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680601 Posts in 27601 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 29, 2024, 11:59:47 AM
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26  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Remastering question? on: August 05, 2016, 09:43:19 PM
I was looking at the liner notes of one of the original remasters (which I still think sound excellent) and there was a note indicating that the recordings had been 24-bit remastered. I then looked in another one and saw a note from Linett saying that they had used some technology that takes a 24-bit sound file and makes it possible to transfer it to a 16-bit CD.

I'm not much of an audiophile, but I know a little. A compact disc is only capable of handling a 16-bit file, correct?

I understand the difference between bit depths and so on.

Is a 24-bit file "converted" so it can be played on a 16-bit CD still possess the same attributes as the original 24-bit file...or has something been lost due to compression or whatever?

I remember when the Beatles did their remasters back in 2009...they released a USB that contained 24-bit FLAC's of all of the remastered tracks.

Personally, I don't know if my ears can really hear much difference between 24 and 16 bits (though I thought the Beatles USB sounded pretty good).

I guess I'm really just curious to know the true process behind the technology used on these remasters.
27  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Milt Love on: August 04, 2016, 01:05:45 PM
Always fascinating to get a glimpse into the family lives of the Beach Boys, but--perhaps tellingly--there is precious little evidence of a close-knit nature with the Wilsons, who are represented in the video only by a single picture with Milt and Audree.

Wonder what Glee's take was on her brother Murray...

I remember reading in Peter Ames Carlin's book that Murry could do no wrong in Glee's eyes because he knocked out their dad (Buddy Wilson) when he was beating up on their mother.

But Glee was Murry's sister? Buddy was beating up on his wife in front of Milt?

Not in front of Milt----this was years before, when Glee and her siblings were living at their parents' home.

To quote an old post of mine: "Murry's sisters, Glee (Emily) Love nee Wilson and Mary, would've 'kicked your ass out of the house' if you'd said a word against their brother. They'd seen Murry physically defend their mother against their violent drunk of a father and quite naturally, he was their hero for ever after." [Adapted from PAC, p. 20]

Hmm very telling as to the attributes Murry might have acquirred then I suppose? Good man for standing up against domestic violence but perhaps in the end a tad hypocritical :/

To quote my old post again (sorry about this): Buddy did nothing for his family consequently Murry wanted to do everything for his, only he took this desire to hair-raising extremes.

I think so. Murry gets somewhat of a bad rap...much of it deserved...but I think he truly loved his boys and would have done anything for them. I think he obviously took things too far sometimes...but when you read about HIS dad...it's like wow...no wonder Murry ended up a little bit damaged. Sad.
28  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Alternate versions of BB albums on: August 04, 2016, 10:37:35 AM
Hey, that's me! Thanks for the little shoutout BTW Smiley I'm starting to focus on the Beatles for a little bit on my blog, but after I get through that and the Monkees, I'll be focusing on some more "lost" Beach Boys albums (Fading Rock Group Revival, New Album, California Feeling, etc). I'm glad to hear you all like it!

I think they're great! In hindsight, the band missed some opportunities and it is really fascinating to imagine what could have been. I'm looking forward to your future work. Keep it up!!
29  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Holland - end of an era? on: August 04, 2016, 08:51:18 AM
They had such a fractured history. You had the glory years...up through Good Vibrations. Then you had the wilderness years where they were making good music that nobody listened to and I think that lasted through Holland.

They had a comeback with Endless Summer and that cemented their place as legends, but at the expense of everything they had done after Good Vibrations.

What came after was such a mixed bag. You had a messed up Brian. You had Dennis and Carl who were moving forward as individual voices. You had Mike and Al (and later Bruce) who were seemingly more content to ham it up on the nostalgia circuit...really wrecking (in my opinion) the credibility of the group.

Carl jumping ship for a few years and then Dennis dying maybe should have been it...but it's like whenever they were on life support and conventional wisdom should have said "pull the plug" just enough happened to keep them going. Maybe it was one of Brian's comebacks or their attempt to cash in on 80's synth pop (I actually like BB85).

However, by the end of the decade...I just have a hard time finding much of redeeming value. Still Crusin'? Summer in Paradise? Stars and Stripes. The stuff is mostly just gunk.

If anything...maybe we should be thankful that they somehow kept going long enough to release TGFTR...which wasn't their best ever...but it was a good, listenable album that had some truly wonderful, moving songs on it. A good way to bow out...but then we still have Mike and Bruce playing county fairs...
30  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Holland - end of an era? on: August 04, 2016, 06:13:46 AM
Scott has made some really interesting alternate versions of just about every BB release. The Beach Boys had plenty of missed opportunities. Still, I'd take their flawed, weird, and mostly brilliant catalog over just about any other group.
31  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Holland - end of an era? on: August 03, 2016, 02:47:36 PM
Good point.
32  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Holland - end of an era? on: August 03, 2016, 01:54:19 PM
In regards to 15 Big Ones (or 15 Bad Ones as Jon Stebbins once called it)...I think you had Mike (and possibly Al) wanting SOMETHING on the shelves to capitalize on Endless Summer. Brian, who had been put in charge...wanted to make an album of covers and the you had Carl and Dennis pushing for something that would be an artistic move forward.

I think there was enough original material around to put together a really good LP of songs. I would have liked them to put that out...and then they could have done the oldies LP (which I think was the original plan).

Dennis was recording some excellent stuff around the time they were working on 15 Big Ones.

Scott G assembled an alternate LP under Brian's original title of Group Therapy which would have made a really good record. I definitely recommend visiting his site.

He assembled the record this way:

Side A
River Song
Had To Phone Ya
TM Song
Barnyard Blues
That Same Song
Sherri She Needs Me

Side B
It's OK
Pacific Ocean Blues
Everyone's In Love With You
Rainbows
Back Home
Just Once In My Life

Would it have sold? I don't know...but it would have held up a lot better than what we got. THAT would have been a logical step from Holland. They still could have done 15 Big Ones (they recorded so many covers during those sessions)...but that could have been something like Party...a space filler in the catalog until the next LP was ready.

Think about it. Holland to "Group Therapy" to Love You and so on.
33  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Alternate versions of BB albums on: August 03, 2016, 09:32:01 AM
Has anyone seen this site?  The guy who runs it has created some interesting "alternate" versions of just about every BB album. Some pretty interesting stuff.

http://jiggy22.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-beach-boys-smiley-smile-alternate.html

34  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Holland - end of an era? on: August 03, 2016, 08:30:03 AM
Respectfully disagree about Love You being a full band record. Mike and Al are missing in too many places for me to feel that way. It's  a lot of Brian, Dennis, and Carl.

I would agree. Love You always seemed like a Brian solo record that was "rescued" by Carl (mainly) either because Brian couldn't/wouldn't finish it...or because of record company pressure. We all know that Carl did a lot of work to flesh out the sound after Brian was finished with it.

Don't get me wrong. I love the album...but it is a Brian album...not a true group album.

My point about Holland was that it seemed like the last time all members were trying to create true artistic statements. You had contributions from Brian, Carl, Dennis, Al, Ricky, Blondie...even Mike.

15 Big One's was (at least in my opinion) a big misstep. They had an audience again...but instead of delivering something good that took advantage of that...they put Brian in charge and proceeded to then fight over the direction they wanted to go.
35  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Hypothetical holy-grail BB finds (other than media) and their potential value on: August 01, 2016, 09:00:46 AM
What about one of Brian's messianic robes from the late 70's!!!
36  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Holland - end of an era? on: August 01, 2016, 08:59:48 AM
I was listening to Holland today...and thinking it was the end of an era. To me, it seemed like the last time the band actually worked to make an artistic statement. There was a certain level of care, quality, and consideration in their post-Pet Sounds releases. They sounded like they were still reaching for acceptance as a musically progressive band.

Then Endless Summer hit...and it suddenly became okay to "give up" and be happy with trying to recapture nostalgia. I know maybe I'm simplifying things...but that is kind of how it feels.

I think you can see it in their history. You can see it in the growing frustration of Carl and especially Dennis when product like 15 Big Ones was released.

Brian was still capable of creating some truly interesting music...but I don't think he was doing it with the intention of creating something commercial.

I just feel that after Holland the band stopped operating as a true musical unit and everything kind of splintered.

37  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Hypothetical holy-grail BB finds (other than media) and their potential value on: July 29, 2016, 01:38:29 PM
Brian's "Good Humor" hat from Sunflower!  Or a genuine Mike Gallon jug of apple juice!
38  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Do 'Older' Beach Boys Fans Appreciate Their Music Differently? on: July 28, 2016, 07:51:06 AM
I think all "new" listeners have a different experience simply because all of the music already exists. I can only imagine what it was like to go from Surfin' Safari to Surfer Girl to All Summer Long...Today...Pet Sounds...the anticipation of Smile...Friends...and on and on.  The anticipation of the next great leap forward.

I'm 39. I got into the group through an interest in Brian Wilson and my first love was his "golden period" where he was fully in control and creating these magical pop gems. Once I wade in, however, I began to explore their other periods and each album was a revelation the first time I heard it.

I do tend to jump around when listening today...but looking back...maybe I did have something similar to what a fan would have experienced when the music was just released. I just had the luxury of moving from one period to the next and then being able to listen to everything from that period all at once.
39  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / The next generation of BB fans... on: June 25, 2015, 01:15:08 PM
I was born on January 14th, 1977 - the date on which the Love You LP was assembled.  My first real memory of the band was Kokomo.  As I grew into a full fledged music geek I was drawn in by the sophisticated mid-60's pop of Brian Wilson - specifically Pet Sounds and Smile.  I later got into the band's post-Smile period and before long I was a diehard.

I'm proud to say that my son - who is now 5-and-a-half - is showing his first real interest in the band!  I've tried to expose him to popular music his entire life and about two months ago he had his first real musical "kick" which was for the Beatles - but I kept playing the BB for him and he soon started to ask for them on a regular basis.  He now spends a lot of his iPad time (which is limited) to watching various BB clips on YouTube.  He can recite all of the members of the band.  He knows that Dennis and Carl have passed away.  He knows what a theremin is.  His favorite BB is Al Jardine (which I'm sure would make Al smile)! 

I hope my passion for the band catches on with him (he once attended a Brian Wilson concert in utero).

On an even funnier note - his 3-year-old sister keeps saying her favorite BB is "Mike Glove"!
40  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian went to a mental institution for a time in 1968--any truth to the story? on: June 19, 2015, 10:21:32 AM
I thought I once read that Brian said that the "voices" would threaten to kill him and his family.  Wasn't it also around 1968 that he started using cocaine on a regular basis? 

41  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian went to a mental institution for a time in 1968--any truth to the story? on: June 19, 2015, 08:55:07 AM

The guy has a serious breakdown in December of 1964 - yet he's basically back to work by the beginning of 1965.

Well according to an 'insider' who briefly posted here, Brian faked the whole thing.

Really?  I had never heard that.  What would have been his reasoning?
42  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian went to a mental institution for a time in 1968--any truth to the story? on: June 19, 2015, 07:31:45 AM
I was just wondering about this the other day and stumbled upon this old topic.

Does anyone have any further info on Brian's 1968 breakdown?  I've always just read vague descriptions of there maybe being an "incident" or something and then a stay in a psychiatric hospital.  If you look at the timeline on AGD's site - he doesn't appear to have been gone for very long.  By August 1968 he's producing a poetry LP for Steve Kalinich.

This also poses a deeper question.  Brian's stints with Landy have been discussed a lot.  While Landy's work with Brian remains "controversial" it at least indicates that he was receiving treatment.  It would seem that his early episodes in the 1960's were possibly not treated with the same level of concern?  I'm not saying those around him were not concerned - but was there an element of Brian just being Brian?  If he would have received more thorough treatment early on might he have avoided some of the horrible mental illness he encountered later on?

The guy has a serious breakdown in December of 1964 - yet he's basically back to work by the beginning of 1965.
43  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Don Was Sessions - can someone tell me the story? on: June 12, 2015, 01:17:30 PM
A couple of points: Carl's last real studio project was the trio with Beckley and Lamm. It's pretty easy to tell from that record that Carl's head was not in the place of the Wilson/Paley tracks, with their heavy retro vibe.

A few other things were going on here, too.

1.) Apparently, Don Was didn't think the material was as strong as it could be, so he wanted Brian and Andy to go back and do some more writing. He claims that Brian agreed.

2.) Mike wanted a bigger hand in co-writing the material, and actually he and Brian and Carl worked on "Dancin' the Night Away" (or "Baywatch Nights") after the Was sessions had already ended, IIRC.

3.) Bruce was angling to get Sean O'Hagan, or a more avant-pop producer, involved.

4.) The group ended up thinking that the entire project was too complicated to sort out immediately, so they went with Stars and Stripes. Mike's idea was that an album like that could re-introduce the band (the Eagles had dome something similar) to the public, and they could follow up with new material.

5.) Brian met Joe and hit it off, so they decided to work together on new material after S&S was done. Even then, though, they worked on both BW solo material and songs intended for the group.

6.) Even with all of this, I don't think the Paley / Was sessions stuff was off the table until Carl passed. Then it looked like a missed opportunity. Before that, I think everyone likely thought of it as more of a delay.

Good stuff, everyone!  Interesting that it was Bruce who was angling for a younger producer.

So, basically in retrospect it looks like a missed opportunity - but that is through the 20 years that have passed since the sessions first took place.
44  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Don Was Sessions - can someone tell me the story? on: June 12, 2015, 11:47:16 AM
Thanks for the info.  Interesting read - but why exactly did Carl walk out of the session?
45  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Question about That same song.. on: June 12, 2015, 11:40:59 AM
Had To Phone Ya?

Everyone's In Love With You dates from 1975.

What about It's OK?  Wasn't that started in late 74-early 1975?
46  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Don Was Sessions - can someone tell me the story? on: June 12, 2015, 11:32:50 AM
I'm sure this has been discussed before - and yes - I did search the forum - couldn't find what I was after.

Can someone tell me about the "aborted" sessions with Don Was from around 1995-97?

I've always thought these sessions were originally for a new BB LP.  Was that the case?  I've also always been under the understanding that Carl vetoed the project.  How come?

We did get two of the tracks on the "Made in California" set - but were any other songs anywhere near finished?

I guess I kind of find the subject fascinating - that there might have been a new BB record with the involvement of Brian and Carl and company.

Thanks!
47  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian's Health. on: June 02, 2015, 07:10:45 PM
I reckon Bruce has had something done, but it's the kinda procedure that you don't really notice.

He had his shorts lengthened. Wink

Better than having them shortened!
48  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: I heard \ on: June 27, 2014, 11:49:45 AM
I kid you not - but I heard "God Only Knows" in a local grocery store in the evening of February 6th, 1998.  I had not yet heard of Carl's passing - but I've always thought there was something very, very cool about that.  Plus - it had to just be by chance - I don't think they actively program the piped in stuff that comes over via Muzak - so it wasn't like someone said, "Carl Wilson died today, let's play some of his songs".

I also once heard "Surf's Up" being played on the casino floor of the large Indian casino in Downtown Milwaukee.  They generally have an "oldies" mix playing - but "Surf's Up" still sounds a bit out of place in that setting!
49  Non Smiley Smile Stuff / General Music Discussion / Re: The Killer's autobiography and NEW ALBUM.... in November on: June 27, 2014, 11:45:52 AM
His Live at the Star Club LP (recorded in 1964) is one of the most vicious (in a good way) rock albums ever recorded.  The man sounds absolutely POSSESSED!
50  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Post Release MIC Track Discussion on: August 30, 2013, 08:03:52 AM
I have just discovered "Sound of Free" for the first time ever and already I've played it 5 times in a row.

... and this, gentlemen, is why this set is pretty much above criticism.  People will learn... people will discover.  Smiley

Amen!  Speaking of SOF...it's so great to have a "clean" sounding release of this track.  It's such a great song...and for too long all I've had is a somewhat scratchy sounding version taped off of an original 45.  They did a nice job with this set...most definitely!
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