disagree. I think with Friends, Brian just couldn't care less about having a pop hit. he just made the record he wanted to make.

it's more personal and autobiographical than Pet Sounds in my opinion, and songs like Friends, Little Bird, and Busy Doin Nothin are utter masterpieces to my ears. The Beatles couldn't have made songs like those no matter what, but it's silly to compare the two groups.

I love both albums but Friends is the one I return to over and over. it might not make as big a splash, but it sure hits the spot.

what a smug piece of sh!t he is

Friends gets my vote.

you can say Friends doesn't have a While My Guitar Gently Weeps, but neither does the White Album have a song like Friends which I find much more interesting, exquisitely arranged, and beautiful than anything on the White Album and beyond. and I do love the White Album.

I also love Transcendental Meditation which is dissonant in places but never off-key. it's a modern jazz-influenced powerhouse, in fact.

how utterly disappointing.

I boycotted Mike's Beach Boys many years ago due to his nasty treatment and hurtful statements about Brian and the other Beach Boys.

he's one of the biggest fakes in show biz... it's no wonder he supports the current administration with such fervor.


the petition should easily reach 50,000 signatures by midnight, but will Mike care? I highly doubt it.

a Google drive in the description?  I'm not finding this... can someone help?

such sad and shocking news, and what awful timing.

Nicky had so much style and charisma on stage and the chops to back it all up, a perfect supporting musician.
I spoke to him briefly in Ann Arbor on Brian's first little tour with The Wondermints back in '99.

he was obviously a huge fan, at least as obsessed as I was, and you could tell how excited and honored he was to play with Brian.
I remember asking if he'd suggest playing Busy Doin Nothin to Brian and he lit up and said something like, "That would be so cool!"

sure enough, the band was playing it within a few years along with so many other great songs we never thought we'd hear Brian perform.
I know Nicky had a lot to do with helping make Brian feel comfortable and confident in general and also in some of his deeper cuts, including SMiLE and so much more.

thank you Nicky. I always enjoyed what you brought to the band and I hope you're jamming with Carl and Dennis right about now.

I always thought the fade out was too soon on the Help Me Rhonda single and Good Vibrations.

and as much as I love Carl, it sometimes bothers me that Brian let him sing the lead on some of his best and most personal songs. I simply prefer Brian's voice. Breakaway, This Whole World, and Our Sweet Love are a few examples.


some of Mike's vocals often get on my nerves. That's Not Me, Rock'n'Roll Music, and Airplane immediately come to mind. even so, That's Not Me is easily one of my top 10 BB songs.

he helped a lot of people with their records and production back in the day. Jan & Dean and Glen Campbell come to mind immediately.

Van Dyke speaks of Brian's generosity when they first started working together. Brian helped him get a car and paid him before they even got going.

I also admire Brian's ability to speak complimentary of just about everyone, even those who don't particularly deserve it.

haha Mike will probably sue over this

just caught this one. really fucking outstanding! bravo

I'm totally willing to contribute to the cause and help spread the word... I've been wanting to hear this for many years now.

it might be worth contacting Stephen Kalinich and asking how his collaboration with Brian (A World of Peace Must Come) ended up getting released. it's a similar thing, produced by Brian around the same time, that remained unreleased for nearly 40 years.

thanks for your efforts PetSmile!

some have probably seen this, but I hadn't. cracked me up



here's the accompanying article, which I can take or leave. mostly leave
https://www.wweek.com/bump/2016/10/05/brian-wilson-is-coming-to-play-pet-sounds-for-the-final-time-here-are-the-six-hottest-remaining-beach-boys-takes/


perhaps this would be a good thread for any other offbeat art devoted to the boys. there's lots of it

With Me Tonight was originally a SMiLE recording wasn't it?

there's also the section of Look that ended up in Good Vibrations

maybe a stretch but I hear a little Love to Say Dada in Aren't You Glad

all due respect, i'd challenge you or anyone to do a blindfold test and tell the difference between a vintage lap vs. pedal steel, tone-wise. they can both be played like a lap steel and there is no discernible difference in the sound they make.

Al is using pedals on Diamond Head, just not in the way we're used to hearing. the pedals on C6 pedal steel are used primarily for getting different chords. we are used to hearing the other neck, tuned to E9 in most cases, where the pedals are used more for melodic bends and licks.

that's why the pedal steel on Cottonfields (played by Red Rhodes) sounds so different than Al's steel on Diamond Head. Red is on the E9 neck, Al on C6.

I corresponded with Al Vescovo briefly before he passed away. he said it was him on Little Pad.

as for lap steel vs. pedal steel, Al was almost exclusively a pedal steel player. by the mid/late 60s most guys who started on lap steel had switched to pedals. you can play pedal steel without ever hitting a pedal, and for something as simple as the part on Little Pad, there would be no reason to use a pedal. even on Diamond Head there is no discernible use of pedals, it's a Hawaiian/lap steel sound he's going for... but he's most definitely using a pedal steel on that one too.

I could have sworn it was Lyle Ritz on the ukulele for Little Pad.

it's Al Vescovo most likely on a pedal steel

I'd say Feel Flows has a similar trippy vibe and production as AIWD, and could probably considered truly psychedelic.

it just seemed no matter how cutting edge or experimental or FUCKING GREAT the material was, the boys just couldn't get the attention/airplay they deserved in this era.

I was also wondering where we might find personnel info for these sessions

how great is the chatter we get at the beginning of Time To Get Alone (a capella)?? not to mention the isolated DEEP & WIDE

thanks to seltaeb for that Passing By remix!
as for the lyrics, I think this is what we got:


PASSING BY (1971)

Somewhere along the avenue
I stopped to have a look at you
Said "hi" as you were just passing by

And as I drove you home with me
A feeling rolling over me
Said you were more than just passing by

Warm nights, quiet nights
Nights of living dreams
So close you were to being all I ever needed

Somehow I thought I'd fill the need
You'd stay and build a nest with me
I didn't guess you're just passing by

And as your distance seemed to grow
I've come to really miss you so
A hurt I wish was just passing by

Warm nights, quiet nights
Nights of living dreams
So close you were to being all I ever needed

I guess I'm still in love with you
I'll always stay in love with you
I guess I'm still in love with you
I'll always stay in love with you

where can we find the studio personnel info for these sessions??

the lyric there is:

I get weary, and sick of tryin
I'm tired of livin, and scared of dyin

there's more to the song than what Brian went with, but I love his take on this great American standard.

I figured it was probably Al on steel but can't figure out the "shimmery" effect he's using/getting. could be processed by Brian after the fact? this part is basically inaudible on the released version:

https://picosong.com/wjUiY/

Sounds like a volume pedal on the steel.

most steel players use a volume pedal. I don't hear that so much as an effect on the steel, likely a low-speed Leslie. and what a cool sound it is

here's a quick mashup of Be Here In The Morning/Darling. keep in mind they're in two different time signatures. had to stretch the original to fit the new track but they're in the same key, no pitch shifting here

https://picosong.com/wjUib/

I figured it was probably Al on steel but can't figure out the "shimmery" effect he's using/getting. could be processed by Brian after the fact? this part is basically inaudible on the released version:

https://picosong.com/wjUiY/

["Be Here In The Morning Darling"]

"Be Here In The Morning Darling" is wonderful. What is it? Is it an entirely different thing from "Be Here In The Morning"? Or is it a totally different backing track that the same lyrics were supposed to be applied to?

it took a few listens but it is indeed the same song. you can hum the melody right over this new track for the most part. amazing

I'm also floored by the backing track we got for the actual Be Here In the Morning. the choruses are especially lush and the bells give it a timely holiday vibe. that slide guitar is such a sweet effect too. anyone know who or what that is exactly?