I'm also hoping for a live version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" to finally be released!  I got to hear them perform it live once and it blew the roof off the arena! 

This doesn't have to be on the boxed set, though.  Hopefully there will be a re-release of the '74 In Concert album with many added tracks coming out soon, too.

They should also re-release "The Flames" first album, along with the second.

I'd go for a separate set with the two Flame albums.  Mainly so there will be more room for Beach Boy rarities!   

I imagine they already have the set done, but one thing I didn't like about  the "Feel Flows" set were the instrumentals tracks combined with backing vocal tracks.  I enjoy it much more when there's a separate instrumental only track and a separate vocal only track.

Love and merci,
Dan Lega


PS -- Please don't let there be any delays on this set!

MD, thanks for the link to the other thread. 

Hey, I know absolutely NOTHING about Bandcamp.com.  In the other thread, Josh said Bandcamp's "terms of use" were violated by the Beach Boys?  Can anyone explain this to me?  And how much did it cost to listen/download the tracks?  Also, someone told me they heard the tracks were not good quality tracks.  But I'm not seeing that spoken of in these threads, except for bad sounding bootleg crowd recordings of some of the concerts.  So the unreleased tracks and The Flame's second album sounded really good?

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

[MISC TRACKS 1971]

So make fun of me if you want, but I bought all 5 of the MISC TRACKS 1971 release, all separately as that cost less than buying the "set" for $9.99 or whatever it was.

Funny thing is though, I got a refund from Bandcamp today. So are we sure this was indeed sanctioned by Brother Records? I just think it's interesting they didn't keep my money if it was something on the level.

Capitol is responsible for the posting.  They violated Bandcamp's terms of use by so doing, thus everybody who bought anything from them got refunded.

Hey, I know absolutely NOTHING about Bandcamp.  Josh, could you please explain which Bandcamp's "terms of use" were violated by the Beach Boys?  And how much did it cost to listen/download the tracks?

Sorry for the triple post.  It wouldn't go through at first, so I tried numerous times!

Sorry if this has been reported elsewhere.  If so, then just delete the whole thread...

Just got David Beard's "Endless Summer Quarterly" and there's some AMAZING and.. TERRIBLE... news that I, for one, had not heard in the past two months!

Seems there WAS a copyright dump at the end of the year!  But now it's all gone!
 
At thebeachboysmusic.bandcamp.com there apparently was...

-the second unreleased Flame album!

-an EP titled Misc. Tracks 1971 with "Telephone Backgrounds", "Just For You", "Sing Out A Song", "Sea Cruise" (partial), "Untitled 1971 piano track"

-and seven concerts...
Boston 2/28/71
Syracuse 5/1/71
Bronx 7/1/71
Indianapolis 10/1/71
Princeton 11/13/71
Long Beach 12/3/71
Filmore East 1971

Why they're not out there for us to buy makes no sense.  But nothing in the world makes sense right now, does it?

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Hey!  I got to see "Long Promised Road" in the theater last night!

It was very moving, and very well put together. 

But... the idea that Brian opened up while driving around in the car doesn't really pan out.  He pretty much gives his usual short answers and repeats many answers he's given before.  (Such as "We shelved SMiLE because it was ahead of its time and so we waited 40 years for when people could appreciate it".)

Now... that's not to say there aren't a lot of poignant moments that come out of Jason Fine's interviews in the car, but for the most part Brian appears just as shut down with this method of interviewing as he is with usual interviews and interviewers.

Still definitely worth seeing though!

<SPOILER ALERT>

Especially for the music. There were definitely shots of Brian and the gang recording songs that haven't been released yet!  One was called "Honeycomb", but I couldn't tell if it was the "Honeycomb" that was released in the 50's or 60's, or if this was a brand new song by Brian. 

There were other songs that sounded like Brian originals, but I couldn't tell if all of them were previously released or if they were new.

One thing that I didn't expect... Brian seems to really like "It's OK"!  He requests it to be played while driving in the car numerous times.  AND THEN... they show him recording it in the studio!  What's even weirder?  They had shown Brian on a Pet Sounds tour doing his talk/singing for the songs.  Then they show him re-recording "It's OK" and he sings it beautifully!  I... could... not... believe... it!

He re-records "Long Promised Road", too, and delivers a few of the lines perfectly!  If only there were someone who Brian trusted enough to tell him when a line wasn't perfect and when it was, and got him to keep working on it until it was perfect.  Because it appears that with a little concentration he still has the chops to deliver a great vocal!

Definitely go see it if you have the chance!  (Though that chance in the theaters may be gone as it appeared to play for one time only in a lot of cities on Wednesday night, November 17, 2021.)

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Regarding the booklets... I bought the 5CD and the 4LP.  I have not checked them closely, but the written material from all reports is the same in both. 

I will report there is a nice difference in the LP booklet vs. 5CD -- the pictures of the handwritten lyrics for Surf's Up are much larger in the 4LP booklet!  So there are differences in layouts, and therefore in picture sizes.  It probably works both ways, some pictures are larger in one than the other.


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Here's a reply from Stanley Shapiro to an article about Dennis in Shindig.   I think most will find it very interesting!

You can find the article here... https://www.shindig-magazine.com/?p=4986


 Stanley Shapiro says:

October 20, 2021 at 11:36 am

My name is Stanley Shapiro…
I wrote 100% of the words in the song WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO LIVE AGAIN. I wrote those words long before Dennis met Barbara Charren and the song had NOTHING to with Barbara whatsoever… As a matter of fact I was with Dennis when we met Barbara for the very first time at the Hamburger Hamlet in the Westwood Village next door to the theater on the corner.
I wrote the song as a part of a six page letter appealing to my girlfriend to come back after she moved out and moved in with an older man who was an associate of Bill Hayward (the co-producer of EASY RIDER).
Dennis and I agreed to write the songs for the movie… but, NOT that particular song. I wrote that song in 1969… not 1971.
These are the facts… my girlfriend came to ‘Hollywood’ from the Midwest to visit her long time friend who was living with Hayward at the time. She moved in with me before production on EASY RIDER began. She was smitten with the movie business and, after we were invited to a dinner party at Hayward’s home in the Hollywood hills, met a picture producer who was 26 years older than she. She was an aspiring actress and he enticed her with the loan of a Mercedes Benz 280 SE convertible and the use of his Bel Air residence. She fell for that and moved in with him. I was heart broken and pleaded with her to come back in a six page letter, in which I penned the poetic song.
I sent the letter to her and a few days later it was returned unopened. I opened the envelope and left the letter on my kitchen table. Dennis read the letter and pleaded with me to let him use it in a song. I turned him down…
(and, for the record, at that point Darryl had nothing to do with it)…
I didn’t like his suggestion that Dennis was a reincarnation of ‘Wagner’ … an anti-Semitic Nazi who was sympathetic to Hitler in WW2.
A couple of weeks later I got a call from another producer who asked me if I heard what happened to my girlfriend..
I was devastated to learn that she had taken her own life after a falling out with the movie maker, and Dennis begged me, once again, to let him put the words to music. This time I acquiest to his persistence and let him record it…
the two of us own that song 50/50 and Daryl Dragon owns none of it.
Mike Love hated the song and the two of us as well. Dennis went to war over the inclusion of the song on the Surf’s Up album and decided to yank it off after a bitter fight over the lack of interest on the Beach Boys part, telling them they weren’t worthy of the song.
On the way out of the studio he turned and told Mike to go back and write something ‘earth shaking’… like a few more stupid ‘car’ songs. It was a bitter disappointment and wound up in the vaults at Capitol Records.
It was rediscovered by Alan Boyd (the Beach Boys archivist and award winning documentarian after Dennis died).
It was subsequently covered by a little known group called CHAOS and wound up being placed on the ballot for a Grammy nomination as the SONG OF THE YEAR.
In the end, the Beach Boys did nothing to use it or promote it, and it stayed hidden in the vaults for an eternity.
Mike Love replaced the song with an inappropriate ‘tune’
called Student Demonstration Time using the music from another song composed by Mike Stoller… WHAT A GENIUS!!!

Have you seen Stanley Shapiro's reply to the Shindig article regarding "Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again"? Posted on October 20th.  Some great info!




Stanley Shapiro says:

October 20, 2021 at 11:36 am

My name is Stanley Shapiro…
I wrote 100% of the words in the song WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO LIVE AGAIN. I wrote those words long before Dennis met Barbara Charren and the song had NOTHING to with Barbara whatsoever… As a matter of fact I was with Dennis when we met Barbara for the very first time at the Hamburger Hamlet in the Westwood Village next door to the theater on the corner.
I wrote the song as a part of a six page letter appealing to my girlfriend to come back after she moved out and moved in with an older man who was an associate of Bill Hayward (the co-producer of EASY RIDER).
Dennis and I agreed to write the songs for the movie… but, NOT that particular song. I wrote that song in 1969… not 1971.
These are the facts… my girlfriend came to ‘Hollywood’ from the Midwest to visit her long time friend who was living with Hayward at the time. She moved in with me before production on EASY RIDER began. She was smitten with the movie business and, after we were invited to a dinner party at Hayward’s home in the Hollywood hills, met a picture producer who was 26 years older than she. She was an aspiring actress and he enticed her with the loan of a Mercedes Benz 280 SE convertible and the use of his Bel Air residence. She fell for that and moved in with him. I was heart broken and pleaded with her to come back in a six page letter, in which I penned the poetic song.
I sent the letter to her and a few days later it was returned unopened. I opened the envelope and left the letter on my kitchen table. Dennis read the letter and pleaded with me to let him use it in a song. I turned him down…
(and, for the record, at that point Darryl had nothing to do with it)…
I didn’t like his suggestion that Dennis was a reincarnation of ‘Wagner’ … an anti-Semitic Nazi who was sympathetic to Hitler in WW2.
A couple of weeks later I got a call from another producer who asked me if I heard what happened to my girlfriend..
I was devastated to learn that she had taken her own life after a falling out with the movie maker, and Dennis begged me, once again, to let him put the words to music. This time I acquiest to his persistence and let him record it…
the two of us own that song 50/50 and Daryl Dragon owns none of it.
Mike Love hated the song and the two of us as well. Dennis went to war over the inclusion of the song on the Surf’s Up album and decided to yank it off after a bitter fight over the lack of interest on the Beach Boys part, telling them they weren’t worthy of the song.
On the way out of the studio he turned and told Mike to go back and write something ‘earth shaking’… like a few more stupid ‘car’ songs. It was a bitter disappointment and wound up in the vaults at Capitol Records.
It was rediscovered by Alan Boyd (the Beach Boys archivist and award winning documentarian after Dennis died).
It was subsequently covered by a little known group called CHAOS and wound up being placed on the ballot for a Grammy nomination as the SONG OF THE YEAR.
In the end, the Beach Boys did nothing to use it or promote it, and it stayed hidden in the vaults for an eternity.
Mike Love replaced the song with an inappropriate ‘tune’
called Student Demonstration Time using the music from another song composed by Mike Stoller… WHAT A GENIUS!!!

Yes, "My Solution" is hilarious.  I keep finding more things to laugh at!

I love that Brian chose the word "damsel."  Cracks me up!

And then you contrast the comedy with utterly terrifying bridge!  Whoa!

Love the production, too.  Brian was really mastering the synth, wasn't he?   That repeating synth sound "CHUGGA-CHugga-Chugga-chugga" is great.  And the sound of tapping glass as if someone is playing music on test tubes and vials.  Was anyone else is the rock world using the synth like this at this time?  I don't really know, but it does seem early to me for effects of this type.


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Well, as stated before, I haven't got the 5 CD set because ImportCDs told me they didn't have it.  But now someone is saying they got their copy from them!?  I hope I get mine soon!

In the meantime I did receive the 4 LP set from BeachBoys.com and got to read the booklet.  A very nice read.  And lots of great pictures.  
I've got two questions, though...

1)  On page 17, a picture of the tape box has "Games Two Can Play" and "Add Some Music", and an untitled song at the end of the tape.  What song is that?   I guess only Mark, Alan, or Howie could answer that, but I thought I'd ask.

2)  On page 35, the second page of the lyrics to "Surf's Up" we get the lines for the tag...

A children's song have you listened as they play
Their song is love and the children know the way
The Father
His care is done all the children carry on

My question....  WHAT?!   I haven't listened to the a capella version of the tag but are these lyrics on there?  My guess would be no.  And it looks as if the third line "The Father" is not completed.  I'm guessing it was supposed to have as many words/syllables as the first line, sung to the same melody, and the fourth line would be sung to the same melody as the second line.

Very interesting stuff!

Also, I love that someone drew ocean waves on the tape box of "Cool, Cool Water."  

Love and merci,
Dan Lega


PS --  Spoiler Alert for anyone else who wants to try...


...Here's my attempt at a finished third line...  


A children's song have you listened as they play
Their song is love and the children know the way
The Father knows someday he will be gone
His care is done all the children carry on

Anyone else while listening to Dennis' "run, run, river run" portion think, wow, the backing track is essentially the main vamp for "Heroes & Villains!" 


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

So nice to finally get the original "Loop De Loop Flip Flop Flyin' in an Airplane!"

I missed the sound of the plane buzzing the barn and the clucking of chickens, though.  Was that added by Alan in his remake/remix however many years ago it was?  I'd like to crib together a version that has this version plus the new spoken intro Alan added and the buzzing plane/clucking chickens effects.

"Loop De Loop" and "My Solution" were the two known things that I was really looking forward to in this set.  So glad to finally get them officially!


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

WOW!  WOW!  WOW!
Just listened to the track and backing vocals version of "My Solution"!
I love this just as much as the full version!   Sublime!  Exquisite!  A true masterpiece!

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Why are "Walkin'" and "Where Is She" on this set?  They're already on the one of the previous digital releases.  So why choose these for an encore presentation?  

Just to be clear, this is not a complaint, I just want to know what the reasoning behind it was.

They're both apparently new mixes, but I'm not hearing anything different in them.  Anyone hear something different?


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

As mentioned above, I haven't received my box set yet, so I just started to listen to some of it on YouTube...

...and, oh my... My Solution!  I've always loved the one bootlegged version I've heard and was eagerly awaiting to hear a clean copy, and it did not disappoint.  In fact, it surpassed my expectations! 

"I... must've... had to... leave the... room...for a bit" always cracks me up!

But the biggest surprise was the new(?) bridge!  I don't remember ever hearing that before!  And, boy, that is some frightening music!  Almost terrifying.  Nearly gave me chills.  Genius!

I'm so glad to finally hear this song in great quality! 


Also, "Seasons In The Sun" is better than I remember their version being. 

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Hi all, I had a set pre-ordered through ImportCDs months ago, but got a message a few days ago that my order was cancelled. On the product page I see the set is now listed as 'Back Order'. Did anyone receive their set through them?

I'm in the US.  I ordered from ImportCDs, too, and sent them a message asking if they could tell me when I could expect it.  I just checked my email and I, too, received a reply that said they don't have copies of it and so it is on backorder -- which means it could take 45 days to get to me!

What the f**k did Capitol do to screw up the distribution of this set?  I wish Howie, Mark, or Alan would come here and try to explain to us why orders have been cancelled by Amazon in the UK and by ImportCDs in the US!  Even with all the delays they still couldn't get the product out!  This is sad.  Just so sad.

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Hi Mr. Desper,

Thanks for replying here! 

In my case, the reason I like to hear remixes is that Brian Wilson's and The Beach Boy's productions have SO MUCH in them, and all of it is incredibly interesting, yet not everything makes it to the final mix, as some parts are not mixed in and others are so multi-layered it's hard to tell exactly what is going on.  So, I always find it extremely exciting and welcome to hear something new in a Beach Boy song, such as a beautiful counterpoint never heard before as their productions are full of overwhelming genius.  And... without access to the original multi-track tapes or session tapes, if the only way to hear a "new" snippet of musical beauty is by a remix, then, yeah, let me hear a remix.

But, yeah, let me hear the original, too!  So you're saying if the original master tapes were used and run through your matrix and mixed to CD and LP, then we could hear the original intent of the album without having to buy any special equipment, i.e. your matrix add-on?  It seems so simple!  And everyone with a modern amp has Spatializer settings on it, so I don't understand why record executives act like they're afraid of releasing something that has a Spatializer-type effect on it.  Seems very weird and backward to me.

I'm really sorry you weren't contacted to give your input into the box set.  It will definitely be missed.  But Mark and Alan have done great things before, and we're all hoping, and expecting, they hit another home run this time! 

You keep mentioning being able to hear the original intent of the album by getting your book.  But it's not available at this time, is it?  Please let us know when we'll be able to listen to it again!

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

Two points...

Number one:  The thing is, the original mixes of "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" are NOT readily available for purchase.  You need to hunt for ORIGINAL pressings of the records to hear them.  And how easy is that to do?  Stephen Desper says every subsequent re-release of each album was not a copy of the original mix.  So, heck, I'm not sure I ever heard the original releases of those albums.  Now my guess is that I have, because I got into the Beach Boys shortly after the album "Surf's Up" came out, so the LP copies I have may be original -- but they're in storage right now, so I can't check them to make sure.  So, maybe I have heard them, and maybe I haven't?

Now, having said that, I'm all for well done remixes, which may upset Mr. Desper.  BUT... shouldn't we also have the right to hear Mr. Desper's and the Beach Boys' original mix, too?  The original mix should be as easy to buy as any remix.  Mr. Desper has been fighting for 50 years to get his original mixes back into the ears of the fans.  And when the company is spending money on putting out a box set, including a possible remix of the albums, then why not spend a little more money and try to restore the original mix while you're at it?  Seems like a no-brainer to me.  I mean, yeah, they did a stereo remix of "Pet Sounds", but they also restored the original mono mix.  So do both here, too!  Why not?  Especially as they were the first albums to have been run through an early version of the Spatializer!  That's pretty historic to me!

Number two:  With all this talk of the original mix being only available on the first pressing of the records I was wondering if there was a way to truly replicate that pressing?  Then I began to imagine some company doing a laser scan of an original disc -- couldn't that bring back the original mix?!  And with the laser scan, couldn't you then go in and look for the tiniest imperfections in the original printing of the disc and smooth out the occasional pops so that it would be near pristine?  And then you can do two things: converting/manufacturing that scan you could make a new pressing of the record, and, you can also make a digital version to play.  I wish I were a modern day Thomas Edison!

PS -- By the way, we don't have confirmation that remixes of the albums will be a part of the box set, do we?  I know it's probably a good guess that they will be, but I don't recall ever hearing that they would be.

Love and merci,   
Dan Lega

On YouTube there's an interview with Brian from 1974 that I don't think I'd ever heard before.  I post it here because Brian mentions writing some songs with Roger McGuinn, and I'm hoping Howie, Mark, and Alan can find them and put them on an upcoming boxed set!   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVdj_AC60ls&t=16s

Okay, I've done some calculating.  The set is supposed to be five CD's.  So with about 80 minutes per CD, that adds up to 400 minutes.

And I just tallied all the times on the tracklist above and the total comes out to be about 263 minutes and 20 seconds.

So that leaves 135+ minutes left over.  So we could easily be missing 2 hours and 10+ minutes of music from the set!  That's a lot of material that could be very revelatory!

So, okay, I'm feeling a little better about the prospects for this set.  Thanks again, Howie, for keeping us updated.


PS -- Of course a question many have been asking: is the set going to include remixes of the albums?  I don't know how long each album is, but we would have to subtract those running lengths from the total above.  I, for one, hope that they don't include remixes of the albums in the set, because I want more room for unreleased material, sessions, and backing and vocal tracks.  Of course it would be nice if they would rerelease the albums separately with new mixes!


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

   Wha'?   

Very cool.  But c'mon... you've got to explain why you chose that number of extra tracks, and why you put the blank spots where you put them!   

I just wonder...Who are their target audience? Old fans or new - or both? Why not release the whole shebang while we're still alive!!?? Why not please the long-time fans instead of future generations who don't have a clue who the Beach Boys were? We've grown up together, enjoyed and supported the boys for - I believe many of us - 50 years or more. We've longed for new releases, we had some great moments, sometimes disappointed, but we're still here for the boys! And we've spent thousands of dollars and we're still prepared to spend more... Am I being selfish thinking that way? But when we, the long-time fans are dead it's too late....

Hear Ye!  Hear Ye!


On another note, is there anyone else besides me who's not exactly bowled over with the snippets and the "song list" that was unearthed?  I mean, yes, the snippets sound great, and will be revelatory.  And I think "Loop De Loop" and "My Solution" are both genius.  But I also think there are a lot of Beach Boy super fans who don't like those two songs very much.  So where are all the things Howie said were going to make people think differently about the Beach Boys?  "I Just Got My Pay" and "Carnival/Over The Waves" certainly aren't going to do it.   Have some of you heard most of the new Dennis songs that are going to be on it?  Are they going to make people think differently about the Beach Boys?  I mean, in my mind, many Dennis songs do have the power to do that.  So hopefully they'll be a revelation!  I just hope there are a lot of other songs we've never heard (and were completed, or nearly completed) to add to the box that help to change people's minds about the Boys.

And there's still FIVE MONTHS before it comes out!  AAAAAAARGH!  That is just way too long!  Please, someone, speed it up!  Get it out sooner!


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

I'm pretty sure everything else I've read about "Do It Again" says that Mike came up with the lyrical idea of the song, brought it to Brian, and together they worked out the song, with Brian writing the music.  I don't think there is any reason to overcomplicate it.  I don't think either Brian or Mike have told exactly how it went down.  And unless they do I don't know what speculating is going to accomplish.


Love and merci,
Dan Lega