Oh yeah, Stevie for sure, noticed it right away, even though he was only credited with instrumentation. 

On the subject, I remember hearing a radio special on this album back in '85...Carl said he pretty much copied Stevie's vocal delivery from the demo. 

[- Mike, with Brian on the choruses / fade counter-melody]

1.    Getcha Back                            - Mike, with Brian on the choruses / fade counter-melody

I remember that in an earlier topic on this board someone claimed that the falsetto on Getcha Back wasn't Brian but someone else, maybe Jeff Foskett. Anyone know if that could be true?

It's Brian.  No doubt about it.  Foskett reportedly sings on about half the album, but that falsetto is BW.

Why did Rocky Pamplin and Stan Love Love punch out Dennis? What was the outcome when Dennis filed charges against them?

'Cause they were high on Super Bowl Sunday and decided to go "get him" for contibuting to Brian's problems by supplying him with drugs (note the irony).  According to the Gaines book, Carolyn Williams (Brian's live-in nurse/girlfriend) and Janet Lent-Coop (who worked for the Beach Boys/Brother Records) called Stanley and told him that Brian was in terrible condition and "needed somebody to protect him from Dennis".  This was their way of doing that.  

According to Gaines, Stan was fined $750 and Rocky $250.  Stan claimed his legal fees and airfare back & forth from Hawaii, where he was staying, amounted to $10,000.  They were both placed on six months probation.    

Nik Venet once told me, shortly before he died, that Earl Palmer played on some early (c1962-63) sessions for the Beach Boys.  I think that was the first time that information had come up.  I think it was subsequently confirmed elsewhere, but I don't know that for a fact.  C-Man would for sure.  C-Man?

[/quote]

Hmmm...not ringing any bells for me...just the few tracks mentioned by Christian above.  Although I will say this...Dennis and Hal teamed up for double drumming on "Memphis Beach" (aka "Carl's Big Chance") and probably "Don't Back (Break) Down".

Man, this is sad news.  I've been out of town and away from the Internet since last Thursday, and just found out.  What a great contribution Mike M. made to the BBs sound, from their Radio City Music Hall shows in March of '79, right up to 2000 or so...damn.

...dennis recorded in such a fashion that no-one seemed clear as to who held the rights for the material as regards a reissue. BRI said they did... Sony said they did... I think Dennis' estate put in a claim... and I'm pretty sure that JWG thought he held the rights as former boss of Caribou. Now you can see why it took literally years to sort out (with some impressive horse trading thrown in for good measure).

I actually find it amusing that the chaos surrounding Dennis lives on 24 years after his death!

So would Dennis, I'd think!

I don't think there is another album besides That Lucky Old Sun.  This thread was started in September of 2006, and as someone already said, most of the song titles mentioned found their way into TLOS, in one way or another.  Brian did mention a new song, "Love Is Just A Song", being recently recorded, but who knows if that's another demo.  The Carl tribute was something done in one day, and as good as Brian's vocals are, it's really not releaseable as is.  I just hope Brian's vocal sweetness, however it's achieved, is present on the TLOS recording. 

I would think they'd use the "demo" vocals for "Midnight's Another Day" and "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl"...those vocals are of a very high quality, and I really can't imagine Brian doing a better job these days.

[GIOMH]

A new Brian Wilson album is always good news! So - are they going for a one-two release plan in 2008 (like in 2004)
with the 'regular' album first  and the the big song cycle  following  later that year? 'That Lucky Old Sun' as  presen-
ted live last year is among brian's finest pieces of works ever and his best in decades - and should be kept as an entity!
(allowing modifications and bonus tracks - sure, but without losing its integrity altogether please). So when he claims in
the new interview that he IS recording TLOS soon, does that mean that they are working on two albums simultaneously?
Just wondering...

Most of the 'album' that Brian & Scotty were working on in 2006 was utilised for "TLOS" (and according to Scotty they were only cutting demos anyway). I sincerely doubt that there is another 'new' album - but iffn there is I hope it's a helluva lot better than GIOMH. (Bear in mind that GIOMH was all ready for release before BWPS was premiered and was, allegedly, part of the studio BWPS package].

Andrew, that last part intrigues me, since GIOMH and BWPS were released by two different labels (at least the CD editions were...granted, the vinyl versions were both on Rhino...and granted, both Rhino and Nonesuch were distributied by Warners...but still, two different labels...)

I remember that before Nashville Sounds aired, there was a short clip of Carl saying something to promote the video. He looked horrible, and his voice came out like a croak. I knew at that point that there something very wrong with Carl.

My wife died of cancer over a period of 8 months (several months before diagnosis.) It was a particularly bad type, with little hope of survival. She tried every thing she could, even a trip to the Hoxsey Clinic in Mexico, all for naught. The hell that I and my children went through is indescribable.

I have already decided that if I ever get cancer, unless it is an easily cured kind, I'll just roll over and accept the inevitable. Everybody wants to live, but we will all die of something someday.

I am not trying to draw a parallel between this and Carl, just stating my feelings. Sometimes, that's all you can do.

Sorry to hear of this tragedy, donutbandit.  A good friend of mine is going thru this right now with her father, and my heart goes out to her.

Merry Christmas, all!
And Happy 2008...I have a feeling it's gonna be a good one...   

John was mad at Cynthia he wasn't with Yoko yet. He said so in Playboy

Are you sure? I guess he wrote it alot earlier than it was released, then.

Yep..."Across The Universe" was recorded at the same set of sessions as "Lady Madonna", "The Inner Light", and "Hey Bulldog" (February-March '68, right before the Fabs left for India).

I saw them upfront (as close to the stage as possible) in June of '95, and my first thought was "gee I wonder if Carl's got cancer or something...he just looks so much older than he did even a year ago".  Saw them again a couple of months later, then in August of '96.  Whe he sang "Sail On Sailor" (which I'd never seen them do in person until then), he kind half-chuckled at the line "And my dying", which I thought was ironic, and wondered to myself if maybe he knew something we didn't...in retrospect, it is REALLY ironic.  BTW, he sounded great at all those shows.  At the '96 show, Mike's microphone gave out during "Do It Again", so Carl took over the lead vocal.  Saw them again on Carl's final tour in '97, in fact eight months to the day before his passing.  He actaully looked, I thought, a bit better than in '95.  He only sat down for maybe three songs in the middle of the set.  It was a slightly shorter set b/c they opened for Chicago (no, there was no "Beachago" set on this tour, probably b/c of Carl's illness).  Carl sounded fantastic, he started almost every song with his count-ins and his guitar was the main instrument on every song.  Phil Bardowell was there, I guess as a "safety net" in case Carl was too ill to play, but he stood in the back and just played rhythm guitar but didn't sing.  Carl was clearly still in charge of the band onstage.  If his illness hadn't been mentioned, I wouldn't have known.   Of course, knowing full well in my heart that this was probably gonna be the last time I saw Carl, I payed extra close attention to his performance, and tried to soak up as much of his vibe as I possibly could.  One funny thing I remember about this last show:  when Carl sat down, I could see his socks:  white socks, with black shoes.  I remember chuckling, and thinking "how down-home".  It just somehow fit, in a comforting kind of way.  When they left the stage, my gaze was with Carl the whole time...I just kinda knew this was gonna be the last time I saw him.  Eight months later, he was gone.   

Yeah, you did.

And Across the Universe is about John being annoyed by an argument with Yoko and Alice's Restaurant isn't true in the least because the real reason Arlo Guthrie didn't go to Vietnam was because he had a genetic disease, not because he littered.

Well, at least when "Little Saint Nick" was WRITTEN and RECORDED, the Boys were still young & innocent!

I actually get a bigger chuckle out of "Little Saint Nick"...everytime I hear the line "cruisin' every pad with a little surprise", I can't help but think of Brian, in the mid-'70s pre-Landy days, waiting for his own version of Santa Claus to drive by & leave a little "something" in his mail box...     

Sorry if I forever ruined the innocence of this song for anyone!

I really like the song....Everytime I hear the "Here Comes Santa Claus" part, I want it to continue longer. Brian just has a way with sleigh bells and a keyboard. The lyrics are all over the place, and Brian's "Pied Piper" voice is a bit creepy. Was Al and/or Dennis present for the session? I have this mental picture of the guys in the studio, and Brian with long hair and protruding gut, pumping away on the organ. It would've made a great video...

According to the liner notes, Dennis played drums.

I'm wondering what the odds are that the album will be remixed. I know there are fans who feel the original Stephen Moffitt mix was poorly done and I can see their point.

A couple of tracks from that original mix may sound a bit muddy ("Moonshine", "Rainbows", maybe "River Song"), but some of the tracks are just fine IMO...like "Dreamer", "Time", and "You And I".  I suspect a decent remaster would help loads. 

Well, he told Rolling Stone and other publications in 1981 that he didn't want to tour with them anymore unless they started taking their career seriously...as he put it, treating 1981 as if it meant as much to them as 1961.

was rocky really a part of american spring?

Yes...I have the BBFUN newsletter to prove it!

A few more things to point out:

(1) there apparently is yet ANOTHER unreleased, and unbooted, version from sometime in the '70s, as Bruce told Brad Elliott in 1981 that he's on "a couple of Beach Boys versions".  I always thought that meant he was on the '74/'75 version, until it was pointed out that that one's a Brian-only demo.

(2) "MIU" WAS going to be called "California Feelin'" at one point (and "Winds Of Change" at another), but Brian insisted the song not be included (why?  dunno...maybe he wanted to save it for American Spring, who he was producing at the time)

(3) Brian WAS involved in the "Light Album" outtake version:  Eddie Roach posted a reply to my question about Brian's work at Criteria in late August/early September '78, and said that Brian first produced that version of "Calander Girl", then moved right into "California Feelin'".

(4) In a November '78 interview with David Leaf, Bruce talked about which songs would likely make it to the album, and said "California Feelin'" was "a heavy NO".  He didn't say who's decision that was, but it sounds like it was his. 

Does anybody know the "story" on this recording? When and where was it recorded? It actually sounds more like a disguised drug deal than an interview. I've been listening to this recording lately. It's very interesting. Brian talks quite a bit about songs that never ended up being released by The Beach Boys. He even sings a few lines of Stevie and Still I Dream Of It. Brian also says some very interesting things about Carl. He says that it was "foolish" of Carl to quit the group and do a solo album. He also says that the Beach Boys are Carl's "only source of income". I got the distinct impression that there was some tention between Carl and Brian at this time. Brian also mentions that the Beach Boys are going to play in South Africa, and that Carl will probably be there. These shows are not mentioned in Eric Anniversario's Beach Boys setlist archive.

This is interesting. It almost seems that Carl came back to the group out of resignation and defeat? Are there any interviews with Carl when he talks about any of this? It seems that he kept quiet about a few things. If he didn't play SA for ethical reasons that is cool. Just wish he had written and spoken out a bit more than he did.

No, I think the reason Carl didn't play South Africa was b/c he just wasn't ready to return to the band quite yet (or they weren't ready to meet all his demands or come to an acceptable compromise), b/c they played on without him through several shows in the States after the New Year, including a tour of the South and East in March/early April.  He did talk quite a bit about it, especially in an interview to Geoffrey Himes (published in the Fall of '83 in Musician, and reprinted in an expanded form in Kingsley's Abbott's "Back To The Beach", revised edition).  He came back for a few dates in April, but said they needed a lot of work, hence a weeks' worth of rehearsals and the new show they rolled out in May of '82.

Basically, Carl's demands were:  (1) rehearse regularly and bring some different songs into the show (which they did) (2) stop playing all the lucrative casino gigs (for which he said a compromise was struck:  he would play all such shows booked on the current tour but none in the future...a threat which obviously fell by the wayside eventually) (3) record a new album (for which they tried to get the ball rolling on that year, but since they wanted to get Brian healthy first, it was a couple of more years before they started it).

C-Man are you sure that they didn't appear again in 1982? Are you sure these are just repeats of the 1980 app on Mike Douglas?

Pretty sure it was just a repeat.  Their appearance was split into two separate shows, if I remember right, but I saw them (and taped them) the first time they were on.  They played "California Girls" and "Help Me Rhonda" (two 1965 songs), "Catach A Wave", "Hawaii", and "Surfin' U.S.A." (three 1963 songs), and "I Get Around" and "Fun Fun Fun" (two 1964 songs).  Brian was not present.  Mike D. talked to all the Boys.  It was actually pretty cool. 

Does anybody know the timeframe for Black Widow? Seems to be later than the Love You demos. There is some vocal processing.

I believe the demos for "In The Nightime", "Little Children", and "Black Widow" recorded at Lucky Dog studios in Venice date from late 1983.  In a 1988 issue of BAM, Wayne Erwin, the studio's owner/engineer, gave a great recollection of the session, and said it was late 1984.  But somewhere else I recall reading source, perhaps AGD, listing the timeframe as being a year earlier.

I have a Mike Love and Al Jardine interview given to Pacific Stars and Stripes while they were playing there-but no exact date.  A two part app on Mike Douglas aired on January 5 and 8 and an app on Merv Griffin aired on Jan 6 1982- but all of these could have been taped prior to that tour. They were at Harrah's in Tahoe on Jan 15 1982

Ian, the Mike Douglas show appearance was taped around the second week of December, 1980.  Mike Douglas did this week long series of shows in Hawaii...in fact, he had wanted to get John Lennon & Yoko Ono to cohost the week with him, like they did in '72, and they were interested, but other commitments prevented it.  Douglas once said that if they had done it, John might still be with us.  Perhaps he didn't know that Chapman lived in Hawaii...considering that, I don't think John's murder could have been avoided.

Anyways, I remember the Beach Boys appearance airing initially in either January or February of '81.  Perhaps it was repeated in early '82, but '81 was the originally airing. 

I always end up back at the Lucky Dog demos. Those are pure, basic Brian Wilson tracks.  My favorite is probably Black Widow.

So I'm not the only one who cruises around with a CD of these somewhat hissy, lo-fi piano/organ/drum machine demos blasting on their car stereo?  Cool!  "And Frank Sinatra sings his song"...

1.  Soul Searchin'
2.  Stevie
3.  Everybody Wants To Live
4.  Life Is For The Living
5.  Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again (I've only heard the Chaos Band version, but trust the
opinion of those who've heard the original)

Runners-up are probably too numerous to mention, but include Carry Me Home, Lazy Lizzie, and the "Landlocked" mix of "Loop De Loop".

Oh man, how could I forget "Marilyn Rovell", which I've been diggin' to a lot lately...OK, that replaces my current #3, and "Everybody Wants To Live" knocks "Life Is For The Living" out of the Top 5.