Just that he was there like originally, and played on classic records, and then was gone, and wasn't there for the "super-classic" era of Today/Pet Sounds/Smile Sessions. And that how his and Al's situation of who's original? It was just messy. Just like having two dudes in the early 70s play on some pretty cool but not very commercial records. You know, just not fitting in with the classic, Mike Love version of the Beach Boys.

So I searched for this earlier, cuz I'm pretty sure there was already a thread about this, but since we have this supposed 5 concert thing in the works, I figured I'd bring this back. Feel free to merge it Mods, if you want, but I decided to see what everything thinks, reasonably could be the setlist. Somewhere between your best wishes and what could really happen. And lets assume we will have Brian, Mike, Al, Bruce, and David there, and maybe a special appearance by Blondie. And be reasonable with the setlist. And keep the length to 25 songs. Here's my best guess (with lead singers in parenthesis and maybe some commentary)


-California Girls (Mike) 
-Catch A Wave (Mike)
-Do It Again (Mike with Brian)
-Then I Kissed Her (Al)
-Please Let Me Wonder (Brian: still sounds good for modern day voice, a "treat" for album cut fans)
-Add Some Music To Your Day (Mike, Al, Bruce, Brian) (for "geek" fans like us)
-All Summer Long (Mike)
-Little Deuce Coupe (Mike)
-Shut Down (Mike)
-409 (Mike)
-Wouldn't It Be Nice (Brian/Al/Jeff)
-God Only Knows (Brian/Bruce)
-Sloop John B (Brian, Mike)
-Forever (Brian, obvious choice for Dennis)
-Sail on Sailor (Blondie)
-Surfer Girl (Brian)
-Good Timin' (Brian, I say they choose this as they probably wanna cover something late 70s)
-Kokomo (Mike with Al or Brian)
-Our Prayer (Group)
-Heroes And Villains (Brian)
-Surfin U.S.A. (Mike)


-I Get Around (Mike, Jeff)
-Help Me Rhonda (Al)
-Good Vibrations (Brian, Mike)
-Fun Fun Fun (Mike)

This is obviously not what I would choose if it were totally my choice, but knowing the guys, and what they think will work with today's crowds, while also acknowledging geeks like us, I say this is the best we do. Anybody else got any attempts?

odds Brian plays bass for hypothetical concerts? wagers?  for most of show?

I was thinking about this (and I actually wanted keep this thread on the right topic). Anyways, what would they do with Brian for these reunion shows. Put him on the side of the stage with the grand piano? Put him on one side of Mike with a keyboard that doesn't get played, and Bruce on another side with another keyboard that doesn't get played? And then Al and Dave thrown in there somewhere? I honestly think Blondie and Ricky should be part of this thing too, but knowing the BBs, probably not. It doesn't really "fit in" cleanly with the whole BB thing, although neither does the whole David Marks situation either. And seeing that they will probably have played on everything minus "Kokomo" that will be played live, why not?

My preference would be to have Brian do the late 70s/early 80s thing and play the grand and do his vocals from there, and then "play" bass on a few songs just to it like the old videos we watch from the early 60s with Brian and Mike up front. And to really bring this thread back to the topic, who would you want there. Here's my take:

Brian Wilson: Vocals/Keys/Bass
Al Jardine: Guitar/Vocals
Mike Love: Vocals
David Marks: Guitar
Blondie Chaplin: Bass/Guitar
Ricky Fataar: Drums
Bruce Johnston: Cheerleader

backed by Brian and Al's bands, or a good mixture thereof.

So does this mean there is no physical release of it, besides the made it order CD-Rs that Amazon is putting out? Hopefully somebody in the know has an idea.

Wow I can't believe I didn't hear the similarities earlier. I dont know where my head was at. So AGD, that means there was no "I'm A Man" part of the medley? Just a mistake?

Honestly, whether its material written with or without Sandler, I would really like to hear if there were any Brian tracks that got recorded during the '72-'74 era (duh, probably just like every other BW fan) It seems like a great majority of the music he was doing from this era had a real ethereal vibe to it (Funky Pretty, Fairtyale, Sweet Mountain, etc.) that wasn't apparent much or at all after the "comeback"

David Sandler.

Sounds a lot like what became Sweet Mountain.

Which proves to me that it is Brian on SM.

Oh, I thought it was something about that certain song I was supposed to notice. And honestly, i thought that voice still could have been his. Idk. It is most likely Brian though.

Yeah so do we have any titles of Sandler/Wilson stuff that was supposedly done for the Beach Boys? I see "Funky Fever" on AGD's site. Then there's "Baby I Need Your Lovin/I'm A Man". What is "I'm A Man" by the way? I'm assuming an oldie? I thought the other half of the medley was "gimme Some Lovin" though? I'm confused.

http://www.glacierdisc.com/littledipper/Standin%27%20Tall.mp3

Sound familiar ?

OK, I'm an idiot. I can't pin it. What is it?

Anyways, I was just listening to "Sweet Mountain" by Spring with headphones on, which i may possibly have never done before. Well anyways, this may have been covered, but who exactly is it singing the lines,  "...it rained on the mountain of love" and "the rain drop"? It sounds like it could be Brian, its somewhat like his voice, but not really. Like it could be the "in between" 71 and 75 voice we rarely hear. Or maybe it was David Sandler? Or I thought I remember hearing even Mike Love made on appearance on the album? Maybe i'm mistaken. But maybe somebody has the official word on this subject.

Also, seeing as I guess this is the only Wilson/Sandler collaboration issued, what was the deal with that era? How long was David Sandler around. I seem to recall he just showed up at the Brian's front door or something with Bruce and Brian proceeded to work with him? Anyways I remember there was a bit about him in the Catch A Wave book, but I still don't really have much of an idea about what they did. Apparently the Spring album (mostly Sandler on that) and then they were planning a second album without Spring. For whom then? The Beach Boys? Sandler? Brian and Sandler? Surely not Brian at this point? Do we have any more titles out of this era? I'm pretty sure this is where the "Baby I Need Your Lovin/Gimme Some Lovin" medley came from, which still sounds pretty neat. And "Silly Walls" which was apparently intended for the Rovell sisters?

Anybody got any other concrete info or anything at all on these subjects?

I'm not sure Dave may be a racist as AGD was hinting at, but it was obvious that he has some bone to pick to our President and this McCartney thing gave him an excuse to try to rip on the guy.

AGD, I do agree that politics shouldnt be included in this section, but i do wonder if ol' Dave in KC would have been offended if say, the Nuge or some redneck racist country star was at the White House and told Dubya that he was happy that there was a man in office that kept it in his pants. I bet you'd applaud him. So if Sir Paul wants to voice his opinion I'd say its just fine. And Dave, I'm sure you thought 2001-09 were just wonderful years right?

[End politics on my part]

Alright Dave, we get that you have a bone to pick with Barack. We are sorry for you that Sarah is nowhere near the Oval Office (not really). Now lets end it.

As far as "Spark in the Dark", was there any vocals on it?

Brian definitely isn't anywhere close to where he used to be vocally, but even though he's different, hes still sometimes fun to listen to.

Mike on the other hand, sounds like garbage. What the hell happened to his voice? He sounds like crap. Its not like he spent years smoking or abusing drugs. Brian and Al's voices are so much stronger. Maybe it is all those years of touring taking their toll. After hearing this, I'm not sure the BB could ever reunite unless Mike really got back on top of his game.

Bruce sounds weak too. I dont get it. Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney and many others still sound strong. Somebody needs to explain what the hell happened to these guys.

I don't know though he was all over the promo shots for Sunflower and even quite a few for Surf's Up. Maybe it was the new label deal that got him more involved. That is a good point though. Was there any group shots after the beach shots in 1967 that featured Brian until Sunflower? I guess there was the Stack O Tracks cover (actually really cool) but I guess that's it?

Easy...the orig. vinyl LP of 20/20 featured a gatefold cover, you opened it and the entire inside gatefold was a giant photo of Brian holding an eye chart. I always thought that was a really cool concept.

Most people always say its Brian "holding" an eye chart. I'm pretty sure its just an eye-chart superimposed over his face. I'm pretty sure the original photo is in the Friends/20/20 CD booklet. It was a decent idea, but the execution was kinda goofy. And my opinion is even though the sleeve makes sense, showing that Brian is "always looming", how do you have a Beach Boys cover without Brian Wilson? I mean Al missing on Summer Days is one thing, but on an album with "Do It Again", "Cabinessence", "Our Prayer", and "I Want To Sleep" among others, he should be prominent on the the cover.

I'm pretty sure Brian was institutionalized during the last few months of 68. But the "experts" probably know more than me on that. I'm not to clear on that era.

I thought that was a pretty freakin awesome performance. And I'm one of those guys that don't think Brian is anywhere close to the singer he was pre 75.

[like]

Honestly I like his voice from this era. But the should not have had him singing this song in this way. The only times Brian's voice has really gotten to me starts with some of BW88 (some of the vocals are good) and goes all the way to probably OCA or the Paley sessions. The only listenable vocals from the Paley sessions were "You're Still A Mystery" and "Gettin' In Over My Head". For the most part he was just SO whiney during this era. By Imagination he sounded great though, somehow.

I wonder why those vids from 81 aren't there anymore. I'm pretty sure there was also videos of Brian singing "Good Vibrations" and maybe "God Only Knows" too. Its crazy that they trusted Brian at this time to handle those pretty tough vocals.

Probably "Don't Worry Baby" from 1981. Not one of Brian's top moments.

A Day in the Life of a Tree

I like the 1976 video of Brian, Dennis and Carl singing 'I'm Bugged at My Old Man'. Also, the interview of Brian laying in bed talking about laying in bed for 3 1/2 to 4 years (myth!).

Feel Flows live in 1977

Rio Grande

Mike's HOF speach

What did Brian have to do with "Feel Flows" live in '77? Was he even onstage during this song?

Wow! He sure sounds a lot like Carl there! How'd that happen? 

Brian told me that he wanted to try something different and several of his friends have told me that he did try to destory his old voice by chain smoking. Because the change was so quick I think it was honestly on purpose.

Hmm, he honestly told you that he wanted to try something different? Well I guess we just have to accept that as good of a reason as any. However, did he need to destroy his old voice to sing in a different way? Hmm. Yeah it does seem to be on purpose. But maybe we'll hear some more info and figure out what this is all about.

Brian can still hit those highs. When he chooses to. 

Seriously you think he could still hit those highs? I was listening the "Surf's Up" 04 and I realized that they shouldn't have double or triple tracked him or whatever they did at the end. It should have just been his voice. Would have sounded better IMO.

But anyways, how the hell did he become so undisciplined in so short a time. I mean it wasn't just how the vocals sounded, it was what seemed like the lack of professionalism. Like his phrasing would just seem really half ass. I don't get it.

Thing is though, I don't try to imagine "what if" or anything like that though. I just accept Brian as he is, and if the songs/vocals are good, they are good. And if they aren't, they aren't. And plus sometimes I don't wanna hear the sweet voice, sometimes I want the gruff voice, or his older age voice. So it's all good.

I understood that BW wanted his voice to match hi new, 'adult',look (beard, giant gut) rather than look like a bear but sound like a girl. Of course, I don't think he ever sounded like a girl, but he did and it seem like it was a real hang-up for him. The seventies didn't lend themselves to angelic voiced boys (according to my theory of BW's way of thinking) so he gargled razors and whiskey.

I believe that it was a hang up for him and that maybe he wanted to change it, but its somewhat odd that when he came back he produced "In The Still Of The Night" featuring him doing a falsetto and stuff on Love You like "Airplane" or "The Night Was So Young". Or his writing on BB85 and "In My Car" also seem like he was writing for his old voice. So I don't know if it was intentional.

OK, so this type of thread has been done to death, but I want to see if we can reach a consensus on what really happened. As we all know, in 1975 Brian's singing voice changed. On the early version of "Ding Dang" and the demo of "California Feelin'" (according to those who've heard it) he still sounds reasonably like his old self. Then on "Back Home" from late '75 the voice is totally different.

But the question is, although I've heard conjecture, did Brian really want to "ruin" his voice? Or did he want to make it deeper? (I think it was once said he wanted to sound more like Frank Sinatra or something....)

Are there any real sources out there on this that gave us reasoning for all of this, or is it really true maybe he didn't even do it on purpose. I remember reading in Leaf's BB book, how he seemed to think Brian was "hiding" his old voice, possibly as a way to sabotage the band, and that it reappeared on songs like "Sherry She Needs Me' and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Obviously it didn't reappear and Leaf was being his usual overexcited self. His voice was pleasant on both songs, and on "Sherry..." his falsetto somewhat reminded me of the old days.  However, I also remember Leaf saying how "awesome" "Lazy Lizzy" was, as though it was a masterpiece. So yeah........

Anyways, so whats the evidence point to? I don't think he wanted to sabotage the band, but I think he may have wanted to change it in '75 but maybe he didn't even mean to do that much damage.