They tend to elevate him on a pedestal and treat him like he's something sacred, who's lifestyle and former/current actions are to be studied like an rare and priceless artifact. Even the fact that we're discussing it right now is proof enough. I've always wondered what Brian himself thinks of it all - very few artists get the same meticulous attention to lifestyle and history as he gets. Not even more popular contemporary artists like John Lennon or Paul McCartney get the same kind of scrutiny. Syd Barrett gets it to some extent, but Pink Floyd was never as popular as the Beach Boys when he was a part of it, and his general seclusion from '74 onward pretty much prevented any closer study.

I'd personally find it rather disturbing.

Definitely SIP. GIOMH may be the worst Brian album, but there's nothing truly offensive about it - it's just quite bland most of the ride, probably one of the few albums with Brian's name you could ascribe that adjective to. Nothing on GIOMH compares in sheer offensiveness as Summer of Love or the completely irredeemable John Stamos version of Forever and the rerecord of Surfin'. It's bad - the only thing that comes close in terms of sheer joy sucking horror is the album directly preceding it - Still Crusin'. Pretty much the entire 80's was the main reason why the Beach Boys are now depicted as Hawaiian shirt wearing fat old men with greasy beards in popular culture, and why being a Beach Boys fan got you laughed at in popular circles until recently. I do hold a soft spot for BB's '85, though, although not many others do. 

And these missing reels--what do you suppose the motivation is of those who have them? Or would these be lying in a landfill somewhere?

If somebody stole them, for real--why no boots? Is it the old "I'm gonna hold onto these til the price goes thru the roof" gambit? Or "I've got these valuable reels, but I need more cocaine--better use 'em for trade!" And then somebody gets them who doesn't appreciate what they are...

I suppose it could always be the "sloppy handling" scenario, based on my own experiences in entertainment--no conspiracy, just stupidity. Vault cleans, faulty labeling, degaussing, etc...

It's possible they were just thrown in the trash or recorded over after a spell. After all, tape was expensive back then and why bother caring about an album that's wasn't going to be released?

Brian himself rerecorded over some tape in his quest for perfectionism - the YAMS Heroes and Villains comes to mind, and it's quite possible he erased certain vocals with intent to redo later, but never got around to it before the project was cancelled.

I don't think there are many stolen and missing reels out there. Most people wouldn't have cared until interest started to bloom in the late 70s - and by that point, most of the aforementioned tapes were missing. What's more likely is acetates containing test mixes being held onto for one reason or another. I'm willing to bet if anyone had anything valuable, it probably would've "revealed" itself by now, what with interest in the Smile sessions being at their peak with the boxset release.

No way to know, as Heroes and Villains was never quantified for a Smile release, the Elements was never recorded fully (no other elements besides Fire, Dada is debatable though the main work on it was after any January release was possible. The Water Chant definitely isn't).

Somewhere around 3,500 - 4000 songs.

Of course, a lot of that are different versions of the same album, especially SMiLE>

but there was no going back from what he had learned. and these impressionistic masterstrokes are all over the record

Agreed a thousand times. One just has to listen to Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby (the early Sharon Marie version, not the Spring one) and Darlin' back to back to know that.

Disregarding the obvious (Pet Sounds, SMiLE),  I'd say Wild Honey is about as perfect as it gets. Short, but so very very sweet (Odd thought: What if Brian made a Wild Honey era version of Surf's Up using his '67 piano demo as the base?) 20/20 would almost make the cut, but the Bruce Johnson instrumental is a bit boring, and that weird effect at the beginning of Never Learn Not to Love nearly made me jump out of my seat the first time I heard it. Maybe if you cut that bit out and replaced Never Learn Not to Love with Celebrate the News or a finished up version of Ol' Man River or something.

Brian's voice in the 1973-'74 period is just a complete mystery. It's like Brian chose to sing it one way (Shortenin' Bread, Child of Winter) one day and an entirely different way the next. (Rollin' Up to Heaven, California Feelin', Lucy Jones). I think it's very possible that his modal voice was starting to become quite hoarseby this point, but his falsetto was still mostly intact (you can hear a bit of decline from the Sunflower era falsetto on Rollin' Up to Heaven, but not much). That, or he exclusively tried to sing in bass when not singing in head voice. The only conclusive "point of no return" we have is Johnny Rivers' Help Me Rhonda, where he basically sounds like a slightly higher pitched version of his 15 Big Ones falsetto. And after the early 80's, his voice becomes completely unrecognizable from what it once was (Little Children '83 is a prime example).

Being able to hear Look with the clarinet that got wiped, and the supposed vocal sessions held for it.

Finding out whether or not there actually was a Surf's Up Pt. 2.

Being able to hear a Do You Like Worms with full vocals.

Hearing a completed version of I Love to Say Da Da.