This is kind of a weird thread. In some ways it feels like tearing down Mike for being who he is. Don't get me wrong, I wish that the Beach Boys would have had lyrics that are more artistic, introspective, personal, and what have you, 50 years on. But how much blame can be put on Mike specifically?

There was some discussion particularly about California Girls. And I think c-man really hit one aspect on the head, in terms of the lyrics fitting the feel of the song. I don't know the writing situation, but assume that the first time Mike would have heard the song is with the completed backing track, as the song was referred to as "I'm a Power Mower and You're the Lawn" (paraphrased) during the recording sessions. GhostyTMRS says that Brian originally had a lyric of "I dig the girls" for the track, which if true is really key. Brian is multi-faceted, as we all are. Part of him is a jock, a guy's guy so to speak. I can easily see him loving the idea (though not necessarily the execution, as I'll touch on below) of the lyrics. This is particularly true in light of some other discussion in the thread, on the idea of the juxtaposition of high and low art, i.e. an immaculate backing track paired with juvenile/sexist tinged lyrics. Juxtaposition, playing opposites off each other, is a huge part of art, and I'm sure this wasn't lost on Brian, whether with intent or just based on instinct.

So picture yourself as Mike, sitting down with Brian. He has a song he's really excited to play; he puts the acetate on the turntable and out comes this beautiful baroque introduction, which transitions into an incredible, bouncy, upbeat track. What happens now? Is the melody already written? Are they coming up with it right then? The reason I ask is because I think the melody plays a part in the basis of the lyrics. This relates to another point discussed in the thread, which is that the subject matter of the song itself is not a problem, but rather the specific lyrics used. They are pretty clunky when you really look at them (but then again, how many lyrics aren't when you look at them in isolation?). Mr. Tiger, you described this idea well, and with some humor:

I don't think anyone's saying there should be introspective lyrics tied to "California Girls". The theme could have been the same, but far better refined and polished. There's no spark, no wit, nothing clever, just a leering slobbering kind of "Well, look at that chick over there, now let's look at this chick over here," approach that doesn't live up to the musical side of the equation. Maybe after a couple of drafts and some honing, Mike's concept might have worked, but it sounds tossed off when at the same time the musical backdrop is nothing but...

There is at least some truth in this for me, on the surface level. The vocabulary used is juvenile ("hip", "dig"). There isn't a poetic flow. The lyrics are utilitarian: they're simple, easy to remember, and get the point across. That is their strength AND their weakness. It's why millions of people love the song, and why a small subset of those millions take some level of umbrage with it (me included I guess I could say, based on the evidence). Why couldn't the song have had more mature lyrics AND been a hit as well, as compared elsewhere in the thread to the (incredible) Beatles track "Help!"?

I think part of the answer goes back to what I mentioned above in terms of the relationship between the melody and the lyrics. The melody of "California Girls" influences the lyrics in its bouncy feel and the way it scans. The feel of the melody builds on the jovial nature of the backing track- it jumps all over the place (it barely ever repeats a note 2 times in a row, particularly in the 1st verse), and has a lot of syncopation (i.e. singing notes on the rhythms between beats, rather than on beats), which gives it that happy feel. The other notable aspect is the way the lyric scans, basically meaning its rhythm and the way it flows. The rhythm is a bit unique since it has somewhat of a staccato feel (i.e. the notes are short, and thus the words don't flow together, like there's a slight choppiness: "Well East...coast...girls..."). This staccato feel of the melody, in combination with it having a swing/triplet rhythm, gives it a jazzy tinge. Musically this rhythm feels great...

...but (and now I'm finally getting to why I questioned how the melody was created), the rhythm of the melody guides, but also limits, what the lyrics are capable of. Going back to the comparison to "Help!", think about the lyrics and the rhythm/flow of the melody in that song. They're rapid-fire, Lennon is spitting them out. He's chaotic and he needs to get this off his chest. The rhythm of the melody allows the lyric to do this with its machine-gun pace. Now think about the notes of the melody. They're at the opposite end of the spectrum from "California Girls"; aside from the intro/tag, which jumps around a bit, the rest of the song features very little melodic movement. The 1st verse has a whopping 10 syllables all on the same pitch: "When I was young-er so much young-er than". It's almost more of a rap than a melody in this way. As with "California Girls", the melodic rhythm of "Help!" not only guides the lyrics, but outright influences them. The rhythm of "Help!" is written in phrases, and means that the lyrics necessarily must form more complete thoughts.

When we compare the rhythm of "Help!"'s melody to that of  "California Girls", we can see that the slower, choppy rhythm of "CG" means that the lyrics can't use the more stream-of-consciousness type of approach used in "H". The lyrics necessarily have to be more simplified in order to mesh with the melody. So again, who wrote the melody? If Brian did, or they worked on it together, then Mike wouldn't have been in control of this important aspect of the melodic/lyrical connection. And if Mike did write the melody, then he was still bound to the already completed backing track in all of its buoyant glory. And in this case he would have been writing a melody to someone else's chords and feel, which is a different mental process than writing a melody to your own track.

So yeah, I do wish that Brian had worked with people other than Mike on more of his songs. I wish that he had been able to produce music on his own terms throughout his whole life. But given how things were, I think Mike may have been viewed overly harshly at times in this thread.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited to add, I only wrote the above after reading the first 3 pages of the thread. Meaning that I did not read your analysis, guitarfool, of "California Girls" at the top of page 4, and the miniature reappraisal of the song that followed. Which is a bit serendipitous, as you touch on some of the exact things that I did, and probably a little more coherently. Great post.

'Simplified' version for guitar:

GbM7    Gbsus/Db      GbM7   Gbsus/Db    Gb/Bb
x                x           same     same           x
2                2                                        2
3                4                                        3
3                4                                        4
x                4                                        1
2                x                                        x


Ab7      Gb/Bb      Ab7     Gb/Bb      Ab7
x            x           same     same     same
4            7
5            6
4            8
x            x
4            6


Db7         /Ab  /G    /Ab   /Bb   /Ab    Db7    adim(7)
x                     x            x            same       8
6                    6            6                          7
4                    4            6                          8
6              6    5     6      8      6                  7
4                 
x                 

You might also notice on the list an album of "never-before issued recordings" from one Dennis Coffey.

I'd take you up on the offer, but it's across the sea.

This is really cool to see. Quite endearing too.

Is this from an interview?

Cool production. Lots of layers! Cool sound on the synth voice too, good stuff.

I'll echo the above sentiment, wonderful harmony vocals. I really like your lead vox sound too, very distinctive and goes with the track well.

Quite interesting vibe here! I'm digging the soundscapes. Chepelewepe is wonderfully spooky.

Listening to the first few tracks...Wow this is very nicely produced, nice job. The vocals sound great! Really nice sounds all around.

If you don't mind me asking, what service did you use to get your songs on Spotify? Interesting that you went with both bandcamp and spotify/streaming, I've seen most people go for one or the other.

This chord progression is a trip. Lovely feel. And the mouth horn solo! Great harmonies too.

Cool blend of styles on this. I especially like the contrast of the overdriven guitar against the very smooth vocals.
The bridge is great and again nicely contrasted against the rest of the song. Good stuff.

Oh nice feel on Gonna Do It Right! I like the mix and arrangement. The guitars are great, and that tambo right up front.
On the vox I would suggest bringing the volume down a touch and maybe a little more reverb perhaps?

Cool vibe on this one, really nice sound.

I would suggest altering the drum beat at least a bit at some point to give it a a little more variation. I should know since I've gotten the same critique on a song of mine!

I'm really digging this. Great feel on the guitar, and the vocal is truly beautiful.

If you'll allow me to be quite cynical, I assume those would be songs that Mike has a bigger songwriting/publishing percentage of.

This is an incredible thread. Catharsis and titillation all at once. Here's my addition.

The boys never matched the quality of their 60s vocal blend once the decade ended. The vocal blend/mix on Sunflower sounds quite strange and actually not really like the Beach Boys to me, which is one of the strongest reasons that I confusingly find this album to be disappointing compared to its stature, and this fact makes me sad. I would say I like their vocals better on Surf's Up, and especially CATP and Holland. Don't get me wrong, I actually listen to those 4 albums individually more than most of their 60s albums (probably because they feel more appropriate for a guy in his 30s to be listening to, I guess). But as in other ways, the loss of Brian as the creative leader of the band sped up the decline in the beauty of their vocal blend (in my opinion of course).

Of course there is the natural process of aging, which certainly played a large role. Yet without Brian's creativity in arranging, and perfection-demanding in performance/production (which defined their 60s output), they also were working in different eras, with different sound quality preferences, with what sounds like more discrete vocal recording (all on separate mics at times), and some, let's say, very dated sounding use of reverb, delay, and other effects. I would say that their last vocal blend that I really love is on Break Away.

Now I know all of what I say can be disputed, even the parts that I clearly state are opinions, and that Brian stopped producing to his previous standards well before the 60s ended, or that the opposite is true and he always cared about the vocal arrangements no matter what the era, and that I'm dead wrong and you'll name a song I love the vocal blend of from Love You, and I'll be like "oh year, right." And of course it could just be the drop in quality of the songwriting that's influencing my opinion, but I think this is just my particular relationship as a fan (with the stereotypical list of all the time and effort I've put into the band), and the natural feeling I get about the situation. Sometimes I'm an idiot though.

I don't think many of us would disagree with that possibility Stephen. And how having creative freedom might have helped him fight his demons...it's hard to think about. Your insights paint a strong and vivid image in my mind, as if I can actually feel like I'm in the studio. From all of us, thank you for sharing.

Initial thoughts: mix sounds great, very balanced, particularly in light of the low video quality (you usually see the opposite on youtube). Thank you for sharing and the insightful comments Mr. D.

Here's hopin' they get around to playing Leaving This Town!

Now yer talkin!

Complete with extended synth solo that lasts the entire concert.

My need is deep inside.

Brian clearly wanted to makes his own artistic statement with Pet Sounds. He must have felt that he himself wouldn't be able to write lyrics that satisfied what he was aiming for. So short of that, by working with Tony he knew that it would be more of a back-and-forth collaboration where he could provide strong direction and guidance. Not to disparage Tony, and of course he rightly deserves his songwriting credits, but in a way it was almost a work-for-hire type of deal, which is what Brian wanted I think. Mike would have had more of his own say if he had written the lyrics, which is neither good or bad in itself, but it would have been less of a singular artistic statement as such. And in that way, I think Tony was the better choice for this project. I just wish Brian would have been able to work with other lyricists on entire albums, since it gives a whole different feel to the music.

I certainly agree with your point about the superior vocal blend of The Beach Boys. I call it "MAGIC" because I can't find any other word that is more fitting.  After hearing these wonderful early creations re-mastered in this Study-Video, the melodies and hooks tend to linger in your mind's ear for days . . . when you are doing something completely disconnected, all of a sudden some harmony will get stuck and re-play in your memory -- at times giving you an escape from some drudgery or mundane task that is refreshing.

Hearing those vocals live and up close so often must have been an incredible experience. I (and I'm sure most of us) can't even dream of it!
Thank you for sharing these and the new Friends mixes, I look forward to listening ASAP.

'Probably the best song I ever wrote', he confidently announced before singing (beautifully, though the closing round got a bit muddled) 'God Only Knows'.

Interesting (but not surprising) for him to acknowledge that. With all he's done, that is his "best" song in his own opinion.

I agree that Brian seems more confident and happy, even from the Jeff Beck tour I think- which I did see, but haven't seen him since, just judging from videos.
I think Brian's more confident than me now  

As far as I know, I'm sure someone else will have better details, the single was only released on vinyl for Record Store Day in the US (where limited runs of special products, usually vinyl, are available only from smaller/independent record stores).

my producer buddy and one or two others thinks strings in the outro - could there be a bit of plucking..?

There are a few pizzicato/plucked notes before the melody comes in, but I'm hearing bowed/sustained notes on the melody.