I love this album and its accompanying film.  A person can say there was no need to re-record these songs but Brian had gone through so many changes by this time, I think it's great to hear these songs from a new perspective.  You can tell Brian is having a lot of fun and there's a lot of personality in these numbers.  I also really love the sound of the backup singers.  The version of Do It Again on here is the best ever recorded, even better than the Beach Boys version.  Good selection of songs, great performances.

5/5

I would suggest that you use the search option this board makes available and enter Lei'd In Hawaii or Hawaii Concert 1967  or Michigan 1966...use your imagination for variations. There have been countless discussions on this board and others about this well researched subject. You might also try "google". Pretty much everybody here knows why these albums were never released, and you can too with just a tiny bit of effort.

Well I didn't know that everybody here knew that.  I'm fairly new to these message boards, no need to get cheeky.  I didn't intend to annoy anyone.  But thank you.

In the iTunes LP for The Smile Sessions, it says that several live shows were recorded during the period.  The first was in Michigan in 1966 which would document the first ever performance of Good Vibrations.  The second was in Hawaii in 1967 featuring Brian!!!  Does anybody know why these albums were never released and if there are any public recordings of them available?  It would be awesome to see an archival release of both shows together, I would especially love to hear the one from '67.

What a coincidence, I'm listening to Quadrophenia at this very moment.  I've always loved The Who, I think all of their albums between Sell Out and Who by Numbers are perfection.  They're definitely in my top bands.

This might be one of the weirdest Beach Boys albums.  It includes some of my favorite songs by the band yet it's also a bit uneven.  You have Don't Go Near the Water which is almost like a contradicting sequel to Cool, Cool Water (in fact when I first heard the album which was Sunflower and Surf's Up on one CD, I thought they were the same song so I wonder if they intended it to be like that), Take a Load Off Your Feet which I believe is Al Jardine's ode to foot fetishism and it's almost kind of disturbing, Mike Love's cover of a Leiber-Stoller classic with altered preachy lyrics, the very eerie Lookin' At Tomorrow which I think is one of the better Jardine compositions, and finally the depressing but intriguing Day In the Life of a Tree sung by their lyricist Jack Rieley who brings a poignancy and sadness to what I think is an underrated masterpiece by Brian Wilson.  Then there's also Disney Girls which is probably the best song Bruce Johnston ever wrote.  But the best tracks in my opinion are Carl's Feel Flows (which memorably plays over the end credits of Almost Famous, one of my favorite movies), Long Promised Road (another great Carl composition), 'Til I Die which is one of the best songs Brian ever wrote, and of course the title track.  The material itself is great but the track order could have been different and I think even though the album is called Surf's Up, Surf's Up does not belong on this album!  It's a masterpiece but it belongs on Smile and now that The Smile Sessions have been released, it's very strange to see it here (same with Cabin Essence and Our Prayer on 20/20).  But I might be nitpicking.  Overall, I give this album a 4/5.

Here it is on You Tube (poor picture quality but very decent audio) and it's fantastic.  Carl and Brian are really putting their all into their vocals.  It is very strange that it wasn't on the album or the DVD.  It might be the best version I've heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rf59cqgPGE

This is probably my favorite Beach Boys hits compilation.  It doesn't try to paint an entire overview of the band and instead includes tracks that Brian considers close to his heart.  This was the first album I bought after Pet Sounds and it was my first exposure to songs such as Sail On, Sailor and 'Til I Die.  Basically, I was very familiar with the first nine tracks, having owned Pet Sounds and Endless Summer.  Of the three Smile tracks (other than Good Vibrations), I had only previously heard Brian's solo versions.  The rest of the album was more or less completely new to me and I loved the whole thing.  It showed the versatility of the band and showed Brian's songwriting at its best.  I really like California Feelin' though I suppose it is a little out of place.  It might have fit better on Gettin' In Over My Head (though that almost sounds like an insult) or as a bonus track on That Lucky Old Sun.  All in all, if I wanted to get a friend into the Beach Boys, I would burn them Pet Sounds, The Smile Sessions, and this album.

5/5

Also, the cover art is very nice.  I've heard that Brian wrote the liner notes for each track but I've never read them because I downloaded the album off of iTunes and it didn't have a digital booklet.  If anybody knows where I could read them, that would be really cool.

Our Prayer/Gee
Heroes and Villains
I Get Around
Help Me Rhonda
This Whole World
Add Some Music to Your Day
In My Room
Kiss Me Baby
Please Let Me Wonder
Don't Worry Baby
California Girls
Darlin'
Do You Wanna Dance?
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice
God Only Knows
The Night Was So Young
All Summer Long
Good Vibrations
Do It Again
Marcella
Sail On Sailor
'Til I Die
Surf's Up
Time to Get Alone
The Little Girl I Once Knew
Forever
Southern California
Good Timin'
Cool, Cool Water
Caroline, No
Barbara Ann
Surfin' USA
Fun, Fun, Fun
Love and Mercy

Midnight's Another Day, Rio Grande, I Loves You Porgy

It's nice to see them all together in the video but the rendition itself is eh.  I mean it's not bad, but it's nothing special.  My favorite version is Brian with his daughters in I Just Wasn't Made For These Times. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0DWT-VO5pQ

I think this kind of lacks that energy, it sounds too slick.

I counted the tracks on Sounds of Summer and Warmth of the Sun and minus the covers, there are exactly 50 tracks combined.  I imagine that they'll just use those 50, substitute Heroes and Villains, Good Vibrations, and Surf's Up with the Smile Sessions mixes and replace Do It Again with the re-recorded version.  Plus they could put the songs in chronological order so that it doesn't look too similar.  I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they do.  Though they should include Caroline, No; the most glaring omission on both compilations even if it is technically a Brian solo track.

Okay, I read through this whole thread and I'm surprised that nobody has brought up what I was thinking which is do Blondie and Ricky WANT to be included?  You guys are arguing this like it's your decision.  But it was their choice to quit the band and they never came back.  I personally would love to see them as part of the tour, if only to see Sail On Sailor performed with its original singer but they might have left their Beach Boys stint behind them for a good reason.  Their time in the group was a transitional period for the Beach Boys, an essential one and an interesting one but frankly, the wide audience wants to hear the Beach Boys of the 60s, the ones who wrote hit songs.  The Who doesn't include Kenney Jones in their current shows because while he was a member of the band, he was not a huge part of the history, the band hit their peak before he got there and he will never get the recognition that Keith Moon got.  Same with Blondie and Ricky of the Beach Boys.  I'm not saying they deserve to be forgotten but they're not part of the classic Beach Boys lineup.

I'm Adam and I'm 18 and I grew up listening to Endless Summer and Spirit of America.  I was never a huge fan but I could definitely remember hearing both of those albums during my childhood.  As I grew older and became more interested in the history of pop music, I bought Pet Sounds and I still never get tired of it.  Brian Wilson's SMiLE also became a regular listen and I became incredibly interested in Brian's story.  Since I bought The Smile Sessions this past September, the Beach Boys have become a small obsession of mine.  I've taken advantage of Spotify and discovered The Beach Boys Today!, Sunflower, Love You and so on.  I have yet to check out any of their later albums starting with M.I.U. but judging from what I've read, I don't think I'm quite ready (haha) though I have heard some of the more acclaimed tracks from those albums like Good Timin' which is one of my favorites.  I've also become a big fan of Brian Wilson's solo albums particularly his eponymous album, the I Just Wasn't Made For These Times soundtrack, Reimagines Gershwin, and That Lucky Old Sun.  I became curious and had a lot of questions and I was glad I found this site and found answers that I couldn't find elsewhere like why Jack Rieley sings lead vocals on Day in the Life of a Tree or why Sail On Sailor has five credited writers.  I look forward to taking part in discussions and getting to know some of you.