My 5 SACD's came today - seems the "& Family" part worked - no customs!

I've never heard of this '& Family' loophole but might give it a whirl if and when I order from this next batch. I am wondering if any UK retailers might take these on though, given more popular BB titles will be in the mix. What Records seem to import some of the better vinyl releases.

Harrison Ford, Millennium Falcon consul 1976

 http://newsnyork.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/NJIXYcbnvF.jpg

Brian Wilson, Brother Records consul 1976

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Brian_Wilson_1976.png

That Star Wars picture is not from the original film, it's from Return of the Jedi. It's not even the Falcon, they are using a stolen Imperial Shuttle to get to Endor.

Ok,ok! Are you the Star Wars equivalent of AGD? 

Not even close. But my wife and I did have a Star Wars birthday party for my 4 year old son on the 18th. Here's the family...

I thought that was Carl as Obi Wan for a moment!

Thoroughly enjoying this thread, thanks for all the contributions, however tenuous (and I asked for it, right?!). However I suspect this one won't be topped:

The first Star Wars film (okay, fourth in the trilogy…) and Heroes and Villains (okay, a version not released for decades) both have a cantina scene.

  and not forgetting 

Ummmm...we do we need a connection between the two?

Because convergence points are awesome.

Convergence you want, convergence you got:

http://s31.photobucket.com/user/tmckenz/media/mikelove.jpg.html

Also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjhHB4J_TCI

Ha! As an aside, I noticed recently that the dressing gown/bathrobe thing seemed to be de rigueur in the early 70s, or at least there's mike doing it here and Harry Nilsson sporting exactly the same look (robe plus flat cap) at some awards ceremony around the time of Nilsson schmilsson. What was this look all about? Influenced by Brian?? Or was Brian's decision to walk about in a bathrobe in the early 70s a hip thing to do I.e. less an indication of his mental state as is sometimes suggested now?

As for the original thread request for a connection between the BBs and Star Wars apologies if it's a bit OT - just a bit of fun in the wake of the spectacular 2nd teaser for Force Awakens. I just have a picture in my head of Brian's mind being blown at the opening scene of A New Hope back in 77. It strikes me as quite where Brian's head was at at the point, what with Solar System and all. I bet somebody has a story of Brian seeing it at the cinema ... Debbie Keil-Leavitt perhaps??

Apologies - I'm not starting this thread with any anecdotes of my own that might connect the two but hoping someone else might do the honours.

For instance, has Brian ever talked about Star Wars? He must have seen the first movie when it came out and I can imagine him being all over it (given he was writing his own space-themed song around the same time).

The only feeble connection I can come up with is Lucas using All Summer Long in American Graffiti. There's gotta be more than that ...

Sorry to lower the tone but I keep reading the thread title as:

'How Brian Wilson helped pawn spunk'

    I keep reading it that way too. But I didn't want to lower the tone by mentioning it. 

 Glad to be of service!!

http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/videos/a34349/love-and-mercy-trailer/

You hear the Beach Boys two ways in your life. The first is usually as a kid, likely in the backseat of a hot car with the windows down during a family road trip, everybody putting their aggravation on hold for the duration of at least one sing-along. "Kokomo," "I Get Around," "Surfin' U.S.A."—songs you hear once and instantly know by heart. If and when you dig a little deeper into the band's history as you get older, you begin to hear traces of the real Brian Wilson, the sick Brian Wilson, the sad one hiding in plain sight behind songs like "God Only Knows" and "That's Not Me" (for starters). Sweet songs, sure, but not overtly sunny and carefree, not the same songs that made you feel unadulterated happiness when you were young.

Wow, that's very spot on.  Take away "Kokomo" and this mirrors my experience with Brian/Beach Boys music to a 'T'.  

39 years old now...late 70s and early 80s in the car with my mother hearing those songs that felt already engrained in my DNA.  Only to, some years later in my early 20s re-discover the music.  Hearing it with young adult ears just as he writes.

I have a feeling there will be a lot of people (both young and old) that see "Love & Mercy" and will (as the trailer says) 'Once you know the story, you'll never hear the music in quite the same way'.

Such a simple sentence but such absolute truth.

Yes, that does nail it. I loved the BBs music as a kid, kind of lost touch with it as a teen but then had some mental health problems in my late teens and was introduced to Surf's Up and Pet Sounds albums. Compared to the songs that I'd loved as a child (Fun, Fun, Fun, Surfing USA etc) it seemed like the work of a totally different band. It really resonated with the part of me that had had some bad drug experiences and was freaking out at that point. I can think of no other music which has the ability to reflect my own (very different) experience of life over a 38 year period.

I remember listening to When I Grow Up as a kid and during the "won't last forever' tag I would fantasise about growing up and what adult life would be like. Now when I listen to the song I am that adult yet it takes me back to listening to it as a kid - what a paradox! It's almost like time travel! Such a simple lyric yet it perfectly captures the fleetingness of time and the melancholy one feels comprehending it.

Sorry to lower the tone but I keep reading the thread title as:

'How Brian Wilson helped pawn spunk'

Wow, I hadn't realised the official trailer was out. That looks incredible. Weird that I should be moved so much by a trailer. Further down this rabbit hole of fandom than I realised I guess! Cannot wait until June ...

This place is priceless. People get would up because Brian's new album has received some poor reviews.

Did you mean people get wood up or wound up?

Ha! Oops - freudian slip ...

With a catalogue as diverse as the BBs, BB fans can enjoy very different, even polar opposite, corners of the catalogue?

Same goes for the entire "No Pier Pressure" album.

Yes it seems very Beach Boys in its diversity.

Thanks.

Anybody have any info on That Special Feeling?

To the best of my knowledge:

It's Over Now
Little Children (Mike: "that's a nice... spiritual song", i.e. "WTF ?")
Still I Dream Of It (cue ice forming)
Love Is A Woman (stony silence)
Mona (Brian rushes it)
Airplane (slips into crooner style, thaw occurs)
Let's Put Our Hearts Together (laughter)
I'll Bet He's Nice (all in studio fall over backwards at the middle eight and rightly so...)

I was wrong about screwing up "LIAW". Sue me. 

I have the Brian Loves You boot that adds That Special Feeling. Was that part of the same session?

PS. Is it possible to download this as an MP3 anywhere or is it only available on the Target CD?

This place is priceless. People get would up because Brian's new album has received some poor reviews from both professional journalists and, shock horror, fellow smiley smilers. I can almost understand this. I know how easy it is to take reviews personally when it's something you love (Paul Morley's review of BWPS, anyone?)

However, an unreleased piano demo has surfaced of Brian revisiting one of his more interesting compositions and unbelievably SSers are calling out other SSers for expressing their enthusiasm? Are there people here that haven't twigged that, with a catalogue as diverse as the BBs, BB fans can enjoy very different, even polar opposite, corners of the catalogue?

And news flash people: just because creativity stems from a dark place, it doesn't mean that a) it can't be emotive and beautiful and b) those that enjoy it are celebrating the tragedies behind the art.

Your Runaway Dancer is my ITBOMM '75 demo. Deal with it.

Stereo or mono (or both) for which ones?

The first four I'd say mono even though the stereo versions aren't necessarily bad.

SDV2 I think mono but "In the Parking Lot" is amazing in stereo. The rest sound better in mono except for "This Car of Mine."

Today mono?

Summer Days mono?

Party sound kick ass in stereo I think. The bass sounds so powerful and emotive and the space to breath helps.

Pet Sounds sounds best in stereo to my buy I'd love to hear a good mono pressing. This album is majestic in stereo and I love "You Still..." in stereo with Brian's single tracked lead vocal versus the double tracked on the mono one.

I've passed on the first four but I dread to think what this next batch is going to cost me. If the reviews are solid I could see myself going for All Summer Long, Today and SDSN in mono, Party and Smiley in stereo and, if it's good, Pet Sounds in both. Maybe Holland too.

Does anyone know when the next lot are due?

I've finally been able to listen to the whole album, and the first thing I thought of was putting together my own Life Suite. Still not sure about the playlist... I had read that This Beautiful Day quotes a bit from Summer's Gone, but what I also noticed is that the melodies for Half Moon Bay and I'm Feeling Sad are almost identical. I wonder if that's why I'm Feeling Sad was left as a bonus track. Anyway, I think mine would be something like this:

1 - This Beautiful Day
2 - I'm Feeling Sad
3 - Half Moon Bay
4 - Whatever Happened
5 - Strange World
6 - Tell Me Why
7 - Think About The Days
8 - From There To Back Again
9 - Pacific Coast Highway
10 - Summer's Gone

I'm so used to listening to those last three songs in that order, I don't think I could place them anywhere else. The rest is still a work in progress

Cristian, thanks for pointing out the similarities between the melody of I'm Feeling Sad and Half Moon Bay - you're spot on with this! I'm currently re-arranging my playlist and have it opening with the same three that you do. 'Sad into 'Bay works so well - it really sounds like an intentional segue.

I think your sequence works really well and have lifted most of it for mine, although I've added a few extra NPP tracks. It's more an attempt to sequence all my favourites from the last 2 albums into a cohesive whole but I think of it as 'The Life Suite' anyway.

1 - This Beautiful Day
2 - I'm Feeling Sad
3 - Half Moon Bay
4 - One Kind Of Love
5 - Whatever Happened
6 - Strange World
7 - Tell Me Why
8 - Somewhere Quiet
9 - Think About The Days
10 - From There To Back Again
11 - Pacific Coast Highway
12 - Summer's Gone
13 - The Last Song

.

The Life Suite, it's the new Smile.

Does this make Joe Thomas the new Van Dyke Parks?!

["Four of the five songs from the second half of the suite — "Strange World," "From There to Back Again," "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Summer's Gone" — close out the album. The fifth track, "I'd Go Anywhere," which is meant to go between "Strange World" and "From There to Back Again," remains unfinished. The six songs that comprise the suite's first half are incomplete, too, Thomas said."]

Now, for the purposes of this specific topic (and I know none of this is news to anyone here, but for reference), here's some of what we've learned about the suite:

"Four of the five songs from the second half of the suite — "Strange World," "From There to Back Again," "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Summer's Gone" — close out the album. The fifth track, "I'd Go Anywhere," which is meant to go between "Strange World" and "From There to Back Again," remains unfinished. The six songs that comprise the suite's first half are incomplete, too, Thomas said."

So (at least in 2012) the suite was said to comprise eleven songs.  That's Why God Made the Radio gave us at least four of them (though I tend to want to include TWGMTR's opener in the suite.)  And (refresh my memory, somebody) was "I'd Go Anywhere" not that instrumental snippet from the Doin' It Again blu ray?  If so, maybe that belongs in our suite playlist, too (as the quote suggests, between "Strange World" and FTtBA)?

And it would seem that we'd have a pretty good handle on the closing half of the suite.

Thanks for this R. Smith.

I remeber an interview that Joe Thomas did about No Pier Pressure where he compared it to Wild Honey! I had a feeling he discussed the Life Suite in that interview, but maybe I'm misremembering?

I can't find it now but did stumble on this post TWGMTR interview from andrewromano.net:

http://notes.andrewromano.net/joethomasbeachboys

With a few snippets about the suite:

He didn’t want the album to be this statement of “Summer’s gone. That’s the end.”
Exactly. And that was a big thing for me because we’ve got another 10 or 12 songs that we didn’t have time to put on this record, and he perceptively felt that and was like, This is a downer. I really do want to do this again. Maybe. And it’s not really over.” “Summer’s Gone” was never really about being over. It was about being in a chronological version of a year, you’re not a kid anymore, it’s not spring. Maybe you’re best days of summer are over. But it doesn’t mean it’s all over. It just means summer’s over. So he tossed that around for awhile and decided that, you know what, it should be the last song on this album but maybe not the title.

Another one that we had that was around was the first one on the second side called “Strange World.” Second side, I’m looking at…

The vinyl.

Exactly. That was done as part of a suite that he was always interested in writing. On this record it’s called “From There to Back Again.” He really wanted to do like a kind of reflection of California from the standpoint of a, you know, a guy who’s almost 70 years old. So it’s driving down Pacific Coast Highway and thinking about his life in retrospect. So this suite was a series of maybe one or two minute vignettes that he had like 15 of them that he would start and never finish. When I put them together on ProTools, it was eerie to me that they all fit together. It was like, wow. This song was written a year before the song that followed it, but yet they fit completely perfectly: modulation, key move, the whole thing. Then Brian started assembling these little bits and I kind of dreamed… I was 10 years old when Smile was recorded, but I kind of dreamed that was how that happened. I have no special authority to tell you that’s how it did. It just seemed like all these little pieces became like this theme, and instead of being Americana or whatever Smile was, it was his drive down Pacific Coast Highway.

So there were more pieces? There are only four or five on the record.

Right. We’ve got another 10 or 12 vignettes that we don’t know what to do with yet.

All on the same theme?

Oh yeah, yeah. They all fit together. I’m hoping someday that that will come out in its entirety. The whole suite, as it was always intended to come out.

A bit more from later in the interview:


So those were the new ones?
Well, in the suite, the song that Al sings is brand-new.

“From There to Back Again”?

Yeah, that was brand-new. “My Life,” the one that’s now called “Pacific Coast Highway”—that’s one where we found some bits on a tape. And then, “Strange World,” again, was some bits that we found on tape. Brian has a person, Gloria, who’s been his housekeeper, confidant, been taking care of Brian and the kids, Melinda. I don’t know what the right word is in California. Just the person who’s always been there, helps cook… She’s done this for many many years. He’s always had this Spanish influence because I think Gloria is Colombian. So he was talking to her about—he knows quite a bit of Spanish, and he came up with a couple of Spanish words in “Strange World. It was just kind of a look at Santa Monica and all the different kinds of people there, and how everybody, whether you came from Ohio like his parents did or Colombia like Gloria’s parents did, it was just such a good cornucopia of people. Santa Monica pier, the different colorful kinds of people… what a strange world and we’re all a part of it. Look at how different everybody is, but we’re all sitting on the pier eating ice cream cones.

I really noticed the two sides of the coin listening to this record. You have the upbeat, sunny, classically-themed Beach Boys songs: Spring Vacation, Beaches in Mind. And then you have the second side. What was Brian’s inspiration for putting that suite together—for making something melancholy, that was grappling with aging and even mortality?

The suite was always intertwined. From 15 years ago to some of the pieces he just put together and then shelved this last year. He’s got a really uncanny ability to pace an album. Look at Pet Sounds: Wouldn’t It Be Nice starts the album, then it ends with Caroline, No. There’s an uncanny pacing there. I think even with the solo work I did with him, Mike’s influence not being there makes it a completely different kind of an album. In a way, it’s refreshing. I go to a lot of the shows. I started the tour with these guys, and I came out to the first five or six shows to get everything… not that I contribute that much, just make sure that familiarity, that everybody’s on their way. When I look at the fans, there’s the hardcore Brian fan and then there’s the Beach Boys fans. I think this is a melding of the two. It’s great that both fans can enjoy an album like this. Hopefully they will. And that there’s a little bit in it for either one of them and that they can share the guys together.

I heard that "I'm Feeling Sad" was originally "This Beautiful Day part 2" so that might fit in nicely as well.
.

Oh yeah! Just listened to the link from the radio show. That song is wonderful! Definitely another contender for the life suite playlist. Anyone else hearing Mark Eric in the chorus?

I hope my review doesn't seem overly negative. I find there's a huge gulf between the songs I like and those I dislike. I love about half of this album, and combined with the best from TWGMTR, it is an absolute gift to this BW fan.

I think that was a reasonable and good review. I understand what you're saying about the songs, even though I personally disagree with some statements. I still get the kind of feeling from your post, that you're propably going to dig it more eventually. There's a lot going on on these songs on many levels. And I know that I'm certainly going to appreciate it even more when some time goes by. Even though the production of the album is a bit too steril for my liking, the songs themselves are just so damn good that it doesn't really matter to me.

(Half Moon Bay is a stellar! Could be named Let's Go Away For A While part 2, and I mean it in the good way.)

Thank you Ric. I agree about Half Moon Bay. Seems to come from the same well spring as those 60s exotic instrumentals. Lovely to hear that that Brian is still in there!

What happened to the summer means new love rewrite btw? Is that on the deluxe one?

it's the bonus track called Somewhere Quiet.

Oh thanks.

I heard that "I'm Feeling Sad" was originally "This Beautiful Day part 2" so that might fit in nicely as well.

As far as not being blown away by the guest vocalists, give them another shot when you listen to the whole album together. It flows pretty good and they don't really stick out or seem abrasive.

Thanks. I'm not familiar with the song as haven't heard the deluxe version yet but am interested to hear that.

What happened to the summer means new love rewrite btw? Is that on the deluxe one?

I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions but I don't think I'll be won over by the guest tracks. The ones listed above though have knocked me out. I'm amazed at how well they fit with the TWGMTR slower songs. It really feels like a unified body of (great) work.

I have very mixed feelings about this album, as I do about Joe Thomas and what I imagine he is bringing to the table. Unlike most (apparently) ss members I don't think TLOS is the be all and end all of BW's solo output. I found I loved about 30-40% of that album. Whenever I listen to it I'm niggled by the sense that it is trying too hard to be an artistic statement worthy of BW's legacy. What I like about the last two Thomas collaborations is that the slightly old-fashioned production style feels somehow much more sincere and un self-conscious. IMO it seems more in line with how I'd expect a modern BW album to sound. Much that I love Love You I can't see Brian revisiting that stripped down Wendy Carlos aesthetic any time soon so I never understand the 'if Brian were left alone we'd get Love you mk II' line of reasoning. This and the last album, for better or worse, seem fitting in sound to modern day Brian.

What I like about Brian's joe thomas work is that the production is detailed and well-crafted. It feels like a lot of care has gone into it, with all the edges kind of smoothed off and glossy. I feel this production really comes into its own on songs that could belong to the Life Suite I.e the more delicate ones - those that have little tag parts on the end, or have subtle shifts in melody akin to the side two songs on TWGMTR.

The poppier (as in radio 2)  more straightforward songs from this album are not my cup of tea unfortunately. Overall I'd say I like about 50% of the songs which would place it somewhere above TLOS but below TWGMTR for me.

FWIW here are my track by track reviews:

This Beautiful Day - Wonderful. Everything I love about BW's best songwriting is in this short intro - it's moving and intricate. It feels very similar to the best songs from TWGMTR, maybe because it has the Summer's Gone quotes, I'm not sure. Has to be part of the Life Suite, right? 5/5

Runaway Dancer - Sorry, not my bag. As much as I'm all for Brian experimenting this just feels like the sort of song I'd stumble into, hungover, in some foreign nightclub. I do like the chords where the whole thing slows down though. 1.5/5

Whatever Happened - back on form again. Beautiful melodies and bg vocals. I love those little staccato drum beats that have carried over from TWGMTR. 5/5

On the island -  I can't get past Zooey Descanel's voice. It's just too cute for my tastes. Fine for a bit of Yuletide warmth in The Elf, but it cloys here imo as the subject matter is already at full kitsch capacity. The melody is nice enough. I just wish Brian, or one of the other beach boys, was singing this. 2/5

Half Moon Bay - another stunner! Love everything about it.  Another Life Suite song? 5/5

Our Special Love - this is another song that doesn't quite connect for me, and I'm not a fan of Peter Hollens' voice. 1

The Right Time - this sounds like the sort of MOR that I wouldn't tolerate from any other artist. However, due in no small part to Al's stellar vocal performance, this has inched into guilty pleasure territory. I also love the little coda at the end that is very reminiscent of the Strange World tag. This fits nicely in my Life Suite playlist. 3.5/5

Guess you had to be there - I see a lot of positive fan reactions to this song, but it isn't connecting for me. Sounds very MOR to my ears. 1.5

Tell Me Why - This is quite pretty in places, but over all it doesn't quite hit it for me. Really reminds me of something but can't quite put my finger on it. 3.5

Sail Away - f*ck I love those first 4 synth notes. It sounds like Boards Of Canada! But I can't quite get into the rest of the song. Plus put me firmly in the camp that doesn't dig the overt sloop call out. 2

One Kind Of Love - another highlight. Anyone else hear McCartney though? I'm getting serious 'Live or Let Die' vibes from some of the chord changes (which is no bad thing). 5/5

Saturday night - sorry, but not a fan of Nate Reuss's voice and the song isn't doing anything for me either. 1

The Last Song - I'm really torn by this one. I agree with Micha that the 'la la las' are problematic. It is pretty in places though.  4

I hope my review doesn't seem overly negative. I find there's a huge gulf between the songs I like and those I dislike. I love about half of this album, and combined with the best from TWGMTR, it is an absolute gift to this BW fan.

There is no way this interview is not substantially rewritten/ghosted/whatever you want to call it. I love the man to bits, but he simply doesn't talk like this.

Sadly, I have to express the same suspicions. I'd love this to be an energised, engaged Brian but it doesn't read like any interview I've ever read of his since maybe the 70s when he seemed to open up a bit more.

... from TWGMTR and No Pier Pressure tracks?

A couple of NPP tracks have really me blown me away. They're the ones that sound most like the 'Life Suite' tracks (or at least what I assume are life suite tracks) from TWGMTR.

I put them all in a playlist together and, wow, it sounds exactly how I'd dream a late career BW masterpiece would sound (including Friends like brevity of 26 mins)!!

Here's mine:

Think About The Days
This Beautiful Day
Strange World
Half Moon Bay
From There To Back Again
Whatever Happened
Pacific Coast Highway
One Kind Of Love
Summer's Gone

I must admit, from the samples of NPP I knew I was not going to be bowled over by many of the collaboration tracks. No offence to BW but I'm just not a fan of those vocalists. As such I was approaching NPP with caution today but I've been blindsided by the tracks I've included above. Way more than I was expecting.