Hi guys,

Really appreciate all the kind words!

Next up is an AI 1963 live show featuring only songs they never played live. I'm 4 songs in - having a lot of fun with this one.

Stay tuned!

DL

I'm not afraid to be gushy here. Words cannot express my adoration of your work.

I want to second this.  I can't stop listening to several of the tracks you've created.  It's like everything you'd ever hoped a song would be... suddenly is.

I will admit I didn't buy the Sail On Sailor set.  Why?  Because it seemed that Brian was more or less MIA in this period.  I listened to some of the rare tracks from the set and my reaction was "blah".   Frankly, it's a period of the band that doesn't particularly interest me, just my personal taste I guess.  BUT, I would totally go for a 1976-77 set where Brian was back and recording a bunch of some of the most eccentric music of his career.  Oh yeah.   

Possibly getting off the subject of Brian's voice, and just to Brian in general.  I always think of something I heard years ago on the old radio talk show "Loveline".  Dr. Drew was talking about how the brain has "reserve" cells that take over when brain cells start to die off due to the aging process.  But for people who destroy brain cells due to drug use, they may say, "I feel fine, nothing has changed" in the short term.  But in the long term, when the brain needs those reserve cells... it's already on the reserve cells, and some mental decline can occur.  When I see Brian in zombie mode, I often think of that.

A couple things to add to the discussion... when did Brian first get dentures?  I'm sure that contributes to the lack of clarity of consonants and generally odd singing style later in life. 

Also, if you have the chance, listen to some of the live shows on youtube from late 1977.  Brian was at one of his lighter and healthier points, and they were trying to stick him up front, playing bass and his mic on fairly loud.  Sometimes he's way off key, but other times he just nails it and it sounds like 1964 again.

A filing of a fictitious business name would be done so that no one else could use that name for business purposes.  Typically this is a county thing... so you start up a business called Joe's Donuts and therefore no one else in the county could impersonate your business by being Joe's Donuts in the same area.  But someone else could start a Joe's Donuts in some other county or state and that would be okay. 

The whole thing doesn't really seem to mean much when a record is released nationally.

Just google earthed the address.  Looks like the building is still there!

I heard a short interview with Brian between songs on Sirius XM today.  He talks about writing "The Warmth of the Sun" in his "Brian Wilson Productions" office on Sunset and Vine.  I recall Mike saying the song was written in Brian's new apartment, just as he was moving into the place.  I've never heard of Brian having an actual office... was it just a room and a piano?  Any info is welcome. 

Just now getting back here to read this.  Thanks so much for the discussion, especially to Mark.  I had no idea Brian Wilson (potentially) played piano on that many J&D tracks. 

Really cool.  "Anaheim, Azusa" is a crazy ride of a song.  While more obscure than something like Dead Man's Curve, I would think "It's As Easy As 1,2,3" and "Hawaii" would be interesting scores to see. 

I was 8 years old at the time. Competing with it on TV that night was a David Copperfield magic special, and there was something to the effect that he only did a special every ten years.  My Dad wanted to watch the Beach Boys.  I wanted to watch magic.  "But he only does this once every ten years!"  I told my Dad.  "Well, the Beach Boys only do this every twenty five years!" he replied.

We mostly watched the Beach Boys.  It's one of those childhood memories that sticks out in my mind for absolutely no reason at all.

Just saw the documentary.  This is definitely not a film for pedestrian fans.  This is much more aimed at a fantasy of uber-fans such as the people on this board.  That fantasy would be... what would it be like to climb into the car with Brian Wilson and drive to all the places a Beach Boys fan should visit?  The film answers this question, and perhaps in the process gives a dose of realism to the fantasy.  Hey Brian, look, it's the house you used to live in and you haven't been there since 1967, what do you think?  "Oh, I wrote Pet Sounds there.  It had a really nice view of downtown Los Angeles."  *silence*

Part of me wonders what it would have been like if the documentary makers had been able to gain permission to enter these homes, or at least the yards.  I wonder if they tried?  Maybe they might have been able to get Brian to say more.

With that said, this uber-fan did enjoy every minute of it.  Brian is a beautiful soul. 

I am left wondering about one other thing.  Brian seems to have an off-and-on switch.  He sits there staring off into space... then when something occurs to him, he lights up, says what's on his mind, seems normal for a few seconds, then goes right back to staring off into space.  It makes me wonder if this is part of his illness or a side-effect of his medication?  I'm being totally serious when I say I have a cat that's the exact same way. 

I heard it too.  I think its a "sound alike" of the Ronettes version.  Commercials use sound-alikes often to avoid paying some of the copyright fees.

For those who haven't heard it, here's Rick Henn's demo vocal, which is a lot more proper than the rough Brian/Carl runthrough.  Unfortunately only half the track is here, but you can get the idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0PE-ARIJ70

This Sundazed single comes with an extensive writeup where Henn explains that Murry came up with the melody line and he did everything else.  This conflicts with Brian's claim that he wrote the song.   

Also, weren't most of the band on LSD during the Lei'd In Hawaii concert, which accounts for the sloppiness of some of the performances?

These are all digitally extracted from the mono versions.  There's enough going on in different frequency ranges in this song that some good separation can happen, doesn't sound bad at all.

I can't recall... do the multitracks exist for this track?  Has a real stereo version appeared anywhere?

As a fan I'm really fascinated by everything that happened in 1963.  The Surfer Girl album showed the group at the height of their youthful exuberance and innocence.  This was before all the drugs and problems.  Brian took a lot of time off the road to make music, and when you add up all the music on the BB albums from that year, all the outside production work, and all the demos that were cut, the sheer amount of material is impressive to say the least.  He was living on his own by this point, no doubt enjoying time away from his dysfunctional parents.  Part of me thinks it was one of the happier years in Brian's life.   

I've always loved this tune in all its incarnations.  Really nice to hear Brian singing this all the way through, and doing a great job of it.

To get back to the original topic, anyone with an interest in this subject needs to hear the Seattle show from 12/13/77.  Brian is playing bass fairly well and is singing a lot of parts for better or worse.  Sometimes he nails his vocal part, sometimes his voice just isn't there anymore, and sometimes he decides to sing something completely different from the part you'd expect him to sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5VGqcQEwI

Don't Worry Baby has a slightly longer fade and Brian hits a high note during it and it's really cool.

Why Do Fools Fall In Love has a part of the middle of the song put at the beginning.  Not sure why.

The photos of the "party" with all the wives there... anybody know what house those were taken in?

Landy was let go in December of 1976?  That's interesting, considering how thin and healthy-ish Brian looked in late 1977.  He did that on his own?

Also, good lord, this 1976 interview.  Brian just can't stop talking about drugs. 

Somebody needs go on Al's facebook and ask him!

Somebody already created the Beatles version of this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-BEATLES-Revolution-9-8-17-Wild-Honey-Pie-53-45/143578798119?hash=item216df69827:g:YXUAAOSw481dgCCq

My vote is for test pressing. 

How is this done?  Digitally separate the different frequency ranges of a mono recording, and then lay them throughout the stereo spectrum?