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680601 Posts in 27601 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 29, 2024, 12:59:37 PM
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101  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Heroes & Villains – The Sound Of Los Angeles 1965-1968 on: May 13, 2022, 10:42:57 AM
intriguing track list, but...

--No J.K. and Co.?
--Nothing from teen-age wunderkind Michael Lloyd's The Smoke?

Urk...crate-digger remedial training required!  Smokin

102  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Happy Birthday Mr. Desper on: May 02, 2022, 07:40:11 PM
Belated birthday wishes to you, Stephen, and thanks for all of your incredible, innovative work--in all of its many dimensions. Wishing you many more transits around the sun!
103  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The Beach Boys in the 1950 US Census on: April 10, 2022, 03:58:22 PM
Good stuff, thanks. In 2022, LaMesa Drive is still the toniest part of Santa Monica, at the north end of town with many of the homes on the north side of the street overlooking the Riviera Country club--it's basically a western extension of the Brentwood Park area and is not far off the "aura" of Linda Flora Drive, which is only 2-3 miles away from Brian's former house on Bellagio Road (all north of Sunset Blvd. in Bel-Air).
104  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: David Leaf to reissue California Myth on: March 28, 2022, 06:33:39 PM
I'm a little confused by some of the Daro issue here. Yes, it's incorrect to say that he was banned. But the thread was taken down after he left and wasn't left up for public view.

The thread is up in its entirety now, in the "Ask The Honored Guests" section, where it was originally housed. The admins will have to respond to the nit about whether it was pulled from view for awhile. The thread was locked by Billy on January 30, 2015; Lorren Daro passed away early in 2017.
105  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: 1969 on my site on: March 27, 2022, 05:31:55 PM
All very good points, GF. I bow to your research on this topic. I do think it would have been silly NOT to appear, because in such a business you've got to take as much as you can get, and ordinary logic would dictate that national media is the fastest way to the largest number. But the question still remains how many counterculture kids tuned in regularly, particularly in the 1968-69-70, the "Armageddon" period of the anti-war effort. I think the "rebel" aspect of hip, new, mysterious, provocative counterculture types on mainstream shows would have piqued interest for some to watch it, but I'm doubtful that the 18-25 set was making a huge commitment to late-night talk shows at that particular time. Recall how NBC patted themselves on the back in '75 when they cracked that exact market with SNL, something that they publicly admitted had been elusive for them all through the time frame we're examining.

I just think it proved to be a double-edged sword in retrospect, and the problem was extended an extra year because there wasn't management in place to address a more effective way to reach the counterculture. They got that, for awhile at least, with Jack Rieley.

Mike Douglas definitely had a wild showrunner/booking agent/whatever! A lot of gimmicks even within the "mainstream" stuff on that show, as I recall. Part of it clearly was due to those shows scrambling for the younger demographic. Of course John Lennon didn't really need to sell records via such an arrangement in '72, and the prospect of a ratings bonanza was why he got a lot of leeway to book all of the personages who appeared on the Douglas show during that week.
106  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: David Leaf to reissue California Myth on: March 27, 2022, 05:07:56 PM
Thanks, GF, for the great detailed followup on Loren Schwartz/Lorren Daro and other aspects of the "dark past" that have floated through (and, happily, away from) the SS board. With other pressing matters taking precedence of late, I'd simply forgotten about his eloquent parting note and I appreciated his singling out those of us who pushed back against the "prosecutors" and simply asked that he be given a fair hearing. When it became clear that he had negative memories of Mike Love, however, things got definitely got rough! "Innocent until proven guilty" is still the operating practice, but that sure wasn't how that "honored guest" (!!) thread went down!  police

I notice we've gotten some attention from them with this thread, so perhaps we should mention that many of the "myths" they are busting over there (pins furiously stabbing at all the balloons they keep blowing up...) are in fact "myths." But there are certain topics that still seem to send them into paroxysms; I'm slightly hopeful that they'll leave the WILD HONEY "myth" alone, given how definitively those strange notions have been debunked. (But I mean, really, guys, how could any die-hard follower of the band listen to that record and not hear Brian's fingerprints all over it? Not to mention all those B. Wilson-M. Love songwriting credits--and hey, let's take this moment to give Mike kudos for some of his best work ever).

There are many, many, MANY solid posts over there, and that's why, in the main, it's worth keeping tabs on things over there. For one, there's a lot of good Joshilyn material that doesn't always come over here for one. Many informative threads. And some folks who are a consistent pleasure to read (Alan Smith, for one). We're grateful for several folk who selflessly travel back and forth, past "checkpoint Charlie" without need of a passport or an armed guard. LOL But as a congregation they really do have a "little girl with the curl" syndrome that just keeps on keepin' on!

I know I shouldn't poke the bear, but it's so darned hard to resist!  3D
107  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: 1969 on my site on: March 27, 2022, 04:18:20 PM
It was Joe Hicks, GF. Would've been much more interesting with Joe Tex, however! (Imagine Dennis and Joe in the same mind-body-"you should've seen the blonde I was with last night" continuum!)

Regarding mainstream TV: it strikes me that in 1969-72 in particular, being showcased on any of the "establishment" shows was considered by the counter-culture to be a sign of the teminally "unhip" and would have created big problems for a band that was looking for credibility with the hippies. But as an established band with a long track record, they were seen as reliable by those programs/programmers and were still able to coast on their earlier accomplishments...for a while longer at least. 1968 was a tough year, too, with "Friends" the single and FRIENDS the album bombing, pushing them toward a return to the old image with "Do It Again," which did reasonably well on the charts but was also a divisive track for the counterculture media. There was nothing on 20/20 that could pull them out of that tailspin, and it took Brian until after the LP was out to pull out of his depression and pen "Break Away," a nice track that was too old-fashioned to "break" any new ground for them.

So all of that TV booking may have actually undercut their ability to gain traction with the "underground" and that issue dragged out into the release of SUNFLOWER, after which the band (with Jack Rieley on board) pushed even harder to "look" the part of a late 60s/early 70s rock band. That, coupled with a continual effort to upgrade their live performance, would eventually pay off in 1971 with SURF's UP, augmented by the fact that they were touring much more frequently in America that year than had been the case previously (including the two fall tours after SURF's UP had been released).

We have a lot to look forward to when Ian is able to add 1971 and 1972 to this treasure trove of information. Thanks so much for all this fascinating material!
108  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: David Leaf to reissue California Myth on: March 27, 2022, 06:10:51 AM
Thirty-seven years is a long time between editions (about the same length of time, in fact, that it took for SMiLE to emerge from the shadows), so there is much to cover. And David was, of course, part of Brian's story throughout much of that period, so he has much more first-hand material with which to work. Looking forward to it and hoping that the page count listed at Amazon UK (480 pages) is on the money.

The Lovester contingent over at the Nearest Faraway Place is doing some sniping at this development, of course...whatever. Oddly enough, just before this news broke, they were indulging themselves with yet another "Beach Boys myths" thread, which revolved mostly around their usual complaints. Nobody had gotten around to trashing the late Loren Schwartz as yet, so they still have some slithering room left...
109  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Beach Boys isolated vocal analysis video on: March 16, 2022, 07:51:43 PM
Joshilyn, if possible/appropriate, can you point out a few examples of where Brian shifts from head voice to falsetto? I think that would help clarify things for anyone who might be confused by the distinction. For example, what about the highest note in "Don't Talk" ("Listen to my HEART...")--is that head voice or falsetto?
110  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: happy birthday mike……. on: March 16, 2022, 08:44:12 AM
Has anyone else noted the potential symbolism associated with the fact that Mike's birthday happens to fall on the Ides of March??  Cool Guy
111  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The Seven Symphonies on: March 14, 2022, 09:32:50 PM
Here's a track listing for the seven "movements" (a more accurate term for these sections than the several of the them that use "symphony" in the title). Note that some songs have sections that appear apart from one another in the mix of songs within a movement. All in all, it's a pretty nice job of weaving songs together--some orchestrations are stronger (and fuller) than others, of course.

A rather surprising number of TWGMTR tracks selected here; and there are several Dennis songs that made the cut.

I: Capella
From There To Back Again
Our Prayer
And Your Dream Comes True
A Young Man Is Gone
Think About The Days

II: Room For Nature
The Warmth Of The Sun
In My Room
Lonely Sea
Passing By

III: Beach Waltz
Friends
Time To Get Alone
I Went To Sleep

IV: The Nearest Faraway Symphony
Summer's Gone
Surf's Up
The Nearest Faraway Place
Be With Me

V: Symphony Of The Unknown
Forever
Full Sail
Baby Blue
Winds Of Change

VI: Symphony Of The Little Bird
Little Bird
Heroes And Villains
Do It Again
Cool, Cool Water
Wake The World
Pacific Coast Highway

VII: Pet Symphony
You Still Believe In Me
Let's Go Away For A While
Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Caroline, No
Pet Sounds
God Only Knows
112  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Cabinessence questions on: March 10, 2022, 02:13:26 AM
Guys, the lead sheet issue is fascinating (and most likely permanently confounding), but I don't think it will lead us to any insights about the nature of the 1968 tweaks to "Cabinessence."

Listening to the SECRET SMILE bootleg again might clarify the situation about the "Truck Driving Man" lyrics, however.

In the "Cabinessence" section of that bootleg, there's a 43-second snippet of a take that is listed as "Chorus Vocal Overdub." It is the second iteration of what's usually called "Who Ran The Iron Horse," which as we all know plays twice in the song's verse/chorus/verse/chorus/two-part tag structure. If you listen carefully to that snippet, it's clear that the "Truck Driving Man" lyrics are in place, although they are already buried in the mix at about the level of what we hear on the 20/20 release version.

That would argue pretty strongly for the idea that the "Truck Driving Man" lyrics (sung by Dennis) were recorded during the 1966 sessions, and was already in place when they came back to the song in 1968 to overdub Carl's lead vocal for the "Home on the Range" section.

This assumes that the "Secret Smile" tapes are from 1966, but since this 43-second snippet is literally surrounded by the instrumental sessions and all the other vocals except for Carl's lead, it seems highly likely that everything we're listening to in these tapes date from the song's original 1966 recording sessions.
113  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Production Video: \ on: March 06, 2022, 04:09:15 PM
Thanks, GF--that was fun. Not quite fun, fun, fun, of course--but fun. It would be more so if Billie Eilish herself would break away to a better life, and leave behind all those shackles and that apparent burning desire to have a man-boy give her a carload of rough sex, but--as Keith and Mick told Brian..."my obsessions are your possessions" and maybe Billie will tie it all up for us (!) by doing a cover of Brian's favorite Stones song...  Smokin
114  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Pet Squares #9 Beach Boys Concert Part 2 is up! on: March 01, 2022, 08:51:46 AM
 w00t! w00t! Thumbs Up Ahhh!
115  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Feel Flows vol 2? on: February 05, 2022, 08:51:35 PM
As the Lovester once put it (right after being divested of that infamous "jug"...):

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose..."  3D
116  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Pet Squares #7 All Summer Long is up! on: February 02, 2022, 12:31:50 PM
And much "fun, fun, fun" watching you "get around" to all those filming locations, Adam!

Focusing on the LPs is, of course, the most logical way to organize all this...but when you get to TODAY!, you might consider talking about the songs based on when they were conceived/recorded as opposed to how they appear on the LP itself. This period of time is clearly the point where Brian (somehow manages) to blossom into the creator who held so much of the world in thrall through the end of 1966, upping his game with "When I Grow Up" and "She Knows Me Too Well," clear evolutions from "Don't Worry Baby" and "Girls on the Beach" that strongly mark what will appear on TODAY!

The shows/sessions log from July-December 1964 is certifiably insane--it's no wonder that Brian broke down. But even in the midst of that ongoing turmoil, he was still progressing, with "Kiss Me Baby" before the breakdown, followed by "Please Let Me Wonder" and "In the Back of My Mind" almost immediately after the instigation of the "new arrangement." (Plus all the up-tempo stuff, which isn't as ambitious in terms of texture but still benefits from Brian's evolution as an arranger.)

And the most significant reason why the Wrecking Crew starts to become more prominent on the records in '65 is because Brian's at home all the time, and the guys are on the road, so the personnel shifts because Brian needs the Crew to handle what the band had been doing previously. That suggests the idea that the SUMMER DAYS record might be discussed by focusing on the tracks with the band vs. the tracks that have a more pronounced presence of the Crew...
117  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: A Day in the Life of a Tree on: January 16, 2022, 07:54:16 PM
I've come around to the idea that an interesting approach to "Tree" would've been to pass around the lead vocal in a way analogous to what was done on "Add Some Music." The lyrics support the idea of different voices for the different stages of the tree's life...Dennis could certainly have been part of that.
118  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: THIS WEEK IN BB HISTORY January 15-28 on: January 16, 2022, 07:42:36 PM
Fantastic stuff, Ian. Now what we need is a graphic capability that puts dot-points on a map of the USA that visually locates where the boys were on all of these "clustered dates." (The mm/dd/yyyy format could be used on the map.)

From looking at the locations that are included, it's obvious that these guys definitely "got around"!! 
Drumroll  Thud
119  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road (2019 Brent Wilson Documentary) on: January 14, 2022, 07:29:15 PM
My hope is that when LONG PROMISED ROAD goes to DVD/blu-ray, we'll see some other (judiciously edited) snippets that didn't make the final version. Brent Wilson alluded to a lot of material that was cut to get the film down to a manageable length; he didn't suggest that there was material that got dropped because it was either lurid or incendiary (I doubt Jason Fine would ever ask Brian on-camera about what he remembers about Charles Manson, for example--and we aren't looking for material with actual or implied pushback on Mike, since we want to think that there might somehow be one more Beach Boys project that involved everyone).

I think Brent created a tone that ultimately fell into a register that had to be low-key, that wound up emphasizing Brian's melancholy--and while that's certainly valid up to a point, I've got to think that there are some livelier moments that were cut because they were simply too hard to fit into the overall flow...they may have stood out too much in the prevailing context of the film. A few more snippets that cover a wider emotional range would be welcome--and possibly some footage of Brian working on the piano album (which I assume exists in some form or another).
120  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Welcome Back! on: January 14, 2022, 04:42:56 PM
Reports of our demise were...AHEM!...premature.  3D

AGD's attempt to be the Arnold Toynbee of all things Beach Boys (as in the "decline and fall of the SS board that began when I was banned!!" LOL)--and the subset of jerks over on "The Nearest Faraway Place" who piled on with him--should hang their heads in shame. We won't hold our breaths for THAT, of course...

That said, let's all go to the beach! Yee-haw!!!  Cool Guy


I had to look up who that was.

That's why they pay me the big bucks over at "obscurereferencesrus.com"...  3D

Too bad I didn't use "Arnold Toynbee" as my alias over at "The Nearest Faraway Place"!!  Smokin
121  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Welcome Back! on: January 14, 2022, 03:08:03 PM
Reports of our demise were...AHEM!...premature.  3D

AGD's attempt to be the Arnold Toynbee of all things Beach Boys (as in the "decline and fall of the SS board that began when I was banned!!" LOL)--and the subset of jerks over on "The Nearest Faraway Place" who piled on with him--should hang their heads in shame. We won't hold our breaths for THAT, of course...

That said, let's all go to the beach! Yee-haw!!!  Cool Guy
122  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Happy birthday, Dennis (77 years old today) on: December 04, 2021, 10:37:19 AM
This has been a very good year for Dennis Wilson, with so much more of his music now readily available thanks to the FEEL FLOWS set.

So it's with some extra joy that we can "celebrate the news" and send birthday greetings to the late, lamented, lover-boy "other genius" of the Beach Boys.

Thanks to Brent Wilson and Jason Fine for finding a wonderful way to give a shout-out to Dennis' music in LONG PROMISED ROAD. It may well have been scripted, but it was touching anyway.

Not everyone is in love with Dennis' music, but those that do strongly tend to revere it with a special intensity--something that they sense strongly in the man who created it. There' a "tug of love" there that allows them to "slip on through" to a special bond with the "sound of free."

The fourth of December happens to be my birthday as well, and there are many notable folks born on that day--legendary noir scribe Cornell Woolrich, the great French actor Gerard Philipe, the Big Lebowski Jeff Bridges, English authors Thomas Carlyle and Samuel Butler, Crazy Horse (the Indian leader, not the band!), painter Wassily Kandinsky, poet Rainer Maria Rilke, ever-spunky actress Marisa Tomei--but it's an especially "lucky f*ckin' honor" to share a natal day with Dennis, who was born on this day 77 years ago.

Thanks for your gift of music,  Denny. This year it's been especially evident that it's a gift that keeps on giving!
123  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Is it fair to call for an artist to quit? on: December 02, 2021, 10:36:52 PM
People should certainly be allowed to express such an opinion; someone could be brazen enough to take a poll on the subject. (I'll leave it to others to speculate as to what the results of a such a poll might be.)

But for an artist--as opposed to an auto worker, for example--they are the ones that control any such decision. Our opinions are irrelevant.

Given that we can't really how much longer we will have Brian (or Mike or Al or Bruce or David or Blondie) with us, we should respect their desires and choose whom to cherish and whom to tolerate. They've earned the right to keep touring and recording for as long as they feel up to it. Remember: once it's gone, it's gone for good.
124  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Billy Hinsche 1951-2021 on: November 20, 2021, 11:58:09 PM
I'd just seen Billy in LONG PROMISED ROAD--as always, an upbeat, thoughtful, and unfailingly supportive presence. He left us way too soon.
125  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Movie Posters For Nonexistent Beach Boys Films on: November 20, 2021, 11:51:13 PM
Absolutely gorgeous, Rab! Let's hope someday that it (the Dennis biopic) will no longer be non-existent. When that day comes, the poster is ready already!
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