At last, I have a reason to live again!!!  So happy about this!

 

Frank Sinatra’s “All My Tomorrows”

(Sinatra’s Reprise version)

[And, Schilling said, “I’m back managing the Beach Boys after 30 years.”He was the Beach Boys’ manager for 10 years. “I love their more deeper music. I love it all, but I think there’s a lot more obscure Beach Boys music I wasn’t familiar with in the beginning. We all know ‘Good Vibrations,’ the car songs.”He particularly likes “Warmth of the Sun” and “Feel Flows.” “They’re great to work with. And they’re very, very diverse. It’s America’s band. They’re the Beatles of America.”]

Everything released for sale is a "cash grab."

Whether you love or loathe this album (and I think even folks sympathetic to the good things the project portends are at best mixed on this particular album), far more thought (Schilling) and effort (paying for an orchestra) went into this project than something that would be far more of a "cash grab" like doing a "Sounds of Summer II" or something. Or, I dunno, reissuing another bloated "Pet Sounds" set with a few bonus tracks to try to get fans to buy a 27-disc set for five new live tracks.

Sure, but then you get stuff like Endless Harmony, Hawthorne, CA and 1967 - Sunshine Tomorrow which are far more worthwhile pursuits than this.

I can only imagine the thought process involved with this album: How can you repackage the same music yet again?  Let's tack an orchestra to these songs!!!

It's not a zero sum game. These orchestral albums made money for the Presley and Orbison estates, and one assumes Aretha was compensated as well. Why wouldn't the Beach Boys try it too?

The band's archival releases have their own purpose and schedule -- largely driven by copyright law. No one at BRI is going to stop releasing rarities sets because BB with the RPO comes out. They don't have the same purpose or audience.

Exactly. The Michigan '66 copyright extension set came out even though they put out a bloated "Pet Sounds" anniversary repackaging that same year.

They've been putting out copyright extension sets every year all while reissuing the old albums on hybrid SACDs, vinyl, etc.

They didn't do the symphonic album *instead* of another project. As I've said, if we don't see anything else interesting for like the rest of this year and next year, then we can maybe start to complain more about what *did* get released, and even *then* it's not likely a case of the symphonic album having *replaced* some other archival project.

Again, they installed Jerry Schilling in the last couple years after seemingly *decades* of non-management from Elliott Lott, and the symphonic album was Schilling's idea. I have a suspicion Schilling was also a BIG part of getting this SiriusXM channel going for the BBs, which is also a big deal. The takeaway here is that they are listening to *and* approving recommendations of Schilling's. What we can hope for next is that Schilling not only continues to spearhead the copyright extension sets, but also *recommends* additional archival plans.

Check out this quick piece on an Elvis event (a SiriusXM event!) from August of 2017 where Schilling talks about the BB's:

https://www.memphisflyer.com/WeSawYou/archives/2017/08/22/jerry-schilling-isaac-hayes-monroe-ave-festival-fight-night-loflin-yard-and-more

The pertinent part:

And, Schilling said, “I’m back managing the Beach Boys after 30 years.”

He was the Beach Boys’ manager for 10 years. “I love their more deeper music. I love it all, but I think there’s a lot more obscure Beach Boys music I wasn’t familiar with in the beginning. We all know ‘Good Vibrations,’ the car songs.”

He particularly likes “Warmth of the Sun” and “Feel Flows.”


“They’re great to work with. And they’re very, very diverse. It’s America’s band. They’re the Beatles of America.”

Yes!  And the “deeper music” would be Adult Child!  I hope we see that, officially, soon!

....... well after all 2017 is the 55 year anniversary.............. 

"I am not a groper."  -- Donald Trump   

A very Merry Christmas, or if you're in the colonies, Happy Holidays. Somewhat early, I grant, but from tomorrow afternoon, I'll be somewhat otherwise preoccupied ingesting truly industrial quantities of food that's really bad for me, having more fun than is strictly advisable for someone of my advanced years - in fact, generally enjoying the hell out of the season. I hope you do too. You probably deserve it. I damn well do. 

Been a helluva year, both here and out in the Real World: zeniths, nadirs and a truckload of stuff intervening. The 60 Thing wasn't too bad after all. Here's to 61, and 16, and 66 - so much to anticipate. So, again, to all the good people here, Seasons Greetings, and may Santa have read your letter.

Belated greetings back at ya, young fella!!!! 

Summer Days/Today ranks among the BB's VERY best work.  And Party! ... ... ... does not 

Yeah....Dubya kept us safe all right. Except for that one day. Can't quite remember which. 

By the end of Bushie's term, the USA economy was in a CRATER, and goldurned effing CRATER.  Essentially a second Depression.  So, no, Chimpie McBushie did NOT keep us safe.

GEEZ

Yes KDS I was saying that but ''mikebeard' doesn't agree that love you was brians album w the BB name attached to it w their minor contribution and other random parts he highlighted maybe because of how it was phrased cuz there's nothing incorrect about the synopsis, maybe just a misconstrued.

Exactly what minor contributions? Lead vocals?, Background vocals? Playing the instruments? Mixdown Producing?

Leads

1.      "Let Us Go On This Way"    Carl
2.    "Roller Skating Child"      Mike
3.    "Mona"                              Dennis
4.    "Johnny Carson"              Mike & Carl
5.    "Good Time"                      Brian
6.    "Honkin' Down the Highway"  Al    
7.    "Ding Dang"                       Mike
Side two    

1.    "Solar System"              Brian
2.    "The Night Was So Young"   Carl   
3.    "I'll Bet He's Nice"               Dennis, Brian and Carl
4.    "Let's Put Our Hearts Together"      Brian and wife
5.    "I Wanna Pick You Up"       Dennis
6.    "Airplane"                       Mike & Brian
7.    "Love Is a Woman"              Brian & Mike

Solo album my ass.

I agree 100%.  There were a LOT of GREAT vocals from the BBs on Love You.  Took me a while to appreciate "Love You" but boy I really like it, beautiful melodies, great song writing and YEAH lots of crazy quirkiness!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWkvy_R9FPc

GREAT clip!

I get the feeling Brian would have been happy just to sit and listen to music tracks!  LOL

Spot on Guitarfool.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with major artists who are under the delusion that a new release will catch on with Classic Rock radio. That never happens. What radio is good for is TALKING about the new work, which is all the promotion it gets. A Stones “Doom And Gloom” is a best case scenario -- and that’s with the second biggest band in rock. Aerosmith was dumbfounded by their last LP having no traction. When and if artists ask me advice I always ask them who is pushing their material for the screen. They never know. Is it the label? Is it management? There truth is always NO ONE.

To bring this back to the Beach Boys, in a perfect world, six of the songs on TWGMTR should’ve been licensed to TV/film and/or products for commercial use by the time of release. The reality was the tour, which had A PLETHORA of pre-opening night snags, was always operating at "let’s see if this thing sticks" that such a deal couldn’t be nailed down. As of the pre-Grammy (no) show a good number of us were told that the tour was NOT happening. (Another story for another time). Rather than working the LP to radio -- which is WASN’T -- other than a promo mailed of the single and LP, there was no follow through. Now, Oldies radio, which was all over the 50th, would’ve gone apes hi t for a brief major affiliate “That’s Why God Made The Radio” acapella snippet sent with the call letters plugged in (a la  “Almost Summer.”) Smart business. That didn’t happen. The pushing of “Summer’s Gone” being a Jon Bon Jovi co-write -- press that would’ve added Classic Rock street creed, and a great sidebar to every story -- was a missed opportunity. Getting “Isn’t It Time” and “Spring Vacation” into a major motion pictures as a tie with the tour -- nothing. These are the things that generate profit and exposure. Touring is the meat and potatoes. Licensing is the bread and butter. It earns forever.

I don’t mean to harp on the 50th, but I’m using that as an example of why BRI needs people to bring this band/company into the aughts. And I’m nether laying blame on Joe Thomas -- because he made this ENTIRE THING happen, nor am I doing so to Jean Sievers, who kept this tour a top priority for outlets from the first show to the last (e.g. anyone hear any reports on how Tom Petty’s summer tour wound down? Exactly.) She delivered a campaign that Paul McCartney’s publicist should be envious of. This falls on BRI, on the collective.
  
That Capitol has blocked a Dick’s/Dave’s Picks or FTD type series for the Beach Boys is horrible. But it’s been allowed to happen. That’s why I say Schilling and Kendall are the men for the jobs. Schilling is known and respected by all factions, knows where the bodies are buried and knows the business: records, film, licensing -- this guy saw it ALL at EPE. Kendall’s record as a radio plugger and multimedia cross-marketing expert are EXACTLY what this brand needs. Kendall also has a great rep with both the Love and Wilson camps.

The real blessing in disguise is that the Friends to Holland period (which was shunned by FM -- and now roughly 25 classic tracks that haven't been played to death) has finally found the outlets for exposure in TV and film. HBO’s Hello Ladies breathed new life into such obscurities as Hall & Oates’ 1975 track “Alone Too Long” and Gerry Rafferty’s 1979 “Days Gone Down.” It should be somebody’s JOB to get “Cuddle Up” into a film. “Feel Flows” will forever be tied to Almost Famous. That is the ONLY place that song exists to people that are not us.

You don’t wanna be friends, you don’t wanna tour and record -- got it. Fine. But EVERYBODY is getting their sh it together in regards exploiting their vaults and cross-marketing. The band needs to act and get the professionals in to keep this thing alive or The Beach Boys will absolutely end up no different than Bing Crosby -- save for the night when some chick butchers “God Only Knows” on some TV singing game show.

Excellent post (as always) Howie.

Yeah, the Friends to Holland period is just stunning, unmatched by anyone.  I've not seen L&M yet but I hope the soundtrack is amply represented by Friends to Holland.

Just out of idle interest, I put the address where Murry was born into it, and behold ! the house is still there. It's pretty shabby and looks like no-one's lived in it for a good while... but interesting that while the house where Brian was born is, essentially, no more, and the Bellagio house is just rubble, this place - which has to be 100 years old or so - is still there.

Maybe you should post the url. Some of  us might be interested.

Hopefully, this will work:

Murry's birthplace

It's the one on the left in the small photo.

And this is where the Bellagio house used to be - 10452 (you need to zoom in)

Finally, where Brian & Dennis were born - 8012 S. Harvard Blvd. - although the only original part is the garage.

So, the Bellagio house was demolished, and no one ever re-built there?  WOW  Too bad.

So NPP made it to #28 in the USA and #25 in the UK.  Not too bad!!

Kudos to the TRUE fans who support your favorite artist and brickbats to those of you who don't!

I know guitarfool is well intentioned, and knowledgeable. But his endless tirades explaining himself about an issue that has been over-discussed reminds me of that poster who, albeit respectfully, just couln't stop arguing that there were mafia connections in the TWGMTR songwriting team. He made his point and then just couldn't stop arguing. He wasn't rude or anything; it's just that he kept going endlessly. In the end, he got banned. What was his name?

Was it Ghost?  Vintage Music?  Son of Ghost??   

Take the advice of an "old dude" and buy the damm album RRA1, you'll be glad you did.  Besides a CD sounds better than mp3.

 

I like what I've heard (bought The Right Time on iTunes) so far, so I'm buyin' it.  Maybe it will tide me over till Brian's rock n roll album!!

"Whatever happened to me and you...."

Check out the clip where Diane Sawyer got Landy for an interview. She asked a point blank question and Landy sat there looking like a deer in the headlights for what seemed like forever and couldn't answer.  Brian must have been hyped up on something as his face contorts like Mr. Ed when he talks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-vhRkfFgj8

Thanks for posting this Mikie.  The Brian section of this was sort of painful to watch (except the part with Diane Sawyer walking on the beach, she’s hot).  And I don’t need to see that photo of Brian in a Speedo again, yikes!

Yeah, we all wish we could go back in time and find a real doctor for Brian.

The Beach Boys had a #3 album in 2012, their highest charting studio album, since…. Ah… dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

So, no one ever thought of doing a follow up?

They could have done a follow up and called it “Shooting Ourselves in the Foot”.

Many of you here were complaining a few weeks ago because Brian prefers direct questions and gives direct answers.  I find that refreshing - especially after reading this very, very strange article where I was lost in the circular logic, amazing inconsistency with known facts and the drama.  Now can we get back to the music, instead of the BS?

Yep -- such as the best song, so far, of 2015!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTkM3uqWctg

I had to listen again with fresh ears, and heard more details. First, as mentioned, Al sounds terrific. I'm starting to think he found the vocal fountain of youth...man, this guy can deliver a lead vocal melody, right on the money. Very cool. I keyed in on the neat arrangement of the instrumental chorus after the bridge, it's cool how the vocal harmonies are swirling around their phrases (I especially like the way the bass voice is mixed, as well as the bass notes being sung) then get "answered" by a short guitar burst. Call and response between vocals and guitar rather than a full-blown guitar solo, very nice. Really nice falsetto part in there as well, I didn't expect some of the notes, especially the last part of the line.

What I keyed in on even more this time was the guitar arrangement. It's a pretty multi-textured and multi-purpose guitar arrangement, for all the parts. Actually, it felt like one of what I think is one of Brian's trademark arranging and orchestrating moves dating back to the Pet Sounds days...How he used multiple guitars in ways other than the usual ways guitars were used if that makes sense.  

Besides having the standard rhythm part doing chords and lead part adding on top and possibly soloing, we heard guitars on various Pet Sounds tracks acting as percussion instruments, acting like horn sections of a big band phasing with each other, and doing the usual guitar stuff we'd expect.

I zeroed in on this new track, how the guitars are being used and layered - It's a great thing to hear, honestly of all the guitar playing I hear during an average week on many styles of music, I think this kind of sound stands out, even though it's mixed into the track and not a prominent sound.

Listen to how he has one guitar doing the percolating percussive or guitar-as-percussion sound on muted arpeggio-type chord figures, then there is the acoustic adding some chords and intertwined single notes in between, then there are the "lead" electric parts, and also what sounds like some additional layering of the muted arpeggio, percolating sound (or it could be just an effect of the soundscape, I'll need to break out the "good" headphones...).

Whatever the case, I thought it was refreshing to hear that kind of guitar arrangement on a song like this, but coming from the guy who did it so well 50 years ago, it's not as much a surprise as a grand return of a sound I really enjoy hearing, guitar-wise. (or guitar"S", since they're layered...).

Lot of cool stuff going on in there worth checking out.

Thanks for this GF.

I also noticed the “muted guitar arpeggios” on From There to Back Again; reminded me a lot of Pet Sounds!

God what a great song this is!

This song is lovely, gorgeous, beautiful.  Yeah I admit I’m a fan of MOR type songs.  It really gives you a good feeling.  Love it!

It’s like Imagination, which is a personal favorite of mine.  It was Imagination that turned me into a Brian Wilson fan (and then later a BBs fan).  I’m admitting to previous ignorance here, but prior to Imagination I would not have been able to tell one Wilson brother from the other.

I love Al Jardine.  Great song, great vocal – this thing sounds radio friendly to me!

Song's not bad.  Would have fit well on the 2012 reunion album.  But I think an important question persists:  how the hell is Norway getting to hear this song before everyone else?!

They obviously sent vikings to Los Angeles to pillage the song 

The Vikings are angry because they've never won a Super Bowl!!!   

Damn straight, the luvster is a greedy and nasty guy. (IMO so I don't get flamed by AGD)

Oh pshaw! That is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining experiences on the board!!  

Smiley Smile Dot Net -- where I go to see words like pshaw, consarn it, tarnation and gee willikers!!!    

"I know what it's like to be dead.  I know what it is to be sad."

I think one is supposed to suck on them, not BITE them. 

Hey does anyone think "Beware of Jolly Rancher" would be a good title of a song?

"Wilson initially envisioned the sessions for his new album with The Beach Boys in mind, but that was not to be."

Sigh........